Daring Do and the Lost Kingdom of Basha

Chapter III:

From the Shadows

Daring Do and Steel Hoof made their way through the city, looking for any sign of an arena. All they found were pony skeletons, spears, shields, and armor laying about. Daring Do didn't understand, what could have killed these ponies? It was quite obvious the ponies who died here must have died in some form of a struggle. Daring contemplated their positions, and what was left of their facial expressions, trying to determine how they died. She thought about what could have come down here to kill these ponies, and why? Steel noticed that Daring was staring at the skeletons, and turned her head towards his.

"Daring, don't start thinking about death! We've come this far and I don't want you going crazy on me now!" Steel worried

"I was just wondering, don't you notice how these skeletons are positioned?" Daring replied

"What do you mean?"

"Well think for a second," She said as she stopped walking and approached one of the skeletons, "who dies in a position like that, unless they're being attacked?"

Steel Hoof looked at the remains. Daring had a point, the body did appear to be in the fetal position. Steel walked up to the form and got a better look. There must have been an attack, now he saw what Daring was talking about. But he still wondered, "I thought Basha and his people stayed down here and guarded the staff? You never said they were actually invaded!"

"That's just the thing Steel, they weren't!" Daring exclaimed. Daring needed to further examine the corpse, look for battle scars on the bones. She reached for the skull and lifted it up. Suddenly, Daring heard a chink underneath the ground. Before Steel could react, Daring tackled him to the ground, knocking them at least a yard away from the body. Steel was about to argue, when Daring put her hoof over his mouth and pointed towards the remains. Steel nearly swallowed Daring's hoof at the sight of what she pointed to. Huge spikes protruded from the ground, surrounding the skeleton. The skull hung loosely on one of the spikes, then fell off after some precarious wobbling. Booby trapped bodies? Something strange was going on here, and Daring didn't like it, not one bit. After a few seconds of silence, and the fact that Daring nearly died twice in one adventure sinking in, Daring decided there was no more time to fool around. Daring got up and helped Steel up.

"We need to quit goofing off, and find this arena ASAP." Daring sternly remarked

"That sound's like a good idea to me! What's the plan captian?" Steel asked

Daring would have flown up and found out where the arena was, but her broken wings prevented it, you suck Ahuizotl. Daring looked around, and found a particularly tall structure, "We'll climb that and make a quick map from up there. We can use that to navigate our way through this portion of the city." Daring noted

"And just how do you plan to get up there? You can't exactly fly up there." Steel added

"Well, I'll just take the stairs."

"The stairs that lead to the roof?"

Steel had a point, Egyptians didn't have reason to go on rooftops, and when they did then they used ladders. The stairs would take them to the top floor, but not to the roof. Daring started walking towards the building, "I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it."

Steel sighed and caught up with his mentor. He loved the way she handled things in such a carefree nature, it made her seem...sassy...and Steel liked it. He caught himself before he let his mind start to fantasize about things, but what happened last night, when Daring snuggled up to him, made him come back to those thoughts. Did Daring have feelings for Steel? She had never shown them before, and Steel felt an even stronger connection between them ever since they came down here. It was almost as if somebody was slowly casting some sort of love spell on them. Whatever the case, Steel pushed the thoughts from his mind and kept an eye out for danger. Those beasts were still out there looking for them, and the two adventurers had no defense against them. This was the first time Steel met this Ahuizotl character, but he could tell that he was no good from the start. He was your typical average everyday villain, with a touch of insanity.

Daring Do and Steel reached the building, and Steel stepped forward, "Ladies first!" he said, trying to push the door open. The door was stuck, and he was about to bash it in, when Daring suddenly stopped him, grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open. Daring grinned at Steel, who turned bright red and glared in return. Daring stepped inside, and Steel followed closely. The building was dark, and the air inside was moist. It wasn't humid, it felt like the air had microscopic rivers flowing through it, and it formed a sort of breeze. The floor was moldy and covered in dirt and sand. A counter sat up against the back wall, and tables and chairs littered the floor. A stairwell went upstairs behind the counter and Daring proceeded towards it. She climbed up the Stairs to find the next floor was an exact mirror of the first one. She walked to the other flight of stairs and went up, Steel wasn't far behind. The next few floors must have been different facilities, but Daring just waltzed through on her way to the top. When she finally reached the top floor, she started wondering how she was going to get on the roof. The top floor was a master bedroom, which must have been where the owners of the building slept. The bed was still made, but the sheets and pillows were damp and moldy. Dressers lined the walls, the drawers were missing and the wood was rotten. There were no windows in this room, but two unlit torches hung from both sides of the bed. Daring still didn't understand how the lights on the ceiling worked, and why they couldn't be put in here too, but she didn't care, she had to get to the roof. Steel caught up and lit one of the torches with an immense amount effort, since the wood was so damp. Now that they had light, Daring got an idea.

"Steel, do you thing we could take some tables and chairs from downstairs and make a way up to the ceiling?" Daring pondered out loud

"It's a possibility, but how do you plan on getting through the ceiling?" Steel responded

"I figured you could just bust a hole for me to climb through, this structure is mostly made of a clay mix so it shouldn't be too hard."

"Well alright, I'll grab some stuff and you pile up those dressers." Steel commanded

"Roger dodger." Daring said as she knocked over one of the dressers and began sliding it to the center of the room. When she got it there, she did the same with the other one, making a sort of platform. Steel came up with a table, and placed it on top of that, which was plenty high enough to reach the ceiling. Steel climbed up on the structure, which wobbled due to the rotting wood. Steel took as much of a stable stance as he could, and bucked the ceiling as hard as he could with his hind legs. The roof gave way easily, and Steel climbed up on top. Daring Do soon followed up, and pulled out her sketch pad.

"Okay, so you're just gonna draw the city now?" Steel asked

"No you dunderhead. I'm looking for the- There it is!" Daring exclaimed, pointing at an arena not far from them.

"Okay, so you're gonna draw that instead?"

"No, just the streets. We only need to know how to get there, not what the buildings look like." Daring stated as she began to draw the grid of the city streets, labeling the arena and the building they were currently on.

"Alright, well while we're up here, maybe we should map out as much as we can see?"

"Good idea Steel, then we can know where to go if we have to head somewhere else." Daring began drawing the rest of the grid around them, and noted important looking buildings. When she finished, she put her pad away and motioned for Steel to climb down. He jumped down the wobbly structure with ease, but Daring didn't have such luck. When Daring Do put her weight on the collaboration of rotting wood, it finally gave way. Daring crashed to the floor, landing on her right wing. Daring screamed in pain, and seconds later, wished she didn't. Right after her scream, roars could be heard from the surrounding buildings, and growls weren't that far away. Daring didn't have time to apologize, as Steel helped her up and started rushing down the stairs. Steel and Daring burst out of the building, and made a mad dash for anywhere else but there. Daring pulled out her pad mid-sprint and looked at it to see where they needed to go.

"This way!" She said, trying not to speak too loudly so they would not be heard. Daring made a left turn, followed by a right down an alleyway. The two rushed as fast as they could, not caring if the beasts were following them or not. Daring and Steel made it to the arena entrance, and rushed inside. The doors that once stood proud were now dilapidated and in pieces on the floor, symbolizing that something came through them. Daring was regretting making the decision to come here, and quickly led Steel around into the area where gladiators prepared for battle. She shut what was left of the door to the room they just entered, and they huddled up in the corner opposite the door. The growls and roars eventually subsided, and all that could be heard was Daring and Steel trying to catch their breath. After a few moments of catching their breath, the two finally realized they were holding one another, and awkwardly separated.

"Damn, these guys are relentless..." Daring whispered, still afraid the monsters could hear her

"Just try not to scream again. They're everywhere, and they're always listening." Steel whispered as well

"It wasn't my fault! I fell on my wing! I hope it didn't mess it up to bad..." Daring complained

"I didn't say it was your fault," Steel said, approaching Daring to check the wing, "you fell on your wing and it hurt, you couldn't have known that vocalizing your pain would have brought those monsters after us. What matters now is that you're safe."

"Uh, don't you mean we're safe?" Daring asked

Steel didn't understand, but then he realized what he had said. His face turned red and all he could manage to say was, "Yeah..." as he went to work checking her wing.

Daring looked around the room, there was a door (surprisingly well kept) that led to the main arena battlegrounds. All around them, old armor and weapons hung from the walls, and the feint light coming through the window lit the room well enough so she could make out the same pictures on the walls that were in the building they slept in. When Steel finished checking the wing, Daring craned her neck to let out a few pops and continued to pop the rest of her joints.

"That's disgusting." Steel noted

Normally, Daring would have just giggled and tried to make the pops louder, but for some reason, disgusting the stallion seemed like an awful idea right now. She stopped, and Steel gave a surprised look, he fully expected her to finish popping every joint until Steel was nearly to the point of throwing up. She walked towards the door to the arena, like nothing was out of the ordinary. She pushed the door open very cautiously, and peeked outside. There were no signs of the monsters, just an empty colosseum. What caught Daring's eye was a strange looking figure, out in the center of the combat field. The dust and humidity in the air prevented her from properly seeing the being in the center of the arena. Daring pulled her head back in.

"I think that somepony's out there!" she whispered to Steel

"What? It's probably just one of those monster things!" Steel whispered back

"No no, it's too small. I think it's a pony!"

"Lemme see!" Steel barged past Daring and peeked out the door

"See it?" Daring asked

"Yeah I see."

"Do you think it's another pony?"

Steel pulled his head back in the doorway, with a huge grin on his face. "Well," he said, "only one way to find out!" With that, Steel charged through the door and approached the figure at a fairly brisk pace. He wasn't running, but he wasn't walking either.

"Shit, Steel!" Daring murmured to herself, "Why you gotta be such an idiot?" Daring chased after him. That numbskull was finding any reason he could just to say that line, Daring figured he wanted it to be his catch phrase. When Daring caught up to Steel, the figure was looking right at them, it was a zebra! Daring and Steel walked up to the zebra, who had on ancient Egyptian robes. The zebra remained silent, as Steel and Daring approached. The zebra got up, and started trotting towards Daring and Steel, to meet them halfway. When they reached each other, Steel was the first to speak.

"Hey there! You're not planning on killing us are you?" Steel asked the zebra

Daring just facehooved

The zebra looked at Daring, and the zebra's expression turned to realization. The zebra bowed down before Daring, as if she was royalty, without saying a word.

Daring gave Steel a confused look, and approached the zebra. "Uh, hello? Who are you?"

Without getting back up, the zebra simply said, "That matters not, you are the chosen one."

"The what now?" Daring said, startled at what she heard

"The chosen one? Maybe she was chosen to be the world's biggest loser!" Steel joked

Daring punched him in the arm, and faced the zebra. "I think you have me mistaken for somepony else. We're being hunted by some creatures and we need help. How long have you been down here?"

The zebra finally came up from her bow, and said, "No, I am certain of this: you are the chosen one. Come, I shall explain everything to you over a cup of herbal tea." Without warning, the zebra turned and started walking towards the arena exit.

Daring looked at Steel, who just shrugged. Where did this zebra plan on taking them? Well, Daring hated to admit it, but there was only one way to find out.

The strange zebra led them through the city, as though he had traveled it many times before. Daring wasn't a racist, but she didn't really trust zebras. Every zebra she had met always wanted to cook her up in some stew and eat her. Daring never understood how one pony could eat another pony and still sleep at night. Steel wasn't liking the trip either, he had a few bad encounters involving zebras before as well. They both could tell the zebra knew they didn't trust him, so the black and white creature made sure to tread lightly, and not make any sudden movements. Eventually, the zebra led them to a smaller building, that appeared to be much better kept than the buildings around it. They entered and candles lit the only room, illuminating the Egyptian artifacts on the walls. Everything was well kept, and a speck of dust was hard to come by. In the back of the room sat a complete pharaoh's outfit. Daring was astounded at it's condition, and instantly dropped her guard to go look at it. Steel wasn't so keen to make himself vulnerable to their unknown 'ally'. Then, the zebra sat down in a chair, and motioned for them to sit across from him. Steel sat down and Daring pried her vision from the artifacts to sit next to him.

"So," the zebra said, pouring a cup of tea, "you must be wondering who I am?"

"Yes, and how have you been able to live down here?" Daring answered, as she took the cup of tea that was offered to her. She held the cup, but had no intent on drinking it, it could be poisoned.

"Well, I'm shocked that you don't know who I am! Allow me to explain myself." the zebra responded

"Yes, please." Steel snarked

"My name is Bota, I was Basha's senior advisor."

"What?" Daring Do was now utterly confused

"Basha has been dead for centuries! How could you have survived that long?" Steel asked

"Don't believe me? Who do you think preserved his outfit?" Bota said, gesturing towards the pharaoh's getup

"That's impossible, nopony could live for that long!" Daring exclaimed

"Yes, but Basha meddled with the gods. When he betrayed his duties of guarding the staff, the gods designated me to live on and protect it." Bota replied

"So what, the gods gave you eternal life?" Steel asked

"Not exactly," Bota answered, "They gave me eternal purpose."

"Huh?" now it was Steel's turn to be confused

"It means the gods granted his soul passage to the good portion of the underworld, but kept his physical form on this plane to do their bidding." Daring explained, "It was very rarely heard of in Egyptian times, and only occurred to those the gods saw as pure."

"So, you're a zombie?" Steel asked

"In a sense, yes. But don't worry, instead of eating flesh, I simply guard this land."

"All by yourself?" Steel continued as Daring took a sip of her drink. Steel started to wonder why he didn't get one.

"Yes, and the gods left me in the hands of a very capable fighting force known as the guardians. Those are the ones you have hunting you."

"Well then call them off! They nearly killed us!"

"I'm afraid they have been corrupted. The guardians were children of a creature known as Ahuizotl. Apparently he returned, and the guardians are taking orders from him instead of me."

"Yeah, we sort of had an encounter with him."

"He is a vile creature, and the only thing powerful enough to stop him is the Staff of the Gods."

"Speaking of that, how do we find it? We don't have any intent of using it for wrongdoings or anything like that, we're just here to keep Ahuizotl from getting it."

"In time, in time. Do not be alerted, but the herbs I placed in your friends cup are starting to take effect. Do not fear, they are not lethal."

"What?" Steel asked, as he turned to face Daring, who hadn't involved herself in the conversation for a while now. Daring was fast asleep, and Steel jumped up to Bota. "What did you do?!" He barked

"Do not worry, she is in a deep sleep. She will need to face her challenges, and the only way to do so is by sleeping."

"What are you talking about!" Steel yelled, grabbing the zebra by his collar

"Haven't you noticed young stallion? Ever since you got here, haven't you been feeling a strange connection with your friend here?"

How did he know about that? Steel let go of Bota and sat back down, totally baffled.

"Your friend is the chosen one, you and her are destined to open the room to the Staff of the Gods and free it from its prison."

"Well what about my feelings? Why did they come about?"

"Well, not many people know this, but Basha had a special woman he cared for. She was a peasant, so their love remained hidden. Since Basha had the duty of guarding the staff of the gods, Hathor, the goddess of love and joy, decided to personally see over their relationship, and keep it hidden. This is where the story gets mixed up: When Basha ran for the staff of the gods, he was going to attempt to speak to Hathor. The guards misunderstood Basha's intent, and locked him up. Ever since then, Hathor has had a strong influence over this land, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was trying to make you two connect!"

"What? Why us?"

"It could be for a number of reasons: Maybe she likes bringing love to the world, maybe she believes somepony as important as the chosen one deserves a right to love, maybe she misses having a love affair to watch over. The gods can be very unclear in their purpose."

"Well, does that mean Daring is having the same thoughts?"

"I'm sorry? Is that her name?"

"Oh, yeah, we didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Steel Hoof and this is Daring Do, we're explorers who work for a museum."

"Oh, how humble. Now, about your question: I honestly couldn't tell you, it's a possibility."

Steel took this as a 'maybe' and pressed on, "Now, why did you put her to sleep?"

"The god's influence is very subtle. They were able to inform me of your presence in the city by way of dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Yes, the gods send messages through dreams. It could be of things to come, or an event that is occurring somewhere else. On rare occasion, the gods can send objects through dreams, to those who need them most. Normally the items are small, but contribute in big ways. As a matter of fact, I'd say that necklace your friend is wearing is the result of such an event."

"What? This coin?"

"Coin? That is no coin, that is a key. It will most likely allow you access to the grand palace, which has long since been locked up."

"Okay okay, but again, why is Daring asleep?"

"So the gods can put her through her trials. Daring will face many trials in her dreams, and if she fails them, then her soul will be ripped from her body."

"What? Why would you do that?"

"She has to, she is the chosen one."

Steel didn't quite understand, so he reached over and shook Daring, she was unconscious. He cursed and faced the zebra, "Can I help her? Is there anything I can do?"

"There is one thing."

"What?"

"Rest. You cannot assist your friend in her trials, but you can rest well and be prepared for a perilous journey when you wake up."

"What? No! I need to help her now!"

The zebra flicked a cloud of purple dust in Steel's face. Steel tried to get up and retaliate, but he suddenly became very woozy. He collapsed back into the chair and fell asleep. He had so many questions left: Why would Hathor meddle in his love affairs? Where was the Grand Palace and the Staff of the Gods? How did Bota know that Daring was the chosen one? What role did Steel play in all of this? Well Steel thought to himself, as his brain shut down, Only one way to find out!