Daring Do and the Lost Kingdom of Basha

Chapter VI:

Into the Light

Daring Do had seen a lot that day. She had her mind tricked into thinking she was somepony else, she had seen a zebra get ripped apart by feral beasts, and she had the god of love make her fall head over hoof for Steel. She thought she'd seen enough to last her a lifetime, but this room was magnificent. Daring stared down a long hallway, as tall as the door that hid it. It was wide and tall enough for an elephant to easily pass through. The walls were made of gold, and images were drawn on the wall with bronze. The entire hallway was about as long as a football field, and shined like it was freshly polished all the way to the end. At the end of the tunnel, was a bright light, and Daring couldn't see through it. At some point, Steel and Bota had joined her in the hallway, and stared at it as awestruck as she was.

Steel started to take a step forward, but Daring reached out and stopped him. "Are you nuts?" Daring asked him

"Maybe a little?" Steel replied sarcastically

"You nim-rod, this entire hallway is probably booby trapped!"

"Okay well, then lets try and find a way through it!"

"No, if anypony's gonna go through here, it's gonna be me! I had to deal with you dying once, don't make me go through that again!" Daring said, with worry filling her eyes

Steel simply looked at her and nodded, understandingly. Bota crept up in between them and threw in some information, "There is a way to get past all of the traps, but it will not be easy."

"How?" Daring asked

"Do you see the tiles on the floor?" Bota pointed to the ground

"Yeah, what of them?"

"Some tiles have another matching one. If both tiles are pressed at the same time, then the trap remains unsprung."

"And what if they aren't pressed a the same time?" Steel asked

"Then let's just say that I hope you're wearing some form of identification, because your bodies will be unrecognizable."

"Our bodies?" Daring questioned

"Yes, you must both partake in this journey." Bota answered, "The tiles are too far apart for one pony to press both."

"Well, it seems like I'm helping you whether you want me to or not." Steel said to Daring, with a grin

"Fine, which tiles have counterbalances?" Daring asked Bota

"I do not know, that is for you two to discover." Bota responded

"Greeaat..." Daring moaned

Darin quickly eyed the floor, looking for any matching tiles. There weren't any in sight, at least none that Daring could see. This was impossible, they would be here all year if they kept up like this. There had to be some sort of answer key, like a map that Daring could use to navigate the tiles. Then she noticed something.

"Hey, hold on a minute. I'll be right back." Daring told the others. She ran back outside the door and looked at the symbols that she somehow read. She jotted them down on her pad and went back inside.

"What are those?" Steel asked, pointing to the drawings on Daring's sketch pad

"I think this is our answer key." Daring replied

Bota just remained silent and watched, kinda creepily.

Daring carefully examined the first symbol, and looked to see if it was on the floor. Sure enough, the symbol was over to her left, and she quickly found another to her right. She pointed to the tile on the right for Steel to step on, and she went to hers. She gave Steel a nod, and then they jumped onto the tiles. Daring could feel some weight shift around underneath her, but it settled as the tile stopped moving. She looked over to Steel, who just had the same experience. The stallion simply gave her a devious grin, and waited for the next command. Daring looked at the next symbol, it was shaped like a bone.

"Do you see a bone over there?" Daring asked out

"Yeah, I see it." Steel replied

Daring searched for one on her side, and she unfortunately found it. The tile she needed to get to was a good distance away. She would have to leap to reach it. If she had her wings then she could fly to it, but they were bound up at the moment, in a great amount of pain from Ahuizotl's punches. She gathered her courage, and nodded to Steel. They jumped off the tile in almost perfect harmony, almost. Daring left her tile a little late, she felt it sink beneath her as her hooves left the ground. As she jumped she turned around to see the tile falling underneath her. She landed on the tile with the bone, and turned to see giant spikes protruding from the hole that was made. Spikes formed where Steel was previously standing as well.

"Holy horse crap!" Steel yelled, "I could have died!"

Daring just laughed, "Well at least you didn't right?"

Steel just gave her a sneer, and Bota floated in between them, "Ah! Progress!" Bota said

"Be quiet! You're lucky, you get to float on by!" Steel snickered

"While that may be true, I had to be torn apart to get this way." Bota replied seriously

"Oh...right..." Steel felt stupid now

"Let's keep going." Daring interjected

It seemed like they were at it forever, jumping from tile to tile, having a few near misses. Bota threw a few jokes their way, trying to keep morale up. Finally, Daring was only a leap away from the next room, and Steel was ready to jump.

"Ready?" Steel asked her

"Go!" Daring yelled

Steel and Daring jumped off of the last tile, and landed on the other side of the hallway. As they did, the platform they landed on slid down, and gears began turning beneath them. Daring feared the worst, but they remained safe. She turned as she heard a big unsettling sound behind her. She saw that all of the tiles had fallen beneath the earth, and the hallway was filled with spikes.

"Well, I guess we're not getting out that way!" Steel exclaimed

"Maybe there's another way out?" Daring implied

"Don't get your hopes up..." Bota said

The group advanced into the wall of light, walking into a brightly lit room. When their eyes finally adjusted, they found the room they were in was like the previous hallway. The room was made of gold and bronze inscriptions lined the walls. A pedestal sat in the middle, and on it a golden staff. It was a simple staff, a golden rod with a gold claw on the end off it, and in the claw was a single ruby orb.

"That's it? I thought it would look a little more fancy..." Steel noted

"Fanciness does not coincide with power." Bota added

The three walked up to the staff, and Steel was about to take it when Daring stopped him.

"Have you learned nothing?" Daring asked him

"What?"

"This is probably booby trapped as well!"

"Oh, good point..." Steel felt more stupid now

Bota approached them, "No no, there is no booby trap for this one."

"Are you certain?" Daring asked

"Positive, but when you take the staff, I will no longer be here to help you along." Bota replied

"What? Why? Where are you going?" Steel asked

"My eternal purpose was to guard the staff, when you take it then it will be your responsibility, and I will fade from existence." Bota answered

"You mean like go to the underworld?" Steel asked

"Not exactly..." Daring said

"You see Steel, I am a tool of the god's bidding. I exist to serve them and no more. When my eternal purpose is served, I will merely fade from existence until I am needed again."

"What?" Steel exclaimed, "That's totally unfair! You shouldn't have to live, or rather not live, like that!"

"It's quite alright Steel," Bota explained, "I am designed to enjoy serving the gods."

"So...you're happy doing this?" Steel asked

"Quite! I must say though, I will miss you both. If I wasn't a 'zombie ghost' then I would hug you both right now."

"Wow, I'm almost tempted to say 'aww' in response to that." Steel joked

"You just did you dunderhead..." Daring noted

"This is why I will miss you!" Bota laughed

A small silence fell over the small group and Daring sighed. "It was nice knowing ya, Bota. I hope our paths cross again in your next eternal purpose." Daring said, now turning serious

"It was nice meeting you too, Daring Do." Bota replied

Daring nodded, and walked up to the staff. Steel kept his distance, he didn't want to intervene, just in case the only pony allowed near that thing was Daring. Daring slowly and cautiously lifted the staff from its pedestal. She turned to see Bota was gone, and Steel sighed. They sat in silence, Daring staring at the staff, and Steel was staring at where Bota used to float. There was no way this was the end, this was too easy, too anticlimactic. Then again, Daring had forgotten about the spikes blocking their only way out. She began to contemplate a plan as Steel approached her. Steel sat down beside her, as if waiting for something to happen, then again, so was Daring. Things didn't add up, getting to the staff just seemed too easy.

Daring was corrected, when the entire room began to rumble. The hallway disappeared as the room sank downwards. It was as if the entire room was sliding down a shaft. The room suddenly stopped moving, but the shaking got more violent. Pieces of rock flew from the walls, and Daring could feel her teeth chattering to the vibrations. Steel had gotten up and was trying to keep his balance. Without warning, Daring was hit with g-forces as the room shot upward. Her and Steel were slammed into the ground as the room rocketed towards the surface. After a few seconds of being squashed to the ground, the room hit something that sounded solid, and sand flooded into the room. The hole in the wall where the hallway used to be tilted upwards, letting in sunlight. Daring pulled herself out of the sand, and quickly helped Steel out as well. She ran for the staff and the two exited the room in the beating sun of the desert. They looked behind them to find the room sinking beneath the sand, sealing the room underground. They looked around, and tried to get their bearings, when they realized that they could see the entrance to the kingdom from where they were. It was a mile away, they could see it from the top of the sand hill they were on. That meant they were two miles from town, and a good walk that was.

"Wow. Just...wow." Steel whispered

"What just happened?" Daring asked

"Well, we were deep underground. Maybe it was a heat vent?" Steel suggested

"Something tells me Bota was involved in that..." Daring commented

"Whatever the case is...WE DID IT!" Steel exclaimed

Daring didn't even realize it at first, but Steel was right. Daring had searched most of her life for the Lost Kingdom of Basha, and now she had just explored it and retrieved the staff of the gods from it! Although, that wasn't the only thing that happened on this trip...

Steel felt like he was high, he had just done what every archaeologist's assistant dreamed they could do: prove their mentor wrong, and find an artifact on their own! Steel turned around to rub it in Daring's face, only to be greeted with a tackle and a passionate kiss. Steel was taken off guard, but he joined in on it nonetheless. The kiss lasted a lifetime, and their tongues formed an intricate dance. After some time, the two finally separated and gasped for air. Steel stared into his new lover's eyes, and then he decided they should probably get going. The two got up and began the long journey back to town.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" Steel commented, while they walked

"Well we can get a bite to eat when we get back to town." Daring replied

"That is, permitting the camel traders don't spot us!" Steel remembered.

Daring laughed, "Yeah, and we need to gather up the crew. I can't wait to tell dad how I-"

"Ahem..."

"Oh...right. How we-"

"AHEM!"

"Fiiine...How you found the Lost Kingdom of Basha!"

"And?"

"How you found the Staff of the Gods..."

"And?"

"And what?"

"That we're going steady!"

The two laughed and spent the rest of the walk in silence. A lot had happened in the past few days. Daring not only had a new found care for her partner, but also a new found respect. If it wasn't for him and his relentless badgering, even after Daring put the idea down, they would have never had this adventure. But now...now was Daring's least favorite part of any adventure...clean up. They had to find the crew, get new train passes, and get home without getting sued by the camel traders. Daring knew, that so long as she had Steel by her side, that they would make it through though.