Daring Do and the Secret of the Fourth Wall

by Ultra-the-HedgeToaster

Chapter 6 - The end of the tunnel

This chapter is available as a "synthesized" audio book:
> [click here] - with human narrator!

> [click here] - no background music
> [click here] - with ambient music loop

> [overview of all chapters]

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Dash gaped down at the sight below.

Whatever she had expected to find at the end of the tunnel, if even anything at all, this had not been it.

Before her lay an enormous cavern, with rows upon rows of buildings of various sizes and shapes scattered everywhere on ground-level, framed by a network of dirt-roads and alley-ways. She had emerged at the peak of a high formation of rocks, reaching up halfway to the enormous cavern's ceiling, where the river she had been following rushed down across the smoothed stone like a waterfall.

Even from this vintage-point, it was hard to tell how large the place actually was, and Dash was unsure whether to classify it as a “town” or a “city”. Though for the most part, this was due to the settlement's unorthodox layout. Having been built into the cave's expanse, the settlement had to adhere to its natural shape. While it seemed that a lazy fifteen-minute trot would be more than enough time to cross the gap between the cavern's left and right walls respectively, from Dash's viewpoint the “town” / “city” stretched far on into the distance, the city-limit obscured by the cave's curvature.

Light poured down from a number of magic crystals in the ceiling above, bathing the mixture of wooden and stone architecture in a ghostly pale, violet light. There was no discernible pattern, crystalline clusters of different sizes and density were strewn all about overhead, as well as on some parts of the encompassing cave-walls. There were also a few dim light sources on ground-level, though one of them in particular caught Rainbow Dash's attention. Positioned at the edge of the cavern, it was significantly brighter than the rest, illuminating a splotch of yellow that stood out in the otherwise dull gray-ish white and brown environment.

Could it be a pony? ...Could it be Daring Do?

“Hey, Daring Do!” Dash shouted, waving her torch over her head with her left foreleg. The yellow blob that may or may not have been Daring Do did not react to this. “Hey! Daring! Up here!” she yelled with increased volume, yet with the same result – none. Taking a deep, deep breath, Dash hollered an exclamation of “Over here!” at the top of her lungs.

No reaction. Dash frowned. Wasn't she loud enough? She would've figured she'd been loud enough to hear, but alas, it seemed she would have to get closer to get Daring's attention.

Well, it wasn't too far, and she'd be there in less than a minute... Okay, no need to rush while exhausted – a couple minutes on hoof, then.

Except... she was a few hundred meters up, and she couldn't fly down. For the umpteenth time, the disgruntled pegasus cursed her right wing's injury, and the forces of fate that undoubtably had been conspiring against her. Peaking over the edge, Dash's gaze was drawn to the river splashing down over the smoothed rock-formation that very roughly – if interpreted generously – resembled a water-staircase. It only led down two thirds of the way, from there on, she'd have to jump into the basin of water below. With an annoyed grunt, Dash began making her way down.

One awkward, slippery and on several occasion nearly fatal climb down the cliffside later, as well as a soaking wet coat and mane, Rainbow Dash had reached ground-level. At least she wasn't cold, the lake she had landed in had been surprisingly warm – especially compared to the low temperature of the river flowing into it. Weird. There must have been something at the bottom of the lake heating it up.

Making her way through the streets in the direction of the bright light source, Dash passed by buildings in varying states of decay. Some of them had collapsed entirely, while others in turn seemingly had remained perfectly intact. The materials used in their construction were just as varied. Some of them were built from wood, others from brick, others again appeared to have been built from solid walls of rock leaning against each other – or a blend of each of the designs. After a ten-minute trot, Dash had reached the outer wall. Off to her right, she saw a large set of double-doors, probably the main city-entrance. And to her left, illuminated by the light of an oil-lamp, she saw a number of rooms that appeared to have been carved directly into the cave's stone itself. And on the ground in front of them lay ...Oh no.

Dash tensed at seeing Daring Do's limp form lying on the ground, legs sprawled into every direction. Rushing to her side immediately, she was relieved to realize the other mare was merely unconscious, albeit badly bruised, small cuts showing all over her body and one of her wings bandaged. But she was breathing strong, steady breaths.

That meant she was okay, right?

“I could use some advice from Fluttershy right now,” Dash murmured worriedly, examining Daring's wounds more closely. She couldn't see anything serious other than the injured wing, and Dash didn't want to disturb the bandages. After all, those seemed to have been done somewhat professionally, and she didn't want to risk making things worse.

Well, at the very least, she couldn't let Daring Do keep lying on the cold stone-floor. But where else to go?

Looking around for a more suitable location, Dash quickly realized that she, in fact, had a fairly large selection to choose from. There were houses everywhere.

Carrying Daring Do on her back, it didn't take her long to reach a nearby stone-building. It was two stories high, and looked stable enough. In there, with any luck – her own fatigue once again reasserting itself after the momentary rush of adrenaline had faded – they'd find a resting place.
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Author's Note:

A special thanks to MeglifKaddy and Frobman for last-minute help with editing! :-)

Please tell me what you think of this chapter's human-narrated version of the audio-book. It was kind of an experiment.

Comments

[honeyhoneyhoney]

I blinked. Then the chapter was done.

[Ultra-the-HedgeToaster]

2476882 *Insert obvious "in 10 seconds flat" joke here*
Yeah, sorry for the short chapter. It just didn't entirely fit thematically with what comes next. *shrug*

However, the next chapter will be out in the next few days.

[Luigilewis889]

2476933

Hurrah! More accidental fourth-wall piercing shenanigans!

[FanOfMostEverything]

2476933
Good. There's really not enough here to comment on, but I look forward to a full-sized installment.

[henke37]

But wouldn't the torch have been exhausted from the drop in the water? Bah, light crystals.

[Super-Brony12]

Just read everything that you have done so far. Nice story! I shall continue to ever so vigilantly watch this for further updates.

~ Super-Brony12

[paul]

2476933
Teaser chapter - I got it
btw: Update !!!!!!!!

[Ultra-the-HedgeToaster]

2477224 Glad to hear ya liked it!
What do you think of my narration? Am I clearly understandable?

[AyanamiRei]

2480909 You did a good job on Narration. I was most pleased. I honestly HATE the Comp Synthesized Voices like what was used for the previous readings. This was a welcome change <3