Chapter 1

In a remote part of Equestria, a trio of pony adventurers made their way through the dense underbrush of the jungle. This particular jungle lay far to the south of Equestria's borders; the land was mostly uninhabited and unexplored. Many legends surrounded the land, but for every legend there were several dangers.

Many brave ponies risked the jungle to make the greatest discovery of their lifetimes. The few that did came back with tales of exotic animals and plants. Even rarer were the tales of ancient ruins of a civilization long since lost to time. No one knew who built the ruins, and no known record of their existence remained.

The rumors of these ruins led to whispers of treasure housed within. The first explorers returning home with saddlebags full of gold and gems lent credit to these rumors, which in turn led many brave-or foolhardy-ponies to the jungle. Many never returned, but the promise of easy riches kept them coming despite the dangers.

The three were confident they could face any threat and succeed where many had failed. An earth pony led the way, cutting a path through the thick brush with a machete gripped in his teeth. His dark gray mane was tangled and knotted from moving through the dense foliage. His auburn coat had cuts and bruises all over. His cutie mark was a spy glass; signifying his destiny to be an adventurer. He paused to wipe the sweat from his brow before continuing on.

The pegasus behind him paused to take a drink from her canteen with her good wing. "How much further are we going today Wanderer?" she asked the lead pony.

The aquamarine coated mare brushed a stray lock of her teal colored mane from her face. The opal beaded necklace she wore reflected the evening sunlight. She looked to her injured wing with a disapproving frown before she glanced to her three coin cutie mark. She huffed before looking back at Wanderer.

He chopped a thick bush out of the way, before sheathing the blade on his side. "A little further; we still have some daylight left." he said, continuing on ahead.

She rolled her eyes, and the unicorn behind her spoke up. "We've maybe an hour left before dusk. We need to find a place to set up camp for the night." The rust-colored male unicorn had his right foreleg wrapped from an injury from only a few hours earlier. His mane was an orange-red color, and an astrolabe, a classic tool used for sea navigation, served as his cutie mark.

Wanderer snorted dismissively. "That is an hour yet to use. Come on Tormod, Tourmaline. There is something up ahead, I can feel it." Wanderer said confidently, the underbrush thinned out some and the going became easier.

The other two huffed but followed their leader, slow smirks crossing their faces. His easy smile and confident demeanor was infectious. He had led them through other adventures with nothing more than a gut feeling and a strong will. He, however, was known to get lost on the occasion, and it was usually up to his two friends to get him out of trouble.

The three had known each other since foalhood, and had been close ever since. They all dreamed of one day being known as the greatest adventurers of their time, and if they found a long lost ruin, that sought-after dream would become a reality.

They continued on, but all they found in that hour was more brush. As the sun set, even Wanderer had to grudgingly admit they needed to stop. They had found a small clearing that made for a perfect camp site. With a quick buck Wanderer had his saddlebags and machete off. His friends followed suit and camp was quickly made.

As the moon began its rise, Wanderer took the time to update his logbook, keeping track of their progress. The other two were unrolling their bed rolls for the night; as bone tired as they were, it would not take long for sleep to find them.

Tourmaline, the pegasus, glanced over to Wanderer as she applied a fresh bandage to her wing. "I didn't think 'nothing but brush' would be worth writing down in the log book." she remarked sarcastically.

Wanderer looked up from his writing, the pencil still in his mouth, and gave her a flat stare.

"-Though I'm sure whoever finds us in this forgotten jungle can happily read about the flora we've see, if they haven't already figured it out for themselves." she said, giving him an impish smile.

He rolled his eyes and jotted down his final thoughts, something none too flattering about his companions.

"We actually managed five miles today, despite the misstep." Wanderer remarked, glancing to the rust colored unicorn. "How is that cut doing Tormod?"

The bandage the unicorn lifted from his leg, surrounded by a red colored aura. The unicorn's magic lifting it from its place to reveal the recent, yet healing wound. "Sore, but thankfully not infected." he said, taking time to apply a healing balm and fresh bandages to the cut.

"That rock python caught us by surprise, we are lucky that cut was the worst of it," Wanderer said, referring to a magical creature that was, literally, a python made of sharp edged stone. "We'll let you take last watch; give you time to rest."

Tourmaline furrowed her brow. "So who gets mid watch?"

"Flip a coin for it?" Wanderer asked her with a grin.

"Not with your bit."

"I got rid of that trick bit a long time ago."

"I'm not taking a chance with you again."

Tormod rolled his eyes at the two's banter. "How about closest to a number?" he offered. His companions readily agreed to the game of chance.

"Got it," he said after a moment's thought. "Between one and twenty."

"Fourteen," Tourmaline said quickly.

"Eight," Wanderer countered.

"Fifteen," Tormod stated with a not-so-sorry look to Wanderer.

The earth pony sighed in defeat, his shoulders slumping. Tourmaline celebrated her victory with a cheer.

"First watch is yours," he said to her, a smirk on his face.

Her victory was short lived as she realized that sleep would have to wait.

It was well into the night when Tourmaline woke him for his watch.

"Anything?" he asked as he tried to shake the grogginess away.

"Nothing. It's quiet out." she reported, exhaustion clearly seen in her expression.

He shook his head one last time. "Alright, get some sleep, Tourmaline. We'll find something tomorrow."

"Right." She didn't sound convinced, and curled up on her bedroll quickly falling asleep.

Wanderer stood apart from his sleeping companions, the dying campfire's light was hard on his night vision. As he kept alert for danger, he couldn't help but agree with Tourmaline that it was unusually quiet. Even the wild animals seemed subdued. It was the middle of the night, but the previous nights it seemed to him the jungle was no less quiet than in the day. It almost seemed to him that the jungle was afraid to make a sound. Why that was, he didn't know, but he intended to find out come daybreak.

A few hours into his watch, he caught himself nodding off and slapped himself to keep sleep at bay. He and his companions hated middle watch; interrupted sleep was the worst.

He noticed the clouds were beginning to thin out. Allowing the moon to shine through the jungle. He didn't know if it was a trick of the moonlight, but a glint off to his left caught his eyes. He squinted, trying to see better, his ears alert for danger. When nothing made itself known, he stood and gathered his machete and went to look. He made sure not to go far and leave his companions without a guard. However, true to his namesake, he could not help but wander.

Fortunately, he did not have to go far to find the source of the glint. As he made his way through the jungle, his hazel colored eyes widened in wonder at the sight he found. The jungle gave way to an old sprawling ruin. It's size and shape hinted that it was a temple of some kind.

Wanderer was elated at the discovery. Finally, they had found something! This discovery could put their names in history books and they would be remembered as the great adventurers he and his friends were destined to be.

He made his way back to the camp at a brisk pace; his excitement would not allow for less. He paused frequently to mark a tree with a simple mark from his machete to show the path back to the ruin. When he made his way back to the camp he could see his hurried commotion had already woken his friends who were chasing the last signs of sleep from their eyes.

"Wanderer? What in the name of Celestia are you doing?" Tourmaline asked sourly.

"I found something in the woods; a ruin! It's not far from here. Come on you two, get your things, and let's go." he said excitedly, practically prancing like a colt.

Tormod sat down heavily on his haunches. "Are you sure it is a ruin and not a figment of your imagination?"

"Tormod, would I be this excited if I wasn't sure? It's the real thing. Get off your rump and move."

The unicorn yawned, "Can it not wait for morning? It's not going to go anywhere."

Wanderer gave him a dubious look. "You expect me to wait and try to sleep knowing what we've been searching for is nothing but a buck's toss away?"

"Get up, Tormod," Tourmaline said, already gathering her gear to go. "If he said he found something, I believe him."

With a defeated sigh, Tormod began to collect his gear.

Less than an hour later, the three stood before the entrance of the ruin; their weariness now forgotten with the elation of the discovery. The ruin was a large square-shaped building that resembled a place of worship, though not to any figure the three knew. The jungle had taken part of the temple grounds back, though strangely the temple itself seemed untouched. It was as if the plant life was hesitant to grow near it. The animal life was also eerily absent of the area, and it was gravely quiet.

Fearlessly, Wanderer gathered his lantern and moved for the entrance.

"Wanderer, wait." Tourmaline said, visibly unnerved at the place's stillness. " I don't think we should go in yet."

Talking with the lantern still in his mouth, he turned to her with confidence, "It's alright, Tourmaline. The three of us together, there isn't anything that can stop us. We can't let fear get the best of us."

"But this place feels wrong somehow. It's … still," she explained, looking around nervously.

"It is only scary because we haven't conquered it yet. Once we go inside and learn its secrets, there won't be a thing to worry about anymore."

She didn't appear entirely convinced but Wanderer came back and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"Come on, we've got this," he said to her reassuringly.

She smiled softly to him, blushing a little, and nodded. Tormod waited a moment before following them inside.

Inside the temple they found a large central room, with a pedestal in the middle of the room; ringed by rows of low stone benches. The place was in a state of disarray. Though the jungle refused to touch it, time and the elements held no such compunction. A portion of the roof had collapsed and many of the benches were cracked and broken. The walls and pillars were adorned with images of ponies; all genuflecting before a stallion standing above them all. The worn stone etching made details hard to come by, but they could see the stallion carried a scepter of some sort.

As they looked around, Wanderer noticed one of the etchings of the stone glittered in the lantern light. He peered at it closely.

"Tormod, can you give me some light?" he asked as he sat down his lantern and dug through his pack for a chisel and hammer. Using one hoof to brace the chisel and holding the hammer in his teeth, he pried away a small gemstone from an indention in the stallion's chest. Setting his tools down, he scooped up the gemstone and scrutinized it closer in the light offered from his friend's horn.

"Amethyst," Tourmaline said before the others could. The violet gemstone was about an inch long and just as wide, and brilliantly cut.

"This alone makes our venture worth our time." Tormod said with a wide grin, using his magic to place the stone in his bag.

Wanderer smiled. It would be more than the riches that made this trip worthwhile, he thought. He noticed Tourmaline was removing the wrapping from her wing and stretching the appendage.

"Are you sure you're ready to fly?" he asked, concern in his voice, even if he didn't know of his own unease.

She smiled reassuringly at him, stretching to her full wingspan. "Don't you worry, I'm not about to miss a chance to see this place from above." With that she sprang into the air to get a bird's-eye view of the temple. He watched her fly around; despite a wince here and there, she seemed to handle it as well as she always did.

Through the broken roof, Wanderer could see the beginning of daylight washing over the filter through the roof, a welcome change to the oppressive gloom the place held like a thick cloak.

Wanderer's eyes then settled on the altar in the center of the room. Set in the middle of the altar's surface was a gold crown. As he got closer, he could see it was made of two intertwining snakes in a loop with the heads of the snakes facing outward, each of them having an amethyst gemstone set in their mouths.

Remembering the many lessons of the 'Daring Do' books he had read in his life, he suspected a trap and called for his friends to be ready. He approached cautiously, looking for any sign of traps surrounding the crown. Finding none, he braced himself and quickly swiped the crown from it's resting place. He hopped away quickly; expecting to be crushed, shot at, or or otherwise killed in any number of ways.

To his relief, nothing happened. He let out an explosive sigh and looked to his prize. The crown strangely reminded him of the stallion depicted on the murals.

"That was … easy," Tormod remarked.

"Too easy," Wanderer agreed.

Just then a low rumbling was heard and the ground shook..

"You just had to say it," Tourmaline remarked dryly from the air.

Thankfully the ruin did not collapse in on itself, but a small section of wall depressed in and slid out of the way, revealing a hidden passage. When nothing came out to devour them, they relaxed and approached the passage.

"What do you think is in there?" Tourmaline asked as she landed next to Wanderer.

"Only one way to find out," he said with a wide grin. Placing the crown into his saddlebag, he retrieved his lantern and made his way down the passage, followed closely by his friends.

The passage was narrow, allowing only one to pass at a time. If the atmosphere of the temple's main room could be called gloomy, the passage would be best described as dead. Nothing moved; no vermin, light, or even the air. A feeling of oppression fell upon them as they moved deeper into the passage. Tormod and Tourmaline hunkered down as they walked followed Wanderer as he put on a bold face for them and moved ahead confidently, though even his step faltered some.

The passage finally ended and widened out into a small room. In center levitated a scepter made of gold and standing five feet tall. The scepter's head was adorned with the face of a manticore, eternally roaring in silence. A large hoof sized amethyst gemstone was set in its mouth. Surrounding the scepter was a magical bubble that extended from in a short distance. Looking upon the scepter, the three ponies could not help but wince; looking on it made them feel dread.

"What do you think?" Wanderer asked his two companions.

Tourmaline was at a loss of words, but Tormod spoke up. "We should try to get it out of here. If we can get it out in the light, we can study it in better detail."

As he approached the scepter, he studied the magical bubble. He cast a small spell in an attempt to dispel it. When nothing happened he shrugged helplessly and lifted a hoof to touch it. Upon doing so, an unseen force threw him across the room, and he crashed heavily against the wall.

His two friends cried out in alarm and ran to check on him. Despite being sore he was alright.

"A force bubble. I don't think I'll be able to dispel it," he said as he accepted Wanderer's hoof to help him up.

"Do you know another way?" Wanderer asked.

Tormod shook his head, but Tourmaline spoke. "Perhaps we should leave it. Come back for it when we are better rested."

Wanderer looked to the scepter that still hovered in the air.

"Let me try, if it doesn't work, then we'll leave and come back better prepared."

"Do you want to make an indent in the wall too?" she asked him archly.

He grinned at her. "I bounce better."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to pry you out of the wall."

He laughed and approached the bubble. He slowly lifted a hoof to touch it; fully expecting to be tossed aside. To his surprise, the bubble flared then vanished at his touch.

Both of his companions could only look on in shock.

"Wha- how?" Tormod sputtered.

"Nothing to it!" he shouted back triumphantly.

He then noticed the scepter gently float down to him, waiting for him to take it in hoof.

Smiling his confident smile to his friends, he took hold of the scepter.

They noticed too late the crown in his saddlebag was glowing.

The moment he took hold of the scepter, a dark miasma seeped forth. It began to swirl and enveloped his body.

"Wanderer! Let it go!" Tourmaline cried out in fear for her dear friend.

"I… I can't!" he yelled back, his eyes widened fear. He was elevated above the ground as the miasma swirled faster and began to glow.

His eyes were soon nothing but glowing orbs of light and he screamed to his friends in total panic.

"Run! Get away!" he yelled frantically before the fog completely covered him.

"Wanderer!" His friends both cried out, his warning unheeded.

After a short time there was a bright flash that left both ponies covering their eyes. When the glare had faded, they could see it was not Wanderer that stood there, but a vastly different pony. He was a stallion, two hands taller than Wanderer. His coat was dark velvet, his mane a lighter purple with a single gold streak down the middle. Wanderer's spyglass cutie mark was replaced by a gauntlet held upright in a crushing pose. His eyes, once hazel, were now an amber color and full of malevolence. Resting atop his head was the crown Wanderer had taken from the altar. A goldplated chestplate adorned his muscled chest with a large amethyst set in its center.

The stallion looked around the room slowly and then paused to look to the scepter in his left hoof.

"Wa … Wanderer?" Tourmaline asked in a quiet voice. Tormod was left speechless.

The stallion slowly looked from his scepter to the two stunned ponies. They cringed under the stare of those awful eyes.

"You should have listened to your friend," he said in a sinister voice.

In the blink of an eye he shot out his right fore hoof and a beam of energy raced towards Tourmaline.

"Look out!" Tormod screamed before jumping in front of the beam. When the beam struck him, his body instantly turned to stone, and he fell heavily to the ground.

With a fearful scream, Tourmaline tore back down the narrow passage. Her tears flowed freely down her face in her panic. The stallion did not pursue, nor attack the fleeing mare. He only looked to his scepter and began to chuckle, slowly at first, but then loudly, to almost ear-splitting. His laughter was the only thing that followed Tourmaline as she took wing and fled to the skies.

In Canterlot, Celestia sat comfortably before her throne. A cup of warm tea floated nearby, as did the parchment she was reading. She quietly considered her tasks for the day: an envoy from the Crystal Empire was expected this day carrying news from Princess Cadance, as well as new trade agreements from the their merchants, she also expected a report from her favored student.

No, not student anymore, she corrected herself, but adopted niece. Twilight Sparkle's coronation was only a week past. It was a happy day for her and so many others. Twilight becoming a princess was a surprise to many, most of all Twilight, but not so to Celestia. She knew the mare's potential the day they first met, the day the younger one earned her cutie mark and her place as Celestia's student. Her subjects realizing their potential was one of the many joys Princess Celestia savored.

With a thought, the cup of tea hovered towards her to sip. That was when the sound of the laughter reached her ears, carried on ghostly winds she and few others could hear.

Caught completely off guard, she spit the hot tea over the parchment and gasped in shock and fear. The guards posted at the foot of her throne turned suddenly, surprised and worried at her actions.

"Princess, are you alright?" the earth pony guard asked in concern.

She did not immediately respond; the laughter was ringing in her ears.

"No, not him. Please, not him." she pleaded inside her mind.

"My Lady?" the guard repeated obviously not for the first or second time.

She gave him a reassuring look, one that she did not truly feel, as the laughter faded. "It is alright sir. A spell that will fade."

He gave his fellow guard a dubious look, but did not question her.

"Yes, my Lady," one of them said before they turned back to their posts.

Princess Celestia thought to herself a moment more; she could not be certain of anything but that laugh was hauntingly familiar. However, without solid evidence, there was nothing that could be done until the danger made itself known.

She looked up as her sister ran into the room, her expression no less worried than her own.

"Sister!" Luna cried in alarm. No doubt she too heard the laugh.

"Be calm my sister. We must learn more before we act," she assured her.

At her words, the two guards shared a worried look.