When Twilight had asked “Want to take another look at the Everfree castle,” Rainbow Dash had not expected it to mean “Want to stand around endlessly?” Especially with all the gushing about “exciting historical significance.”

She sighed, flicking her tail as she leaned against the smooth stone wall. The pale purple surface seemed duller and duller with each swish of the vibrant, multi-colour strands. The pegasus’ eyes fell down her snout and continued across the woefully bare room. They settled in the centre where Twilight Sparkle busied herself.

A twinkle, not unlike the starbursts in the unicorn’s cutie mark, filled her eyes as they darted from wall to the floating quill and parchment and back. The glow of her horn and the magic surrounding her hovering pen and paper cast a soft pink over her purple coat. A light blue saddlebag hung across her back, the corner of a yellowed book peeking out from under the half open flap. A shower of glitter plucked the tome from its nest, the pages of ‘Castles Throughout the Years: A Comprehensive Guide’ spilling open.

“Are you done yet?”

“Almost. Yes, I’m certain this must have been a study! Which means I was right. This is unlike anything listed in my book!”

With a quick stroke, the quill added another line to the scroll, completing the fourth box in the diagram.

“So a bedroom is where the dining room is supposed to be. What’s the big deal?” Dash’s forehoof met with a pebble, sending it skipping into the dimly lit shadows.

“Oh, come on. This is the princesses’ castle! And it’s customized! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Not if it’s boring and empty.”

Twilight stared at her friend through slitted eyes.

“I mean, where’s the little pictures? The treasure? The adventure? This is just one empty room after the other.”

“Dash. Princesses’ castle. Not the Lost Temple of the Sapphire Stone.”

“I wish it was.”

“Wrong side of the world.” Twilight sighed, her magic stuffing the tools back into her bag. “And you know, Daring doesn’t find adventure in every room either.”

“No offense, Twilight, but at least she can make boring things sound, well, not boring.”

The unicorn rolled her eyes. “This way.”

She led her friend under a crumbling arch and into a small room. Time had not been any kinder there, leaving the stone tired and broken. If not for the line of rotted bookcases dominoing across the side wall and the doorless cabinet on the other, it could have been just a smaller version of the previous room.

Twilight made her way to the shelves, light flowing from her horn as her magic poked at the mixture of moss and webbing. “I can’t believe any of this survived!”

“Yea. ‘Survived.’” Dash replied, breaking off toward the cabinet. She reached out and to touch one of the lower drawers. The handle clattered to the ground. The pegasus sighed, propping her forehooves on top of the drawer.

And jumped as the container edged backward.

Rainbow blinked, eyes flitting to Twilight with the careful indignity of a cat. Satisfied that her friend was still distracted by the mess of broken wood, Dash turned her attention back to the cabinet.

Squinting past the shadows, she realized the wall was further from the cupboard than she originally thought. She poked her head around back. The passage was cramped: not even two ponies wide and slanted down, slinking off into an endless darkness.

“Hey, Twilight. This one goes down. Do castles go down?”

The unicorn trotted over, the light of her horn forcing the blackness to give way -- to more blackness. She frowned.

“Yes, but I’d expect the cellar to be closer to the kitchen.”

Dash flashed Twilight a grin, almost springing into the mouth of the pathway. “Could be a secret passage. Let’s check it out!”

“If it is, somepony did a really bad job of keeping it hidden. Just don’t get your hopes up. If we find anything, it’ll probably be somepony’s hundreds of years old lunch.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Can’t be more boring than up here.”

---

The ramp circled round for the fifth time before it finally leveled off. The passage widened, breaking off in all directions, its size lost in impenetrable darkness.

Twilight had barely opened her mouth when a loud, echoing click grabbed her attention. The room blasted into existence, flames licking out from torches all along the wall. The mares each tucked their heads against their bodies, the unicorn raising a forehoof and Rainbow, a wing, when that was not enough.

After several long moments, the light settled into a warm glow. The room was wide and rectangular with heavily faded carvings running all along the walls. On the far side was an open door, a couple cobwebs slung delicately across its frame.

In the very centre was a stone pedestal, its cylindrical form chipped and battered. A weathered vase, its design unlike anything Twilight had ever seen, crowned the altar.

Dash grinned, hurrying over to the vase. “Hey, check it out.”

She peered around to the left, then waved her foreleg above the container. She brushed her bangs from her face and rubbed her forehooves together.

Twilight giggled, her mind painting a pith helmet atop her friend’s head.

With a look of indifference, Rainbow Dash snatched the urn with her mouth.

“Wait, don’t touch it! It might be-”

The room trembled. The ceiling spewed dust and a few larger chunks even dislodged themselves.

‘Out! Get out!’ Twilight’s mind screamed.

She turned to the entrance just in time to see a thick slab of rock come crashing down with deafening force. Thousands of specks shot off the floor, joining the existing grit in attacking the unicorn. She fell to her knees in a fit of coughing and blurry tears.

Seconds passed. Then minutes. An eternity later, the room fell deathly silent. Twilight groaned, forcing an eye open.

Rainbow Dash let out a cough from behind the pedestal. She was huddled against the ground, the vase beneath her miraculously still in one piece.

The pegasus met Twilight’s gaze, a small, sheepish smile forming. “Booby trapped?”

“I... was going to say fragile,” the purple pony replied, hacking out more dust, “but yes, that too.”

Dash stood and shook herself out before carefully retrieving the jar and setting it back on its stand. She glanced from vase to entrance and back again. Her wings drooped.

Sweat formed on the pegasus’ forehead as she rushed over to the slab, pushing with all her might. Twilight’s horn glowed, the magenta of her magic shining out from beneath Rainbow’s hooves.

“It won’t budge...” Dash gasped.

“Maybe I can teleport us,” Twilight said, fighting back a frown. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth as colour poured from her horn. Pain leapt across her brain, like a slap to the forehead, except somehow inside her skull. She jerked back, wobbling a few moments before she collapsed.

“Twilight?!” Rainbow Dash galloped over to her fallen friend.

“Nnnugh, why isn’t it working?”

Twilight scrambled to her hooves and stared at the far end of the room. Her horn sparkled, but before she knew it, she was on her rump again. She clenched her eyes, clutching her forelegs to the sides of her head.

“Twilight, stop. What’s wrong?”

The purple pony pushed herself to her hooves, brushing some dust from her fur. “It’s like everytime I try to do it, I crash into some sort of magic wall. I... I guess it makes sense, since this is the princesses’ castle, but...”

Both mares looked forlornly at sealed passage.

Rainbow turned her gaze to the other door, the pegasus hesitating with each word. “Maybe there’s a switch or something?”

Twilight gulped. “Only one way to find out.”

Twenty shaky steps later, they found themselves in a large, square room. Crumbling pillars, seemingly held up by their blanket of overgrowth, ran the length of the left and right sides. At the end of the columns was a doorway. But this one was blocked by a grate, rust covering it top to bottom.

Both edged their way to the doorway, small chunks of broken rock skittering away from their hooves.

Dash pressed her weight against the metal, her trouble gaining her little more than a light rattle. “No good...”

She glanced about the room. A hole, just to her left, caught her eye. Its rounded, hoof shape beckoned. “Maybe there’s something in there?”

Twilight squatted, trying to squint past the blackness. “Do you want to stick your hoof in that?”

Rainbow eyed the hole again. It was just too inviting. Too easy. “No thanks.”

“Thought so. Hmmm... but what if...”

Twilight’s horn glowed and a sizable hunk of rock rose from the floor. It made its way over to the cavity, sliding easily inside.

Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, click. Crunch.

“I think I got it!” Despite the unsettling clattering, the unicorn found herself beaming as the gate fell into the floor.

‘Just like Daring Do!’ she thought.

Twilight’s mouth fell open, her mind pulled aboard a high speed train of thought. She stared blankly at the hoof hole. The sealing entrance, the grate, the hoof hole switch, the layout of the rooms. The sequence was chillingly familiar: one she had read many times. She peered over at Dash, the pegasus almost mirroring her look. “This could be just coincidence, but-”

“Daring Do and the Tomb of Horse?”

“Yea. But there’s no way. That’s just silly.”

Rainbow let out a nervous chuckle. “Wrong side of the world, right?”

They pressed onward and found themselves in a spacious corridor, an open passage sitting at the far end. A large crack traveled along the low ceiling, leaving a curved pile of debris in its wake. Simple, dull edged glyphs ran the full length of each wall, creating an endless arrangement of bucket carrying ponies.

Dash followed each carving, her stare becoming wider with each new figure. She stepped back, her imagination drawing a dotted line where Daring Do should be.

“Okaaaaay... this is just creepy.”

Twilight nodded, pressing a hoof to one the blackened silhouettes. “It’s... just like the cover.”

Rainbow glanced side to side. “You think we’ll find Horse sitting on a pile of treasure, cursing at the rest of the world?”

Twilight frowned. “I... I want to say no. That a pony feeling so hurt and alone as to abandon her name is just an old mare’s tale. But it all just keeps adding up... Maybe we should turn back.”

Rainbow Dash strode down the hall, boldly puffing out her chest. “And do what? Besides, Daring would never-”

“But we’re not Daring, Dash!” the unicorn hissed.

Rainbow struck a pose. “Maybe not, but not exactly nor- What?!”

She hopped backward as the tile gave way, sinking firmly into the floor. With an unholy screech, the gate slid back into place.

“No fair! That’s not in the book!” the pegasus moaned.

The walls shook and groaned, the stone jaws of a great beast closing in on the ponies.

“RUN!” Twilight yelled, breaking into a gallop.

Rainbow charged to the remaining doorway, easily outpacing the walls. With a grin, she turned back to Twilight. But her smile quickly melted into horror: the purple pony was falling behind.

Launching herself back into the hallway, the pegasus swung around, leaving a flowing rainbow trail. She slammed into the unicorn with all the force she could muster and they shot forward, becoming a tornado of limbs and colourful fur.

The two of them tumbled head over hooves for a good few seconds, kicking up a cloud of dust that could give the walls a run for their money. As the mares came to a stop in a tangle of pastel grime, the room filled with the sickening crunch of stone on stone, followed by an ominous boom.

Twilight peeked over her bangs. Two giant purple slabs sat together in a tight hug, the hallway a victim of their affection.

“Thanks... Rainbow,” she gasped.

“Don’t... don’t mention it...”

Twilight pushed herself off of her friend and stood, scanning the room. The same carvings from what used to be the corridor lined both the outer wall and the pillars that ran along it. Heaps of cloth sat in tattered piles against the left and right walls. With great care, she tiptoed over to the closest heap. After several moments of magical prodding, she lifted it, revealing the remains of a banner.

The barest of blues fought its way through the caked dust. Despite the extensive damage, Twilight knew exactly what she was looking at: two ponies forming a circle around the sun and the moon.

She frowned. The vision of a deep purple flag, its centre stamped yellow by a crescent horseshoe, danced through the back of her mind.

“Somepony went through a lot of work,” the unicorn mused.

“To make this look like Horse’s Tomb?”

“Or liked it enough to write a book about it. Certain details aside, anyway.” She glanced at the Equestrian banner one more time before letting it fall to the floor.

“As cool as that sounds, this is starting to get old.”

“It does give us an advantage. If we’re careful to avoid any extra surprises, we know where to go and how to get there.”

“So we find Horse’s room and bust out through her exit?”

Twilight nodded.

“Let’s do it.”

They left the room and as expected, they were forced into a sharp right turn, the hallway widening into something no less than huge. Twilight was almost certain they could cram a few of Ponyville’s houses inside if they tried hard enough.

As the pair stepped away from the corner, Twilight half expected Horse’s booming voice to demand they turn back. To tell them she had not forgiven them for abandoning her and that proceeding would be their end. Instead, she found her hooves giving way.

With a yelp, both ponies scrambled back from the sinking tiles. They stared dumbly as the bricks fell away, a tidal wave of stone crashing down upon each other. Within seconds, a pit, filled with rows upon rows of sharpened stone stood where the floor used to be.

Twilight sighed. “That’s new.”

Rainbow grinned, flexing her wings. “Nothing these babies can’t handle.”

Before Twilight could open her mouth, Dash took off, making a quick lap of the hall.

“There could have been more traps!”

“Duh! What do you think I was looking for?”

Twilight let out another sigh. “Let’s just go.”

The unicorn’s stomach churned, despite Dash’s iron grip, as each jagged tooth passed beneath the pair. But after several tense moments, they cleared the doorway. Twilight let out a breath she did not even realize she was holding.

Her hooves were barely on the ground when a loud, metallic ping echoed around the room. Twilight’s eyes darted over the narrow passage, the crumbling stone railing forming into a balcony that overlooked a great black void. But nothing caught her attention.

She turned her gaze to the empty expanse, another balcony sitting opposite the pit. Then she looked up. A pulsing pink crystal sat embedded in the high roof. Her eyes went wide.

“Dash, get d-oof!” the unicorn cried out as she was thrown against the railing. She gasped inaudibly, struggling to untangle herself while the air blasted over her.

“I can’t!” Rainbow yelled. “It’s got me!”

Twilight pushed her head up and found herself eating her mane. She spit the strands aside as she tried to find her friend.

Rainbow Dash thrashed ferociously. But her flailing hooves and wings seemed little match for the gale drawing her closer and closer to the hungry crystal.

“Rainbow! Hang on!”

“To WHAT?!”

Twilight’s horn leapt to life, a magenta light encircling both it and Dash. The unicorn grunted, eyes widening as her friend continued to crawl upwards. Sweat beaded on her brow, a second layer of magic forming. But still she found herself losing the tug-of-war.

Her mind tripped over itself as it scrambled through page after page. Until finally Daring Do came through for her. If only she could do the same for Dash.

Bracing her body on the balcony, Twilight stood. Dust ground beneath her hooves as she dug in, her magic expanding once more. She squinted and a small bolt shot toward the gem. The attack went wide, shattering into glittering shards as it struck the ceiling. She tried again. And a third time, each attempt coming a little closer.

But Twilight’s horn was starting to feel heavier, her knees starting to buckle. The unicorn focused one more time. The beam found home and all sound died away. The crystal’s vibrant pink sank into a deep purple.

Twilight reeled Rainbow Dash in, nearly dumping her friend on the floor before collapsing into a heap. Several minutes passed as the two just lay there, their gasps filling the room.

Dash glanced at Twilight. “No more.... flying... around crazy gems... Thanks, Twi.”

“Any... anytime. I can’t believe... Daring did that... with a hat...” the purple pony groaned.

“She’s a lot better at this.”

Twilight let out a giggle. “You can say that again. Let’s go before that thing gets any more ideas.”

Though tender and bruised, the girls struggled to their hooves, crossed the balcony and shuffled down the ramp.

The passage was long, but for once, nothing threatened them. Still, they took their time, Twilight prodding at the floor and walls with broken chunks of rock. She did her best to focus, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Horse.

‘Even the most magnificent things, whether they be great monuments or the best of relationships, eventually crumble and become forgotten,’ in particular, nagged at her mind.

The following room was small, almost cramped. On the exact opposite side was a ramp leading up. In the middle was a stone pedestal, a series of deep cracks spider webbing from halfway up its base. Beside it lay an overturned pony bust, its form split almost straight down the centre. Beneath the bust’s head was a long band of metal, its form twisted and crushed.

Rainbow blinked, gaping at the shattered tiara. “No way. It was real?”

“Feeling nopony could understand her, Horse channeled all of her rage and sorrow into a torrent of chaotic magic. The result: a crown that makes a pony everything she is not,” Twilight recited, eyes following invisible lines just above her bangs.

Both girls shuddered.

They made their way to the far ramp, doing their best not to look back. After another long length of uneventful corridor, they found themselves on the second balcony. A familiar bottomless gap greeted them and as they crossed the ledge, a glint brought Twilight’s eyes back to the dormant purple gem above.

She leaned in, whispering to her pegasus friend lest she reawaken the slumbering beast, “Crazy gem.”

Rainbow Dash gave a solemn nod.

The next room was huge, the bricks of the ceiling practically specks in the distance. A pair of giant stone slabs, as tall as the mares several times over, towered above an intricately carved altar.

The girls trotted over. Set into the altar’s surface was a stone disc. Upon the disc itself were stylized depictions of the sun and the moon, the second of which was pointed at the slabs.

Dash frowned. “No seasons? What gives?”

Twilight shook her head, circling the disc. “We’re on our own on this one.”

Rainbow Dash glared at the pedestal, pressing her weight against it. Although it grinded in protest, she forced it to turn. As the sun aligned with the door, the two slabs swung open with an earth shaking rumble.

Several metres into the new passage, tongues of flame licked up and down, creating a wall of heat. Both mares’ jaws dropped.

Twilight shifted nervously. “How-?”

Tremors filled the room once more, the doors slamming shut with unexpected speed. The pedestal clicked as it ground back into place, its moon once more facing the closed stones.

“Let’s try that again,” Twilight mumbled, her horn lighting up. She brought the disc around, revealing the same hall of fire. Half a minute later and it was gone.

The unicorn steeled herself. “I’m going in.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, staring at Twilight as though she had grown a second horn. “What? What are you going to do in there?”

“Look around.”

“Uhh...”

“After the doors close, wait about a minute and then open it again.”

Dash tilted her head. “You sure?”

“Yea, I have an idea.” Twilight smiled unconvincingly.

The girls turned the altar one more time. Rainbow paced nervously as the stone maw swallowed her friend. She counted each excruciating moment in her head.

‘She’ll be fine. She’ll be fine,’ Dash told herself each time she swapped direction.

After a small eternity, she eagerly plowed the pedestal into place. She stood tall, fighting the urge to rush forward as the doors inched open.

A beaming Twilight beckoned. “Rainbow! Get in here! It stops when the door closes!”

---

The lair of Horse. Untold riches, their reflections painting the room gold. Pillows of the smoothest silk. Luxury as could only be provided by the most refined of magicks.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, brain scolding her imagination for getting so worked up. The room was big. Big enough that she could probably fit most of her library inside. But aside from the odd vase or stray coin, she realized the pale purple emptiness was the perfect sign the dreaded confrontation with Horse was not to be. She wandered over to the middle, leaving tracks in the dust.

Against the far wall was a small shrine: a perfectly flat stone circle protected by the largely unnecessary roof. On either side were long tapestries, a heavy brown tint dulling the blue background, the princesses and the sun and moon which they were circling.

A flash of white sprung into existence, disappearing as quickly as it came. Strands of flowing pink, green and blue poked out from under the shrine’s roof as the regal, ivory alicorn stepped into view.

Each of the girls gaped, looking to the other for confirmation. Twilight rubbed her eyes. Rainbow sputtered.

“P-princess?!” the girls exclaimed.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash.”

“You’re Horse?” Dash blurted out.

Celestia stared for a moment. “Wherever did you get that idea?”

“You just used the secret entrance.” Twilight waved a forehoof at the shrine. “And this basement is almost exactly like Horse’s Tomb. It’s not a coincidence, is it?”

The princess shook her head and approached the younger mares. “It is not. This was once the royal treasury.”

“Treasury?! Pardon me, Princess, but were things so bad that you needed traps like these?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Like these?”

“Crushing walls, spike pits and fire filled corridors?” Twilight asked, returning her mentor’s gesture.

“And the Crown of Insanity,” Dash added.

“Oh, dear, I see now. There are only two types of traps: illusionary and capture magic. The spikes and fire are the first kind and meant to scare intruders into simply giving up. You could have walked right across those pits or through the flames if you wanted. As for the second, the wall does not crush living beings. It holds and puts them to sleep. Likewise, the Crown of Dancing will make a pony dance until she gets tired and dozes off. And I’m here because the magic in the traps alert me when they are set off.”

Rainbow Dash whistled.

“That makes sense, I guess.” Twilight pondered a moment. “But then who’s Horse?”

“Horse is a Daring Do character, nothing more,” the princess replied. “Even if there are some similarities between she and her author.”

Twilight’s face lit up, growing brighter with each word. “You know who wrote Daring Do? I mean, if anypony would know, you would, but I always wondered who-”

Then it hit her. A pony who felt alone and unappreciated. Hurt and despaired. Who changed her name and stewed in her anger. And knew the layout of the royal treasury like the back of her hoof.

“Wait... it’s Princess Luna, isn’t it?”

Celestia smiled sadly. “If only I’d caught on as fast as you.”

Rainbow tilted her head at Twilight. “What? Daring Do isn’t that old, is it?”

The unicorn scrunched her face. “It isn’t. But everything else fits. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“I stored her drafts until it was nearly time for her to return. I wanted to show her her work was appreciated. With the exception of one part, I only needed to edit some of the older language.”

“Really? Which part?” the younger ponies asked in stereo.

“Oh, just one little incomplete section of a book. It would have been a shame to leave it unpublished because of a few missing pages.”

Twilight pondered, the contents of her favourite books tumbling through her mind. Her eyes glazed over.



“My sister and I, we don’t always see eye to eye,” Daring said, taking off her helmet and holding it to her chest. She stared up at Horse, the larger mare scowling from her perch high atop the mountain of gold. “But no matter what, we still care for each other. Do you think yours is any different? The world, the same one you had a hoof in, is a beautiful place. So maybe you needed a break. Even I get tired. But do you think she would want you to give up so easily?”



Twilight snapped back to reality, a wide grin spreading across her face. “The end. It was the end of Tomb. When Daring talked Horse into giving the world another chance. That was you.”

Celestia smiled and turned back to the shrine. “You must be tired from your adventure. Let’s get you home.”