Recursion
Daring Do was asleep in her tent. It was night, and her surroundings were dark. She twisted slightly in her sleep, the hot temperature of the jungle getting to her. She had spent the last few months digging for artifacts in a nearby temple, which she had found by a stroke of luck when looking for coconuts, which were by some reason her favourite food.
She dreamt of the artifacts she had dug up. Among them were a golden chalice with gems attached to the base, and it had beautiful engravings all over. She was planning to sell it to a museum in Van Hoover, as soon as she got out of the jungle. That last part might prove to be tricky, as she had gotten lost in the vastness of the tropic forest only a few hours after she had stepped into it.
The heat finally got to her and Daring suddenly awoke with a grunt.
"Ugh, but it feels so good to sleep."
She looked at the time, which showed just after midnight. She sighed, and stretched out her hoof to grab the glass of water on her bedside table.
A sudden noise bid her stop drinking and look out the opening in her tent. Someone-or something-was rifling through her bags which sat by a table just outside her tent. She had set up her gear in a clearing, so the area surrounding her tent bathed in Luna's beautiful moonlight. She could tell by the shape of the creature that it was indeed a pony, but what he or she was doing out in the middle of nowhere, she had no clue. The pony was clad in a dark raincloak, so she couldn't make out anything other than its silhouette.
Klonk.
Daring cursed to herself. While she was watching the pony outside's every move, she had forgotten the glass still in her hand, and had accidentally dropped it on the "floor" of her tent.
The sudden break in silence startled the pony outside. It looked inside the tent, and Daring drew a terrified gasp.
The pony's face was bloody, so much in fact, she couldn't determine its gender. A few bandaids were lazily placed around the deeper wounds, and its wide-open eyes were pointing straight forward.
Straight at Daring.
In the bleak moonlight, Daring could see that it was probably as terrified as she was. In what felt like a lifetime, but what was in reality just a few seconds, the other pony averted its eyes. It suddenly grabbed Daring's prized chalice and took off into the night.
"Hey! Get back here!"
Daring was now really cranky. Not only did she get to sleep because of the damn heat, but now she had gotten robbed as well? Nuh-uh. Not on her watch.
She jumped from her bunk and grabbed her hat. She lit a lantern on her bedside table to be able to see what she was doing, and stormed out of the tent. Just then, it started raining. She cursed again, and grabbed her own raincloak from the table outside her tent. She took off after her thief into the dark jungle.
The nights in the tropics could get really dark, and as such, Daring was ever grateful to princess Luna for the moon shining her path.
"Now where did that damn burglar go? To think he, or she, can get away with stealing from Daring Do? Ha!" she scoffed.
She made her way further into the forest, and as the foliage above her grew denser, the light from the moon faded. She regretted not bringing her lantern.
She trotted around for a while, still not finding a trace of her burglar. She sighed to herself, and was just about to give up the chase when she remembered how much fame and money that chalice would bring her.
Steeling herself, she renewed her resolve, and started galloping to make up for lost ground. She soon found herself by a waterfall and a dead end. She sighed again and turned around to find a way across when a sudden growl from the bushes bid her stop.
"H-hello? Is someone there?"
Daring wasn't easily scared, but now, in the jungle at night, with all kinds of dangerous wildlife around her, she was actually terrified.
This particular region of the jungle was the territory of a family of tigers, and the last thing she wanted to do was to run into one of them.
She was very surprised when, instead of a bloodthirsty lion, a little monkey jumped from the bushes in front of her.
"Oh. Hello there little guy. You scared me," she said softly, and letting slip a quiet laugh of relief.
The monkey seemed really happy to see her. He jumped up and down and called out all the time, pointing to the bushes to the left of Daring.
"What is it? Do you live that way? Or do you want me to go there?"
The monkey now seemed genuinely distressed, and as fast as he had come, he jumped back into the bushes from where he came.
Daring was puzzled. What did he try to tell me...?
Suddenly, the same growl from before, but louder this time, sounded from the bushes the monkey had been pointing at.
Oh, buck me.
An enourmous tiger jumped forward, seemingly furious that Daring Do had dared enter its domain. It bared its fangs and growled menacingly at her.
"N-now now, let's not do anything hasty. I'll just leave, and we won't have a problem," Daring tried to reason with the tiger.
The tiger gave no heed to her reasoning, and lunged forward, trying to strike her with its extended paw, long claws adorning it.
Daring gave a yelp of surprise and fright, and started running as fast as she could back to her tent. That was probably the worst thing she could have done, as the tiger's hunting instincts kicked in, and it gave chase after the terrified pony.
Daring tried desperately to get away, but the tiger was closing in on her. She wouldn't make it to her tent in time.
Seeing a tree fit for climbing up ahead to her left, she changed direction, and tried to push even more from her already tired legs. She began to gain distance from the fast approaching beast behind her. She smiled, thinking she might just survive this after all.
*SLASH*
A clawed paw suddenly struck her across the face, cutting deep into her skin. She screamed in pain. Another tiger had emerged from the trunks in front of her, and quick as lightning struck her across the face.
Blood trickling down her snout in small red rivers, she was momentarily startled by the blow, but quickly regained her focus
I haven't spent a lifetime dodging traps in ancient temples and fighting vile creatures for nothing.
She sped up, and soon reached the tree. She climbed quickly, and was soon out of reach from the predators. They growled in defeat, and started circling around the trunk.
After about an hour of trying to find a way to get to her, the tigers finally gave up. Daring waited a few more minutes before she climbed down.
"Ouch. That really stung."
By now, much of her face was covered in blood. She scramled through the pockets of her raincloak and found some bandaids which she placed over the wounds. Content the she could do no more until she got back to camp, she recalled her mental map of the area, and trotted back to her tent.
When she approached her camp, it was dark, save for the moon still showering the clearing in light.
That's strange. That lantern should have at least twelve hours worth of oil.
She arrived at the table outside, and decided to do a quick inventory of her gear. She found all the artifacts she had dug up, including...
The chalice.
W-what? Did the thief return it? I don't understand...
She stared dumbfounded at the chalice, wondering what kind of thief that pony was, to be returning the goods where they were stolen without any apparent reason.
Klonk.
A sudden noise from inside her tent made her spin around and look into the darkness. There, another pair of terrified eyes stared back at her.