What Should Daring Do?

by ocalhoun

A Rock and a Hard Place

Shelter should still be top priority, they don't have to go far inside, just enough to hide and weather the night. The danger inside may be much farther in. Should also contemplate food, it doesn't sound like either have any

Shelter is best. Stay at the entrance, but try to conceal it with palm leaves.

Since you're going to be camping in front of the temple tonight, you might as well take advantage of Pineapple's knowledge to see if he can work out what 'purified by the light' means (You did carry him all the way here at great expense on your part now it's time for him to get to work!)

Based on the cryptic warning, Daring should wait out the night. Shelter is always a top priority but the hyena's make it impossible to create any form of fire or shelter without revealing her location. She should make a fire and shelter in front of the entrance and place traps around it. There's more than enough trees for her to make an ensnarement trap or two. She doesn't want to kill them since she needs to find out who sent them in the first place. Also, a search for any form of food is important.

That warning sounds to me like there might be one or more dangerous, nocturnal creatures known to live in the tomb. Hyenas outside, possibly danger and traps inside. They could take shelter just inside the temple, but that could mean getting sandwiched between the hyenas and whatever danger lurks inside (assuming it's mobile). Stuck between a rock and a hard place, for sure.
As far as survival concerns go, an ancient temple isn't likely to have food; even if you counted mummies and rats, that's still not pony food. Stuffing your pockets with grass isn't exactly cool, but it might be a good idea. They could squirt out the suntan lotion in that bottle, though, and use it to carry at least a little bit of water.
I can't think of a third option, so I'd say fill up on any vegetation and water around and brave the temple, perhaps setting a few traps at the entrance to deter the hyenas from following them (if they themselves are brave enough, that is). I'd suggest upgrading their arsenal first, though. A good knife can be used to make a wide variety of weapons and tools. A couple of spears would be a good start, if the trees around have suitable material for it. Perhaps even tipped with stone points, if they can find sharp rocks to tie on. But they should be quick, for those hyenas are likely getting closer by the minute.

i suggest climbing the outside of the temple, if possible. With a high enough vantage point, you might get a visual on the missing party members. Plus, you are safe from ground attacks, and have an eye out for the ones who attacked the carriage.

Ooh... Daring should take heed to the warning and wait out the night. They could use time to rest after the events that transpired throughout the day, especially since Miss Do's wings seized up on her not too long ago. If they are to make a fire, it needs to be concealed in a way that allows them to be near it, but not have to completely cover the flames.
As for food, gum really won't cut it. There's bound to be various plants that bear fruit in this oasis, so they should search for berries or something along that vein to eat. It may not be much, but it's better than gum.

“Fine,” Daring said, “We won't go in yet.”

Pineapple looked out over the dense vegetation of the oasis. “This place is still in the middle of the desert – it's going to get cold at night. We should build a fire.”

She gave him a sharp glare. “No.”

“It might even draw our missing pegusai to us!”

“It's not going to draw them – it's going to draw in the hyenas.” She rolled her eyes. “You don't want that do you?”

He glanced back and forth. “No. Of course not.”

“Good. Now, how about you see if you can find some food, and empty out that suntan lotion bottle, so we can carry some water.”

“We're not going in there, are we?” Pineapple stared at her, wide-eyed.

Daring shook her head. “No, not yet, but I want to be ready in the morning, so get out there while we still have a little light left. I'll set up camp here.”

Pineapple nodded and wandered off, poking through the bushes idly.

“Stay within hearing, Uncle!” She looked up into the rapidly darkening sky again. “And hurry. We don't have long before it's too dark.”

The old unicorn just kept wading through the brush. His pace didn't seem to increase.

She turned away with a groan. He'd never listened to her before; why should he now? Anyway, she had her own tasks to worry about. First, she decided, she'd have a look around.

Daring Do turned to the slightly sloped sides of the temple. Her wings were still too sore to think about flying to the top, but...

She grinned. That would work, and it might even be fun. She took off galloping as fast as she could toward the wall, building up as much speed as she could. Just before she smashed into it, she jumped up, transferring as much momentum as she could into the vertical.

The slam of the wall against her hooves jarred every bone in her body, especially her sore wing bones, but she couldn't stop now. She kept up her run and pumped her tired wings as well as she could, now running up the side of the temple's entrance.

Her momentum quickly ran out, and her wings were in no shape to hold her, but thankfully, the building wasn't all that tall. She reached a hoof up and grabbed the ledge at the top just as she began falling back down.

With a grunt, she hauled herself up to the top. She shook off her fatigue and took a look at her surroundings.

The greenery of the oasis still surrounded her, and in the deepening gloom, she could just make out Pineapple puttering around the little creek in the center; his freshly-cut tail stuck up out of the bushes like a little yellow beacon. He didn't seem to be getting much done.

Further out, she could just make out the fuzzy line where the plants gave way to the desert sand, though the tall palms all around blocked her view in many directions.

She sighed. Still no sign of the pegusai or the lost chariot, but at least there wasn't any sign of pursuit, either.

Walking over to the other edge of the temple's entrance, she took a relaxing breath of the evening air. The desert would get cold at night, just like Pineapple said, she knew, but after the heat of the day, this cool evening was a welcome comfort. If only she had more time, she could enjoy the cool night air with the still-warm stone beneath. She looked down over the edge and gulped. Somehow, it seemed a lot taller from this angle... but there was nothing for it. She had to get down.

She hopped onto the sloping side and skidded down, digging in her heels. Her heart hit her throat as she slid faster and faster. She hadn't intended to build up this much speed. She winced and dug in harder, watching the ground approach all too fast.

She crunched into the bushes at the bottom, and stars swam in her vision.

After a moment, she recovered enough of her wits to check herself... Good, no injuries. Someday, she'd learn to think things through, she promised herself. Still, that was two hard landings in one day. Groaning, she poked her head up through the thick, leafy bushes, or tried to, at least. Several big, fat leaves still clung to her hat.

Pineapple's head popped out of the brush not far away. “Are you all right, my dear? Where are you? I can't see you anywhere.”

“Ugh, I'm fine.” She shrugged the leaves off of herself. More of his help was the last thing she needed right now, but he had given her an idea...

She pushed her way out of the leafy bushes and scanned the ground for fallen palm fronds. With all the trees around, she found plenty, of course. Yes, these would do perfectly.

* * *

Daring Do examined her work. The temple entrance wasn't exactly what she'd call 'cunningly concealed', but at least it was less conspicuous now, covered in palm fronds. She had hoped to have been able to find more green ones, to better blend in with the foliage, but hopefully, in the dark, the color wouldn't matter anyway.

Crashing through the bushes, and making altogether too much noise in the darkness, Pineapple finally came back. His pockets bulged with clumps of dry, wiry grass.

He looked up at her work and raised an eyebrow. “This is what you've been doing this whole time?”

“Yes.” She glared at him, daring him to make a snide comment.

Apparently, he knew better. “Well, I brought some water, though I fear it's going to taste rather strongly of sandalwood.” He grimaced.

“It's better than nothing.” Daring shook her head. “How about food?”

He pulled a clump of grass out of one of the pockets in his coat. “I found plenty of this.”

She sighed. She'd been hoping they could find some berries or something, not just the stringy desert grass. “I guess that will do.”

He shoved the clump back in, causing a tuft of it to stick out through a hole in the bottom of the pocket. “So, we're going to stay the night inside the temple?”

“Just inside the entrance. It should be safe enough, and it's a good shelter.” Daring turned and walked to one corner of the building. “Here, give me that rope.”

“Um, sure.” He dug the rope out of his pack. “I don't know what you're planning to do with–”

“Just toss it over.”

As soon as he tossed the rope to her, she tied one end to a palm tree standing just at the corner of the building.

Pineapple watched, befuddled, while Daring pulled the rope along, stringing it low off the ground from tree to tree, making a wide circle around the temple entrance.

“Okay, now come on, let's go inside.” Daring held the end of the rope in her hooves, watching Pineapple approach.

He tripped on the rope, just as Daring knew he would. It yanked out of her hooves.

Pineapple looked up at her, his eyes widening. “Oh! I see.”

“Exactly. That's our alarm. Nothing too sophisticated, but it should work pretty well in the dark.” She tugged the rope along behind her and pushed her way through the palm fronds criss-crossing the entrance. “Come on inside. Let's get settled in.”

* * *

Daring stuck her tongue out. “Bleh. This does taste like sandalwood.” She capped the bottle back securely. Ill-flavored as it might be, it was their only water supply. “Come on, let's try and get some sleep.”

“Won't hear any complaints from me. It's been a long day.” The old stallion already laid on top of his grass-stuffed coat, snuggled against the corner of the corridor. He yawned luxuriantly.

Daring stared down the dark passageway, wondering what that warning on the side of the door had meant. She wished she would be able to sleep that easily.

Still, she should at least try. She had a lot to recover from. She stuffed the lotionwater into the old leather backpack and tried her best to fluff the thing up. It wasn't going to make the best pillow, but it was better than a hard stone floor.

She laid down, facing down the corridor and being careful to lay on top of the rope, so she'd wake up if something pulled it. It wouldn't be easy falling asleep here, but if anything was coming, she'd be the first to know. She yawned. Yes sleep wouldn't come easy today. Why, she couldn't even...

* * *

Daring woke with a start. What was that?

It came again, a long, low growl from deep inside the temple.

She clenched her legs close to her, wide awake now. As hard as she stared into the dark, descending passageway, she couldn't see a thing.

The growl came again, louder this time.

“Uncle,” Daring whispered, “I think we–”

“I hear it,” he replied, even quieter than her. “Maybe we should get out of here. It might be cold outside, but at least it's safe.”

Daring nodded. “I think you're right. We'd better–”

The rope underneath her twitched.

She winced. Oh come on, not now! She hopped to her feet and crept up to the curtain of palm fronds, peering through a small gap in between them.

For a long, tense, moment, she saw nothing... but then, there it was, a slight movement in the pale moonlight. She could make out the distinctive peaked back of a hyena just above the brush. As she watched, another appeared. They were sniffing at the ground, no doubt on her trail.

Another growl echoed from the back of the temple, and the hyenas suddenly looked up, straight at her. She could see more of them now that their heads were up, at least a dozen.

She winced when she saw them start dashing toward her. They must have heard the growl! “They're here,” she said.

“The hyenas? Now?” Pineapple latched onto her foreleg as another growl rumbled up from below. His grip was painfully tight. “What do we do?”

Author's Note:

Between a rock and a hard place, for sure.
What should Daring do now? Which to face, the danger she knows, or the unknown danger in the tunnel?

Comments

[Mayojar77]

TO ADVENTUUUUURE!

[Apple_Crack]

Based on the amount of hyenas and the current condition of Daring, she should head further into the temple. Best case scenario, she finds a place to hide while the hyenas run past her and straight to the source of the growls.

[Kiue Jin]

Well the team is in a tough spot isn't it?

Really, at this point there are only two major options. Either you can take advantage of the narrow entrance way to fend the Hyena's off (Not recommend since they are armed and our dashing heroine isn't) or they could retreat further into the temple and hope that there is enough room around the traps and whatever else is guarding the temple so that when you do run into them you can get out of the way and let the 'Rock' and the 'Hard Place' kill each other.

And this is why you don't ignore the voice in your head telling you to get sharp point things Daring.

[Hoyota]

Into the temple we go.

[NecroLeprechaun]

The hyenas are looking through foliage at night into a dark cave so they might not be able to tell that it's Daring they're looking at. Try to make them believe that you are one of what ever is making that noise. If this works it should scare them off a small distance (maybe one of them dropping a weapon that you can use), but there is no chance that they will go too far as to let you escape. After this you'll have no choice but to go further inside and make sure you meet these night dangers on your own terms before they meet you on theirs.

[Firebirdbtops]

hyena are scavengers, not hunters. if they followed that far, something might be herding them to you. Hiding won't do much with their sense of smell, so if you can, take up a defensible position inside the temple, while hoping the traps aren't pony only.

[Bootsy Slickmane]

Oh, man, that's some bad trouble right there. Not much in the way of defensive equipment. Most likely outnumbered by the hyenas, but maybe not by whatever lurks in the temple. I'd make a run for it, deeper into the temple, if it weren't for one issue: light. It sounds very dark down there, and they don't have any light sources I'm aware of (though I may have just missed something). Can they build a torch and light it in a few seconds?

Daring is rather agile, I believe, but Pineapple doesn't seem to be. Running could get him left behind, held at the mercy of the hyenas. Which makes me suddenly wonder if they're really hostile. Has anypony tried to talk to them? Of course, they may not speak the same language, anyway. I guess they could use the various bits and pieces they brought with them to throw together some sort of weird costume and spring out of the temple in an attempt to scare off the hyenas, but I dunno if that would come anywhere close to working. I'd probably just run for it into the temple and hope not to be eaten by a grue before I could find or get a light source. The growling sound may just be some ancient rope in a mechanism that fell off a pulley and is scraping against a corner or something. Never can tell with these old places.

[butterfield pancake]

I'd say fight the Hyenas and Daring Do should do a Fuddle Dance as doing this can potentially confuse the Hyenas into attacking each other

[Periphery]

Take a dump right at the entrance to the temple so the hyenas will slip and fall when they enter, then Daring can kick them in the heads and take their weapons while they're squirming around in a big pile. And since the entrance probably isn't that big, the first few incapacitated hyenas will block the rest from entering easily. Then they can drag one of the hyenas down into the temple and toss him below as food for the monster. Or for a more likely option, they could spread around any other potential tripping hazards instead, I suppose, like maybe smash the snow globe there to scatter around shards of glass for the hyenas to step on. Something to trip them, anyway.

I would say they should string the rope between them right at the entrance, but that would probably only trip the first hyena, then they'd be on the wrong side of him and end up stuck right in the middle of the pack. But maybe they could make it work, especially since there might not be enough time for that first suggestion.

[Gabrielangel13]

They must go deeper in! They have a better chance with a single creature than an army! Someone else mentioned lighting issues, I have a simple solution to that: Daring's uncle is a unicorn! Surely he has a light spell, and some spells that could slow down the hyenas! Though he is old, so I think he would have to choose light or slowing down the enemies. The hyenas should be hesitant to go more than a few feet into the entrance, but they should still pursue. The hallway would most likely be narrow, so only a few could enter at once. Maybe they would lose some kf their speed advantage when they are in stone? Perhaps the temple is a maze, and the adventurers would choose one pathway while the hyenas would split up and cover all of them.

[ocalhoun]

3888371
...
I keep getting distracted by other things. I might come back to it.

[Housecarl of Clan Drops]

So their inventory now contains:
A pocketknife, small first aid kit, binoculars, and Daring's hat. (On Daring)
Then, a compass, an old wide brim hat, glasses, a snow globe, a few pieces of gum, and a bottle of flavored water. (With Pineapple)
The more I look at it, the more it looks like an adventure game inventory. There's still plenty that can be done with these things though.

How much do you want the comments to influence the story? For instance, should we only stick to what Daring does for just a few minutes and let you take it from there, or should we get into the details of what happens as a result of our instructions for Daring as well?

In case you ever come back to this story, I'll bring up a possibility that wasn't really considered. Since there are so many people saying to head farther into the temple, I felt it would be kind of a waste just to say the same thing. After all, we don't really know what the hyenas want (I'm guessing they're something like "the diamond dogs of the desert"). I'm not naive enough to say that they've tracked Daring and Pineapple for most of a day and into the night just so they could make friends (unless they've taken Pinkie as their queen... I guess?) They must have a pretty good reason for coming after our intrepid heroes, they seem to be putting in a lot of effort.

Anyways, just like in an adventure game, getting caught by some hostiles (not monsters, since it was mentioned they're a tribe) isn't always an automatic game over.

[Ssendam the Masked]

Shrek is love.
Shrek is life.

[ocalhoun]

4153909
Um... thanks for that.

[TessiFlameheart]

For some reason reading this makes me parody the South Park song "What would Brian Boitano do?" in my head.

What would Daring do if she were here right now?
She'd make a plan and she'd follow through,
that's what Daring Do would do.

[ocalhoun]

4942060

I approve.

[Z0MG H4X]

I think Daring should try to reason with the hiyenas, maybe they are trying to tell them something important.

[ocalhoun]

7369216
Somebody read this story!?

[Z0MG H4X]

7369240 I like to read stories from the same author in order from oldest to newest. I usually do this when I find a story I really like and want to see more from its author.

[Silver Inkwell]

The pun, ouch.

[Silver Inkwell]

Daring should use her wings to F***ING FLY OVER THE OBSTACLES!!!

[Silver Inkwell]

Please continue, I don't like incomplete stories.

[ocalhoun]

7894080
I don't like incompletes either... but this one has been dead for 3 years.

[Silver Inkwell]

7894093
Oh dear...

[GleamingKyler111]

What should Daring do now? Which to face, the danger she knows, or the unknown danger in the tunnel?

I guess the option that was chosen was to instead cease to exist.

[ocalhoun]

11878386
Not a bad option, all things considered.