Daring Do Speedwrite Short - "Tropical Paradise" · 11:17pm Jul 9th, 2022
Nothing super big, just putting out a short piece I did for a speedwriting contest held by my friend Nailah.
Bzzzzzz–
SLAP!
Daring Do grimaced in disgust as she flicked the squashed, frankly oversized mosquito off of her foreleg and continued walking–or rather, crawling–through the thick tangle of vines, roots, and tree stumps that made up the jungles of one of Colto Maltese’s farthest lying islands. Despite trekking through for what felt like miles, she could still hear the crashing of waves and the occasional seagull, and through the gaps in the foliage she could still make out the bright sands and crystal blue waters and skies of the beaches beyond.
If it weren’t for the corrupt satellite government that had a grip on the islands, and the numerous pirate rings that they turned a blind eye to–both of whom had crosshairs on her at the moment–the archipelago might have made for a decently popular tourist destination.
A real tropical paradise.
Daring chuckled derisively to herself as the word crossed her mind. “Paradise”. Like there’s ever really such a thing–
Another round of buzzing assailing her ears broke off her thoughts, and she swatted a hoof at the next mosquito that had decided to try sampling her blood. It quickly decided that she wouldn’t be worth the trouble, and darted off back into the jungle from whence it came.
All the bug spray I could pack and they still come at me like an all-you-can-eat buffet…still, I suppose they’re better to deal with than pirates. Not like they carry any less diseases.
Daring didn’t really consider herself a nature lover, but her travels around the globe had given her a great deal of experience with it. In her mind, “nature” and “paradise” were not synonymous. Paradises were created consciously. Tailor-made. Developed, plotted, marketed, sold for exuberant prices to those who could afford stays. Nature didn’t go for any of that. She played by her own rules.
Some ponies thought of the purely natural world as a kind of paradise in and of itself. Daring tended to disagree. Nature’s “beauty” was, to her, purely a pony-made construct of perception. She could admire and respect it, but she’d never label any of it as “paradise”. She’d had enough of nature trying to kill her over the years to know that…
Something suddenly moved–something thick, scaly, and cool to the touch–beneath her hooves, and she leapt backwards, wings flapping in surprise. A gigantic brown-and-gold python reared up from the leaf litter and hissed at her, opening its jaws wide and lashing its tongue at her.
Daring knew that there were some python populations on the islands, almost certainly brought here by illegal trading; some had bred and the young escaped into the wild, carving out their niche in the archipelago. She knew some figures around these parts kept them as pets; very often as an “entertaining” way to dispose of victims.
Daring, for her own part, had as much intention of letting this one get its coils around her as she did letting her pursuers capture her.
So even as the snake darted forward, one hoof had already shot like lightning to the coiled whip hanging at her waist, unclipped it and lashed it across the head of the serpent. The animal recoiled, arcing its body backward as it let out a pained hiss, a neat red line now carved into its head. It gave Daring a look that she swore was disdain, then turned away and slithered off through the undergrowth, branches and leaves crunching loudly under its bulk as it went.
Daring took a moment to catch her breath from the encounter, allowing herself to smirk in the direction the snake had went as she coiled her whip again and clipped it back to her belt. Wild predators often weren’t as insanely persistent as fiction made them out to be…or as warmongers like Ahuizotl would sometimes push them to be. If prey proved too difficult or troublesome, they’d leave it alone. It was a matter of knowing how to stand up for oneself.
And Daring had plenty of experience doing that.
Her brief serpentine obstacle dispatched, Daring continued forward. She knew she was near the other side of this little islet by now. The foliage was beginning to thin out, the sounds of the shore growing louder and closer. She was already thinking of how to sneak back into the capital city of Valle De Mar without the Governor’s mercenaries noticing…and how to get the Kraken’s Eye amulet out of his hooves.
At last she broke through the outer edges of the jungle, her hooves treading across first dirt and then fine, warm sand. By now it was late in the day, the sun setting to the west and turning the sky from blue to a mixed pink-red. The sea breeze rose up and blew against her fur, creating a soothing contrast to the jungle’s smothering humidity behind her. Off in the distance, across the waves on the nearby islands, she could see the faint yellow lights of various small dwellings and settlements beginning to spark to life, like small candles scattered about in the coming twilight.
In spite of her cynicism, even she had to admit, it looked and felt pretty nice out here…looming dangers aside, of course. Taking advantage of the moment of peace, Daring Do closed her eyes, took in a deep breath of the seaside air, and let it out, savoring the moment.
Corrupt rulers, rampant piracy, wild predators roaming about…yup. Clear all that out and you might make a case for a tropical paradise here.
I reeeeeally wanna do a fully Daring Do story of my own one day...
This was nicely done.