Daring Do and the Search for the Crystal Chalice

Chapter 2

     A.K. Yearling looked at the hut closely and smiled. The crest on the door handle, a flaming phoenix, matched the one on the letter she had received a day ago. In all outward appearances, it looked like a one-room hut inside of a tree trunk, but she knew that there where many rooms inside of the hill directly behind the tree that housed dozens of artifacts.

     A.K. trotted up to the door as a light rain begun to fall and knocked. The door opened quietly, revealing a Unicorn smiling out at her.

     "Daring Do, or A.K. Yearling, it is good to see you," he side-stepped for her and waved a hoof inside, "Please, come on in, it's gonna be quite a storm tonight."

     "It's good to see you too Fireheart, and Daring Do is just fine," Daring took off her glasses, cloak, and hat, and put on her pith helmet, "You of all ponies should know A.K. is just a disguise." She looked around the room and stretched her wings, "Still as messy as ever, I see."

     "Yeah, well, you know me. I just can't stop collecting things."

     "Of course," Daring looked at a sheathed sword curiously, "So you said you had something for me to do?"

     "Yes I did, follow me," Fireheart teleported to a nearby hallway and started walking, leaving Daring to fly after him to catch up. "Oh good," he said, then chuckled, "I thought you'd forgotten how to fly."

     "Pfft! We Pegasus never forget how to fly."

     "Mhm," he turned into a large library and levitated an old stone covered book over to them, "One of my contacts brought something to my attention that just seems like your kind of job."

     "As long as I'm paid well. What is it I'm looking for?"

     "First, a brief history lesson. The Crystal Ponies didn't always live in the Crystal Empire. There was a time when they lived near current day Manehattan."

     "Let me guess, forest has grown over it now."

     Fireheart nodded, "Pretty much. Most of it is covered and fallen appart, but there are still ways into it. That's where you come in," the stone book opens to a page with a rough drawing of a chalice, "This is what I'd like you to recover."

     "An old cup?" Daring gave him a bored look, "Really..."

     "Well, it's either you get it, or Doctor Caballeron gets to it and I won't be able to give it to Princess Cadence so she can put it in a museum in the Crystal Empire where it belongs."

     Daring Do clenched her teeth at the mention of Caballeron and nodded, "How much are you willing to pay?"

     "Five hundred bits and supplies for the beginning of your trip, then another five hundred when you bring it back, plus a bonus of a thousand bits if you return with it before the end of the month."

     Daring nodded, "Sounds good. You've got yourself a deal."

     Fireheart smiled as the shook hooves, "I thought you'd be interested. There's a saddlebag already packed and ready for you by the door."

     She nodded and smiled back, "Good. I'd hate to wait longer than I need to.