"Ugh! I swear! If I have to face of another one of those stupid chimeras..." She wasn't in the best of moods, strictly because she was mozying through the middle of a smouldering wilderness, just to look for and confirm nothing more than a rumor. A myth.
Daring Do, famed explorer, archeologist, and (especially to her fans) author, is on the verge of finding her own version of El Derado. Many, if not all, of her colleagues and friends at the CU simply shook their heads or rolled their eyes when she spoke of her next big adventure. They just leveled it to the saying that they always supply, "That's just A. K. 'Daring Do' Yearling."
Though, when she would shrug off that and similar comments on the outside with a smug and semi-arrogant look, on the inside she was calm, collective, determined.
She was serious.
And she was going to find the very thing that ponies, both alive and dead, have speculated about, have read about, have theorized about from different writings. Of things spoken by word of mouth, ranging from a young zebras mares-tale, to a mighty dragons wise psalm. She was going to find it one way or another. She was bound and determined to find what past ponies have risked and, ultimately, lost their lives in trying to find--- The Lost City.
And she was close. She could feel it.
Of course, she not only knew it would be dangerous, but she has to tread the infamous Badlands. She knew she was close to the dragon pits just to the East of her location, along with the changeling hives, of which, she speculated, were below her or, inspite of the jitters, they could be stalking her behind the occasional boulder.
All she knew was that she was far from home, and a comfy bed, smothered with her name and scent, among other things. She smirked at the thought. What pony wouldn't give anything to get some of her. She sighed melancholily and relaxed her mind from the prospect of her previous "engagement" from a few nights ago. She really felt bad for a few reasons.
The first and foremost was the fact she had a one-night stand. Again. Which, of course, led to her second most heart-wrentching reason. The reason why she kept herself busy in more ways than just her expositions.
She was lonely.
When was she gonna settle down was beyond her, especially with the way she was going. Traveling nonstop, writing, lecturing, eating, sleeping, occasional bar hopping and sex for stress relievers. She was, out of all things, getting burnt out as fast as she was selling books. Which, looking at her book sales on the market, was almost a few thousand copies a month. Maybe she was up for a break?
Ugh! Focus, Daring! She thought, berating herself. She has a priority right now. She's about to make the greatest discovery in history since the return of the Crystal Empire; of the Kingdom of Friendship; Nay, of the Harmonizing of all three pony races! Aww, yeah! I'm gonna hit the jackpot! Take that, Caballeron! This was gonna hit that stupid colt right in his prides jewels. Serves him right for all the Arch-sites he stole. If he could be called an Archeologist! That thief...
While she was sulking about, she caught sight of a very ominous fog. Going straight south beyond what was shown on any map, you'd think the land would just show itself by itself by line of sight alone. This seemed like it would only show itself if you actually explore it.
"Hmm... it's either just fog, the end of existence, or... just plain weird. What the hell am I even thinking, this is no RPG..." She then shook her head to rid herself of the strange thoughts. "Focus, Daring. It's nothing special. Just fog..." she then peers as deeply as possible into it, before saying, "just... strange, creepy fog. It shouldn't be that bad..."
She got closer, then went to touch and manipulate said fog, when she then realized, she couldn't control it. So, without giving the "natural" fog a thought, she cracked her neck, and walked through.
The second she entered, she lost track of time. She didn't know whether she was walking for minutes, hours, days. Hell, she thought she could keep walking forever. She thought about flying, but she mainly used her wings for emergencies and a last resort, speedy travel.
She kept going, until she finally got impatient, not seeing anything except for rocks and the occasional bush. She then screamed and went to kick a rock, and right before she kicked it, she realized that it wasn't a rock...
It was a skull.
She yelped, but quickly composed herself. This wasn't the first time she saw a ponies skull, but to just see one randomly lying around, it can really put a damper on your current situation.
She turned the way she was heading and, like any other corny story she's read, the fog receded a tiny bit. Three guesses may be given to what she saw, but the first two don't count. She saw... pony bones.
Rolling her eyes at this predicament, she decided to just keep going, and hopefully find what she was looking for. Though, she had to wonder, how those poor souls died the way they did. She, of course, came close to death many times; going without food and drink for days on end. True, she had her assailants after her non-stop on her adventures which would give you the nerve to fight for your life, but the poor ponies back there didn't have enemies. Or did they? Was somepony after them? Something? What if they found it and then they were attacked, pursued, and then... what if--
She stops. Looks around, no fog, but a lush, green subtropical jungle. Then...
"I... found it..."
