Daring Do lost track of time as she soared past the endless amounts of sky and clouds. When she had broken free of the glass, she had found herself in the middle of some sort of desert, with no particular landscapes around her. Not wanting to be caught by her potential pursuers, she chose a random direction and stuck to it, expanding the limits of her wings to carry her away from her prison.
Now, after who-knows-how-long, she was absolutely exhausted. Her wings were sore and barely flapping, and she was losing altitude quickly. Deciding enough was enough, she found a nice elevated piece of Earth and aimed to land on it. She didn’t drop at a good enough angle, however, and landed pretty roughly on her front legs, rolling over a few times.
Okay, that could’ve gone better. After adjusting herself and making sure she hadn’t sustained any serious injuries, Daring surveyed the land around her. She was no longer in the desert, which was good for her. She now seemed to be in a sprawling grass field with lots of trees. No signs of civilization, though.
She spotted a small pool of water nearby where she had landed. Relieved beyond words, she trotted over anxious to cool her hot and dry throat. Just as she reached the water’s edge and lowered her head to sip up the water, she stopped and saw her reflection in the water. The bright violet eyes of herself stared back. It was the first time she had seen herself since waking up.
No clothes or accessories covered the pale, yellow fur that coated her entire equine body, including the tall and muscular wings that sat folded on both her sides. Her mane and tail, stripes of varying shades of grey stretching across them, seemed short and streamlined, almost perfectly designed for not getting in the way while flying. On her flank lay a mark the shape of a compass of sorts, pointing to the four directions: North, South, East, and West. Daring could easily remember what that was called: a cutie mark, a sign of her special talent. But she couldn’t well enough recall how she had gotten it, or what it even meant.
“So this is me, huh?” she asked aloud, though she knew nopony was around to hear her, “Daring Do. Nice to meet you, even though this isn’t the first time we’ve met.” Her reflection copied her every move. Not surprising. She sighed, “But I’m sure I’ll find out more about you. I promise, we will make it out of this okay.” She tenderly sat on the cool grass next to the water and closed for eyes, instantly knocking herself out due to exhaustion.
“Poor, poor Daring Do. If only you knew who you really were, you wouldn’t be so quick to say that…”
Upon waking up, Daring Do felt much better than the night before, so she once again took to the sky in the same direction she had been headed before. She had earlier grazed on some of the grass surrounding where she was, although it was only because she needed the nutrition and she had no equipment on her that could help her find food anyway. She was especially sad about leaving the pool as well without even a small bottle to store some precious liquid for later. She was confident, however, that she could locate water another location.
Flying through the air at what seemed like a comfortable cruising distance was pretty sweet, she couldn’t lie about that. Especially when you weren’t worrying about being captured. Now that she had a clear head in the air, she could truly think about the situation she was and make reflections.
Although she really had no idea where she was truly, she figured that as long as she stuck to a due course, she would be bound to find some sort of civilization and from there… then what? What if she ended up somewhere where nopony could help her, or worse, what if she couldn’t find anypony at all? How did she know she wasn’t flying towards the the massive Pegacific Ocean? And besides, even if she did reach civilization, how could she ever track down her beloved if she couldn’t even figure out who she was?
The more she thought about how much of a pickle she was in, however, the more determined she became. So what if I can’t find anyone to help me right away? At least I’ll be alive.
Alive. The ponies back at the underground prison said that they would keep her alive, and they didn’t seem to be joking. Heck, they even said they would protect her and care for her. Maybe she should’ve stayed with them. At least then she wouldn’t have to deal with surviving.
Daring shook her head. No, she thought, I shouldn’t be thinking stuff like that. Just because they said something doesn’t mean that they will do it. That kind of thinking gets ponies killed, Daring.
Yes, but what about the signature? Wait… Yeah, the signature. The one that was clearly signed by Daring Do. Surely, if the real Daring Do had signed over her life to those ponies, then she would’ve been okay with it. She might’ve even…
NO! STOP THINKING LIKE THAT, DAMNIT! I’M THE REAL DARING DO AND I KNOW IT!
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Daring sighed, erasing the morbid thoughts from her head as she flew in the direction of her choice. She may have had no idea on where she was going, but at least it would be somewhere of her own choice. A choice that would lead to either life or death.