//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Doom // Story: Daring Do's Bipedal Adventure // by insaneponyauthor //------------------------------// It was a beautiful day in Equestria. The sun was out and the birds were singing at the top of the sky. Unfortunately, this fact was lost on Daring Do because our story is set not in Equestria, but in a world altogether more sinister. A world stalked by twisted abominations beyond the comprehension of ponykind. A world permeated with an insufferable gloom. A world by the name of Canterlot High. "Ooooof!" Daring Do slammed into the ground, which incidentally serves her right for that time she ate all of my chips without telling me and the store was closed so I couldn't get more. Disorientation gave way to shock as she examined her surroundings. The surface she now found herself sprawled upon was fashioned from stone, expertly cut and polished until no purchase could be found. Away from her stretched walls lined with metal enclosures and great wooden portals that mercifully shielded their contents from her view.  Daring had visited many deadly ancient temples, and yet she would have gladly given anything to be dodging poison tipped arrows again, for even in their hostility, the traps of old betrayed a fundamental recognition of the primacy of life that could not be discerned anywhere within the unyielding indifference of the austere labyrinth she now found herself within. She discovered with growing terror that she had been transformed into a horrifying human. Her previous ordeal had done nothing to inure herself to the presence of humans, but had rather served merely to give her further appreciation of the true horror of the fate that now befell her. "Meh, I've had worse," she said, gamely attempting to conceal the revulsion that must pervade every fiber of her being, as she gingerly picked herself up. "Now where did those blasted unicorns get to?" Suddenly, an intolerable ringing sound pierced the air. It came from all directions, as if the very firmament itself was rebelling at once against the notion that any accommodation would be provided to the sanity of the unfortunate interloper. After a moment that stretched into eternity, the cacophony ceased, and Daring Do was left with the realization that the desolate foreboding halls had now filled with a multitude of humans, rendered no less ghastly by the fact that she now shared their appalling form.  In her traumatic delirium, she imprudently drew the attention of the eldritch beings, for the distant hope of securing succor in this most miserable milieu had overruled whatever shred of reason remained within her battered spirit. "Excuse me girls, have you see any unicorns go past here? Or the Falcon? The fate of the world depends on it!" "Hey, aren't you Chestnut Magnifico?", the nightmare replied. "What are you doing here? Can you sign my book?" As she gazed upon the proffered tome, the reality of Daring Do's torment became palpable. This was the end. She could no longer deny it, for now the monster had seen her and would pursue her forever until she completed its inscrutable ritual. Even if her physical husk endured, she knew that this was truly the end for her, as there could be no hope for happiness in this accursed world.