The Mystery of Maredrid (Closed: Daring Do!)

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder was having the time of her life, even if that seemed to be drawing to a swift and nasty close.

No regrets, of course, and she didn't actually believe that anything that bad would actually happen. It wasn't her time, her moment, and nopony was even here to write about her heroics either so if it wasn't to be recorded than her expiration was still far off. Who was she going to make her grand speech to before she went off to join those who came before? Nopony, and she had it all memorized. She'd rewritten it a half dozen times and by Celestia that effort wasn't going to waste. She never wasted her efforts. This expedition was not a waste of effort. In fact, she'd venture to guess that this was her most wonderfully successful adventures of all time. OF ALL TIME! Everypony who was anypony who was anypony worth knowing knew that knowing was half the battle, and Pathfinder was a pony worth knowing who knew what battles were right. And trying not to be eaten by a pack or severely rude Griffons out here in the Badlands was one battle worth fighting.

It had started simply off, with her trailing an odd cloud formation during one of her joy-filled jaunts to the wonderful Badlands. It bore all the markings of one of a number of ancient Pegasi cities from Celestia knew (or didn't, if the stories were true) but probably the time of the tribes. With the ancient ponies abandoning them, they were left to float of their own accord. The saddest fact was that you could find these ancient metropolises where the ancient Pegasi forged all the great traditions that continued to this day floating in small chunks and eventually evaporate into nothing with disuse. There would be a time where outside the small pieces found by Equestrians, ancient Pegasi cities would literally vanish from the world. That was sad. What was sadder is the relics that would go missing, which meant Pathfinder was initially overjoyed.

It had struck her odd though and it wasn't just a feeling; she had been struck by a few bolts of lightning when she approached, which was odd. It immediately told her there must have been some Pegasi inside, and Pegasi in the badlands usually weren't the friendliest sort. She'd met a few nice ones but a shocking number of them turned out to be changelings who got close to her for all the wrong things, even if they seemed so right at the time. Point being, she knew it was weird and after she lost the distance to allow for them to think their defenses worked (whether or not she should have been worried about her experience-gained resistance to electricity was a bad thing or not) while their squads of bulk griffons took to the air to find her, she planned. How was she going to crack this mystery?

She had to figure it out quick, of course. The griffons had noticed the smoke hovering above her form and pierced the clouds above her like angry thunderbolts from the legends of yore. Little time to react, few recourses available to her, and the dagger points that passed as griffons hurtling towards her with lethal intent. Today was shaping up to be faaaaantastic.

Pathfinder in...The Mystery of Maredrid

[Bellosh]

Scouting for danger! Unlike the jungles and forests which Daring Do frequently explored, the dead landscapes of the Badlands offered ample opportunity to scan the surroundings for anything in the adventurer’s path. That meant though that Daring needed to take special care to conceal herself in these bleak areas. With fewer things to hide behind, the easier it would be for anyone, or anything, to spy on our heroine from miles away. And all sorts of dangerous things lived in the Badlands, all too happy to wickedly dispose of unwanted visitors.

Yet these badlands were not totally devoid of life. Hiding in a lone bush, Daring Do observed an unusual cloud formation with her binoculars. This cloud looked like a chunk of an ancient pegasi skycity, left adrift in the blue yonder and subjected to the harsh wear and tear of Mother Nature. Could this be the big clue that leads Daring to the mysterious city of Maredrid, long thought lost to the ages?

Several bolts of lightning shot out from the mystery cloud, all aimed at one direction in the sky, briefly ratling the concealed Daring Do with deafening thunder blasts. Then the aerial rumbling subsided, the pegasus scanned up above to see what those strange bolts were aimed at. What Daring found proved most intriguing; a pony-like figure being chased by several larger creatures. They were too far above the ground to be made out clearly, but Daring Do wanted to discreetly figure out what was going down.

“Interesting...” she mumbled.

[SteelEagle]

Claws missed her by fractions of an inch, paws by even less, as her pursuers clutched with frustration at the empty spaces where a rather annoying pegasus had once vexed them. Pathfinder didn't waste their near misses; opportunity struck with less regularity than an Everfree storm. A kick to the chest, to the break, to the claw or talon or paw or wing. She did all she could and gave far more than she got, but it still wasn't going to be good enough. She was a pegasus, and not the greatest physical specimen at that. They were griffons, and rather aggressive and well-built ones at that. She got more hits in, but they had sharp claws. She was not having all that much fun.

She wished she had been faster or been more aware, but how was she to know that there was a patrol of griffons coming back to the city just as she was trying to get away from it? She couldn't! It wasn't fun to have the script changed on you, but heck, she could ad lib with the best of them. So she had fought the patrol and then the few griffons who had been sent out earlier and, well, she had done well. Especially considering she had been struck by lightning a half dozen times before hand. But still, while the griffons had some beak fissures, some broken bones, and a damaged wing or two, Pathfinder had cuts and gashes that were not pleasant-

-A talon swiped across her cheek, giving her three deep lines. Pathfinder shot out and retreated a few dozen yards, not that it bought her much time as her silent assailants were upon her a microsecond later. Instead of engaging, she retreated more and more and more, but the distance grew less and less. Retreating wasn't a solid idea, not at this altitude anyway. She would lose the fight if she fought. Only one chance.

Pathfinder ducked two grasping talons and coiled herself like a big cat before springing herself below her assailant, under the group of griffons as a whole. They stopped or did their best approximation and Pathfinder shot towards the direction they had been seconds ago. The group tried to follow and did so, but with less speed and even worse coordination. Pathfinder stopped and so did they, a mass of feathers above. She had successfully ruined their coordination and advantage, and now she could make her move. She hovered up, enticing her attackers towards her with the promise of ending this. They came, nearly fighting one another for position. Good. The time was now.

Pathfinder kicked the cloud that had lazily floated under her and with the greatest amount of speed she could muster, rammed through the group above in a mes of tails, feathers, claws, talons, teeth, and hooves. Pathfinder allowed her speed to carry her through the grouping, wings folded at the last second. She was knocked in the head, scratched and cut apart by the seeming millions of sharp objects that were concentrated in that tiny space. After a few moments of pain, she burst out from the other side in an upwards free for all. It took two seconds but she shook her head and looked below. Success!

The group of griffons had been successfully disabled for a few precious moments. Between her cannonball of a hit and the vast number of friendly fire they unleashed on one another trying to grab and attack her, two griffons were falling to the ground without a working wing while another was hazily falling ontop of a cloud. Two of them looked okay if still stunned while the final two were fighting one another for one reason or another. Griffons were silly.

"Hey, you meat-eating clunkheads! I thought you were supposed to be TOUGH?!" She barked at them, smiling as she wiped the stinging rewards of the fight off of her muzzle. That got them- the final four griffons turned up and with a angry squawk shot up at her. Pathfinder took wing and shot up too.

Everything was going just great!

[Bellosh]

The aerial battle kept going back and forth, making it impossible to tell who would come up on top! One moment, the griffons mauled their prey with claws and beaks. The next moment, the elusive pony tricked the hostiles into attacking each other. If Daring Do wasn’t such a collected pony, she’d be biting her hooves from all the tension.

And then the pegasus went and did something very foolish. Instead of pressing the advantage by flying away, they hovered in place, apparently baiting the griffons to charge. At this point, Daring Do knew that unless she intervened, those terrifying eagle-lions would have themselves an early lunch! As the griffons and pony rushed at each other, Daring shot upwards to the rescue. The adventurer couldn’t outfight four griffons though, not without a trump card up her sleeve.

Closing in, Daring Do took off her trusty pith helmet, preparing her hat trick. If she threw just right, her helmet could hit all four griffons and then with the help of gravity, spin back to the adventurer like a boomerang. Daring only had seconds to calculate her aim however, or else that recklessly fearless pony would bite the dust. Once the sun gleamed on the helmet’s rim, our confident heroine gave a mighty thrust of her foreleg, tossing the hat towards the aggressors. Would the clutch shot aim true?

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder continue to shoot up into the sky, the griffons trailing her like her own squad of adorable clawed pets. Talons and claws were really quite fun to play with as they danced in a staccato rhthym towards the skies coming at you as long as you were adept at avoiding them. And she sure was. It was a matter of simple math that decreed that she would get slashed a few times with every pass, but they would get the worse for it. She flew up and high and once more dove down, her targets baying for even more blood. The goal was simple. Repeat what had just happened and leave them even more messed up. Yes she would be cut up even more but this was nothing to her. She'd walk or fly away with nary a limp. The griffons? Pssh. They would learn to fear the name Pathfinder...or their own claws, whichever was worse. And so she cjarged down at them full of gusto and energy.

“Yeeeeeeeee-POW- huh?!” She screamed as she prepared to impact through them her griffon foes clutching at her desperately. But instead of the pain of claws and the exhilaration of survival followed by watching her foes slash each other into chunky bits long enough for the greatest adventurer pony in all of Equestrian history not named Daring Do to escape, she felt nothing. She burst through the pile of griffons and turned around a few dozen feet away post-burst and saw them all with their heads swerving around and slowly falling as if something had hit them in the head and knocked them silly. Pathfinder just hovered in place and stared at them, eyes squinting as she examined them and her tail flitted to and fro, bored and confused.

What had just happened? One moment she was preparing to collide with a group of griffons and in doing so repeat an earlier super cool move of hers. Instead they had been struck by something that made them woozy. It took a few seconds for her to imagine what it could be, during which time she hovered closer to the defeated griffons and inspected them. A few lashed out at her but quickly lost steam and fell from the sky. “Hey, what gives? You guys and gals aren't tired YET, are you?” She asked in an accusatory fashioned, knocking on the head of the lead griffon. She sputtered out a few unintelligible sylabbles and fell from the sky. Vexed by a mystery but with a greater prize above, Pathfinder shrugged and looked directly at the camera straight ahead and said, “huh...guess my awesome adventuring moves stunned them into defeat! Tra-la-la-la-la...” Pathfinder trailed off as she set out for the city above...

[Bellosh]

Donk! Zing! Ding! Twang! All four griffons didn’t know what hit them, Daring Do’s faithful helmet ricocheting here and fro. As the four hovered in a confused daze, the formally-pursued pegasus used this moment to easily knock her opponents out of the sky, putting a timely end to their menace. Daring Do meanwhile caught her returning helmet with ease, and finally got a good look at the pony she saved.

What the adventurer saw defied all belief. This pegasus mare looked almost completely like Daring Do in every way possible! Daring’s pelt color, mane style, pith helmet, and even the beat-up adventuring clothes she wore. It all looked the same as the real Miss Do. The only noticeable difference was the mare’s cutie mark, depicting a globe caught in a rope. Other than that, nopony could tell the two apart!

The lookalike didn’t seem to notice the presence of the actual Daring Do; she instead flew away upwards, humming a song to herself as she went along. Yet Daring wasn’t about to let the lookalike leave the scene that easily. What was the story behind this mysterious explorer? “Hey, you!” the genuine heroine cried out; “Where do you think you’re going?”

In actuality, A.K. Yearling at this point already suspected this “faker” to be no other than that blasted cosplaying stalker of hers. Of course, the author twisted the truth way in her book by portraying this event as a first-ever encounter.

​

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder knew a great many things, her knowingness second only to her ability to believe in whatever else came up. No matter what though, she knew that she was the greatest adventurer of all time. Well, real adventurer. Daring Do was a fictional adventurer. If she really did exist then Pathfinder would be second best by miles and miles and would also be totally okay being Darin's pet cat if it meant being around her. What she wouldn't do to get a sniff, a lick, a hug, and a mug with her signature on it. Life would be awesome. Life was awesome because of Daring Do. And it was because of Pathfinder's awesome taste in literature that she had become such an awesome adventurer.

Awesome + Awesome = More Awesomer.

Simple math.

Which is what made the emergence of another Daring Do look alike so cool. Pathfinder turned and saw this bit by bit remake of Daring Do. Pathfinder immediately buzzed over with stunning speed, inspecting the other Darey with minute precision and intensity.

“Wow, your pelt is exactly the right height! And look at the colors, so perfect! Did you use marebeline? I use marebeline. Marebeline is pretty good but this is so vivid oh my gosh!”

“Oh my gosh, you smell soooooo good! Just like the description in the books. I try and emulate that but I don't smell nearly as good as you do. Did you get this done professionally or just a home brew?”

“That cutie mark looks so good, almost like it's really on your pelt and skin! I can't get mine to look that good. Sweet job!”

“Your eyes are so pretty! Oh my gosh!”

“Oh my gosh!”

Squee

Pathfinder fluttered back, beaming with excitement.

“You're the closest any Darey has ever got to looking like Daring Do! My hats off to you!” Pathfinder bowed while hovering, pith helmet coming down in an arc as she bowed. She then put it back on andpoonted to the city.

“You could totally join me if you wanted! I'm gonna go to Maredrid because...its really ancient and cool and right there! How lucky are we to find it just floating here!? Last time I was in one of these cities I was nearly turned into a cloud by one of their protection spells. I'm prepared this time though! Ready to go? Ready? I'm ready!!!! Follow me!” Pathfinder screamed with excitement as she started flying to the city.

[Bellosh]

To say that A.K. Yearling never thought highly of the obsessive Pathfinder was to put it mildly. Despite using every legal remedy the author could find, no courtroom solution succeeded in keeping Yearling away from the pony who desperately asserted herself as the world’s number one Daring Do fan. In fact, it seemed the one situation where the adventuring writer could 100% expect not to encounter Pathfinder was well... when adventuring. Up until now, Yearling never expected that her non-secret admirer’s outrageous claims were nothing but pure rubbish; the product of an imaginatively demented mind.

A.K. Yearling therefore did not know whether to be impressed or horrified to discover the reality behind Pathfinder. That far from being satisfied with worshiping a franchise creator and immersing Daring Do into her daily life, the fanatic saw fit to actually live out her adrenaline-filled daydreams. And that honest-to-goodness, the reckless pegasus had not yet gotten herself killed in the process. How did this universe work anyway?

Perhaps the greatest surprise was that for all her credentials in fandom obsessiveness, Pathfinder failed to discern the true identity of her fellow Daring Do lookalike. A.K. had always guessed that in this sort of scenario, the fanatic would have easily figured out that the helmeted explorer shared the exact same features as the bespectacled author , and thusly connect the dots. That Pathfinder concluded instead that her unlikely backup just happened to be wearing the best Daring costume ever made Yearling wonder how the more whether the imitator really had any brain cells left.

​

.........

The heroine’s face squelched up the entire time, as if a demented kitten was crawling up her leg, while the imitator praised how the other pegasus looked exactly like Daring Do. The real Daring Do knew better that try to issue a correction, for the admirer would have never believed a word of it. And right after finishing gawking over the adventurer, the lookalike attempted making another dash to Maredrid.

Daring Do was having none of that; at least not right now. Using her super-sharp reflexes, she caught the other’s tail in her mouth, keeping the lookalike in place. “Hold your horses!” the disgruntled explorer loudly murmured through her teeth; “You haven’t even introduced yourself yet.”

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder flew hurriedly and excitedly towards Maredrid, sure that her erstwhile Darey companion was being a totally erstwhile Darey companion. It was rare for her companions to be Dareys. Dareys were mostly children or nerds and not really very often super cool awesome adventurers like her. She was an awesome adventure nerd which combined all the best facets of the adventuring world and the nerd world into one beautiful package of delusion and energy. She loved her adventures and she loved sharing them with others as well and with her new Darey friend coming up behind her she was due to find some greatness in Maredrid. There were many legends to discern the truth of, dangers to be had, laughs to be shared, traps to be sprung and they had so little time to do it all until the next adventure flew up on them and tried to gobble them up! Away to adventure for the both of the, huzzah!

Or not.

The other Darey didn't move, instead simply hovering in place and demanding additional information. Thinking on it some more, it might have come across a bit rude to not reveal her super secret adventure name. But they were so involved in the cool adventure time already that it seemed a waste to talk and not more forward towards Maredrid! This mare needed to get her adventure game on some. This was basic level one stuff! Move and talk, move and talk, keep moving so you could be faster when something tried to gobble you up! Of course that meant it was harder to stop, but that was a bit of a non-issue. You'd eventually hit something solid and that would stop you lickity splickity easy! Pathfinder sighed but continued her bright smile, flying back to the newbie adventurer. She then ruffled the new Darey's mane. She must have been new.

“Silly billy! I'm Pathfinder, official fanclub president and author of many epic fanfictions such as the classic romances, “When the Walls of Love Fall Down” and “Daring Do and the Mystery of Lonely Hearts” or EPIC ADVENTURES such as “Daring Do and Pathfinder in the Search for the Staff of Fate”! But I guess you must be new. Well, not super new because your look is so HNNG ADORABLE GREAT, but y'know, not everypony follows the newsletters. That's cool though! Oh, and I also am a full time adventurer. So, wanna come with me or are you scared of ancient and abandoned cloud cities? I wouldn't blame you if you were. Some of them really do have traps which turn you into cloud! Pretty cool, huh? Let's roll!” Pathfinder said, this time pulling her Darey friend along as she flew towards the city.

“Oh! I almost forgot- what's YOUR name?”

[Bellosh]

A.K. Yearling endured Pathfinder’s introduction as best she could, knowing full well it would have been odd of the sane pegasus to not inquire about who she was. Not to mention it gave the author some material to work with for the Pathfinder character’s introduction (who would not be called her real name, as per standard procedure) for the upcoming book... assuming Yearling decided to turn this adventure into an actual book, and not pretend this incident never occurred.

​

Daring Do never backed out of a challenge, even if the over-eager Explorer technically wasn’t giving her a choice as she dragged Daring along. Being admired by adoring ponies was something our adventurer had grown accustomed to on previous journey, but having one of these admirers look almost alike? Totally weird, and even more so with Explorer believing Miss Do of just being another dedicated cosplayer.

But Daring Do had a reputation to uphold. Worming her arm away from Explorer’s dominating grasp, she boldly claimed; “Hah! My name’s Fillydelphia Hooves, and I’m not scared of anything!” Like a rocket, Daring then shot past Explorer straight for Maredrid, deciding that revealing her real name would only cause a time-wasting argument with the... odd mare.

[SteelEagle]

Fillydelphia Hooves was a really cool name. Was it her real name? Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't! It was an awfully strange name to have but if you ever really thought about it, ponies tended to have really strange names. Who in their right mind would name their daughter after a flow or their son after an idea? Only a pony! But Pathfinder didn't really give it a moment's thought, only a nano-moment's thought. It was too busy processing how cool it was to have another pony along for the adventure ride today, seeing as most rides were solo affairs and a bit lame as a result. But now she had Fillydelphia Hooves by her side or in front of her and everything would be hunky dory! Filly shot off ahead and this excited Pathfinder who few behind her in a hurry.

“Well that's good to know! You never know what you could run up into out here, like mercenary griffons. I've seen them before out here, always at the behest- big word there- of some rich schemer. Some of these cloud cities still have treasures worth quadjillion billions of bits. Worthwhile investment for one of those rich bigshots down below, right?” Pathfinder said as the duo approached what had once been a giant cloud wall. It had now fallen and crumbled apart into tinier and tinier bits, rows of solid mass given away to increasing amounts of stringy looking cloudform and then patches of holes. Some parts had just collapsed completely, either cloudy rubble decreasing in density in several directions or clean holes appearing in the walls. Either way, Pathfinder didn't stop at the wall. She instead flew around a crumbled bit and straddled it, looking down at Fillydelphia Hooves.

“So Filly Cheese, what brings a Darey up here? Most Dareys don't come up and actually live the life! Pretty cool to see somepony else do it. I'm usually alone up here. Well, I mean, I have the mercenaries to mess around with but it isn't like they invite me over for dinner without hogtying me first. Not that I mind that, mind you minding that!” Pathfinder rattled on as she removed her saddlebag, quickly rifling through it for something. In the mean time, small talk would suffice. She loved small talk because she understood small talk better than big talk which was usually the purview of well-educated fancy types who told her what she was doing was stupid simply because they lacked the intestinal fortitude she did. She liked the small talk.

[Bellosh]

...............

Explorer’s mentioning of big shots made Daring Do nod out of sympathy. In far too many journeys, the adventurer faced off against adversaries with deep pockets. Or in cases like Dr. Caballeron, hoped to get deep pockets by stealing a magic artifact for a nefarious client. Fortunately, Daring Do proved every time that throwing around money was never a substitute for heart, common sense, and insanely quick reflexes.

...............

“Why else would I be here?” the pegasus now known as Filly replied back, threading the eye of the needle that was one of the holes in the cloud wall; “I’m heading for Maredid; just like you.” Our heroine paused to hover in front of her doppelganger, wondering if Explorer was all she’s cracked up to be; “You do have a plan for getting in and out of Maredrid, do you?”

[SteelEagle]

Good times were being had on the outskirts of Maredrid. Very rarely did she see somepony so confident as Fillydelphia Hooves besides herself! It was good to have. When they got into the thick of it Pathfinder wouldn't have to foalsit some nancy pantsy filly who couldn't handle herself. Watching Filly Cheese move, it was clear she was athletic. Wow, a super Darey and an athletic little minx. This was a pony after her own heart. Sadly for Filly, Pathfinder's heart was already being held hostage by a nefarious CEO. Maybe they'd become best friends or even rivals. Rivals may be fun! She didn't have enough rivals. They tended to get locked up or stopped adventuring after they fell in lava or were being eaten by giant worms. That just told Pathfinder that she needed better, less lazy rivals. But having a bestie would be fun too! She wanted more friends. Pathfinder's friends also happened to fall into lava or get eaten too often and that was sad. But Filly Cheese wasn't gonna make her sad. She was even focused on the adventure, which was cool.

Filly asked whether Pathie had a plan to get out Maredrid which the erstwhile adventure pegasus kinda sorta did. Yes because she had done some basic research and had plans on top of plans regarding most normal occurrences. No because Maredrid was very mysterious and mostly unknown now- what ancient traps were still in working condition. They'd have to wing it and that just wasn't a joke based on their adorable wings! Pathfinder took point, hovering at a slow pace. They had entered the city in a small, nearly unusable alley way between a building and the wall.They'd have to follow the building until they got to an honest street to really get a decent look at the city. Once they got a decent look at the city they could do some decent work decently. Who knew the adorable adventure twins could be so decent? All the while Pathfinder spoke in near breathless tones of excitement, forced out in an jovial whisper.

“Oh my gosh do I have plans! Well, that depends on what is actually still working in the city. I have plans for those ancient cloud guardians that according to legend could turn you to cloud with a touch if they're still around, the pocket tornadoes, and all sorts of cool stuff. As far as getting out is concerned, that should be simple enough. After we go to the Pillar and the Heart, we see if there is anything worth saving and fly as fast as possible from the traps that are sure to follow. It's going to so much fun oh my god I'm so happy I could share it with somepony!!!” Pathfinder turned around and hugged Filly Hooves. In this small space it was impossible to fly away, no escape from the hug!

[Bellosh]

...............

As Explorer rambled on about Maredrid, she ensnared “Filly” in a bone-crushing hug. Who knew that one die-hard fan of the adventuring heroine could be so much trouble? Not an affectionate mare by any stretch of the imagination, the real Daring Do instantly attempted to pull herself free, to no avail. Explorer’s grip was too strong! Gasping for air, “Filly” just barely managed to speak up; “I... can’t... breathe.....” Will Explorer turn out to be that one trap that finally outsmarts Daring Do for good?

[SteelEagle]

Breathing was an important little thing to do, as Pathfinder had learned recently. She had been trying to infiltrate some ancient seapony ruin but forgot to breathe- she meant bring, silly Pathfinder brain an its oxygen shortage- her extra oxygen crystal! Boy, was her face blue and purple and her vision blurred right before she found that first air pocket. She didn't remember much of what happened before or after though and the doctors said it was because of some brain damage, but she had a feeling it was really on account of the giant sea slug queen on the bottom who tried to suck her brain out. In any case Pathfinder decided to release her bestie for the day, pushing out ahead of her through the narrow pass and onto a main street in the ancient cloud city. A bright smile plastered on and ready for the rigors of this adventure with just the tiniest trickle of blood from her earlier super cool moves telling the story of the start of the early parts of the beginnings of the era of the adventures in Maredrid.

“Okey-dokey! Sorry about that. I get super huggly at times. Usually thats when Snowfall is around and then we get super heavy snuggly but you were pretty good too. Anyway!” Pathfinder said as she turned to face the main road. Most of the buildings had started to decay rapidly, their cloud structures straining and stretching and collapsing slowly. Patches In the road led to open air while the wind dome that covered most pegasi cities and prevented heavy winds from keeping the airspace above unflyable was gone. Only a few things moved in the distance, what seemed like miles and miles away- cloudform pegasi guards keeping their eternal watch over the city, smaller than they used to be. Signs of battles both young and old scarred the landscape, including smoke in the distance as several griffons flew against the heavy winds above, landing several blocks away in silent crashes. Everything was silent and unearthly calm reigned- surely a sign of nefarious activity if there ever was one.

“Hehehe, might take a while but I think we know there has to be at least one other group! Some griffons for sure but that smoke- maybe an airship? It'll be interesting to find out. Hopefully none'fm will get to the Heart before us!” Pathfinder said as she hovered above the ground going straight ahead, humming to herself and head on a swivel.

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Daring Do watched in awe as the super high energy look alike flew forward through the ruined area. The smoke filled Do's nostrils even from its distance and the distinct feeling of being in danger caused her adrenaline to build. Now she was certainly in her element! She watched as some griffons flew by, landing not too far away. Well, it was more like crashing actually. Had they just come out of a battle? Do looked this way and that. It was waaaaay too calm right now! There should have been sounds of fighting or at least something.

 

The winds had picked up and were especially heavy a littler higher up. They whipped up the smoke in the distance, carrying it even further into the distance. An airship? Now that would be just plain awesome! In fact, Do had always wanted her own airship! Maybe those aboard were worthy candidates for having their airship taken from them... hmmmm, maybe! Do opened her wings, stretching them a little after being crushed in Explorer's mighty hug. She would have to remind herself never to let a pony do that to her again! To have come so far through so many traps and hazards, only to have her life snuffed out in a death hug? No way!

 

Daring Do took off, flying super fast through the ruined streets and allies. She would make it nearer to the scene of the smoke and find out what was really going on! She looked back for Explorer, figuring the pegasus was either in front of her already or behind her.

 

"Let's go figure this out! If there's useful stuff around here we're going to find it!"

[SteelEagle]

 

Pathfinder fluttered about the ruins of the city with an experienced if untrained speed. She wasn't like some pegasi who excelled in their studies and work outs of flight. She had always...well, she had sucked. Her wings flapped fast and she buzzed around more like a bee than a bird when she wasn't in some high strung situation. She wasn't sure why. Maybe drama unlocked her special flying abilities! Boom! Bang! Zoom went Pathfinder! Except now, because she was more laid back. The city was so fascinating! She had studied up on it extensively which made the whole experience all the more intriguing. The city was known for its power and prestige right before its cataclysmic collapse into nothingness. All sorts of really interesting things were left behind as the city drifted off of the maps and into legend. It stood to reason that any city that once made even Acroneighos send tribute would have something worth going to all the trouble of finding it worthwhile.

 

A lot of that came down to some of the city's most prized defenders. Acroneighos- indeed, many pegasus- feared the city for one simple reason. They had mastered the use of cloud magic to the extent that a pony could become clouds. Some did this willingly, but cloud warriors using cloud weapons could turn ponies into clouds! The tales were old and it was hard to tell legend from history(to Pathfinder they were one and the same) but entire armies would break and flee the coming of the Maredrinians and their cloud soldiers. The reason they were capable of it came down to a small collection of ancient artifacts that predated the city's founding. So integral to the city's defenses were they that in history they were called simply the Shield Arm, the Sword Arm, the Helmet, and the Heart. Alongside each device was a smaller collection of less intense artifacts and the city was home to hundres of trophies and prizes of their many campaigns.

 

It had been picked over by scavengers as a result for centuries as a result. Most of the easy stuff was already taken. No doubt Acroneighos had taken great pride in tearing the city apart to find their relics. That left only the really cool stuff behind traps and guardians and whatever else the city had in store for them. For now, all she could see was ruined streets and buildings, the cloud streets falling apart in places and the buildings slowly turning into wisps over the eons of time. It was all pretty cool and no doubt she could spend a lot of time rummaging through but time was not on their side. Up ahead past a wall- crumbling intensely in the past leaving it maybe an eighth as high- was smoke. As she got closer she could hear the sounds of an airship steam turbine flaming out. And some screams. A few explosions. It was still a bit away, but exciting! Exciting times. Pathfinder rubbed her hooves together as she flew out ahead to get back in touch with her super cool adventure buddy for the day.

 

“So Filly, you ever been in a scrape with cloud creatures before? They're super cool! We'll probably run into them. This city was famous for 'em! And once we get to the Pillar we will have LOADS AND LOADS of traps to deal with. You're going to be okay there, right? I mean, no big deal if you have to hang back or whatevvvvssssss,” Pathfinder ended on a COOL note, flying along the city of collapsed cloud structures with a bemused grin.  

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

You're going to be okay there, right? I mean, no big deal if you have to hang back or whatevvvvssssss,”

 

Well, her adventuring companion certainly was...entertaining. Imagine, the famous explorer Daring Do hanging back in anything was a laughable notion. The fact that she was not in the lead right now irked the pegasus slightly but hey, let this mare have her fun. What could it hurt?

 

WOOOOSH!

 

A tremendous blast of wind swirled for behind a row of disheveled building not far from where the two were flying. Do found herself flying into a gale for a moment, dirt, pebbles, and bits of building debris sailing right for them! The adventurer lowered the brim of her pith helmet, securing it firmly in place. It was time for action!

A cloud guardian had mounted the top of one of the buildings. It stopped blowing for a moment, apparently taking stock of who was invading the territory of Maredrid. The creature was enormous! It sucked in another breath and blew hard, hurling more debris towards the pegasi below it. Swirling grey and black cloud matter, surmounted with some sort of clear armor made the beast a fearsome, if slightly puffy sight. Soon it was joined by two more similar creatures. They watched Do and Explorer through empty sockets before sucking in more huge breaths.

 

"Wow! These guys mean business! Time to take charge!" Without a second thought Daring Do flew towards the foe! She would not let them turn her into clouds. They would rue the day they tangled with the unflappable Daring Do!

[SteelEagle]

 

Awesome, cloud guardians showed up. Pathfinder had expected them at some point but not this lickity splickity quickly. Especially with all the commotion over yonder with the griffons and the state of the city she had believed they'd get a little bit deeper into the city but heck, she wasn't going to complain at all. This was sweet! It was always a good time when your foes were tough and cloud guardians were pretty tough cookies. They ranked in her top sixty of opponent to face which was a pretty good ranking since Tirek wasn't even her number one. You couldn't blow them apart. You couldn't strike them. You couldn't drown them. You had to get them to reveal their only vulnerable location, the cloud core in their chest that was normally protected by crafted clouds. Only then could you destroy it and watch as the guardian turned into soft little nibblets of cloud. You had to turn them on their axis enough to funnel the clouds internally small enough to strike. Very hard to do on account of them being clouds!

There were three total. Pretty sweet! That meant more than one for Pathfinder if the cards played out right. Facing foes was her second favorite thing to do after beating traps after all! She was a little banged up, though. Her earlier brush with griffons outside the city had left her a little bloody. Oh well, no biggie. Her friend was totally into it though! Normally she had to push and prod her companions for the day to engage their enemies. Mostly because they were slightly unwilling but heck, everypony is slightly unwilling at first. Eventually Pathfinder would MAKE them love adventures! For now though she'd be more than content with a partner that didn't need her guiding hoof. Who knows- maybe this mare would continue to surprise her! “Good going Filly! Let's beat these unruly clouds! Make sure we can get to their core without getting hit by their weapons!”

 

Pathfinder charged, but not directly at one of the Guardians. Fillydelphia had that angle under control. Pathfinder charged below, going through the open door of a building below. The Guardians did not take these movements lightly, however. One of the guardians, the smallest of the bunch, leaped from its perch on a crumbling rooftop towards Fillydelphia. A cloud javelin materialized in its cloudy hooves and fired, arching and tracking throughout the sky as another materialized. Another Guardians, slightly larger, pulled a cloud mace out and jumped through a building, tracking Pathfinder like a bull in a china shop!

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

“Good going Filly! Let's beat these unruly clouds! Make sure we can get to their core without getting hit by their weapons!”

 

Do pumped her wings hard, gaining as much speed as she could. Explorer had opted to get nearer to the guardians by going up through one of the crumbling buildings. If she was like most ponies, the adventurer would have been worried about her companion but not Explorer! Thus far she had done nothing but prove she was mare enough for any challenge! It actually felt good to be in the company of somepony who could take care of herself. It seemed all too often that she was in the business of saving others from dangerous situations. It felt fast and free to be with somepony who didn't need her help! Though Explorer was reckless, it was a burden off of Do's shoulders not to have to swoop to her rescue.

 

"Gotta get closer." She muttered under her breath as she willed herself to fly faster. If she could just get in close enough to the lead guardian...

 

Then she spotted the smallest guardian leap from the roof top and chuck a cloud javelin in Explorer's direction. Since she was already inside the building, the javelin wouldn't do much harm. As fast as it had thrown, another weapon appeared in it's place.

 

"Let's take care of you first little cloud!" She altered her course slightly, now heading for the smallest cloud guardian. "I've seen weather ponies buck stuff bigger than you back in Ponyville!" She narrowed her eyes as she flew in close. The guardian threw the next javelin which Do dodged with ease. More projectiles flew forth, each time the adventurer avoided them. The guardian had turned from heading into the building after the other pony. It would deal with this one that was flying around it first!

 

"Let's see you try to get me!" Daring challenged the foe while swooping between it and the building. She would have to act fast. The larger guardian that was still perched on the building's roof had noticed what she was up to! "Come on!" Do continued to taunt the foe. The guardian began turning with her circular flight throwing one javelin after the next as fast as they materialized in it's puffy fluffy cloud hoof.

 

"Really? That's all you've got?" She put on an extra burst of speed, swooping in closer to the guardian. Her flight had begun to whip up a tiny tornado around the guardian. The creature scowled and throw more javelins. "I guess that's your only defense huh? Not too great if you ask me! And I would know, cause I totally know great!" She flew a touch faster, whipping the tornado into a tight spiral around the guardian. In a moment it has whooshed through it's middle. The clouds that had taken the form of the guardian puffed apart from each other and floated away in all directions.

 

"Oh yeah! Can't stop this much awesome can ya?" Do's heart was beating fast. she was in her element! Now where had Explorer gotten to? It would probably take both of them to defeat the biggest guardian.

[SteelEagle]

 

Cloud guardian combat strategy primer alpha one, or whatever numbering and classification system Pathfinder would use in the notebook of notes she made by the fire as she thought about cloud guardians many moons ago. It would finally see use! Okay. Cloud guardians were incredibly dangerous but it had been years since any of them had been properly maintained. They weren't going to be as fast as they used to be and their agility would suffer tremendously. This was a terrible outcome on its own but there was more problems to pile onto a floaty platform of failure. They tracked pegasi by the fountain of pegasi magic contained in the aura around every pegasi, in effect outlining the target. But so much had fallen apart that their own magic which helped them track the pegasi had been on a slow decline, meaning they were slower to target, slower to register, slower to attack, slower to move, and generally just easy targets for a bunch of awesome pegasi.

And rest assured, Pathfinder and Fillydelphia were both enormously awesome pegasi, enough to count as a bunch of awesome pegasi each. The cloud mace wielding cloud guardian would find out the hard way, even as it was being pretty radical itself! It burst through the walls of a building as Pathfinder flew at lightning speeds in the alley, the hole in the building sealing itself. It swung its cloud mace and missed by the merest fraction of an inch. Pathfinder continued her forward momentum, diving in between its legs as it tried to reform and catch her. She immediately angled up, her fure brushing up against the guardian. She kept up this angle as she felt the guardian reform and attack, reform and attack, constantly falling further and further behind her.

Fractions of an inch became an inch, then two, then four, as Pathfinder continued her knife flight vertically circling him in the tight confines of the alley. It kept on trying to reform, its primitive magic unable to keep up the protection, and a hole appeared in the body. Pathfinder circled some more until she stopped directly above the guardian, her eye on its traveling hole as it tried to reform and catch up. When it was in place, Pathfinder bucked it as hard as she possibly could and was rewarded with a metallic tong as the clouds burst in every direction away from the now destroyed core. Now this was a well done fight! Pathfinder bent down and picked up the core which still glowed white hot but was in all actuality ice cold, the ancient residual magic long ago having given up any pretense of functionality.

It would be useful as a cool reward for a job well done and as a study piece for other ponies, but for Pathfinder it was just a trophy! Huzzah! Speaking of trophies, she and Filly still had to deal with the big mamma jamma at the top where it had come to rest and ordered the others to attack. Pathfinder hovered from her position in the alley, ending up directly behind the largest guardian of the bunch. She could hear Filly's exhalations- good, she had won too. That would have turned the duo into an uno and she was just fine doing an uno here but a duo was more fun because she could totally talk about Daring Do fanfiction with her travel buddies. So, they had to tackle the big one. Pathfinder was in a good position NOW but guardians could be tricky. If she attacked and the guardian was baiting her then she'd be finished before she could make a move. The larger guardians were actually the fastest, smartest, and most agile of all the cloud guardian since they could handle more magic. They needed to be smarter than a bunch of clouds.

“Hey cloudy! You're looking for me, right? Well, whatcha WAITIN' FOR?!”

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

“Hey cloudy! You're looking for me, right? Well, whatcha WAITIN' FOR?!”

 

Well, it was looking like they made a pretty good team. A great team...a daring duo even! Do couldn't help but smirk, thinking of having another pony on the team. It would never happen. She was just too intrepid, too quick, too dangerous to have somepony else at her side. Still, for this short time period it was cool to have another pony who could kick some cloud tail! She had regained her breath a little and watched from a hovering position while Pathfinder got the attention of the cloud guardian mamma.

 

She ducked to the side, taking a position on the opposite side of the guardian. Maybe if they could get it mixed up enough, the right opportunity would open up. Do hoped the opportunity would open for her, it just didn't feel quite right sharing the adventure spotlight with somepony else. The cloud guardian was rising to the bait, literally. More cloud materialized, swirling around the bottom half of the guardian. It bolstered the giant form upwards, stretching towards Pathfinder. It's mouth opened and a hollow whooshing growling sound emitted from somewhere. Weird how the voice of the guardian didn't even seem to come from it. The guardian moved forward and then Do called from the other side.

 

"Hey fluffy! You gonna just run away from me like that huh? I know I'm intimidating but still!" Her eyes narrowed as the huge monster's head swiveled around to face her. Cavernous mouth agape, blank eyes staring. Certainly a frightening beast, but not for Daring Do! "Ya! That's right! Come on over here and try my buck on for size!" The body flipped around, now heading towards Daring Do. She eyed Pathfinder, waiting for her to make the next move.

[SteelEagle]

 

The cloud guardian bolstered its size in anticipation of engaging Pathfinder alone.Cloud circulated around it for brief moments before being pulled into it, and then it started to stretch towards her. She knew better than to fear this new attack, however. It was a ruse. It still held its weapon in its original form, waiting for her to take the bait and attack the mouth or fly away from it. Every angle of attack or fleeing besides falling back ended with her in the range of the attacks launched by the cloud guardian. Luckily for Pathfinder and Filly over there Pathfinder had more experience and common sense than that. She knew traps when she saw one, even if it was a pretty good one. Avoid the mouth thing, get attacked. Avoid the attack, get hit by the mouth thing. All in all not bad, but she had plans for it.

This was fun! Pathfinder was always worried that one day Cloud Guardians would get considerably weaker but nope, nope, not today. They were wonderfully implacable foes, stitching the skies with their fury and the birthright of champions running in their cloudy veins. You didn't run into them often as Maredrid was an isolated city but whenever you did you knew it was a good day, and today was most certainly a good day! The real question was what to do after they beat the Guardian? Go underneath into the tunnels of the city or move deeper into the city on the surface, towards the sounds of the griffons and whoever else was fighting cloud guardians there? Time flied when you were having fun. Or when you were flying, which was fun but not as much fun as fighting cloud guardians was.

Pathfinder prepared to make her move when Filly made hers, re-distracting the cloud guardian. This split it into two, the newly formed mass moving towards Pathfinder while the top half turned to face Filly. Why? Fillydelphia was in perfect position to take the Guardian from behind without it knowing she was on the attack. Now they both had to face parts of the beast in order to beat it. Thanks Hoovsie! Pathfinder launched up and over the outstretched maw, pulling down with her bottom legs stretched out. “HIYA!” she bellowed before impacting against the back, sending the top lurching forward and destroying a good portion of the back's protection. The guardian bellowed ad turned around, swinging its giant axe towards Pathfinder and leaving its back exposed to Fillydelphia Hooves!

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

The axe flew in the cloudy grip of the Guardian towards its foe! Do didn't miss the chance to make an attack of her own. As the body of the Guardian swirled around to attack her pony look alike the intrepid Daring Do swooped into motion! She came forward fast and swung around, aiming a well placed double hooved buck to the base of what might be considered the neck of the beast, if it actually had such a thing. The effect was terrific indeed. The head swung forward crazily while the creature bellowed out in rage. It tried to regain itself quickly but an attack like that while it had been swinging the axe served to disorientate at least for a little bit.

 

These cloud guardian were made of stern, if not flexible stuff! If she had delivered such a blow to a regular old every day enemy, they would be out cold in the dust! But that was not the case with this cloud creature. The head snapped back into place, if not at a slightly odd angle, as it tried to turn back around at its other tormentor. It began to go onto the defensive, knowing now that there was an enemy on both sides. Do narrowed her eyes, calculating the next move. She moved in fast after hovering for a moment, ducking a swipe with the axe. She aimed for the cloudy appendage that was holding the weapon, hoping to sever it with a fly through! It was a daring move and paid off quite well. The axe fell with a loud clang and crumbling of material as it encountered the old building that the guardian was currently perching upon.

 

"Game over for you Mr. Cloudy!" She swooped in once more, landing a back hoof between the creature's gaping eye sockets. The guardian was reeling from the blows, almost finished off for good! Just one more move would do the trick!

[SteelEagle]

 

The Guardian sure was a tough creature. Pathfinder had the fun of facing a few before but never one of the leader types. They were much rarer and tougher to take down, but it would be all the more exciting when they brought it low. Usually when Pathfinder brought her enemies low she could interrogate them for more clues with which to solve the riddle that was ADVENTURE, but she didn't expect to get anything out of this encounter except the sheer thrill of success. That was more than enough mind you but it'd be nice to have some cloud thoughts to parse through in an effort to find the Heart. Too bad the cloudification process reduced their minds to nothing, stripping them of all memory and personality and using all that excess energy to create protection for itself.

Not that it mattered! Fillydelphia Hooves wasn't some willy nilly silly filly who couldn't handle herself. Of course she wasn't that experienced fighting cloud guardians, Pathfinder could tell by where she struck the guardian during her attack. The back of the neck? Silly, go for the back of the back! You could easily destroy it with just one more move. Huh, that was strange- for some reason it had decided to toss the axe at Fillydelphia and not use it as it was just a moment ago against Pathfinder. What a silly cloud guardian. Was this supposed to be hard? This one seemed so tough but also pretty stupid. It could have totall got one of them if it could pay attention. Well, maybe it was almost impossible to pay attention to two Daring Dos at once. Harder than just about anything else on the planet she bet!

“Good night sweet thang!” Pathfinder purred out in battle rhythm before launching one more violent kick at the back of the creature. It cracked and fell apart like the others, eventually wisping away into nothingness as an odd silence filled the void between the two. Pathfinder nodded and fluttered into an alleyway, staring at an open, ancient sewer entrance.
“Not bad I guess. Need work on your accuracy! Ready to go in?”