Daring-Do and the Griffon's Goblet

by Creative Charmer

Chapter 8 - 1/2

Daring-Do began flying up higher, more towards the top of the mountain, with Griison close behind. She flew in closer to the rocky side of the summit, getting as close as she could without colliding with the wall of stone. She turned her head back to see if Griison had crashed into the mountain, but to her surprise, he was still flying flawlessly, and was actually closer to her than before. While Daring's size may make her smaller and lighter, thusly increasing her flight speed, Griison's bulky and brawny wings made him fast enough to keep up with her.

It looked like it wasn't going to be as easy as Daring thought to get rid of this unremitting griffon. She needed a new plan, and she needed it fast. She needed a good idea: something clever; something that Griison couldn't outdo her in; and that's when she got the perfect plan. Daring quickly made a sharp turn downwards, making Griison halt in surprise, but then he immediately started after her again. Daring was now flying down the mountain at a 90-degree angle and moving to the right. She scanned the side of the mountain for the opening she was looking for, and soon she found it; the opening to the tunnel that led to the goblet was the perfect place in which to lead Griison, and it was the only place in the surrounding area that she knew she could count on—she hoped. With Griison closing in on her, Daring knew she had no other choice. She curved quickly and made a straight shot towards the tunnel. Griison did not seem aware of where Daring was going, as his sole intent was only catching her and retrieving his property. As Daring neared the tunnel, she shut her eyes and flew clean through. However, since Griison wasn't playing attention, when flew into the tunnel, his wings collided with both sides of the entrance, causing his wings to be knocked out of their flying position, which in turn sent Griison crashing to the floor. He skidded across the ground to a stop, while Daring made a clean getaway back into the mountain.

After going back through the tunnel and down the staircase, Daring-Do stopped in Griison's main room to catch her breath. "Well, that certainly worked out well," she said as she wiped some sweat from her forehead. "Now, I've just got to get back to the valley ponies to show them my triumph," she started towards the secret tunnel to the bottom of the mountain. "Looks like one of my adventures finally went off without a hitch—mostly."

"Is that so?"

Daring instantly stopped as a chill ran up her spine. She slowly turned her head around to see Griison standing at the entrance to the upper mountain! "Wha..?! H—How did you..??"

"Did you really think it would be that easy to slow me down? I said I would get back what's rightfully mine, and I have every intention of doing so!" Griison spoke these words as he slowly began to walk towards Daring-Do. "So, don't think that any of your measly little pony tricks are going to work on me!"

"...well..how about this??" Daring swiftly flew towards the door, but Griison, with his powerful legs, sprang up over Daring, accompanied by the strength of his wings, and landed right in front of the doorway, beating Daring to it. Daring skidded to a stop, and Griison turned around to face her. "Like I said: none of your little tricks are going to work on me, pony," he then reached down to grab the frightened pony, but Daring quickly jumped up out of the way, making Griison stumble forward from after missing her. She then came back down, landed hard on his head, and pushed against his head to propel herself into the air, where she began flying for another way out. Once again fueled by rage, Griison flew after her, chasing her all around the room.

Daring ducked and weaved around every piece of furniture and griffon art to evade Griison. Griison paid no mind to dodging any of the objects in the room, and instead smashed right through each object that he flew by. Furniture was knocked over, paintings and drawings were torn to shreds, and statues fell and shattered to pieces upon the floor. Griison's mind was focused purely on Daring-Do, and he wasn't going to let anything get in his way.

Daring was shocked by Griison's actions. What would compel Griison to not care about his other ancestor's possessions, but to care so much about the goblet? Whatever the reason, it certainly wasn't making things easier for her to have Griison plowing through every obstacle to get to her. She needed a new plan—a plan where she could get away from Griison with him unable to follow her. As she was flying, she looked around the room for anything that could aid in her escape. She suddenly saw something that gave her a plan—albeit, it wasn't much different from her first escape plan, but it was all she had right now, so she had no choice but to go for it. Daring quickly made a 90-degree turn and flew directly towards one of the walls. Just before she collided with the wall, she turned her body around, stamped her hooves against the wall, and sprang herself back in the direction the she had came. In the midst of all this, Griison, distracted by her sudden maneuver, inadvertently slammed into the wall that Daring had ricocheted off of. He fell to the ground, momentarily hindered by this incident. Seizing this unforeseen opportunity, Daring-Do flew down the secret tunnel. "I hope this works," she said to herself as she continued down her path to the end of the tunnel.

Shortly after Daring-Do's departure, Griison struggled to get himself back up. He clasped the wall to hold himself upright, also clutching his head, which was still throbbing with pain. He shook his head to purge himself of the pain and get his mind back on track. "Urrgh! That little bane's suffering will be greater than what any pony has ever endured! I will see to that..." Griison then sped off flying towards the secret tunnel entrance, but quickly stopped himself before he entered. Remembering the mishap with the other tunnel, he decided to run down this tunnel instead, so there would be nothing to slow him down. Griison then hoofed it through the tunnel, hot in pursuit of the thieving little pegasus.