The Quest for the Sapphire Stone (Daring Do #1)

by BookeCypher

Chapter Three

Daring blinked as she slowly drifted awake, one hoof idly coming up to rub at her eyes as sunlight streamed in through the tangle of branches and shined into her little alcove. She looked around her impromptu campsite for a moment. A few wrappers from some snack bars that had been in one of her vest pockets sat next to the smoldering remains of a small fire she had started last night. Sitting next to all of that was what remained of the few medical supplies that she had had on her last night. The vast majority of them had been put to use before she had let sleep overcome her.

Which seemed to have been a wise move, based on how she was feeling at the moment. She flexed her legs experimentally; happy that the dull aching from yesterday was gone, replaced with a far more preferable stiffness from how she had slept last night. Even better, she noted, was that her hooves were no longer protesting her every step. It seemed a little attention and some sleep had been just what they needed. The numerous cuts had been treated as best she could, but given her limited supply of bandages she hadn’t been able to wrap them all. Luckily most of them had been minor and had just needed a little cleaning. All in all, she was feeling much better then she had the day before.

Daring gathered up the refuse from her camp and stowed it in one of her pockets before cleaning up the remains of her fire. Once she was done with that, she stepped back out into the jungle. She squinted in the bright sunlight, her eyes still more accustomed to the din of the alcove she had just left. She re-angled her hat to better block the morning glare as she tried to work out the suns position in the sky through the tree cover. After a moment she figured out that, unless Celestia was pulling a prank, it was sometime in the late morning. And since it had been before sunrise when she had gone to sleep, that meant that she had slept through all of yesterday evening as well as most of this morning along with the intervening night. Over twelve hours asleep at least - no wonder Daring felt so much better. Well, nothing like a thrilling chase through the middle of the rainforest to work up a need for a nap, Daring thought idly. Though she was guessing there were better treatment’s a pony could find if they were having trouble sleeping - probably ones that didn’t involve angry felines and an overpriced plane ticket - A nice soothing tonic, perhaps.

The thought of a drink made her realize just how dry her mouth was. Her tongue felt strangely thick in her mouth, and her entire throat felt like it had been scoured with sandpaper. Daring wouldn’t have been surprised if there were sand dunes on her tongue, given how it felt at that point. Letting out a sigh, Daring started off into the jungle with a new objective in mind, trying to recall if that relief had shown anything like a river. There had been a few things that might have been rivers - or they could just be chasms like the last two she had come across. Still, it gave her a direction to go at least. So, after consulting her mental map, she headed toward the sunrise and into the jungle.

The mosquitoes had yet to come out in force yet, this early in the day, and the sun had yet to have enough time to re-heat the jungle floor through the thick canopy overhead, leaving the trapped heat from the prior day to warm the air as Daring walked. Without the cats chasing her she could finally take in some of what was around her. Monkeys chattered overhead, bickering over a large, ripe, red fruit as a trio of brightly-colored macaws watched on. Daring couldn’t help but think the trio of birds found the whole sight amusing. The sounds of a hundred other birds echoed through the rainforest, no longer obscured to her hearing by the frantic crashing of a hoof chase. Just as impressive as the sounds of the jungle was the sights - Along with the macaws and the monkeys where the massive bodies of the trees of the forest, each one a king surrounded by smaller, younger trees that still managed to tower over Daring even as they seemed small compared to the dizzying heights their lord’s reached. Across and around and between them were dozens of different plants that covered jungle floor and made up the underbrush; Billowing ferns with their broad green fronds soaking up the sun’s rays while more flowery neighbors dotted the area with shots of color. Vines, as thick and as long as mooring ropes on an airship, climbed up and across the trunks of trees, wrapping their way around the branches to where they dangled down until running into another branch and continuing their twisting byzantine journey across the jungle trees. On the jungle floor, a wide assortment of animals were already going about their own daily lives - little herds of strange little mammals grazing around the base’s of the tree’s, little rodents scuttling about as they collected seeds and fruits for their own little hoards. A thousand different insects scurried across every surface as they searched for food or for prey or another burrow. A flurry of squawks overhead drew Daring’s gaze skyward where she saw a pair of Macaws - likely the same macaws she had seen earlier, given the third one on the sidelines - squabbling loudly. Daring couldn’t even venture a guess as to over what or why.

The terrain under her hooves began to shift as she walked. The gradient began to increase, and Daring found she was heading up hill for the time being. The plant life had also changed somewhat. The trees were now smaller, with the massive giants left behind, and the ground was littered with rocky outcroppings that stood out as shocks of dark grey against a sea of brown and green. Unlike the cave she had found before, these rocks showed no signs or records of civilization.

Soon the terrain leveled out again as Daring reached the top of the rise. Just up ahead, she could make out a point where the tree’s seemed to thin out dramatically. Venturing forward, Daring soon reach the edge of the trees. She paused for a moment before stepping out into the bright glare. She blinked as the sun seemed to momentarily overpower her eyes, but soon her vision cleared and she took in where she was.

She had just stepped into a massive clearing, situated deep inside the jungle. A field of greenery stretched out before her, ringed on all sides by the same slim trees that had surrounded her on her walk up to here. The clearing itself was filled with little more than grasses and ferns - even the rocks that had been so common before were absent - and a small herd of jungle animals were grazing in the middle, the grasses serving as their morning meal. The clearing itself was nothing impressive - just a big, empty field. There weren’t even any ruins. But after the long day and a whole night in the almost claustrophobic surroundings of the jungle, the pegasus found herself invigorated by the sight of the great blue expanse above her head. What she wouldn’t give at the moment to simply fly above all of it and simply take in the sights from the air as a pegasus was wont to do. Her wings flexed involuntarily at the thought of flight, twitching in anticipation. The same twitches sent a small shot of pain through her injured wing, reminding her of just why she wasn’t going to be doing any flying today.

The field, however, might make a good place to set up camp if she found herself out here for very much longer. The base camp on the mainland had been given an estimate of how long she was supposed to be gone, and knew where she was heading. If she didn’t show up in a few days then they would come looking for her. A clearing like this would be easy to spot from the air, especially if somepony lit a really big bonfire in the middle. With her own plane having been left a smoldering wreck after the crash, her only real route off the island was when somepony came looking for her. Barring anything else happening in the next day or three and she needed to get off the island before that. If that happened, Daring wasn’t sure what she was going to do. If all else failed, she could just wing it like she usually did - it had worked so far, hadn’t it?

Daring started across the open field, her hooves sinking into the thick overgrowth that covered the ground. A few nearby animals looked up at her lazily as she passed before deciding they were safe to return to their grazing. The buzz of insects intensified as she crossed, the swarms of bugs rising out of the grasses as she disturbed their hiding spots and sent the living clouds off into the late morning air to harass some poor jungle locals. After the most uneventful walk of her entire trip so far, Daring gave the field one last look before heading once more into the jungle.

It only took a few minutes of walking before another sound started to mix in with the now familiar sounds of the jungle - The sound of running water. Daring couldn’t help but pick up her pace, her thirst driving her forward at the promise of a cool drink. The ground soon began to slope down as the sound of flowing water grew louder. The trees and plant life once again thinned out as she found herself on the shore of a small babbling brook. Or was it a stream? She had never really been sure on the difference.

Daring carefully made her way over the rocks to the water’s edge and, after a quick check to make for water clarity and lack of predatory fish, set her hat aside and proceeded to dunk her entire head into the flowing stream.

She held her head in the cool water for as long as her breath held before pulling it out. A deep inhale of air was followed by a satisfied sigh as she gave her head a quick shake to get most of the water out of her now thoroughly soaked mane before she knelt down and took a few large gulps of water.

Daring had tasted drinks from some of the finest bars and establishments in the world. Saki from Neighpon, wines from the cellars of Prance nobility, even whiskey from the personal collection of Celestia herself at one particularly ritzy University event. At the moment, none of them came close to the crisp, cool, sweet taste of that jungle river water as it wetted her parched pallet.

Daring let out a content sigh as she idly wished she still had a canteen on her. Of course, any canteen had been lost with just about every other piece of equipment in the plane crash. Still, at least it looked like her luck was improving.

It was then that she began to notice a low rumbling sound. One hoof came up and rubbed at an ear, but the sound continued. Okay, not her ears ringing. She began looking around for the source of the strange sound even as it began to grow louder. After a moment she realized that it was coming from up river. And it sounded like it was getting closer. Daring found she was taking slow steps backward even as she stared up stream, trying to get a look at whatever was coming. Some sort of primal instinct of wanting to see the predator that chased her.

The rumbling grew into a thundering roar as its source finally rounded a far bend. It was a massive flash flood, a rolling, frothing tumult of white and brackish brown steaming toward her like a runaway cart.

Daring’s shoulders slumped as her ears flattened against her head. “Darn. Jinxed it.”

Daring turned tail and pounded down the stream bed, eyes darting around for a way out of the path of the incoming wall of water. Unfortunately for her, most of the river bed was made up of loosely packed, river worn stones that were a nightmare to climb up. If she tried to head back into the jungle now, the flood would pluck her off the riverside and sweep her away before she was even half way up. Her only hope was if the terrain up ahead improved or that the flood lost momentum. Given the fact that the flood seemed to, in fact, be gaining on her did not give her much hope in the latter. The former wasn’t looking to likely at this rate either. Something had to change, and soon.

She could feel the water nipping at her heels when she spotted her salvation. Up ahead the ground dropped away as the water plummeted downward into a subterranean waterway. Daring wasn’t sure where it had come from, but she wasn’t about to look a gift dragon in the mouth. She quickened her pace as the drop-off drew closer. Finally, just as she could feel the flood bearing down behind her, she leapt.

The torrent of water plunged down into the chasm below as Daring wrapped her hooves around a hanging vine, letting her momentum carry her across the intervening space. A quick glance down showed her just how far of a drop it had been. She was glad she hadn’t actually had time to think about it.

Safely landing on the other side, Daring finally allowed herself a moment to breathe. She turned around to find herself face to face with the long lost temple that she had sought tirelessly for over sixty days and nights! Two months of research, aerial surveys and long nights had finally led her to this point. The fact that she had finally located the legendary temple by blind luck didn’t even register to her, so wrapped up in awe she was at the grand structure before her.

It was a massive stepped pyramid, capped at the top with a ceremonial compound like temples in this part of the world often were. Even as decayed as it was and covered in vines it was an impressive site. Daring couldn’t help but tilt her head back to stare up at it in awe as she walked toward its entrance.

The smell of decay and danger hit Daring Do as she peered into the dimly-lit entrance of the ancient temple. Daring stepped lightly as she walked down the dim hall, the dim red light from the glowing eyes of a grinning skull only adding to the atmosphere of the place. The floor was alive with insects as they scuttled about, skittering about the pegasus’s steps as she walked. Daring’s eyes darted about, on the lookout for any possible source of further trouble. So it was with the expectation of trouble that Daring’s gaze shot to her own hoof as it fell on a title that sank under her weight far more than it should have. “Well, that can’t be a good sign.”

The slow, heavy, grinding of ancient mechanisms greeted her ears as Daring charged down the hall. Whatever traps lurked inside had been triggered and now her only hope was getting past them before they did what they were designed to do. Daring ducked the first trap, barely missing a step as a flurry of axes shot over her head and buried into the wall on the other side. The next trap was slightly harder to dodge as searing gouts of flame shot forth from the floor. Daring barely managed to clear it, the waves of blistering her heat rolling over her fur as she came far too close for comfort. She barely had time to gather her wits before a snapping noise from above sent her flat against the floor. A quick glance above her head showed her the surreal sight of a pack - did you call it a pack? - Of alligators hanging from the ceiling, snapping at her. How the hay had they gotten those guys up there, anyway?

The next death trap was decidedly tame in comparison - a flurry of darts shot out of the wall as Daring danced and dodged around them, only a few hissing to close to her coat along with a few that managed to lodge themselves harmlessly into her pith helmet. The follow-on series of floor spikes that began to shoot up at her as she dodged around them was almost par for the course in a place like this. She finally arrived on the other side in time to realize that to door was already shutting on her. With one more burst of speed, Daring threw herself over the threshold, rolling on the other side to pull her tail through just before the massive stone door slammed shut.

Daring gave the now sealed door one final look over her shoulder before turning to the chamber before her. It was at least twenty paces across, hallways branching off in an octagonal design. Torches burned in their holders as the hung from the walls in between. The same system that ran the traps must have lit the torches, she realized. That or somebody was expecting her here today. The thought sent a shiver up her spine.

The chamber roof arched over her head, the smooth stone showing the flaking worn hints of what might have once been a mural peering down at her. There were eight hallways in all - seven, if she didn’t count the one she had just come out of. Seven different routes and Daring had no idea which one to take.

Well, no matter. So, she picked one at random and headed down it.

Daring found herself in what look liked a large storage chamber of some sort, the entire space willed with oversized clay jars, each one with the same stylized Anubis head for a lid. Walking through the room was like walking through the ranks of some sort of bizarre army. As creepy as the trek through the room was, it resulted in nothing. There was no other way out of the chamber then the way she had come in. With a sigh, Daring headed back to the central chamber. At least the room hadn’t been booby trapped.
To pick the next hall to check, Daring simply walked straight across the chamber and down the hall immediately opposite the one she had just left - Simple, yet effective. This hallway, like the last, ended in a large chamber. Unlike the last one, this one was obviously not just a storage room.

The center of the room - it was more like a hall, really - was occupied by a massive stone table, around which were arranged a dozen massive stone chairs. Each one seemed so large, Daring wondered if they even actually moved or were carved out of the stone floor like columns. She drew closer to one to take a better look and nearly jumped out of her coat when she looked at the seat.

The ancient remains of a long departed pony sat in the seat, hooves still folded underneath his barrel, head hanging as the tattered remains of an ancient ceremonial garb hung from its bones. A quick glance around the table showed that all of the seats were similarly occupied. Some of them had the telltale horn of a unicorn, many with aging and tarnished rings of jewelry still wrapped around them. Others had the tell-tale shapes of wing bones fanning out from under the decayed robes, thin feather-like pieces of metal lying near them as the only remains of ancient weaponry. The remaining few lacked both horn and wing, the only indicator of their once epic strength and unique connection to the earth lost along with their mortal forms, leaving only the decorated bones of stout skeletons in their place. There was four of each type, in all, two of each on each side. It was not hard to imagine that it was likely one of each gender per side. Representatives of all three tribes, equally split by gender, seated in perfect symmetry. It was a common sort of ritual set-up in ancient pony cultures, a manifestation of the intrinsic pony desire for balance and harmony. It was a common thread that connected every form of pony culture Daring had come across. It was part of who they were.

A cold chill ran up Daring’s spine, as if somebody was watching her. She quickly turned around, her hooves catching on some of the aged items scattered about and sending them clattering across the stone floor. When she final got turned around though, all she found behind her was thin air. Cautiously, she looked over her shoulder back at the ancient meeting ponies. All of them were still where they had been seated for countless ages. Part of her had half expected them to get up and start attacking her, what with the way her luck had been so far.

Carefully, so as not to further disturb the final resting place of these dozen ponies, Daring slowly left the chamber and headed back to the main hub. The echo of her hoof falls was the only sound that accompanied her.

The next two chambers had proven equally unfruitful. One had been some sort of archive or library. Aging racks made of stone and wood crisscrossed the room, turning it into a bizarre maze. Daring wandered about it, peering into the stacks of scrolls and clay tablets among the shelves, unable to read a single word of the writings gathered in the space. She couldn’t even hope to take any of it with her. Unlike a statue, scrolls like this were often extremely delicate. A careless hoof or an ill-timed sneeze and the scrolls would simply disintegrate into confetti. She could only hope that she could find this place again after she left and bring back proper equipment to study this entire place - hopefully with help.

The Other room was what must have been a congregation chamber of sorts. Long, low stone benches crossed the entire width of the room, two columns of benches leading toward the front with a single aisle down the middle. At the front of the room was yet another Anubis-headed statue. This one resembling more a wolf then some sort of dog, seated and peering out over the space where the worshipers would have been seated. At its feet was a low table, the remains of wooden bowls and cups scattered around it. A place to leave offers, perhaps? Once again, however, the room showed no sign of an exit so Daring was forced to turn back.

It was with the next hall that she hit pay dirt. She knew she was onto something almost immediately, as the hallway turned out to be much longer than the other ones. A second clue was the faint draft of air she could feel. It was faint, almost undetectable, but the keen senses of a pegasus let her pick up the faintest of wind currents as air flowed down the hall in the barest of whispers.

Sure she was now on the right track, Daring started down the hall. She was feeling confident. That was, until she felt her hoof sink into the floor again as a tile fell under her weight. Well, at least it had been a nice break. The door behind her slammed shut alarmingly fast as that familiar grinding sound of ancient gears and mechanisms sprang to life, brought to life by her careless hoof step. Daring started down the hall as fast as she could, her eyes already spying the door on the far side, watching as it began to slowly descend to close off her only remaining escape route. Thankfully, it seemed to be on a different counterweight then the first door since its descent was much slower, almost tauntingly so.

Of course, it wasn’t a simple dash to the other side. The first trap was actually quite clever - a pair of massive spinning blades that emerged from the wall, slicing through the passageway as they sped toward Daring in an attempt to dice her. Daring let out a yelp as she frantically ducked under them, feeling a few of her longer mane hairs get trimmed as they passed. The next trap was also quite ingenious with its blades. This time it was a series of pendulums, swinging back and forth in lazy swings with the barest of spaces between them. Daring carefully timed her steps, hastily bringing herself up short as she nearly mistimed one step a nearly found herself in the path of one of the massive curved blades arcs. She tried to make her way across the trap as fast as she could, her eyes glancing toward the ever descending door on the other side. The next obstacle gave up on shop objects and opted for a brute force approach, this time beginning to lower the entire roof down on her. As an added bonus, spikes began to sprout from what had looked like otherwise decorative holes across the ceiling to turn the hallway roof into a massive, ancient mashie spikey plate of unpleasantness. So, now Daring had to get across the hallway before the door closed and the roof turned her into a pincushion - right, sure, no problem.

The floor, however, wasn’t done with her either, it seemed, as whole sections began to fall way into - of course - a deep chasm that it looked like the whole hall was built over. Only a few beams crossing the hall seemed to be unaffected, but they had been places to try and make it impossible to jump between them -key word try. Daring began leaping across the beams, each arc bringing her perilously close to the spikes now overhead. Each jump was a near thing, with more than a couple being landed more by luck then by skill. Eventually, however, she found herself back on a decent stretch of stone. A quick step forward was brought up short when a poisoned dart flew across the hall, barely missing her nose. Daring gave a the walls a quick glance, before glancing at the descending roof, now dangerously close, before turning to the far door. A single stretch of stone, likely connected to the poison dart trap, led up to one final pit before ending at the door on the other side. A door that was beginning to get far too close to shut for her tastes. Daring bit back a curse and ran.

Darts whistled past her, some of them ricocheting off of the spikes that had lowered down into their paths. Daring increased her speed, feeling darts slam into her pith helmet and graze over her coat but none of them managing to hit her properly. Finally, as she neared the chasm, she leapt.

She threw herself across the intervening space, landing on the other side in a slide that carried her through the door moments before it slammed shut behind her. Daring slid across the hall on the other side before rolling back to her hooves. She looked back at the now sealed door, giving it a grin as she cleared the darts off of her helmet and continued on into the temple.

Comments

[Pinklestia]

I can't get past Equestria having planes, why not use hot air balloons or zeppelins?