Chapter 5: The Lost City Adventures Part 2.

Daring Do's body snapped to life. She coughed uncontrollably as small drops of liquid worked their way out of her lungs.. After a few good wheezes she steadily raised herself to her hooves. Splintering pain shooting through her body as she did so. But she was tough, she had survived far worse than this.

The mare coughed one last time before taking in a large sum of air. Her chest expanded taking it all greedily. "By Celss-*gasp* tia!" She gasped for another breath. "I'm Alive! That's seven points me zero points Ahuizotl. Was not expecting Ahuizotl to have The Bow of Clamat though." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing he's... a... bad..."

Daring do trailed off staring into the darkness around her. It was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Shot..."

Not a single trace of light, just solid darkness. Daring felt a small droplet of sweat fall down her face. Wasting no more time she forced herself to move from the waters edge onto, what felt like, cold stone. It was not as unpleasant as she was expecting. The water had made it all smooth over the countless years it had been moving.

Gingerly she laid herself down, being absolutely sure there were no sharp rocks. The last thing she wanted was to add more injuries on top of old ones. With a grunt she rested herself fully on the smooth stone. Laying on her side she allowed her breath to catch up with her.

She never stopped staring into the darkness in a mock attempt to seem prepared. In truth, she was in trouble. She was exhausted, injured to the point she can no longer fly and she was unable to see even an inch in front of her snout. It was looking pretty grim. Accompanying her slowing heart beat was the constant trickle of water. It was slow and calm but must have belonged to a large stream or small river. It did carry her after all.

"The Nether Gate..." She whispered. "This may be the worst case scenario."

Slowly and steadily reached out a hoof, feeling the nearby terrain. It was smooth and and dry. Once she was sure it was safe, she took one step forward. reaching out another hoof, she could feel it sink into something cool and wet.

"Hmm."

The mare halted her slow advance to rummage through her saddle bags. Several objects rubbed against one another producing a variety of clinks and clunks.

"Come on," Daring Do persisted. "I know you're in here somewh-" Something smooth and multiple surfaced graced her touch. "Ah-Ha! There you are."

Without further ado she withdrew the small item and raised it above her head.

"Illuminate!"

The small gem in her hoof bathed a small area around her in red light. She surveyed her surroundings finding that her suspicions were correct. She was able to free up hoof by placing the gem in a slot in her hat. She knew that was a good investment.

She carefully edged herself closer to the water and scanned it from left to right. The water was certainly in motion and, like the level headed mare see was, she elected to travel up stream.

Slowly she treated the smooth stone, making sure every step was secure. Although she had no need to fear any sharp rocks it was perilously slippery. She would always glance at the rushing water, scanning for potential threats. The water itself seemed hazardous in a way. It had the potential of dragging her away if she was careless enough to fall in, or containing hidden predators. Although she doubted there would be any at her current depth, or at least nothing that would attack something of her size.

She came to an abrupt halt, eyeing the rapids with a queer expression. Closer she went till she could she light reflecting off it's surface. But something was off.

Something was moving under the surface. Something very rough in texture.

"EPP!" A high pitched squeal sounded.

A small section of a step gave way and sent a crude jagged stone tumbling into the darkness. The startle pegasus was already in hover mere seconds after the step gave way.

"Doctor, I don't know about this." A weak voice said plainly. "Aren't ruins like, really dangerous?"

The earth pony gave his pegasus companion a laugh. "Oh heavens no, it is completely safe actually. And even if it weren't you would still have nothing to fear."

"Really?" The grey pegasus asked, unconvinced.

"Oh yes!" The stallion affirmed, bringing a smile to her face. "Even if there are trap doors leading to lethal spike traps, Deadly poisonous darts, raining venomous snakes from the ceiling or the classic boulder crush. I will keep us from harm!"

"..." The pegasus only stared at him. "That didn't make me feel any better."

"What was that Derpy?" The distant voice of the doctor called. "You shouldn't be dilly dally here."

"Nothing Doctor!" She quickly responded, falling behind him with a few flaps of her wings. "Just thought it was funny."

"What's funny?"

"Oh you know," She nervously flicked her mane out of her eyes. "The whole 'there's nothing wrong with the southern birds' and then you find this right after."

"Ah well," The stallion laughed. "there really was nothing wrong with them. They were just following their instincts. Animals are very good when it comes to their own survival. If they believed they were in danger they are not just going to stick around."

"S-So there is some thing d-dangerous about this place?"

"Perhaps." The doctor nodded, earn a alarmed stare from her companion.

Slowly the two descended deeper into the bowels of the ancient structure. The orange glow of the torches lining the walls illuminated their descent into the tomb. The orange fire danced and flickered as they passed. Ancient hieroglyphic scripts lined the walls from top to bottom, depicting their age-old history. Each carving cut deep into the stone and stood strong against the test of time.

"Oh look at this one Doctor," The stallion said, brushing away some dust. "*cough* it's *cough*."

"A snake." The stallion stated.

"A snake!" The mares eyes widened in fear as she took a step back. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," He paced a proud hoof on his chest. "and that there is a mountain."

"That can't be right, the snake is just as big as the mountain." The mare focused on eye on the mountain and the other on the so called snake. "How is that possible."

"It is possible that those two symbols are representing another meaning rather than a snake as large as a mountain. For example the snake could represent death or disease, and the mountain could mean large or vast." The stallion explained, matter-of-factually. "So when you put those two together it could mean a great plague or just a disaster befell the society."

"Oh," The mares ears splayed back. "That's... not good."

She pawed at the ground with a sullen look on her face at the realization that, this was essentially a tomb of a civilization that did not make it. She could not help but wonder that maybe, just maybe, equestrian might not make it either. However all those thoughts were pushed aside when a friendly hoof was placed upon her. She glanced up to see her friend smiling at her with the warmest of smiles.

"Derpy I promise you, that as long as I am here, nothing bad will happen to you or anyone else on this planet."

"O-Of course." She blushed.

"Alright then, now let's go explore this wondrous temple of history."

"Ya!" The pegasus cheered, forgetting all her doubts and fears. After all with him around there was nothing to fear, right?

Daring Do picked up her pace to a canter. After what she believed she had seen, their was no time to waste. She doubted she would starve to death before something got their claws in her. According to her she would survive as long as she had a light source, three hours by her estimate, and that was being extraordinarily generous to her situation. It was only a matter of time now.

"Once my light goes out," She glanced at the river beside her. "I'm done for... Unless,"

The mare carried on up the stone carved slope. Determination burned in her eyes as she cautiously traversed the smooth stone. Her hoof steps echoed through the darkness that surrounded her. Each step sounded loud and clear with the overflow of the water. Her muscled burned and ached from exhaustion, and a recent near death experience. It was taking everything she had just to keep breathing.

"Just keep moving Daring," She encouraged, breathing heavily. "Just keep go-"

She fell to the floor with dull thud. Breathing heavily and lightly cursing she tried to pick herself up. She only raised a few inches before collapsing again. She was far more exhausted then she realized.

"Come on Darring," She hissed, trying to prompt a response from her body. "You been through a lot worse than this!"

She tried again and again to force some hidden strength from her body, but none came. She urged it to move so they might live another hour, but it was for naught. The days she spent trudging, and running through the dense jungle above had already brought her past her breaking point. Even now she could feel the need for sleep. Her eyelids grew heavy and were threatening to shut for the rest they desired. She would not be able to continue like this.

"So," She sighed, fighting to stay awake. "this is where... it... ends..."

With those final words her vision fades and she joins the realm of dreams. She is easy prey now.

The steady rhythmic beat against the stone steps grew louder. The vibrations coursing deep through the barriers of stone. it flowed further into the earth and ancient halls. quiet echos brushed up against the overgrowth hanging from the ceiling and covering the floor.

It was a vibrations that should have not had any effect on a dusty old tome like this, but...

Down in the deepest part of the structure a small stone rolled across the decorative stone floor with speed. It passed several archways and intersecting passageways, that seemingly stretched on forever into the darkness. It clattered against floor as it progressed further and further, slowly losing it's speed. Taking it's last roll, it stopped just shy of falling into a large cavern.

Once upon a time their was a bridge that stretched from one side to the other, but time had not been kind to every inch of the structure. It was, unfortunately, one of the many wonders that could not stand the test of time.

Just a small fraction of stone hanged precariously over the edge. With no force to act upon it further it would remain stationary for many a year. that is until it was lifted in the air by several strands of blue light. It only hovered a few inches in the air and, with a low hum, tossed off the side. It was quickly engulfed by the hungry darkness below.

Once again on the move it plummeted into the earth. it collided with a ridged outcrop with an audible crack but continued it's decent undeterred. The sound of it connected with several other obstacles along the way was faint but clear. Farther and farther it fell only slowing down when it made contact with an obstruction. It fell for what seemed like an eternity until it finally hit it's final obstacle.

With a low thud it bounced of a hard, but not rock hard, surface. It pushed back on it slightly before falling on the floor next to the object. All was still and for a moment nothing happened, but it was not long before the object started to stir.

It started with a few small ballistic twitches that faded into some swallowing pulsations. A silk moist tongue poked out of it's mouth and touched the cold stone. Finally, with a crack and a slither, some of the flesh peeled back. A bright orange blur was revealed as the eyelid opened. A second layer peeled back and reveal a black oval in it's center. Slowly it pivoted in it's socket and focused on the small stone that had woken him.

Even the smallest of vibrations can make the largest of waves.

-No lore or history today I'm afraid-

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait everyone. It's a fair bit shorter then I wanted it to be but expanding on what I have wrote would only hurt it at this point.