"RUN AS FAST AS YOU LIKE DARING DO, YOU"LL NEVER MAKE IT!" *A maniacal laugh echoes throughout the Jungle* "WITH OUT YOUR WINGS YOUR NOTHING!" Putting full effort into every last stride, Daring treads madly over the cluttered jungle floor. The heavy trees dismissing most of the high noon sky leaving a dark and swampy path that Daring struggles to contrast.Sweating and breathing to the near point of unconsciousness, the already exhausted mare leaps over fallen trees and propels her way through the thick jungle vegetation. But without her wings Daring is finding it hard to believe the amount stumbling and tripping that is happening, even with so much experience of doing the impossible. Doubt begins to sink in when Daring's front hoof gets snagged in a low hanging vine. She tumbles out of control until she stops just inches away from the edge of a fast flowing river.
The urge to give up is taunting Daring though she has been through many unrecoverable situations. Always a selfless mare willing to do the impossible for anyone that wishes to be a good friend to her. But the situation has left her with an undesirable amount of resentment with what she is attempting to do. If there was anything more terrifying to Daring than death, it was the failure to help a friend who deserved it. The injured mare lifts herself up with hast and shakes off what was left of her doubt.
She gives quick orientation to the flowing river and begins to follow it upstream.Finally arriving at the base of a large waterfall, Daring looks up with eyes full of terror, slamming both front hooves into the ground with anger and frustration.Without ceasing the opportunity to catch her breath, she nervously looks around the area. Her eyes widen with solution as she runs to some over grown vines and begins to viciously tear them from their origin. Not giving a second glance at the quality of her work, she ties the end of the vines together in a long strand and quickly loops one end to a tree, and the other around her famished waist.
With almost no time in-between tying her last knot, a screaming mare that has been tied up in a prior time comes crashing out the sky and hits the water below with full force. The loud scream catches daring’s full and immediate attention. Without any wings and a body still weak from famine, Daring's hat fly’s off her head when she plunges head first into the water with no concern for her own safety.The scene is quickly voided of all activity and replaced with the still, peaceful, and serene sounds of nature. Daring do's hat floats aimlessly on the surface of the water as the sun reflects a beautiful rainbow across the base of the falls. What almost seems like hours, a wet and tired mare named Daring do finally emerges to the surface slowly pulling her frightened wet friend from the raging waters.With her hooves full, Daring uses her teeth to grip the vine rope and guide them to the surface. She successfully drags her friend to land with tremendous struggle, but with the amount of effort used to save her friend had quickened the pace of the poison Daring was so eager to ignore. Finally succumbing, Daring losses conscious and falls to the ground.
*The screen pauses as we find Daring do laterally pushing the scene from view* "All right! I think we’re off to a good start! Welcome every pony who has decided to come this far in the story. As I'm sure you all know, I am the infamous world traveling, dungeon raiding mare known as Daring do! I go on many adventures that take me to some very exotic locations all around Equestria. But as of now, I want to discuss with you about some of the dangers that are involved in the following story, and why I believe it to be a bad idea to make any attempt of them. You see, I have been doing this sort of thing for some time now and I encourage it to remain this well known mare, the only pony that does. So with that covered, let's get this boulder rolling! I really do hope you enjoy the rest of the story!" -Daring Do
Chapter 1
A clear night sky boldly shows off it's stars while the faint sound of an emotional flute solo can be heard in the distance. Shooting stars grace the large open sky as a pillar of smoke could be seen billowing from a small fire.Cautiously placing her flute aside, an old Zebra raises a hand crafted wooden bowl to her nose and takes in the meditative sent of herbal tea. She begins to slowly sip from the bowl while the light from the fire dances through her closed eyes. She starts her story with a soft and quite tone.
"Long before the existence of earth ponies such as you and I, laid across the constellations in the starry night sky, is a story about a once powerful magic only known to the highest clouds in Equestria." The Zebra is suddenly interrupted by an anxious young zebra wrapped tightly in a blanket."We already heard this story a hundred times Grandma!" followed promptly by another youngster. "Yea, you promised us a different story tonight!" The old zebra lowers her head and gives an invisible smile. She continues from the interruption."Perhaps it is best I tell a tale, about a mare who was full of dare. Long ago this story told, on a stormy night so wet and cold." The old zebra then suddenly throws the remaining contents of the wooden bowl onto the fire, causing it to flare up in a large ball of smoke.
*epic intro music*
Bursting from a large cloud form, a Pegasus wearing goggles and a flight jacket pulling a chariot through extreme heavy weather escorting Daring. Daring pokes up from the chariot and taps the Pegasus."Are you sure were going the right way?"The Pegasus doesn't respond and continues dead aim on his course. Daring annoyed at the brush off, drops back down into the chariot and grabs her binoculars from her saddle bag. She peers over the side of the chariot with them and witnesses quick signs of ground through open patches of cloud. A down draft of wind causes a quick and sudden turbulence in the chariot as Daring struggles to keep grip of her binoculars.Daring once again acknowledges the Pegasus."Thanks again! Ill take it from here!"
Securing her saddle bag Daring throws it from the chariot, following promptly with a fancy backwards flip, Daring snatches her saddle bag in mid flight and disappears through the thick cloud layer and fly's towards the heavily fogged island.Dodging her way through heavy waterlogged clouds, Daring approaches the island with no sense except for adventure. With her vision limited and adrenaline at its peak, she doesn't notice the quickness that the ground is approaching. Thrill turned into terror, the Pegasus throws her wings open in hopes of slowing her down. A collection of falling rain water hits the mares face from atop of trees as Daring pulls off her escape from an early doom. Hardly phased by the encounter, Daring speeds over the trees with barley enough altitude, ripping the rain water off their tips.
Daring slows her flight and pulls her compass from her shirt to get a sense of orientation. She performs a search pattern as she scans the ground for any spot to land, but only to find that the island has mostly flooded due to constant heavy downpour and is well covered in heavy foliage.With a bit of luck Daring finally manages to spot a clearing with a small but manageable landing area for a Pegasus of her size. The mare circles the spot a couple times to gauge its size and notice any potential threats. With weather conditions only worsening, Daring boldly makes the landing but with serious flaw.A flash of lighting distracts Daring at the last moment when she finds her hooves have contacted wet stone. The young mare slips and slides out of control over the ground and crashes into a small stone structure. Daring quickly shakes off the embarrassing attempt and assesses her surroundings. Feeling alright but confused, Daring notices in front of her a saddle bag hanging off a thin tree branch above a steep ravine.
The sudden loss of weight comes quickly when Daring realizes that its her own saddle bag that is missing. A small crack coming from the branch, Daring Do has already made a run for her bag using the slippery stone floor as a slip and slide, to catch the bag at the last second before it plummeted into the fast moving water below.A sigh of relief from Daring when she looks about her landing site to see the small stone structure from where she crashed. Soaking wet and cold, Daring eyes narrowed with the intent to take shelter inside of it. Taking a moment to catch her breath Daring shakes the water off her body and lights her oil lamp with some well kept dried flint rock. The dim, flickering light from the lantern reveals more to the dry shelter than Daring had previously thought when she looks behind her to see that the stone structure has turned into an old abandoned entrance to an unknown destination. The rain water drizzled through the roof as the drops echoed deep into the entry way. This made the mares eyes light up and give a well determined grin when the smell of adventure filled her nose and aroused her curiosity.
