You feel your heart beating in your ears. You tentatively place your hands on either side of your head, as though that will stop your world from spinning.

It doesn’t.

You groan and sit up from your previous supine position on the rough floor. It feels like nighttime, but you’re not entirely sure if that is true. Your eyes are closed.

Squinting open your eyes and looking up, the light of the unforgiving sun blinds you and forces your eyes closed once more.

Yep. Daytime. Cool.

You struggle to rise to your feet. All of your muscles feel fine. They feel normal as ever, actually. It’s just your head that seems to be causing problems.

You stand on your two feet and feel yourself becoming even more lightheaded. But as soon as the feeling comes, it’s gone, and you feel fine. Great, even.

It’s like that feeling when you have to pee really badly, and then you feel lightheaded as it’s coming out, but then you feel fine afterwards.

That’s probably the best analogy.

You check your surroundings.

You don’t recognize this place.

Trees surround you on all sides. The air is hot and dreadfully humid, and you feel your clothes sticking uncomfortably to your skin.

You don’t think you live in an area with so many trees, or somewhere that is so damn hot. You can feel yourself sweating just from standing here.

But...

You can’t remember where you live at all.

Come to think of it, you can’t remember what your house even looks like, let alone where it is!

Where are you? How did you get here? Why is it so hot? Why do kids love the taste of cinnamon toast crunch?!

Your mind offers no answers to these questions, and you feel your frustration level rising. You want to be mad, but you can’t get mad. What’s there to be mad about?

Sure, you’re upset that you’re not at your house, but what was your house even like?

You can’t remember, but you will eventually. You heard about amnesia and temporary memory loss. You just got to hang on long enough before you start remembering. Simple as that.

So, it’s probably best if you just wait here. Yeah. Just sit and wait for someone to rescue you. Surely you’ve gone missing and everyone that loves and cares about you is searching for you at this very moment.

==========

Nobody’s coming. There are no people. There are no helicopters or dogs or anything looking for you.

You sigh sadly and sit on a rock.

Ugh! Now what am I going to do?!

You hear rustling in the bushes behind you, and immediately jolt to your feet and turn around. You slowly back away from what is surely a tiger, or a giant spider, or a polar bear or something!

Your heart beats faster and faster and your instincts are screaming at you to run, but your brain wants to see what is about to kill you before it does, for whatever reason, so you can’t turn around, try as you might.

Out from the bush walks a yellowish pony with wings, one bandaged, wearing a pith helmet and a buttoned down shirt and saddlebags on its’ back. It looks at you with red eyes.

You feel your soul crumbling as the appropriately attired horse looks at you, and prepare yourself for death.

“Wow. I swear I see weirder and weirder things every time I do these missions.”

The horse just said that.

The horse... said that.

She talked.

Spoke.

“Alright big fella,” she says, getting a whip out of her saddlebags. “Let’s dance.” She leans forward and prepares to pounce on you at any moment. She flicks her head to one side causing the whip to slash out with a very audible and unmistakable ‘crack.’

You should probably respond. “...How are you talking?”

Her eyes get bigger (somehow. They’re massive) and she stands up straight.

“You... can talk?” she asks. You're definitely not in Kansas anymore.

“I... guess? If I say ‘yes’ will you hit me?” You back away a little from the horse.

She looks at you bemusedly before looking at the whip. She smiles, embarrassed and puts the whip back in her bag. “No, no. That is, as long as you don’t attack me.”

“Why would I attack you? I don’t even know you.”

“Good then. No hitting is necessary.” She walks right past you. “Excuse me.” She goes further into the jungle.

Well that was... strange...

...

Wait.

“Wait!” you call after her, running to catch up.

==========

The small, yellow, red-eyed pony disappeared into the dense jungle, which is very unfortunate for you, considering she was probably the only chance you had to get back home.

You doubt that it’s a good idea to try and navigate this foreign terrain by yourself, so you attempt to find the talking, clothes-wearing, winged horse.

You are high as a kite right now. That would explain everything, and you hope it is all that simple.

It could be stranger, though. Dorothy ended up in Oz after a balloon ride, right? Maybe something like that happened to you.

You continue to get snagged and tangled up in the roots and vines and pricks all around, making you very frustrated.

That little pony must have moved really fast, because you can’t see her. Or hear her. Or anyone. Or anything.

Life is over. You have given up.

Dark clouds that you didn’t even notice until now accumulate over you and release an ungodly roar of thunder, followed immediately by rain.

Life just keeps getting better.

At first, you think the rain will provide some relief from the hot and humid and sticky environment you occupy... but it doesn’t.

It’s still just as miserable as it has been since you woke up this morning. You should probably find some cover.

You quicken your pace and continue in the direction you were previously traveling. You want to run, but the numerous trees and roots around you make you wary of doing so, lest you fall and embarrass yourself in front of all the woodland creatures who are probably silently judging you as you pass by.

You hustle into another small clearing and look around for any source of cover from the increasing fall of rain. Luckily, you don’t have to search for long because of what stands right in front of you.

A giant stone structure, bathed in foliage and vines stands eerily in front of you. You want to be impressed, or scared, or curious as to why it’s there, but questions can wait for later. Besides, nothing today makes sense anyway, so just go with it.

Not wanting to stand in the rain any longer, you rush into the entrance of the stone building.

The air in the ancient structure is pretty cool, and it feels much better than it did outside. You decide to simply wait out the storm inside and then leave to try and find that pony again.

Until you hear a noise from down the hall.

The entrance of the stone building immediately enters a hallway which leads down a dark corridor to God knows where. And you just heard a noise from down there.

It sounds like someone set a bag down. You know that when rocks fall on rock, the sound it produces does not sound like what you just heard.

For better or for worse, you decide to investigate.

You slowly make your way down the hallway, allowing your eyes to adjust to the light. The halls are bare, save for the occasional vine that has worked its’ way in from the outside. The ceiling is pretty low, resting only a foot or so above your head.

The hallway is really long, so it takes many long moments before you reach the end. When you finally do, you take a right turn, and come in contact with the individual you have been seeking.

“You again!” she yells, retrieving her whip from her saddlebags, which are on the ground, and flicking it at you. The tip comes dangerously close to actually striking you on the tip of your nose. “I knew you were after the Elephant of Norsu! But too late, ‘cause it’s mine!”

She flicks the whip at you again and you retreat without thinking twice.

“Stop, stop!” you yell, continuing your retreat. “I’m not after the Elephant of... whatever you said. I’m just lost!”

“Pfft. Well that’s a coincidence, isn’t it? That you’d, somehow, by chance, end up in the ancient crypt of Paskapaa the Wise, where one of the most valuable and powerful treasures known to ponykind has been hidden for centuries!”

You have no idea what she’s yelling about.

“I swear, I just got lost!” you respond, afraid that the offending equine who may soon strike you. “I’ve been trying to find you for like, a half an hour, but I couldn’t, so I came in here because it started raining, and I heard a noise so I followed it, and now we’re here! That’s it! I swear!”

You shut your eyes and turn your head, prepared for an incoming strike.

But it never comes.

“You’ve been trying to find me?” she asks, sounding more confused than anything else. “Why?”

“Well,” you begin, looking back at her, trying to find a way to explain this. “I’m lost and I want to go home. But I... can’t remember where that is exactly.”

“And how am I supposed to help you with this?”

You shrug and feel your cheeks burn in embarrassment. “I don’t know. You were just the only thing I saw that could talk, so I guess I assumed you could help...”

“Do you know where you are?”

“No.”

“The name of the country?”

“Nope.”

“The name of the country your house is in? ‘Cause I doubt you live in this shithole.”

“I have no idea.”

“Then how am I supposed to help you? You can’t even help yourself.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know what to do.”

“Well, sorry, bro. Can’t help ya.” She puts the whip back into her saddlebags and turns back towards the hallway. “Now if you’ll excuse me, mama’s gotta get paid!”

You don’t know what to say. You watch her trot down the hall and further into the stone building.

Ugh! Now what am I going to do?! That talking little pony was my only option, and now I got nothing... Well, it’s not so bad, I guess. If that girl is able to walk around the forest like she owns it, then certainly I can!

You begin to walk in the opposite direction, heading back out of the temple, in hopes of eventually finding a way out of this jungle. You walk about 20 feet down the hall.

“Wait a second,” you say quietly to yourself, stopping in your tracks. “Pony! Wait!” You call out to the pegasus.

“What is it now?!” she shouts back. You rush to catch up with her, and it only takes a few short seconds for you to do so. “And don’t call me ‘Pony.’ My name is Daring Do.”

That’s the strangest name you’ve ever heard, but you can’t even remember yours, so you won’t judge.

“Ok, Daring,” you begin, “what if I help you?”

She quirks an eyebrow. “Help me with what?”

You shrug. “I don’t know. Whatever it is you’re doing here?”

She looks you up and down. “You? Help me? Sorry, I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“Please! I can do anything! Anything you want.”

“The only thing I want you to do is leave, so how about you get to it?”

“That’s not happening. I really need your help, Daring.”

She takes a deep breath. “Look, I have business to take care of, alright? So just let me do that, then we can talk outside in a less stressful environment. Sound good to you?”

“Yes! Yes! Absolutely, that sounds great.”

She rolls her eyes and turns around, beginning to walk further down the hallway. “Let’s get to it then.”

The both of you walk down the hallway. You’re not sure what ‘business’ this pony has to be taking care of in such a dreary place, but you’re not going to question it. She is your only chance to get out of here, so not pissing her off would be a good idea.

You’re very excited at the prospect of getting to leave this jungle. You haven’t even been here for a full day, but it’s felt like an eternity.

You feel adrenaline pumping and your heart beating faster at the sole idea of getting out of here.

“Thank you, Daring,” you say, unable to contain your rising excitement. You didn’t want to say anything, but you just have to! “This really means a lot to me that you-”

“Don’t step on that,” she interrupts, pointing a hoof to some spot on the ground.

“Don’t step on what?” you respond, unable to see exactly what she is pointing towards.

“That.” She points to the spot again. “Or that.” She points to another spot. “Or tha- You know what? Just step wherever I do. That is, unless you want a spike to go through your groin.”

Well, you definitely don’t want that, so you best do what she says.

You are careful to step exactly where the pony goes, but this proves to be a rather arduous task, as the hooves of the pony are much smaller than your feet.

Daring mentioning you getting a spike through your groin really helped contain your excitement. You were pretty happy to be with this girl but now you’re getting kind of scared.

“What was that you were saying?” she asks casually, carefully picking where she steps.

“Oh! Yeah, I was just thanking you. Not everyone would even consider talking to some random guy they met in a forest, so for you to be considering this is really-”

“Hold on a sec,” she interrupts again, stopping you with a hoof against your thigh, and taking her saddlebags off.

“What are you doing?”

She doesn’t say anything. She merely gestures with her head to what lies directly in front of you both.

You look forward, and only now realize that you are both on the precipice of a giant hole in the middle of the ground. The hole runs from one end of the hallway to the other, keeping either of you from simply walking around, and the hole is somewhere around ten feet across, making you wary of simply jumping over it. You can’t see the bottom of the chasm, try as you might, indicating that it is probably really deep. How deep exactly, you do not know, and do not wish to know.

“Jesus,” you breathe, figuring that if Daring didn’t stop you, you probably would have kept walking until you fell into the pit.

Do pulls out a whip. You don’t know why exactly, but you suppose you’ll find out soon enough. You just hope she doesn’t start trying to hit you with it. Again.

She grips the handle of the whip in her teeth, and turns her head sharply and quickly towards the gap in the floor.

The whip lashes out and attaches to a vine that hangs above the hole and just below the roof. You didn’t even notice that was there.

“Why don’t you just fly across?” you ask, figuring logic should be a factor in her decisions.

She points towards her bandaged wing, and gives you look that says “Obviously, you moron.” You understand now.

She tugs on the whip. The vine bends a little but does not break. Satisfied that the whip will stay in place, she bites down harder on the handle and lifts herself off the floor.

She swings over to the other end of the hole before letting go and easily landing on her hooves. She releases her grip and pushes the whip back over towards you.

Before waiting for you to swing across, she turns and walks into the next room.

You grip the whip nervously, and send a short prayer to whatever deity there is mocking you from above that you don’t die a violent death at the bottom of this pit.

You get a very brief running start and jump.

And in less than a second, you are on your back on the opposite end of the hole. As it turns out, you didn’t even need to use the whip. You were able to jump the pit just fine.

You give yourself a mental high five on the fact that you’re not impaled and bleeding at the end of a pike in the depths of the black abyss that is the hole.

Moving into the next room, you notice Do looking at some miniature blue statue. The statue reminds you of those Buddha statues, with the fat, little man who’s doing yoga and has his eyes partially closed.

Expect this statue is an elephant. An elephant who looks just like the Buddha.

Do is on the far end of the room, and judging by the arrows sticking out of the wall, she didn’t get there easily. You decide to just stand in the doorway to this room, rather than risk getting hit with any arrows.

So this is her ‘business?’ She steals things from dead people?... Alright then. Makes about as much sense as everything else does so far.

The room is too large to try to get across anyway. The room is probably 50 feet across, which is pretty long, and 20 feet wide, if you had to guess.

It’s just too big for an inexperienced, large target, such as yourself, to attempt to cross. But Do already did that for you, so you can just wait.

“Be careful!” you call out, having a very bad feeling about whatever it is that may happen next.

Do doesn’t show any signs of even hearing you, though you know she did. She’s just concentrating on what’s in front of her.

She walks around the podium the blue elephant Buddha figure rests on. Then she walks around it again.

She looks the elephant in the eyes, as though searching for something specific about them. Then she looks at various points on its’ face. Then its’ torso. Then the legs.

You notice a bead of sweat trail down her face. It surprises you that you can see this from 50 feet away, but you can, so you do.

She reaches her forelegs up, and you can feel your heart beat faster and faster. She’s just about to grab the damn thing. She inches closer and closer, not wanting to move too fast. She’s almost there...

Then she puts her hooves back on the ground, not touching the elephant.

You let out a breath. Whether it was out of relief or frustration, you can’t tell. But the only thing you know for certain is that this pony needs to hurry up because you want out.

This place is damp, creepy as all hell, and probably the most dangerous place you have ever set foot in.

Do concentrates on the statue before her once again, preparing to make her move.

You don’t even know why she’s here. What is she trying to get? Whose temple is this? Why is it booby trapped?

A sudden look of uninterest overcomes Daring’s face, and she simply grabs the blue elephant in her teeth, then throws it in her saddlebags.

“Got it!” she yells back to you. “Piece of cake. Now, what were you saying about going home?”

“I’d rather talk about it outside,” you respond. “This place gives me the creeps. Can we-”

You are interrupted by the entire temple you are both standing in beginning to violently shake. You look back towards the podium the elephant was previously on and realize it has receded into the floor.

“What did you do?” you call to her.

“Uh oh. Time to go!” she responds, sprinting through the room and towards you.

Arrows begin to shoot from one wall to the other as she sets off all the booby traps this room has to offer.

Not wanting to wait for her, you turn and run back to the hole. Without stopping, you jump towards the whip, grab it, and your forwards momentum is just enough to carry you to the other side. At the peak of your swing, you let go, this time landing on your feet.

You swing the whip back to the other side as you see Do exit the room and enter the one you are in. You turn and begin to make your way to the exit of the temple. You move slower this time, trying to remember the trap you and Daring had to avoid from earlier.

Luckily, the floor is so dusty and dirty and covered in cobwebs that you can easily see your footprints, and place your feet back where you did earlier. You take a couple steps towards the exit, placing your feet exactly where they need to be.

“Help!” a voice from behind you calls. “Gah! Help!”

You turn around and quickly, yet carefully, make your way back into the room you were previously in. Only, you don’t see anything. It’s just a hole in the ground and an empty room. Which is still shaking.

“Help me, damnit!”

You look down and see two hooves barely gripping the end of the hole, and now notice that both the whip and the vine it was hanging from are gone.

Quickly rushing over and peering over the side of the black pit, you see the mustard colored pegasus with a bandage on her wing wearing a pith helmet: Daring Do.

“Thank Celestia,” she breathes. “Grab my hoof!”

You begin to reach your hand towards her hoof to pull her up... but stop.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” she yells, sounding panicked.

You have a sudden idea, as cruel as it may seem.

“Please, grab my hoof. I’ll-”

“Help me get back home,” you command.

“What?”

“You help me get back home, and I’ll get you out of here.”

“Are you bucking kidding me?!” she shouts, sounding absolutely furious. If she wasn’t trapped in a hole, you might actually be afraid. “You’ve got to be the most-”

“Is it a ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” you interrupt. The room continues to shake. “Hurry up, we’re running out of time!”

She growls. “Fine! Fine! I promise I’ll get you home! Just grab my damn hoof!”

Not knowing whether or not she will actually keep her promise, you grab her hoof, stand up, and pull, sending her flying up in the air. She’s a lot lighter than she looks. She lands on her hooves and sprints towards the exit of the crumbling building.

She doesn’t bother to watch where she steps, only caring about getting out before she gets crushed the death. You decide to follow suit, and try your best to keep up.

You feel air blowing against your sides, but try your best to ignore it. You don’t know if there are projectiles just barely missing or if the wall is just blowing air against, but you don’t really have the will to find out. Just keep moving, and hopefully you won’t die.

The light at the end of the hallway gets brighter and brighter the closer you get, and you can almost taste freedom.

Daring grunts in front of you.

As you sprint the last section of the hallway, the air blowing against you ceases, but the temple is still shaking, and you are still running.

The light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter and brighter, and finally, you reach the end of your short, terrifying journey.

The both of you immediately collapse.

The ground is moist with rain water, but the sky has cleared and the sun shines cruelly down on the both of you panting, sweaty individuals.

Have I ever been in shape before?! you shout in your head, unable to breathe. You even find it difficult to swallow, let alone speak. But you have to. You may be out of breath, but you want to get home. And this mare promised to help you.

“I guess...” you begin before having to take another deep breath. “I guess we’re partners now. Eh, Do?”

There is a long moment of partial silence. The only noises emanating from either of you are the desperate breaths for much needed air. The cramped space of the temple did not offer a large quantity of fresh air.

You look up just in time to see half of the stone structure in front of you collapse. Literally. Half of the building just fell down, but the other half remains standing.

“I hate you,” she pants. “I hate you... so much.”

Author's Notes:

All the weird made up stories used in this story are from the Finnish language (ex. norsu and paskapaa).
Thanks for reading!
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