Pathfinder and the City of the Griffons (Phil the Time Wizard and SteelEagle)

[SteelEagle]

Normally, colliding head first into a solid floor was a poor choice for a Pegasi, regardless of speed. Luckily, Pathfinder had thought ahead and brought a helmet.

And it was not just any helmet, but a spiked one! With enough force behind it, the spike acted as battering ram and with the right amount of speed, could break through the floor. Of course, the impact would likely render her unconscious. She wondered a flash moment before impact whether or not she should be worried that she couldn't remember how many times she had been knocked out. She didn't get a response.

She hit the ground with such speed that the spiked helmet dug into the floor and pierced it, shattering it, sending Pathfinder careening to the storage underneath. The floor gave in around the cubicle, sending various office equipment and supplies collapsed and fell to the bottom as well, landing on top of Pathfinder, valuable ancient artifacts, and generally making a terrible noise. Luckily, it echoed in every possible direction, making detection oddly difficult...until they found the hole, at least.

And Pathfinder was knocked out.

[RarityDash]

Gilda blinked twice. It worked? This crazy pony's hard-headed (in the most literal way) plan had actually worked? She was honestly surprised, and a little impressed. She flew down after the pony. Yep, sure enough the pony was out cold like she had said she'd be.

The griffon smirked deviously. This was her opportunity. At once, she began flying around the entire storage floor searching for the helm she sought. She'd take it and fly away, leaving this silly pony here for the guards to find. Her fault for making use of a plan that called for her knocking herself unconscious. Gilda laughed. She just needed to find it.

After several minutes of searching the entire floor, she came up with empty talons. She just wasn't seeing the Commander's helmet. It wasn't a total loss however; there wasn't a helmet, but there was some really choice stuff in the museum storage. A fine jeweled golden necklace that looked to be quite old caught her eyes. Even if they didn't find the helmet, Gilda could sell this for some cash, and with Pathfinder out cold, she didn't have to know the griffon was engaging in petty thievery.

Placing the expensive piece of jewelry in a pouch she wore, Gilda moved back toward the pony. If the helmet wasn't here, she still needed this pony to help her find it. The necklace was one thing. This helmet was the true treasure. Nodding, she moved back toward Pathfinder and used the smelling salts in an effort to wake her.

"Hey! Hey, pony! Wake up!" she called out as she did so.

[SteelEagle]

"Mmmmm,,,,,Braaaavvvaaddooo...untie...UP! I'M UP!" Pathfinder said as she went from mumbling partially unconscious thoughts to stumbling, conscious movement in a flash, the helmet in all of its faded dented glory falling with a single clank to the ground. She shook her head.

"Good job, Gilly! Okay, time to break down whatever vault they have!" Pathfinder said with a slack-jawed grin as she stumbled forward. They wouldn't keep the Helm in some basic hold, no, of course not. They would keep it behind something special, for sure. She knocked over a few likely priceless artifacts as she found the vault door.

It was...concrete? That was weird. She had rarely seen such a thing in Equestria for security when better options were commonplace, and normally it would be no problem. She had brought the tools for the job, of course. But security was mere minutes away.

She started bucking the concrete, her hooves smacking with each powerful kick with a loud and sickening smack. She was no great power, but consistency had to count for something. She was also accurate, and each kick landed in the same place. No time wasted, no kick went unspent, until cracks formed and the concrete slabbed started to shudder. Finally, with one last, vicious kick, the slab was cut in half and buckled under the pressure. They collapsed with a great crash, the echoing sound waking many untold dozens in the building.

Pathfinder gasped for breath before flying in, her back legs dangling limply. Inside were true treasures, secrets to the Griffon's history. Ancient maps, collections of statues, the documents containing the very first words of the Griffon language. One giant hallway led to the end, a pedestal containing an ancient-talon device, miniature swords abound in it, of the Griffon who established them as a race and a nation.

No helm.

"Darnit! Alright, I guess we should make our escape." Pathfinder said, wiping the sweat off of her brow just as half a dozen security griffons appeared down the long hallway where the concrete slab lay shattered.

[RarityDash]

Gilda watched, again impressed as the pony broke into the concrete vault. She hadn't even bothered to notice it in her earlier sweep of the floor and wasn't entirely sure how she would have gotten into it in the first place. Bucking was a pony thing; griffons, though powerful creatures, weren't about the blunt force as much as they were the sharpness of their beaks and talons.

When the vault opened, Gilda was honestly a little relieved to not see the helm they sought. She would have felt dumb had it just been there and she had missed it on account of not opening the vault. What was inside the large vault was pretty awesome. All of it looked quite priceless. The necklace she had snagged before was surely valuable, but the items in the vault were simply priceless. Gilda wished she could somehow snatch something, but it didn't seem likely with Pathfinder alert.

They had a bigger problem in the form of the guards anyway. The two of them were in the vault, and she could see the guards at the end of the corridor. She didn't really see a way out. They were pretty much cornered as far as Gilda could tell.

"So, pony, got any bright ideas to get us out of this one?" she asked in a smug voice, though she was earnestly hopeful.

[SteelEagle]

"So, pony, got any bright ideas to get us out of this one?" Gilda's golden, hopeful voice shone like a star.

Pathfinder gave it thought. She did have some things that could come in handy, but since this place was a dud and she already had used the helmet and smoke pellets for the day...she wanted to save some things. She may have been an adventurer, but even they had budgets and hers was a tight one.

"Nope! This is why I brought you along, Gilly! Whatcha thinkin'?...And my name is Pathfinder, silly! I'm the one who is probably all concussed!" Pathfinder said with excitement, knocking Gilda on the head once playfully and hovering next to Gilda as the six security griffons hovered slowly down the hall. Eventually, their lights reached the duo.

"Halt!"

[RarityDash]

Gilda smirked awkwardly as she stared at Pathfinder and then at the guard, the back at Pathfinder. This pony didn't have some crazy way out this time? What? She wasn't serious, was she? She had really let them get caught? These six big griffons staring them down were real then? Gilda was caught here in this lousy museum, assisting a pony as they broke into a vault of griffon valuables? This was bad. This was very bad. She'd be jailed. More than that, she'd be ridiculed. She'd forever be known as an accomplice to a pony. She wouldn't be able to escape it. That's why she had to escape this.

"Ah, hi there guys," she started, grinning at the griffon guards. "Were you looking for us?"

Her eyes darted about, looking for something. She noticed the strange talon thing at the end of the corridor with all the cool swords around it. She had no clue what it was, what it did, or how to use it, but it was at least worth a try. Quickly, she dropped back and grabbed it.

"Ha! I got this swordy thing!" she shouted. "You better let us pass or I'll use it on you... or break it... whatever would be worse for you guys!"

Gilda waved the ancient relic at the guards, feeling kind of like an idiot as she did.

[SteelEagle]

Under any other situation, a terrified Griffon raising an ancient weapon would be little more than a footnote in their arrest report. However, when that talon-attached device was the personal weapon of the First King of Aquellia and was perhaps the most important weapon in Griffon history, things were different. Much different. If anything happened to it, they would not only be out of jobs, but careers. Museum security wasn't a great career, but a failure of this magnitude would make the press.

The security griffons stopped in their tracks, a few of them landing on the ground as they looked at the situation with concern now replacing anger.

"Stop! You don't know what you're holding there, idiot!" The largest and oldest yelled at the top of his lungs, the others forming behind him.

Pathfinder shoved her face into Gilda's ear.

"Good thinkin'! We'll bluff our way past these clowns, then I'll get us out of the building," She whispered directly into Gilda's brain, or so it seemed. She then quickly threw herself in front of Gilda dramatically.

"Stand back you silly lot of chicklets! It is we, the Aquellian Liberation Front! You will stand aside and let us pass, or we will destroy priceless artifacts!" She bellowed down the hall, drawing on her extensive knowledge of Daring Do plot devices and hoping the guards weren't equally as versed on the source material.

[RarityDash]

"Yeah!" Gilda started in a loud voice, feeling like she was growing dumber by the second. "What she said!"

"You better let us through or we'll break your swordy thing!" she added as she started to step toward the guards, intent to continue past them.

She held the relic tightly, not intending to let it go until she was sure the other griffons would let her them pass. With slow steps, she eventually found her way to the other side of the guards. She nodded to Pathfinder, wanting to make sure she was ready to fly before she ditched the priceless relic she was holding.

[SteelEagle]

They wormed their way behind the guards, who seemed utterly beholden to the stone beneath them, fearful as they were of the priceless artifact before them getting destroyed on their watch. Eventually, the two would-be thieves found themselves on the outside of the vault, with the guards on the inside. This was a good position to be in, and exactly what happened to Daring Do in, "Daring Do and the Quest for the Quizzical Cube". Though of course then it had been island natives instead of guards and an ancient idol of theirs rather than a Griffon King's personal weapon. Still, good situation.

"Good job...sewers." Pathfinder whispered in Gilda's ear, face deep in it as it were. She then grinned- and pushed Gilda as hard as she could away from Pathfinder, while Pathfinder was moved in the other direction by the action. Pathfinder used the motion to give her flight speed a boost, as she flew towards the opposite side of the building as Gilda, the priceless artifact flipping through the air and nearly clanging to the ground, a brave guard chancing impalement to catch it.

[RarityDash]

Gilda nodded. So the pony wanted meet up in the sewers? She wasn't looking forward to going down to a place like that, but she had to admit it likely wasn't a place they'd be followed.

The ancient weapon flew from her hands when the pony shoved her, allowing her no opportunity to consider keeping it. Probably wouldn't have been smart. They'd never lose these guys if she took that thing with her. Nodding and not looking back, Gilda darted at top flight speed in the opposite direction as Pathfinder. As fast as she was, the guards didn't stand a chance to catch up to her. Before she knew it, she was on the outside. Almost immediately, she then began to fly straight downward to the surface to look for an entrance to the sewers.

Finding one, she glanced back up, to see if any griffons could see her. Not seeing any, she slipped into the sewer hole and closed it behind her. Even if she was now in a sewer, she was satisfied with her speedy escape. She only hoped that Pathfinder would have the same luck she had with hers. After all, she doubted the pegasus had quite the extent of speed training she had. She laughed. Why exactly was she even caring if this pony was safe? She shook her head, ultimately deciding it was just that she needed the pony to get that awesome helmet.

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder was a mite slower than Gilda, but she wasn't the one who had drawn the ire of the guards. Pathfinder hadn't been the one who had taken in claw the artifact, nor had she been the one to threaten it. This afforded Pathfinder a few extra seconds of freedom to gather her speed and make her escape down the flight shaft, traversing the very same passage she had used to get up into the museum in the first place. In a matter of only a few dozen seconds, Pathfinder burst out of the building and went headlong towards the barren street below. Behind her, she could start to feel the heat of pursuit.

Pathfinder cut to the opposite side of the building, then cut cross the street and turned around the side of that building before cutting into an alley and then crossing another street, then went deep into an alley and made several wild turns. Finding a manhole, Pathfinder shot through it, the cover flipping into the air and slamming shut back on its own accord. Finding a moment of silence, she sat hovered and brought out her map. She had done well, making her escape within the same neighborhood. She had a decent idea as to where the manhole outside of the museum was, and therefore where she could find Gilda. Re-adjusting her hat and taking a deep breath, she took off swiftly into the sewer, ready to find and hug her griffon friend.

The first jaunt into a possible location had gone wrong, somewhat at least. It had been exciting, for sure, and Gilda had proven herself an awesome ally- and friend! Yes, a friend! They were good friends. She had proven herself and Pathfinder wasn't going to let her down. Maybe they could camp out for the night under Pathfinder's tent and have her hay...did Griffons eat hay? Darnit! Why did Griffons have to be so weird and carnivorous? Pathfinder wasn't going to eat any meat, but she guessed she wouldn't kick Gilda out of the tent if she did. Ohh, and maybe they could roast some marshmallows while they planned their next hit?

Pathfinder smiled as she stormed through the sewers

[RarityDash]

Gilda looked around at her dark, dank surroundings. Well, here she was in the sewers. It felt like a totally lame place to be. She didn't particularly like it very much. Eh, at least those griffons weren't tailing her anymore. She had made a clean getaway, whether she felt particularly clean at that moment or not. She still hoped to find that pony and leave the sewer quick as she could.

After flying for a little while, she eventually spotted something flying past. She decided to follow it and eventually made the shape out to be the pony she sought. She found herself smiling, despite herself at seeing Pathfinder safe. She flew a little faster, coming to meet the pony.

"Hey!" she started. "Quick thinking back there. It's pretty impressive that we both managed to get away to safety."

[SteelEagle]

Awesome! Gilda had made her escape from the security griffons and they weren't separated.

It would make an awesome chapter when she wrote the book about all of this. Not only had she made a friend, but said friend had helped her find out that the first museum was a bust. Plus, they had evaded through the use of cunning and wit the greatest of security griffons in the world! Well, maybe she would use different terms for them. The greatest security would be wherever they found the helm, because otherwise it just wasn't dramatic.

"We both did great! Adventurer Pathfinder and her best friend Gilda outwitting tough, brute security griffons in order to escape a highly secure vault. Next time, we'll get that helm and Equestria will shower us with fame, love, adulation, and fortune!" She screeched, hugging Gilda tightly for a few seconds. She then let the griffon go and started flying leisurely down the sewer.

"Come! We'll go to my base camp and rest for the night. We've got more places to search tomorrow!"

[RarityDash]

Gilda was shocked when the pony suddenly hugged her. Since when was she anypony's best friend? This pony was just insane or something. What was her deal? She moved too fast for Gilda to complain about any of it either. After only a few seconds, she was flying ahead again and blathering about some other things. It was too much for Gilda to keep very good track of.

"Oh, you have a 'base camp'?" Gilda, finally finding an opportunity to speak, started with curiosity in her voice. "I gotta see that."

She wanted to say more, but she stopped herself. She couldn't believe herself. This pony was plain crazy and more than a little ridiculous. Despite it, Gilda was really starting to have fun. It almost reminded of her days as a chick, flying around Cloudsdale with a certain rainbow maned pegasus Gilda wished she could blot from her memory.

Don't get her wrong, Gilda still planned to take advantage of this pony. When they found the helmet they sought, she was still going to take it for herself. She was confident in that. No, all this meant is that that would be just a little harder when the time came.

[SteelEagle]

"Well yeah! Duh! Of course I have a base camp. How else was I gonna keep all my stuff prepared to spend the weeks or months it'd take to scour this city to find the helm?" Pathfinder said incredulously, followed by a chortle. "You're a riot, Gil!" Pathfinder said, snorting as they made yet another turn, this time into one of the many hundreds of little rooms in the sewer system, used by sewer workers and other sewer dwellers as a storage facility. Luckily, Griffons seemed to have little need for such areas, and this one looked to have been abandoned for some time. Cobwebs littered the walls and the flickering lamp told of the shapes of dozens of dangerous looking arachnids as they scurried into the darkness to avoid the two creatures entering the room.

In the middle of it was a single lamp, whose flickering lamp cast a dying light beside a single, medium sized tent that had more than a few holes on the outside. Pathfinder grabbed the lamp and gave it a few taps, the fireflies inside kicking into high gear, the light blasting out across the room, revealing the many dozens of arachnids who swiftly snuck into the cracks in the wall of the room. Pathfinder smiled.

"Oh man, we're going to have so much fun! I have food, and water, and marshmallows, and Daring-Do books, and projectiles, and board games, and maps, and Daring-Do fanfiction, and explosives- hey now, get off of Gilda, she doesn't want you laying eggs in her beautiful hair!" Pathfinder said excitedly, buzzing about the room before turning to Gilda and rolling her eyes as she slapped off a giant tarantula that had squatted slowly over Gilda's head in preparation for egg laying. It scurried back into the sewer, all eight legs making audible clicks as it did so.

Pathfinder hovered and set down the lamp, landing on her back hooves as she set her saddlebag down. She gave an audible hiss, the sharp pain from her hooves almost too acute to stop a scream. She landed on her front hooves a moment later and sighed.

"Woo! Well, whatcha wanna do?"

(I'm really arachnophobic, that was hard to write because I started to freak out.XD)

[RarityDash]

Gilda frowned a little. It seemed like they'd be staying in this sewer. She guessed it kind of made sense. Wasn't really any other place that was safe for a pony to crash around Talonopolis. Still, the idea of sleeping in a sewer didn't entirely set right with the griffon. As she had told Pathfinder, griffons built up, with higher altitudes equating to more importance. Staying here, below even the ground level just seemed wrong to her, like admitting she was a lower griffon there for others to trample over.

She had no intentions of complaining about it though. If this pony could tough it out and stay down here, she could too. Besides, she didn't want to risk getting caught, especially since she had stolen something from the museum. It was probably better she stayed out of sight.

The pony lead Gilda to her camp, which was pretty much just a shoddy, hole-ridden tent. Gilda had made do with worse before. The pony then began to excitedly blather on about her marshmallows and explosives and whatever, mostly leaving Gilda wondering what exactly this "Daring Do" thing the pony seemed so enthusiastic about was.

That was until the pony's words changed direction. Gilda was deeply confused at first, until suddenly Pathfinder beat something off of Gilda's head. She looked down and saw the biggest spider she had ever seen scurry off. She noticed other movement along the walls then and suddenly all her fur and feathers were standing on end.

"What the--?" Gilda shouted out. She looked at Pathfinder. She didn't care if it was kind of lame to complain now, this was just... ugh... "This is... You actually expect a proud griffon like me to sleep in some dank, creepy sewer crawling with spiders?"

[SteelEagle]

Gilda's outburst caught Pathfinder off-guard for just a moment. Gilda had been playing herself off as same tough as nails, hard Griffon who wasn't afraid of anything. To find a dent in her armor, while somewhat alarming considering she was supposed to the muscle in this operation, was a little funny. So much so that she laughed a little, covering her mouth with her hoof politely as she did so.

"Oh Gilda, don't tell me you're afraid of spiders! Once when I was in the Everfree Forest, I flew right into the web of a spider as big as this whole room! You know what I did while I waited for it to come close so I could knock it out and cut myself out? Finished some matchmaking form! Don't be so silly, little filly. Or is the big tough Griffon really just a chicken? Besides, that proud griffon won't be sleeping IN a sewer. She'll be sleeping in a TENT in a sewer. And not just any tent, but an awesome one." Pathfinder said playfully as she opened up her tent and went inside, putting the lamp on the ground. A few moments later, ignoring the obviously intense pain from her hooves, she trotted back out with two tiny bags of candy. She placed them on the ground and stretched.

"This tent's like my real home, ya know. I've had it since I was just a little filly camping up high in Cloudsdale. It's seen more than arrows, fire, and explosions than the whole Equestrian military, and I even once drew a picture of it and sent it to the author of the Daring-Do books. He sent it back with a court order telling me to stop contacting him, though he relented later and told me it was, 'nice'. Pretty awesome! Anyway, you like candy?" Pathfinder was bursting at the seams with energy as she curled up on the ground.

[RarityDash]

Pathfinder was really starting to get a little irritating. Like, on the level of that annoying pink dweeb from Ponyville, irritating. Which was weird given lots of what the pony had done earlier in the night had been legitimately cool. It was honestly hard for Gilda to reconcile. Was this pony awesome or lame? it was almost like she was both somehow.

"It's not fear, pony, it's disgust. I'm in a sewer with a pony, so by griffon standards this is already pretty horribly low, then you go and add ugly bugs crawling all over me to do who knows what and it goes from low to just plain wrong," Gilda explained in an even, yet irritated voice, not feeling up to shouting.

"Still, guess it beats getting found by authorities and thrown behind bars though, so I'll put up with it, if I must." Gilda gave a heavy, miserable sigh.

The pony proceeded to blather some more about her tent and getting a court order and candy and stuff. Gilda could hardly keep up. She rolled her eyes as she stared at the strange pony.

"You really have issues, you know that, pony?" Gilda muttered, giving a small chuckle at the pony's expense. "What the heck is this Daring Do thing you keep mentioning anyway?"

[SteelEagle]

"It's not fear, pony, it's disgust. I'm in a sewer with a pony, so by griffon standards this is already pretty horribly low, then you go and add ugly bugs crawling all over me to do who knows what and it goes from low to just plain wrong," Gilly said, her annoyance clear to even Pathfinder.

Truth be told, it was a little hurtful. She had hoped that Gilda would prove to be the exception to the rule that Griffons disliked ponies, but it sounded as if Gilda was part of the mass that considered ponies inferior in some ways. While upsetting, she didn't take it hard for long and soon put a positive spin on it. What adventuring duo got along well at first? None of them at all, that's who! They all had to overcome some endemic personal conflict. All sorts of -isms had to be overcome before two adventurers could be considered best friends as well as comrades, and for Gilly and pathfinder, it would be species-ism! At first, she looked a tad hurt, but swiftly it turned into a smile.

"Still, guess it beats getting found by authorities and thrown behind bars though, so I'll put up with it, if I must." Gilly's anguished sigh let out in exasperation signaled a victory for Pathfinder. Huzzah! She felt a little bad about having to attack her pride initially, but it was smart. Not only was it something Daring-Do'd do, but if she hadn't done it, maybe Gilda would have left and she woulda been alone.

"You really have issues, you know that, pony?" Gilly muttered, though loud enough for Pathfinder to hear it. She then chuckled, "What the heck is this Daring Do thing you keep mentioning anyway?"

Le GASP. Who didn't know of Daring Do? That's like asking who didn't know CELESTIA!

Pathfinder shot up as if being prodded and shot into her tent, the sheer speed of which sucked in most things from the opposite of the room due to sheer wind vacuum. After a moment, she returned with a veritable pile of materials. Books of many types. Comics. Magazines. Fanfiction. Drawings.

"You don't know who Daring-Do is?! WHY, SHE'S THE GREATEST ADVENTURER OF ALL TIME! OF ALL TIME, I SAY! Sixteen award winning novels, eight young adult novels, six full-issued comics, a few magazines, and my awesome drawings and fanfiction! All about the greatest adventurer of all time!"She said excitedly and earnestly as the massive pile of materials outside the tent grew. She then perched herself on top of it.

"I'll read the first one while you eat some candy! And the only issue I have is how awesome I am, Gilly!"

[RarityDash]

"You don't know who Daring-Do is?! WHY, SHE'S THE GREATEST ADVENTURER OF ALL TIME! OF ALL TIME, I SAY! Sixteen award winning novels, eight young adult novels, six full-issued comics, a few magazines, and my awesome drawings and fanfiction! All about the greatest adventurer of all time!"

Gilda stared in stupefied awe at the assortment of stuff the pony returned with. Drawing, books, comics, all sorts of other junk. Wow. This Daring Do must be a big deal or something. Gilda's eyes went to study the items in the collection more rigorously. What she saw really kind of surprised her.

"Wait a sec?!" she exclaimed, now suddenly confused. "Isn't this you?!"

She pointed to the picture on the front of one of the books. It was the same pony on all of them. She looked pretty much exactly like the pony she was with right now. It was weird. Gilda found herself more confused than ever before.

"I'll read the first one while you eat some candy! And the only issue I have is how awesome I am, Gilly!"

"Sure, whatever you say," Gilda said to this line, too confused to argue. She liked sweets more than she'd ever care to admit anyway.

[SteelEagle]

"Wait a sec?!" Gilda exclaimed, eyes bug-eyed, "Isn't this you?!"

Pathfinder chortled loudly. Well, unless she was a book, she couldn't be Daring-Do! Unless the books were non-fiction, which meant that she was Daring-Do and was therefore due great royalties from the books that used her name. How many bits? Enough to pay off debt, for sure.

"Nah, that isn't me. But I read these books in the orphanage as a filly and I thought to myself, 'Y'know, she's a brave, awesome adventurer who isn't afraid of anything. I can be her and I won't have to worry about nothin'!' and well, you see me know. I'm an awesome adventurer and my coat is stunning!" She said as she pet her side briefly to accentuate the beauty of her coat.

"Sure, whatever you say,"

And then Gilda said sure to her offer of a book, and she squealed. She dug into her pile and pulled out a near flawless signed first edition of, "Daring-Do and the Sapphire Stone", a bag of candy, and slid down the pile of valuable Daring Do items until she was once again parked in front of the dim and flaring lamp. She beckoned her new Griffon friend to sit next to her with the offer of a treat, and cracked open the book. From then until the end, she would carry on like a holy mare pushing redemption. As far as she was concerned, she was.

"As Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky. But her crash landing in the jungle had injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days. Few days... it might as well be a few months, or a few years! The mosquitoes buzzed loudly. The macaws cried from the high trees. Yet all of these distracting noises were not enough to cover the sound of the predators following her every step..." She started, completely engrossed in the book and more than willing to read the entire thing, aloud, in one sitting. She'd done it before and was sure to do it again.

[RarityDash]

So this Daring Do was the ultimate goal for this pony. She was her idle. She was an orphan, likely alone and miserable as a foal. She had read about this Daring Do, decided she wanted to be her, and the fought through it all to actually become her, or as close as she could get. The sentiment of that story really kind of resonated with Gilda more than she would have cared to admit. She understood what it was like to feel alone. There were a number of times in her aimless where she would have been gracious to have something like a Daring Do to latch onto.

it was for those reasons that, as Pathfinder began to read the book, she listened receptively. She began to munch on some of the candy as she listened. Gilda wasn't much of a reader. She honestly didn't know much about books at all. As a general rule, as far as she was concerned, they were totally lame and for nerds and eggheads. Back in her Cloudsdale flight camp days, her and a certain filly she'd rather not think about would get a serious rise out of teasing any of the other kids they found reading. Still, while actually reading herself might have been a bit much to ask, she was actually pretty cool with being read to at the moment. Maybe it was just the pony's story, maybe she was just too lazy to fight it, but her ears remained open.

So far it wasn't bad either. Gilda could picture the jungle vividly in her mind. She didn't say anything as she continued to listen, more interested to see what happened then she'd ever let on.

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder had long ago stopped holding the book. She had the entire thing memorized from start to finish in a fashion even she considered bizarre. It made sense- it had been the first book in the series and consequently the first book she had ready, and through her dozens and dozens of re-reads, every word on every page had become imprinted into her memory and, indeed, her soul. She recited the words on the page in perfect sequence and acted out the parts of Daring Do as well as every other character in the book. It started off simply with only the main villain playing a role, but it got increasingly complicated as the plot grew and grew.

As she enacted her one-mare play, she used Gilda as the pivot, the audience. She flew when she needed fly, dove when she needed to dive, did whatever was required to act out the words on the page- in her mind. She used accents when appropriate, pauses when needed, and generally made a foal out of herself in the name of art- in the name of Daring-Do! Only once in a while did she stop to snag a tiny bit of candy. Hey, she had to be energized in order to do this.

After what seemed like hours and hours, she yawned. She was almost near the end though.

"And Daring-Do hovered over the bottomless pit, being pursued by the hounds of tartarus ITSELF!" She yelled, nearing the climax.

[RarityDash]

This pony was just mental. That was the only conclusion Gilda could reach as she watched her act out an entire book all by herself, seemingly going by memory. the griffon had never seen anything like it and was honestly at something of a loss.

Though it was only ever so often she found herself thinking about the crazy pony telling the story. The great majority of the time she was focused on the story being told. She had to admit, it was pretty exciting and suspenseful. This Daring Do pony was really pretty cool and she thought the villain of the story, this Ahuitzotl, sounded pretty awesome too. The story was full of deadly traps and fearsome creatures and there was just nothing about it that was particularly lame.

"And Daring-Do hovered over the bottomless pit, being pursued by the hounds of tartarus ITSELF!"

Gilda had for the most part remained quiet, trying not to ever look too impressed, but as the story neared its climax, she could help herself.

"Then what happened?" she demanded, on the edge of her seat.

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder turned around, her eye lent a terrible aspect as she glared at Gilda.

"From the deep came an immortal howl, that of the terrible three headed dog Cerberus. From the sides came the yapping of its many dozens of smaller, but no less terrifying in their mass, guard dogs who choked off the escapes. Daring Do, her body weary and shattered from the adventure, could only gaze down below with anticipation as the sound of paws running up the sides of the pit, fire crafting dangerous rings of red around its blackened figure as it lurched closer and closer up the pit."

Pathfinder flew into the darkness and then re-appeared next to Gilda.

"The first head of the great beast lunged towards Daring-Do, its immortal teeth snapping right below her hooves and sending the stench of a thousand years blasting her towards the ceiling. Against this her wings beat and she shot below the first snapping head the second took aim. It missed as well and bit into the first, who howled with pain long enough for the pegasus to duck between the two. Unluckily in the darkness she could not see the third until it was almost too late, the head lunging straight at her. She passed by the very hairs of her tail as the jaw closed and found herself on back of the creature's neck. Another blast of that sinister fire from tartarus down below lit the area, and she could see the mangy, ill-gotten fur of the great beast and the ancient collar around it's neck. She saw the indentation and swiftly shoved her the stone into the opening." She continued, acting it all out as she went along.

"A huge burst of energy shattered her vision and sent her flying against the wall. After that...nothing." She stopped for a few minutes, hovering away from Gilda. She was silent for a full minute and just when it appeared Gilda would speak, she started again.

"Daring-Do awoke outside in the jungle. Around her she could see the armor and arms of the royal guard, their former owners now feeding Tartarus forever, as well as the armor of the cult Aazhucaltl had hired. The villain himself now appeared as a relief on the stone wall, his very essence carved into the mural above the door that, Pathfinder had found out the hard way, lead into Tartarus itself. No animals made a sound and the wind did not make its presence known. Daring Do got up and dusted off her hat, too numb to try and figure out how she had gotten out. Her wings were too weak, having beaten against the harshness of Tartarus itself recently, broken and useless. She walked this way for some time-

-SUDDENLY, she felt her body tremble as a shockwave was sent out from the ancient forbidden entrance behind her, knocking her to her stomach. Dizzy, she stood up and looked behind her- nothing at all. Not the guards, the temple, the relief- nothing. A voice pierced her head and sent her back down to her hooves in pain:

'Greed is your kind's greatest folly, leading you to ruin in the name of fortune. We have allowed you to survive as you returned the Stone to the place from whence it came and pleased my pet. But remember; all things are finite except for me, and all creatures subject to my final judgment. Daring-Do, do not displease me.' An ancient, gravelly voice spat out before another shockwave echoed across the landscape. This time, Daring-Do could see what appeared to be the temple she had first retrieved the stone rise up right before the shockwave sent her flying against the tree...only to wake several days later, with no memory of the events that had transpired." Pathfinder said fluttering in front of Gilda before getting close on all four hooves.

"As Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky. But her crash landing in the jungle had injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days. Few days... it might as well be a few months, or a few years! The mosquitoes buzzed loudly. The macaws cried from the high trees. Yet all of these distracting noises were not enough to cover the sound of the predators following her every step..."