Daring Do and the Prison of Portals

Wind whipped at the beige mare, her gray-toned mane flapping wildly into her face. The chilling air stung at her body like thousands of tiny needles, piercing deep into her skin. Smoke billowed from below and suffocated her senses. The harness dug into her body until red streaks formed across her body. Above, the large parachute gaped, catching full force of the gale. Below her the smoking wreckage of a biplane spiraled violently towards the mountainside, Its high pitched whine overpowering the wind.

With a blood-curdling scream, the plane struck head first into the mountainside and erupted in a magnificent display of flame and shrapnel. Brilliant light lit the afternoon sky a grand orange and dyed the dark clouds above with deep reds and yellows. Comets of fire spat out at every angle like confetti. Clouds of fiery smoke billowed from the wreckage and up into the dull cloud cover above. For a moment, Daring was distracted by its beauty.

The blast sent another gust of wind towards Daring as the chute filled and tugged the restraints taut. The airborne adventurer gritted her teeth against the pain. Air was momentarily restricted to her lungs, the world below becoming a blurry mess of browns and grays in her altered state. Reality come in and out of focus. Nausea clawed it's way into her stomach.

Before she could collect herself, the ruinous researcher found herself in the trajectory of what used to be her plane's left wing. It spun through the air like a blade, and cut through her parachute just as one would expect a blade to do. Within moments she began plummeting to the Earth.

The falling mare let out a terrified scream as she quickly closed the distance between herself and the ground. The heavy winds pressed against her so that her wings were secured firmly to her sides, denying any freedom. The parachute, a large hole torn through its center, was still able to catch the wind, but not enough to save Daring. It only served as a chaperone as it guided her towards danger.

She flailed hopelessly in the air, hooves kicking in all directions. Screams of terror were silence by wind. Even when she came into contact with the mountainside, her descent did not stop. She tumbled down the steep slope at an incredible speed, the cords of the harness tangling around her limbs. It wasn't until she reached a brief, rocky terrace that her momentum began to slow.

Pain exploded through her body with each skip across the jagged shelf. Hooves scrambled at the ground and tried to find purchase in the terrain despite not being able to hold one on account of her ensnarement. Regardless, doing so only resulted in scattering the rocks around. Only when the high speed horse reached the drop, did she skid to a stop.

Her reflexes fast, she spun and landed her hooves on the rocky ledge.The tangled ropes began to dig deep into her legs as her body stretched out across the chasm. Looking down, she saw a thick fog that hid instant death.

Terror started pumping poisonous adrenaline through the frightful filly. Letting out a pitiful squeal, Daring tried desperately to pull herself up. Her back legs dug at the cliff side with little result. Her fore hooves tried grasping anything solid, but found that the terrain only offered loose rocks. Every effort was denied by the vicious geography.

Eyes growing wide with terror, she slipped farther off the edge. She could feel the wind pick up momentum, making it clear that the perilous pony could not save herself. More and more she struggled, trying to dig her hooves into the cliff. Her determination was admirable, but futile. When another rush of wind pulled what was left of her torn parachute, the mired mare was whisked away with it.

As cold sweat dripped across her face, Daring could barely make out the obstacle ahead: dangerous spikes extending from the mountainside like the fingers of Death. With dreadful realization, the pony noticed that she and her parachute were dropping altitude onto the field of (presumed) death. With a defiant shout, she tried to unfurl her wings. Pain ripped through her sides as the tattered wings, having been damaged during her tumble and nearly frozen by the abhorrent weather, creaked and popped opened. They were brittle, and moving them at a pace fast enough for flight was painful. But through perseverance, she was able to lift herself over the death trap and suffer only a minor wound on her back, right leg. That is, if you were to count out the pain of her wings, which was like being a paper that had been torn in half.

Thinking she was free of danger, Daring let herself slack in the harness. Her exhausted wings lay limp at her sides like the ears of a dog. The wind had died down to a gentle breeze. The chill of adrenaline was ebbing away. Fate had given her time to rest.

The juxtaposition of the safety made her feel relief like no other. Slowly, her breath returned to her, the gentle rising and falling of her chest bringing great comfort. Daring began to untangle herself from the cluster of cords that had secured themselves around her. The mare could feel herself dropping again, but it was not enough to be worried about. Or at least so she thought.

Her senses came rushing back to her when she slammed into the side of another mountain just after freeing herself from the tangled ropes. After a flash of shock, the right side of her body started grinding against the stone wall. The wounded warrior tried to push herself away from the mountain, but the wind (as it seemed intent on destroying Daring today) kept her firmly pressed against the torture. She would have to endure it. Daring let out several cries of pain as larger rocks cut across her, leaving white marks on her body. Sharper rocks left thin, white lines that made their home below her coat, and on the skin itself. These did not leave as quickly.

The smaller rocks were even worse. En masse they generated a constant stream of pin-prick pains across her flank. It felt like her cutie mark was being scratched off with a fork. Before long the rocks caught her saddlebags too, tearing open a hole and snatching away one of the canteens and a hoof-full of supplies. Daring watched in despair as the bottle of precious water disappeared into the fog below, but soon found her thoughts returning to the pain as her body was pressed even harder against the uneven surface of the mountain.

Then, in an instant, the pain vanished. She let out a breath she did not realize she was holding, and opened a pair of eyes she did not remember closing. The wind had managed to shift direction, pulling her away from the mountain and instead into the dense fog.

When the wind finally released Daring from its icy claws, it deposited her into a large quarry at the base of several large mountains. She was flung to the ground, a deep thump silenced by the wind. What little air she had managed to store away was forced from her lungs. It was quickly followed by a bright flash of white. Both lasted only a moment, but left a lasting impression. Fearful that she might be swept up again, the frantic fortune finder freed herself from the harness and allowed another gust to steal the perforated parachute once more. Her gaze followed it until it disappeared into the fog.

Her traumatizing experience in the air, the impact in the quarry, and the tightness of the harness had made it very hard to breath. Eyes wide with passing fear, and her body shaking from the sickening adrenaline, the breathless broad lay on the ground. She felt sick. She wanted to vomit, but had nothing to give up. Her heart felt like it was about to go out after all the pounding it had done. Her flanks felt numb after having been brutally assaulted. Her ears burned with frost and was another reminder of why Daring preferred the more tropical regions. The pony was filled with unbearable pain.

For a long time she just lay there, soaked in sweat and agony. Slowly, her breathing found its tempo, and her heart returned to a normal pace. Energy that had been used to keep her alive now returned to her sore muscles. Her vision was restored as air began to flow through her body once more. Slowly but surely, the exhausted expedition-er was regaining herself.

When the life returned to the filly, she rose cautiously and studied her surrounding. A chill began gnawing at Daring Do's face until her cheeks turned raw. Her nostrils filled with the lingering scent of rain, a warning as to the coming storm. Around her was the bleak, grey landscape of mountains, their tops piercing the sky. Following them upward, she could see that the sky above was barricaded by a battalion of dark clouds. They filtered the midday light into a pale, depressing blue and made the land seem even more bleak.

Her body still ached as a painful memory of her recent crash, but the pain was greatly outweighed by her frustration. She was just happy to have both wings working, but the heavy winds and cold prevented her from using them at full capacity.

Daring lifted her scarf higher as a gust of wind whistled past her ears and into the ominous cave before her, dragging her closer towards its gaping maw. The gale wailed pitifully as it sank into the dark depths and was lost forever. The bundled mare took a step back from the sound. Her mind conjured up the image of dying ponies struggling to climb out of a pit, only to be pushed down by another hoof. She shivered in an unpleasant combination of fear and frost.

The venturer looked about her. Her quick and crude survey of the environment made several things clear. One: that she had been funneled here by the geography. Climbing the surrounding cliff walls would be a feat all on its own. Her recent fright had made it clear the these walls were not very traverse-able. Two: there was no evidence of any recent Pony presence. She was on her own. That also meant she would have to find he own source of food and water. With the previous issue being as prominent as it was, this would prove challenging. Lastly: The land offered no other protection from the elements than the cave ahead of her. The vibe it sent was not a pleasant one. Even the rotting ruins of Hayrabia seemed more inviting than the dungeon before her.

Determination flooded Daring, her posture straightening and a new fire burning in her eyes. She had braved the burning depths below, the frosted tops of mountains high, the trap riddled ruins of long past, and everything in between. She wouldn't let herself be dissuaded so easily. Besides, with her only mode of transport out of commission her best hope was to find a nice, safe, dry place to rest before taking any other course of action.

Daring didn't have to wait long before the clouds opened up above her, the soft pitter patter of rain against her hat queuing her to enter the cave. With a sigh of dismay the wet and winded wanderer stepped inside, happy to at least be out of the freezing rain.

After shaking herself dry, she reached into the adventure pack she had managed to salvage before evacuating the plane. It contained the typical assortment of survival goods: rations, water bottles, torches, flint and tinder, and various other tools. Had she not had the run in with the mountain, she would still have the compass, parchment, and quills. Fate decided to mock her by leaving the ink. The hole in her right saddlebag was to blame for this, a result of the abuse she had suffered during her fall. The pony pulled out what she needed to light her way and struck the tinder in frustration. It took several times, bringing her anger to a boil.

The meager flame illuminated little of the cave, the darkness suffocating the lone pony. The treasure trover reasoned whether it would be wise to explore the cave further, or to wait near the entrance for rescue. She wasn't expected to return home for quite some time. The young adventurer wanted to surprise her colleagues by returning early, but now she was stranded in the middle of nowhere with a frighteningly low chance of survival. They wouldn't even realize she was in danger. On top of that, her unquenchable thirst for adventure pushed her further towards exploration.

But what awaited her further in? Treasure? Civilization? Danger? For all she knew, this was a cave owned by some big grisly bear who would rend her part upon seeing her.

Daring bit down firmly on the handle of her torch. A dull light came from the dying embers that trailed behind her, stretching towards the entrance. Her steps were cautious, like a filly tiptoeing into the kitchen late in the night for a snack. Too many times had she entered a seemingly innocuous locale only to be nearly impaled by an over-sized spear, or for a flurry of arrows to erupt from the walls.

The ceiling was too high to be illuminated by her light, and that made her even more anxious. The ancient Mareyans loved to hide their traps high above, as very few ponies looked upwards, and many Pegasus flew in thinking they could avoid the traps below. Although this dungeon showed none of the typical Mareyan and Aztrot flair (or any for that matter) she couldn't be sure she was safe.

Soon the walls began to narrow the farther she delved. Before long the ceiling was low enough to catch the light of her torch, allowing Daring to breath more easily. But that relief soon turned to disappointment as the cave narrowed even further. The adventurer feared that the cave would hold no secrets, and be just another hole in the ground.

But as Daring reached what she assumed to be the end of her adventure, something in the darkness ahead of her caught her torchlight. It flickered across it only a moment, revealing its position to the demotivated mare. Her mood swung violently into one of jubilee.

Daring trotted up to the metal door, its rusted and dilapidated appearance only feeding the curiosity of danger-destined mare. It stood two ponies wide and three ponies high, a behemoth compared to the small mare. It had clearly not seen use in well over a hundred years, and was still dutifully sealing the entrance to... Something. The dead light fixture protruding from the cave wall above had lost both it's luminescence, and it's bulb. Even the wires (she could only assume that they were once wires) were suffocated by the flora sprouting out of the tubes they occupied. Obviously, this had been here a long, LONG, time. Who knew what ancient secrets this door protected. Perhaps a stronghold full of relics from the past, left here for hundreds of years to be one day discovered by an adventurer like herself!

Her interest now completely stolen by the ancient portal, the curious crusader contemplated how to open it. A wheel stuck out from the center, but most of it had turned to rust and what little was left spun freely in its spot. This became evident when she tried to pull at it with her mouth, inhaling thousand year old rust. She felt like vomiting. After hacking up the last of it, she tried her luck with her hooves. The metal barricade only gave off plumes of dust with each buck she delivered and they, once again, intruded her lungs.

Too stubborn to walk away, she tried with all her might to push the lip of the door outwards. She braced herself against the stone wall and pushed back with all of her might. For a painstakingly long time, the door did not budge. Just as she was about to give up, the locks that had sealed the door crumbled into dust. The rust binding the hinges broke, allowing the door to move further. It did not, however, make it easier for her.

Daring's strength came in waves, new determination pushing her. Farther it swung, the painful cry clawing through the equine's ears and pain surging through her flank. She trembled with weakness as the energy spilled out of her. It was almost unbearable, but Daring could sense a great treasure awaited her on the other side. If none existed, then why was this here?

She gritted her teeth, sweat rolled down her face,and her body trembled even more with exertion. Inch by inch the metal barrier distanced itself from the wall. Each passing second bled into the next, muddying any sense of time Daring had formed. Her mind blurred and allowed no thoughts to the mare.

With a deafening cry of agony, the metal door finally broke free of its restraints and crashed to the floor. Large plumes of rust and dust filled the air, forcing its way into the treasure seeker's eyes. Daring had promptly fallen with the door, her body aching for new reasons. Tears welled up in her eyes as the cloud spread. Her lungs refused the tainted air and forced it back out. Her loud, coarse coughing echoed eerily into the chamber recently opened. When the dust had finally settled, Daring allowed fresh air to clean away both taste and smell.

The adventurer could feel a large smile break across her face as she neared the open room. Darkness still reigned inside the cave and had her perception not been so fine tuned she would have tumbled headfirst into the bottomless pit. As it was, her hoof only slipped off the edge. A surge of adrenaline swept through her body, yanking her back onto the threshold. When her heart began to beat again, the dazed dare-devil started forwards again, this time with torch in tow.

The room she entered was small and square; its metal frames exposed and a layer of thick concrete lying just beyond them. The hole itself had a diameter of one and a half ponies, large enough for a Pegasus like Daring to maneuver through effectively. Looking down into the pit, however, she began to think otherwise.

The shaft was completely overrun with twisting vines, covering nearly every inch of the metal walls. Tendrils threaded in and out of air ducts, Vines suffocated the pipes that reached out from the walls, and flowers bloomed along the plant wall, bright whites and yellows freckling the darkness. All of this created the illusion that she was diving into the depths of an alien planet. On top of that, it would make maneuvering difficult for the feathered filly.

It was a tight squeeze, but Daring found that she had just enough room for her to glide down. Occasionally, her wings would clip a hanging vine, or get tangled in hanging moss, but she managed to push forwards (or rather, downwards). The claustrophobic cave crawler could feel the passage getting narrower. The cave she had braved only minutes early had done the same, but instead of ending her journey, it had extended it. Daring knew she couldn't give up hope so quickly.

Her efforts were rewarded. In the darkness below a light flickered, revealing another door. It was a sickly yellow glow, the glass it was held in stained by years of mold. Time had abused it. What surprised her was that the light worked at all. The rusted door above and the floral maze she was battling made it clear that this place had not been touched for centuries. How was it, then, that this light was still operational?

Curiosity drew the pony closer. When she reached the platform, Daring set the torch on the floor and turned her attention to the still operational light. She touched the flickering ball of glass gingerly, seeing that time had not been kind to it. To her surprise, the bulb fell. The sound that exploded from it was loud in comparison to the near-silence of the tunnel, and the awkward, lingering sound of skidding glass set Daring on edge.

She stood there, frozen in shock, for quite some time.

Standing there wasn't going to accomplish anything. The only other option was to push forwards with her search of the dungeon. When the sound had finally faded off, Daring continued. Another door blocked her path, yet this one was nowhere near as hefty a challenge. This one had, at some point, a metal bar attached affixed to it to allow somepony to push it open. That metal bar lay on the floor. The door itself fell backwards when Daring pushed against it.

What it revealed wasn't that spectacular; a narrow hallway with thick, concrete walls stretching into the yawning darkness. They were interrupted at several intervals by doors similar to the one Daring had just recently overcome. The lower quarter of the walls had been painted cyan, but most of it had peeled away and left rotting spots of blue on the walls that looked like mold.

As she stepped further in, the ancient lights flicked on. Again, Daring was amazed by the conditions of these lights. With them on, the mare could see hundreds upon thousands of dust motes floating about. The air here was thick. It must have sat here for centuries, brewing in its filth for a millennium. A cough tore up trough her throat.

Daring set immediately to work on a nearby door. She didn't have to work long before realizing that these doors had been fused to their frames. Not one to give up easily, she bucked against the steel door, dust raining down from above with each kick. Again she tried, leaving a solid dent in the metal barrier. Still it did not break. Even when she focused her strikes against the already weakened section it gave no more.

Her flanks falling to the ground, Daring admitted defeat. She was too drained to continue the fight and it was too difficult to find her breath. Anger was sweeping through her, but could not completely manifest on account of her weakened state. Sending a prayer up to Celestia, Daring drank from the canteen she had managed to save during her fall.

The exhausted and exasperated equine explorer drug herself out of the hallway, and back out onto the relatively more comfortable platform. At least the air seemed to be circulating here. That meant there was something even farther below. More of the tunnel could be seen, now, with the light from the hallway spilling out the open door. It still could not reach the bottom, and the giant plant stretched downwards, still. Why the hallway had not been overrun, she did not know, but she assumed it was more concerned about reaching the surface for light instead of spreading itself through the...

Come to think of it, the ponderous pony still didn't know what this place was. It had a heavy industrial vibe to it, but even then she had not seen enough of the place to make a formulated hypothesis. For now, she would label it a warehouse.

The young mare allowed herself a few more moments of rest before moving on. The only door that was not fused shut was a bulky pair of double doors leading into a concrete stairwell. The filly was met with a blast of cool air as she opened them, the fresh air cleansing her lungs. New energy filled Daring. Her lungs felt renewed and a pleasant smile broke onto the pony's face. Feeling much more confident, the young pony traveled down the stone stairs and plunged deeper into the facility. The farther down she traveled, the colder it got. The energy in the air was fierce, moving quickly up the steps towards Daring, and amazingly icy. Before too long the mare found her teeth chattering from the chill. The icy wind seemed to be ignoring her clothing all together, striking against her skin with malice.

Before long, Daring had reached the source of the wind. She had to fight her way past the current of freezing air to reach an open vent, the fan beyond spinning at incredible speeds. Another set of double doors blocked entry to another room. Swimming against the current, Daring edged her way to the doors. Her hooves clung to the metal railing in fear of being lifted. Her body shook from the cold. Her eyes were shut in painful concentration. Her efforts were rewarded, and she cleared the challenge.

Only to run into another one. What our dear Daring did not discern was that the chilling current was not a one directional hazard. Clearing the first stream, she quickly fell into another one. Granted, they could have been the same flow, but that wasn't what the young Pegasus was concerned about.

Daring Do was swept off her hooves and rushed away from the doors. In a state of shock, the made throw out her hooves for an anchor. She only managed to slam her hip against the railing before being pushed down several flights of stairs. Luckily, she was airborne for most of this, but the occasional impacts with the wall chipped at her will.

A few flights down was a rusted door like the previous. Daring's weight was the brick that broke the camel's back. Her body flew into the room, skidding across the concrete flooring until she hit a desk. Papers exploded into the air. Hundred year old pencils shot across the air like bullets. An ancient computer toppled onto the floor near the treasure hunter with a loud crash.

Daring rose to her hooves and balanced herself against the desk. The chilling air stung her eyes, making it impossible to see. Wanting nothing more than to escape the blistering gale, the blind and bewildered mare crept along the maze of desks and smashed terminals. With her back now to the current of air, Daring tested her vision. Squinting, she could see another door at the other end of the room. The only thing that lay in her path was a spiraling mass of papers caught in a whirlwind.

Besides a few paper cuts, Daring managed to overcome the obstacle with ease. She bounded trough the raging paper-storm with her wings open and let the wind push her towards the other end of the room. She reached it in no time at all. Perhaps a little too quickly, though, as she almost cracked her head against the stone wall. Fortunately, she was able to exit the room before further damage was done to her.

What she saw on the other side took her breath away.

For a moment, she thought she was outside again. A vast nothingness fell below into the fog, flickering lights and metallic screeches coming from its depths. The canyon walls were covered in what looked like robotic hands. Some were limp, while others tugged at pieces of wall pitifully. Catwalks spanned across the void, most of them damaged and the rest dangerously close to letting out. Wires and tubes hung limply from the central structure like averse limbs. The bewildered Pegasus pony looked up and saw a similar fog obscure the ceiling.

Vertigo hit her like a train, and Daring felt vomit crawl up her throat. Every ounce of her will was focused on not puking. When her sick was persuaded to stay down, Daring turned her eyes back to the void, seeing a new feature appear.

A large building was suspended over the drop, the catwalks and tubes leading to the central hub. The mare immediately thought of a hive. A dead hive at that. The light in the... room was not bright enough to illuminate it. Only the faint glow from within provided a viewpoint.

Swallowing the last of her sick, Daring unfurled her wings and glided across the abyss, aiming for a door on the mid level already busted in.

The interior was a wreck. A jungle had grown into it, the ancient machinery scattered about the large room. Wires hung limply from the ceiling, attached to the now dead equipment lying quietly on the floor. It looked like it was asleep. Curiously, Daring approached what she assumed to be the "head". It rested on a pillow of wrecked catwalk. It's "eye" seemed to be dead. The filly tried to imagine this thing when it was operational. She had seen nothing like it. This was no simple computer, that was for sure. It was so... Big.

"Psst!"

The flinchy filly spun around. At first she did not see the the metallic ball staring at her from the walls, but as her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness she could see it quite clearly. It was a sphere of metal, a dull pink emanating from its centre.

"Hey! Come here!"

Daring obeyed, walking towards it in a dazed state.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe how long it's been since we've had visitors! Sorry about the mess. It's a lot of work for just one robot." the metallic ball whirred and clicked as she spoke, a fake eyelid enhancing her... its expressions.

The Pegasus blinked. "Uh... Wha-... Who are you?"

The robot replied with a jubilant voice, like that of a young filly. "I'm Cutesy! I run the place"

The Pegasus blinked.

"You alright?"

"Yea.. It's just... I've..."

"Never seen a talking robot before? That's okay! It's been a LOOOONG time since anyone's been down here."

The Pegasus blinked.

"Well don't just stand there, silly! I need your help with some stuff!" the yellow glow intensified as she bounced.

The sphere moved back on its maintenance rail, the wall next to her opening to reveal a disheveled catwalk. Fog enveloped most of it, denying any sense of safety to the treasure trover and made the fully question the trustworthiness of her strange acquaintance.

Light flooded down from above. Looking up, Daring saw Cutesy literally beaming down at her. Now the path ahead was more visible, and gave the Pegasus enough courage to take a testing step out onto the platform.

"You never told me your name!" the metal ball chimed as they reached the halfway point of the bridge.

Familiar pride taking over the mare, she recited: "Daring Do, adventurer extraordinaire!" she said, striking a pose.

"Oh wow! That must be exciting! You must explore places like this all the time, yeah?!"

"Well... Not really. Usually just ruins and temples. Nothing this..." she looked out across the abyss. "... Elaborate. What is this place, anyway?"

Now it was time for Cutesy's recital. "Aperture Science, a leading name is science. 'We do what we must... because we can!' " she said with infectious cheer.

"Well, mi amigo, what is it you need from me?"

"It's time to restore this place to its former beauty! We need to wake up everyone so we can get back to science! You see, I'm restricted to the maintenance rail-line. Only you can access the employee areas and reboot the facility"

Daring nodded, smiling brightly. She didn't know what this place was, or whether or not helping this bot out was a good thing, but any excuse to explore was a good one.