Daring Do and the Lost Kingdom of Basha

Chapter I:

Into the Darkness

Daring Do and Steel Hoof descended down into the tomb. The stairwell was dark and moist, and old burned out torches lined the walls. When things first got dark, Steel lit one of the torches and held it in front of them. Daring could barely make out each step, as the blinding light in front of her prevented her from seeing too far. After about thirty minutes of climbing down steps, Steel was the first to break the silence.

"How much further, do you think?" Steel asked

"It can't be too far, tombs aren't normally this deep to begin with." Daring replied

"How do you know this is a tomb?"

"I can tell by the style of the staircase, it symbolizes one's journey to the underworld."

"I thought that was bad when you went to hell?"

"No you numbskull, that's Christianity. The Egyptians believed that the afterlife existed in the underworld, and when you got there it would be decided whether you faced eternal torment or eternal happiness."

"Well, what if they had a bad pharaoh?"

"Then they would really make the stairwell long, so he could face his eternal torment sooner." Daring giggled

"Well if you ask me it seems like this guy must have been a real douche bag to be buried this deep!" Steel snorted

"Well maybe-" Daring was cut off by a flank to her face. She walked right into Steel after he walked into the door, they fell to the stairs in heaping mess. When they finally gathered themselves and stood up, Daring said, "Who does that? The stairs lead straight to another door? There's no entry hallway or anything? Strange design, I don't trust it..."

"Only one way to find out!" Steel said, dropping the torch and rushing the door

"No, Steel wait!" Daring shouted, but it was too late. Steel bashed the door in, and light entered the stairwell. At first, Daring didn't understand what torch could stay lit for a hundred and some years, but then she peeked in and saw where the light came from. Daring had never seen anything like it, there was a huge open space, almost as large as Cloudsdale itself! A giant cave! Egyptian houses and structures lined the walls, and formed a bowl-like shape to a courtyard in the center. Daring could see the cave went on far beyond her vision, as the other end of the cave had a bright light coming from it. What startled Daring was what could be making that light? The sun? No, they were too far underground! Daring couldn't understand, until she read the plaque in front of her.

"Daring? What kind of tomb is this?" Steel Hoof asked

Daring sat silent, her mouth agape at what she just read

"Daring? Daring Do?" Steel walked up to Daring

"I...I don't believe it..." Daring mumbled

"Yoo hoo, Equestria to Daring Do?"

"STEEL!" Daring yelled, grabbing Steel Hoof and shaking him, "YOU DIDN'T FIND A TOMB!"

"I didn't?" Steel said, confused

"NO!" Daring gestured towards the city below them, "YOU FOUND THE LOST CITY OF BASHA!"

"Uh, don't you mean Atlantis?"

Daring face-hoofed, "No you moron! Ba-sha!" Daring sounded out for him, like he was three

"Who?"

"Ugh, the Egyptian pharaoh who led an entire underground city?"

"Oh yeah! Bashoo or whatever! I read up about him! I can't really remember anything about him, it kinda went in one eye and came out...uh, my other eye?"

Daring facehooved at Steel's sad attempt to make a pun, "You read up about him for a whole week, how do you forget this sort of information?"

"I dunno? Just...fill me in on what I need to know."

"Fine, but as we walk, I've been searching for this place most of my life, and I want to see it before my luck catches up with me, and something bad happens!"

Steel nodded, understanding Daring now wanted to adventure again, and he trudged alongside her, holding the torch again. The light from the other end of the city was bright, but since it was on the other side of the city, it only lit up everything from one angle, making large and dark shadows reach across everything. Daring found a pace and Steel matched it, gesturing for her to speak. Daring took in a breath and started explaining about Basha and his great city.

"Basha was a pharaoh who led a very prosperous land." Daring began to tell the story, "He loved his subjects, and listened to what they had to say. He ran his territory almost like a democracy, he allowed votes on certain things he couldn't decide, and allowed public complaints. Because he cared so much for his subjects, everypony loved him."

"Well how did he move his city underground?" Steel interrupted

"I was getting to that!" Daring snapped, "Anyway, Basha knew his subjects loved him, and he loved his subjects. Then, one day, a sandstorm came in and swept across his land. Because Basha was so lenient, there weren't enough workers to make sturdy structures for the large influx of people to his land. Basha was blamed for the incident, and he promised he would beg for an answer from the gods."

"But I thought the gods only brought plights to the land, not blessings. Isn't that why they did sacrifices?"

"Yes, I think you're correct, but in any case he asked the gods for help. The altar to which he prayed, burst into flames, and the voices of the gods spoke to Basha directly."

"Wow." Steel commented

"They told him, that a great cavern lied beneath his city, and, for a great price, they would relocate the city into the cavern."

"What was the 'great price'?"

"The gods asked for Basha to protect a simple item, a staff."

"What? That hardly sounds like a challenging task!"

"This was no ordinary staff, this was the staff of the gods themselves, this staff was a symbol of the god's power, and therefore it must be guarded. If the staff fell into the wrong hands, then it could bring great destruction across the land! But, there was one catch, Basha couldn't use the staff either! He made a chamber for it, that was locked and guarded at all times."

"Well what went wrong?"

"Basha's people were hungry, they couldn't grow crops underground! Basha's people were tired of not being able to see sunlight! Basha's people were tired of Basha! Most of his subjects left the city, and only those who were truly loyal to Basha stayed behind. Alongside Basha, they guarded the staff with their lives. On one fateful day, Basha decided he would get his people back by force, and went after the staff of the gods in an attempt to use the staff to bring them back! He was cut off by his own guards, who were conflicted: obey Basha, or obey the gods? The guards eventually chose the gods, and locked Basha up. When Basha was old and dying, the guards let him out to see his city once more. Some say he never made it, and died when the guards came for him. Some say he made it to his city, and what he saw ended his life! Some say that he broke free of the guards grasp, and locked himself in with the staff of the gods! Nobody really knows how the story quite ends, but one thing is for certain. Somewhere in this city, is an ancient safe with a priceless staff in it, and most likely, tons of valuables!"

"So that's what our new objective is? Find this 'Staff of the Gods' and get the hell out?"

"So far, yes..." Daring stated proudly

"Well where is this safe?"

"My guess," Daring pointed towards the light, "That-a-way!"

For the longest time, Daring thought the most amazing thing she'd ever see was her amazing collection of fossils at the museum. Then she went and experienced her own tomb, and then traveled the world, going on adventures! After all Daring had been through, she never thought she would see this city. Each time they passed a torch, she asked Steel to light it. When he asked why, she said, "It's a trade secret!" Steel would just shake his head and move on. Daring kept asking him to light the torches so she could see the city in all its glory! Even though a torch or two went out behind them, they were making a trail, and Daring planned to light up at least half of the place. After a lifetime of walking, Daring finally told Steel to put out the light. They were close enough now to the light source that there weren't really anymore shadows.

Daring looked at her partner, and she suddenly realized what he really looked like. She normally just saw this grey, young, stallion who liked to rough around and go on adventures. Now, that she was looking at him in this flattering light, she could see his features better. He was sweating from the humidity down here, and his rippling muscles looked strong enough to rip a house in half. For a moment, she felt an attraction to her partner, but the she snapped out of it and focused back on the task at hand. She didn't have time to fantasize, she was the adventurer Daring Do after all! Then she began to wonder what made these thoughts cross her mind, they never had before.

She looked over the hill top (if that's what you want to call it) and saw a whole new section of city below them. This section looked very similar to the last, except it was lit up a lot better. Vines reached around the edges of the city block below, and birds could even be heard chirping! Daring was never more anxious in her entire life, she picked up the pace and walked ahead, Steel adjusted to keep up.

Little did they know, that they weren't alone. Something in the shadows was lurking about, watching their every move. It would wait for the perfect time to strike, and when it did, it wouldn't end well for the heroes. The worst part was, there were more than one, there was an entire group. Daring and Steel were completely unaware to the danger surrounding them, but they would have to face it soon enough...