//------------------------------// // Buzzing Bailout // Story: Daring Do and the Tie Wearing Kong // by Amereep //------------------------------// 'I am looking for a place where you keep something safe from others stealing it.' Those were Daring Do's exact words to DK, but as she stared at the contents of that place, she felt..... bamboozled. "So this is it?" she said, sounding very depressed, "This is the safe place?" DK nodded and took another banana from the tower behind him. Daring blinked in astonishment at the collection he had.  She expected many things when she entered the cavern she stood in now, but she never expected this cavern was meant to protect DK's banana hoard. The pegasus lowers her head into her hoof with a chuckle, "Just what was I suspecting?  This kong isn't going to be of any help to me."  She looked up to see him gorge himself with another banana. "I'll be better off alone." Daring thought it would be best to just leave him to his nanners and turned to the entrance.  Her eyes widened and she suddenly ducked from something green nearly hitting her face. It flew overhead and stopped in front of DK.  "Squawk squawk," a green parrot with yellow and red feather tips began screeching at the gorilla.  He listened to the bird and the banana he was chewing on fell out of his mouth.  The kong looked disturbed from the squawking.   "It seems like you're busy," the mare said as she headed for the entrance again, "So I'll make like one of your bananas and split." Daring trotted outside into the fresh air and looked at the sun.  It was difficult to tell under the canopy but she could see through the leaves that it was noon.  The green parrot from moments ago flew over Daring and she suddenly felt herself being lifted off the ground.  DK held her suspended in the air and placed her on his back as he followed the flying bird. "WHAt dO You WANt nOW?" groaned the mare while she bounced on the gorilla's back through the jungle. Minutes passed as DK ran over land, swinged on vines, and flung himself off branches while he followed close behind the green parrot until it suddenly stopped.  The bird hovered in place just before entering into the opening up ahead.  "Squawk," it said to the two of them and gestured to look forward.  The adventurer got off of DK; she heard the ruffling of the fallen leaves as she landed.  The two of them brushed the montera leaves aside to see where they'd arrived. Daring was astonished to find that the parrot led them to a gigantic structure with a height that could easily compete with any redwood.  It was an appropriate comparison because the structure was actually made out of wood, but broken down into a form of parchment for which you write upon.  It was made out of paper. The structure was designed in the form of a cone; wide on the ground of scattered leaves while it narrowed as it ascended up.  There was a large shadowed hole on the ground level to allow anypony the access to enter the structure; an offer only a fool would take. Seeing one this size was something Daring Do had never imagined ever being possible, but it can't be denied that the structure was really in fact, a hornet's nest. "Ooo ho," DK said to Daring, "Ooo ooooo oh ah hoooo ho." The mare shook her head at him, "Sorry, but I can't understand what you're saying." The gorilla pointed to himself, then at the hive and ended it by pounding his chest. "O....okay." He then continued by pointing at Daring, then at the hive and ended it by pointing to his tie. "................I got nothing." Dk started to screech and began to pummel his head with his own fists. "Squawk Squaw," the parrot spoke to DK. "Oh," the ape nodded and walked to the hive; a hand on his forehead from frustration. The kong began to climb up the nest.  He arrived at an acceptable location and with brute strength,  he pounded his fists at the insect nest.  A series of  buzzing sounds was heard coming from the entrance.  A swarm of giant hornets, each almost as large as DK, began flying out and headed to the ape.  The gorilla screeched and started to run through the jungle with the cloud of death following behind him. Daring watched and shook her head at what was happening, "What a stupid ape." "Awk!" the bird said to the pegasus and motioned to the nest. She understood what it meant, however... "Oh no, that's not going to happen." "Squawk!!" "No.  I have better things to do than to get stung to death." she turned and walked away to search for some ruins. The parrot landed on her helmet, "SQUAWK!" It flew up carrying Daring's pith helm in the talons of its feet. "Hey!  Give it back!" Daring demanded, "My uncle gave that to me!" The bird goes flying into the nest and the mare galloped after it into the dark tunnel.  Daring's vision got darker, but she could hear the parrot's wings flapping up ahead.  The light began to return in with an orange glow within the area and she slowed down when she began to feel like her hooves were getting stuck on something sticky.  When Daring made it through the tunnel, she was greeted with a dome covered in honey.  The floor, walls, even the ceiling was dripping in honey from the many large hexagon prismatic honeycombs that the place was built out of.  Many of the combs were sealed, but there were a few dozen empty ones and there's also a few that have yet to be sealed. Daring could see a comb starting to form a drip above her.  She sidestepped as a large sap of honey plopped next to her.  The curious mare scooped up some of the nectar and gave it a small lick.  It tasted like the honey from that latte she had earlier. "Squawk!" She looked towards the sound and saw the green parrot flying in place; waiting for her, "There you are!  Get back here, you fat-nosed cracker-eater!!!"  The bird flew off when Daring began to chase after it with the use of her wings. Following the green target was no problem for her, but everything else was an issue.  The layers of hexagons were playing tricks with her judgement.  She was having a hard time telling what was in the distance and what was in front of her.  Daring freaked when the bird zipped through a comb.  She retracted her wings and barely slid through the vacant hexagon. The parrot swooped up and let go of the helmet, letting it fall to the floor. *Clonk* Daring Do landed on the ground to pick it up, but was surprised to see that it landed on .........a barrel.  There was a barrel stuck in the honey. "How'd this get here?" the mare wondered.  She took her helmet back and saw that the barrel was imprinted with a unique design on it, the same design of the barrels Caballeron and his henceponies were dealing with last night.  A thought suddenly occurred to Daring, "If this is anything like the barrel Caballeron had, then chances are..." The mare put her theory to the test and knocked on the wooden container. *Knock knockknockknock knock* She waited for a response. ........ She laid an ear against it. ........ But nothing repli- *Knock knock* Daring jumped back, there was something inside.  Now that she knew this, the thought that it might be hostile towards her crossed her mind.  "Should I let it out?" Daring wondered aloud, "Even if I act upon that thought, I have nothing to help me remove the top metal ring.  Without removing that, freeing whatever is inside would take a hefty sum of minutes." An iron hook landed on top of the barrel, "Awk squawk."  The pegasus looked up to see that it was the parrot that dropped the hook.  Daring looked back at the hook, wondering where it got the iron hook, "SQUAWK!" but for the safety of her hat, she decided to look past that question and just use it. Daring Do grabbed the hook and jammed the tip behind the ring.  She spun around and gave a mighty buck at it; sending the hook, lid, and ringer to go flying. The mare walked back from the barrel, letting whatever was inside to come out first. Two hands hooked on the rim and something sprung out into the air.  It spun with a blur of red and brown as it fell to, quite literally, stick the landing into some honey. "Ha-haaaa~♪" he said in a 'Ta-da' tone. Wearing a red cap and tank top with a few yellow stars patterned on it, a monkey stood before her eye to eye. The little kong began to start dancing while making a rhythmic tune out of his chanting; most likely to celebrate his freedom.  He spun around, giving Daring a glimpse at his long prehensile tail, meaning that he was a spider monkey. "I think I understand now." the pegasus realized as she watched him, "DK wanted me to get this little guy while he distracting the hornets."  Daring shook her head, focusing on the matter at hand. "We need to get outta here.  Listen up, pal." The kong didn't hear and continued to sing. "I'm talking over here, buddy." He hopped around on a foot playing an air guitar. "HEY!!!" Spooking the monkey from his solo, he looked over at the annoyed mare. Daring sighed, shaking her head, "You really like singing, don't ya little guy?" The ape removed his cap to scratch his head.  "Alright then...." She decided to call him a name that reflects his love for music. ".....Diddy.  Your gorilla friend is dealing with the hornets, so we need to get ou-" "AHH AAAHH!" The newly named Diddy interrupted her with frantic screeching and a finger pointed at the confused mare. Daring didn't even get a chance to speak, before the monkey suddenly jerked her to the side to witness a needle zipping by her.  It pierced Diddy's barrel; making a loud cracking sound as it did.  Something large was on the other end of the needle, something with wings buzzing as they flapped.  It started to fly up with the extra weight at a slow pace.  It whipped around and flung the barrel off the stinger that belonged to a giant hornet. "This.... this must be the queen." thought Daring as she gazed at the insect that was twice the size of her workers. Both the green parrot and brown monkey screeched at the hornet, but the buzzer was focused only on the monochrome-maned pegasus. Daring tightened her muscles, readying herself for whenever the hornet strikes.  She glanced over to the yelling kong, "Hey Diddy," he responded to her call, "When I start flying, I want you to head towards the jungle.  I'll stay here to keep her distracted." The kong shook his fists in the air, expressing signs that he didn't agree with that plan. She could tell that he didn't like it, but now wasn't the time to get into an argument.  So... "I'm glad you agree," she acted ignorant and flew into the air looking smugged while Diddy threw his hat down to the floor looking sterned. The insect queen did just what Daring suspected her to do and took chase after the pegasus.  The two of them made sharp turns around corners and sped up at long stretches.  Being smaller, it seemed like the adventurer would have the advantage in speed, but the queen knew her hive and was catching up to the agile mare. When natural strengths were out of the question, Daring would rely on her surroundings.  She dove through a honeycomb, the hornet would be too big to get through the small tunnel.  When she exited the hexagon, she collided into a wall.  Pushing off it, Daring saw that she was stuck in a thin space between two walls; a wall of sealed honeycomb cells in front of her and a series of empty ones behind her. A slam vibrated the empty cones, Daring spun around and the legs of the queen flattened itself on the wall that separated them.  The hornet walks around on the wall and positions her stinger over the empty comb that holds the pegasus' face. Daring shrieked and slid along the tight space as the sharp needle pierced through the empty comb cell.  The queen shuffled her feet and tried again while Daring moved about to avoid being stung. The golden mare was sweating at her situation.  She took a quick glance over to Diddy, making sure he left, but he was still there.  He was holding the lid that flew off the barrel he was in, like a frisbee. With a twist of his body, the kong threw it and the lid went flying at the giant bug.  The queen was knocked off balance by the disk hitting her head.  She looked at Diddy clapping his hands over his head and bouncing on a foot, proud of the action he made. The hornet queen was distracted and Daring to this moment to slide through a comb.  She spread her wings when she made it through and returned to flying, the hornet returned to her chase towards the mare. Daring looked back down at the monkey as she flew, "I SAID TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Diddy made quick gestures to him, her, and the exit. "DON'T ARGUE WITH ME.  JUST D-" she was suddenly silenced by something that dripped on her. With a plop to the ground, Daring was encased inside a sticky sap of honey that fell from the ceiling.  She retracted her wings and focused on escaping, but her movement was slow while she fought against the liquidy substance.  Her head escaped for some air, but her body was still stuck for the approaching queen from above. The hornet pointed its stinger directly at the mare. "AAH AAAH!" Diddy screeched and came flying at the insect.  The little monkey was riding the hornet and was holding on as the queen was irrationally moving about to shake him off. This act of bravery was enough to give Daring the time she needed to escape from the nectar.  The gooey sap of honey stuck to her fur and feathers but at least she was able to move more freely now. She tried to stretch out her wings to fly after them, but her wings were stuck from the honey and couldn't be extended.  All she could do now was to watch from the ground at the rodeo between monkey and hornet. Diddy shimmied his way across the queen's back and onto her thorax.  He grabbed on her antennas and was pulling on them.  The hornet was losing control and flew at an awkward angle to adjust.  Her stinger was pointed out and the two of them pierced the wall with it. The kong jumped off her and the insect was squirming to break free.  At the swing of a powerful jerk, the queen was able to break free by making a hole in her hive. With a furious look on her face, the hornet spun around to look at the pony-kong duo with a bright light shining behind her.  Daring's eyes widened "There," she whispered to Diddy while pointing to the light source, the hole made by the queen.  "That's an exit out of this nest.  We'll use that to escape." The hornet hornet flew at them, extending her stinger.  The two of them were planning to avoid her, but she was suddenly bashed by a shinny sphere.  All of them looked over to see that the green parrot that led Daring here was perched inside an empty comb.  It rotated its body and bit into the wax that made the hexagon container, pulling out a large chunk of it.  The bird chewed and rolled the wax around in its mouth, then spat it out in the shape of a sphere towards the queen. She flew up towards the parrot and began to chase it through her nest, "Come on," giving Daring time to escape with Diddy. The spider monkey jumped through first, followed by the mare.  She placed a hoof down and tripped outside the suspended hole.  Daring landed on the leaves scattered on the ground, and when she got up, they were attached to her sticky fur. "AAAWOOOOO-HOOOOOOO!!!" Diddy yelled out. "SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!!!" the green parrot said as it flew out of the hole. "Neigh." Daring humored, sounding unenthused.  "Now come on, the queen could be heading outside to get us." The parrot took off on its own and the monkey ran into the jungle with the pegasus following close behind. Daring looked back, the hornet queen leaving the nest looking furious and saw her.  The large hornet chased after them and the pegasus panicked while pressuring Diddy to run faster as they made it into the jungle.   "AAAWOOO!  AAAWOOO!" The spider monkey kept on shrieking out into the jungle. "Quite!  What are you trying to do, tell her where we are?"  Daring asked. "OOOO-HOOOOOO!!!" The two of them looked back and saw that DK was swinging behind them on a vine.  It didn't relax the two of them as he also brought the swarm of hornets behind him as well. Diddy clung onto a tree and climbed up it while Daring continued to gallop past him.  At the right time, the little monkey bounced off the tree and clings onto DK as he swung by.  He held onto the gorilla's shoulder while he rode on his back. The giant ape grabbed another vine and slid down it during his swing.  The two of them practically skimmed across the ground and were approaching the galloping pony. Daring wasn't going to look back, her main concern was finding someplace to hide from the swarm.  Suddenly, she felt a pull on her tail.  Her rear was being raised in the air followed by the rest of her body.  She hung in the air from DK hold on her tail and swung onto his back.  The gooey honey on Daring got stuck on the gorilla's hairy back, locking them back-to-back, but... ,,ʇɥǝʎ,ɹǝ ɹıƃɥʇ qǝɥıup ns¡,, ...she was upside down.  With her view now limited, Daring felt her heart getting faster from the anxiety of wanting to know what was happening behind her and what was in front of the kongs. DK flung himself from the vine and grabbed another to swing on.  He continued this process and was making a good distance between them and the swarm. "AAH!" Diddy cried and Daring felt DK make a sudden turn.  The mare saw another swarm of hornets that DK avoided.  "AAHH  AAAAAH!!!"  She felt more jerking and more swarms were appearing. Daring suddenly felt her world spin as DK flung himself off the vine and did a back-flip.  She saw a lagoon below them and felt the wind flying past them.  The mare had speculations and took a deep breath. The group splashed into the water and DK began to swim deeper into the lagoon. The honey started to dissolve off of Daring Do and she began to detach off of the gorilla's fur.  She was able to extend her wings and did just that to help her swim through the water. The two primates were swimming towards a certain direction downwards.  It occurred to the mare that they might know of a way to avoid the hornets above her.  She swam towards them with the kick of her legs and the flap of her wings. Daring caught up in no time, the kongs were sliding into a rock crevice and she retracted her wings and started to drag her way through the hole.  By this time her lungs were aching for air, but she kept pulling forward.  She came out into an open area and the apes were swimming up.  Daring used her wings to rocket herself up, "....................................BWAH!!!" She comes bursting out of the water and greedily took in the air in the surrounding area. They found themselves in a large underwater cavern, colored with a cool blue light on the walls, rigid rocks on the ceiling and a dry floor surrounding the pool of water. The swimmers climbed out of the water and the two pals high-fived each other at successfully escaping from the hornet swarm. Daring twisted her tail, draining the water from it.  "Well there you go DK," she said in a peeved off tone, "I helped get your little pal back."  Whipping the water from her mane, she looked at the gorilla sternly, "Now will you leave me alone.  I didn't come to this island to save monkeys, I came here..... to......... find.............."  Her mind wasn't focused on the kongs anymore, but what was behind them. It was an underground temple.