Daring Do and the Tiny Tornado

by Metool Bard

Problems Big and Small

As Daring Do flew deeper and deeper into the cave, all of her senses were on high alert. She hovered around the entire cavern, tapping rocks with her feelers and scanning the ground for anything unusual. All the while, Tra-La-La and Tiddlywink whispered to one another and gave her blank stares. Fluttershy and Windsday brought up the rear, providing a slight breeze every now and then to keep the breezies airborne.

"Professor Do, it's not too late to reconsider this brazen course of action," said Windsday.

"You're welcome to leave, Bluster," Daring retorted.

"And leave you to die? Certainly not."

"Then stop complaining and let me do my thing."

Windsday sighed. "Right, so we're just going to gloss over the fact that this is completely counterintuitive to the ideals of the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures."

Daring shot Windsday a quizzical look. "What is? Stopping breezie poachers?"

"No, willingly leading breezies into danger."

Daring deadpanned. "Bluster, don't think I'm unaware of the risks here. Why do you think I'm checking the place for deathtraps?"

"Oh, that's what you're doing?" asked Fluttershy. "Tra-La-La and Tiddlywink were a bit confused."

"Yes, that's what I'm doing," said Daring, adjusting her pith helmet. "If Atotoztli II is anything like her son, she probably has a security system in place to keep out nosy do-gooders such as Yours Truly. You can never be too careful in situations like this."

"Except we're not being careful," Windsday groused. "We're walking right into the heart of the enemy's lair without any sort of plan."

"Hey, I'm working on it, alright? Stop getting on my case," growled Daring.

"I have to agree with her, Professor Windsday," Fluttershy chimed in. "I'm sure Ms. Daring knows what she's doing."

Windsday snorted. "I still think the ESPRC would not approve of this."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Bluster," said Daring, tapping the wall with her feeler.

Windsday's mustache bristled. "And just what do you mean by that, Professor Do?"

"I think we both know what I mean," said Daring bluntly.

Windsday wrinkled his nose. "If you think for one minute that I'm afraid of any of this, then, well..." He then sighed. "You're right. This little excursion betrays all of my sensibilities as a breezie researcher. I'm a pony of words, not of action. I have no idea how to handle myself in this sort of situation. Which is extremely frustrating, because I should know everything there is to know about breezies. Yet here I am, following a pair of headstrong novices instead of them trusting the word of an esteemed educator. How do you think that makes me feel?"

Fluttershy placed a hoof on Windsday's shoulder. "I understand that you're frustrated, Professor Windsday. But just because you're an expert on breezies doesn't mean you have to know everything. For example, I know plenty about animals, yet I only learned the language of vampire fruit bats a few weeks ago."

"Besides, if you ask me, you could use a bit of humble pie in your diet," added Daring.

Windsday sighed again. "I, suppose both of you have a point," he said somberly. He then adjusted his glasses. "Right, let's do the ESPRC proud and bring these hooligans to justice."

"Glad to see we're all on the same page finally," said Daring with a grin. She then sobered up. "Alright, we might not have seen any deathtraps yet, but that's not an excuse to let our guard down. We should keep moving."

The five of them continued onward in silence for a few minutes before Daring stopped in midair and held out her foreleg. Windsday arched an eyebrow.

"I thought you said we should keep moving, Professor Do," he said skeptically.

"Yeah, that was before I saw this," said Daring, pointing with her feeler. Directly ahead of them was a pillar of light coming from an unknown source.

"And, that is?"

"A boobytrap."

Fluttershy gulped. "Oh my. Are you sure, Ms. Daring?"

"Almost positive," said Daring. "In my experience, boobytraps use a lot of different triggering mechanisms. Light sources just happen to be a common one."

"Ello manata erreta mem, pommella. Laka, tono matik cyro inema?" asked Tra-La-La.

"You mind translating that, Fluttershy?" said Daring.

"She's asking how we're supposed to get around that light," said Fluttershy nervously. "Honestly, I'm wondering the same thing. It looks like it's covering the entire way ahead. Not even a breezie could fly around it."

Daring smirked. "No worries, Fluttershy. I got this."

She then glided down and scooped up the smallest pebble she could find. With a grunt, she chuckled the pebble with all of her might. The small stone bounced across the cave floor and landed in the light. Suddenly, several spears sprang from the wall, causing Fluttershy to shriek and dart behind Windsday.

"There. Trap sprung," said Daring, dusting off her feelers. "Now it's safe to move on."

She flew over to the spear trap, accidentally bumping one of the spears as she drifted by. She stopped in her tracks as the spear shifted down like a lever, creating a rumbling sound. She smacked her forehead.

"Why oh why do I always jinx myself like this?" she groaned.

"This is not the time for self-deprecation, Professor Do!" Windsday barked. "Ms. Fluttershy, your assistance!"

He then flapped his wings at a steady pace, creating a modest gust. Fluttershy quickly joined in as the rumbling grew louder and louder. Daring, Tiddlywink, and Tra-La-La were pushed by the wind, maneuvering around the spears the best they could. Soon, the rumbling became so great that a hail of stones rained from the ceiling. Noticing this, Daring doubled back and kept close to her breezie partners, swerving and shoving them out of the way of any and all lethal pebbles. Just as they made it through the sea of spears, the rumbling stopped.

"Whew! That was close," said Windsday, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. "Professor Do! Are you alright?"

"We're fine, thanks to you!" Daring hollered back. "How about you and Fluttershy?"

"Everything seems to be okay over he—"

Windsday was interrupted by a trio of large stone paws erupting from the ground. Before he or Fluttershy could react, the paws all snapped shut simultaneously. The first snatched up Fluttershy and Windsday, the second crushed the spear trap, and the third missed Daring and her breezie friends by a hair. The fists then disappeared into the ground as quickly as they came.

"Fluttershy! Bluster!" Daring called out, flying over the large chasm. She peered down into the abyss, but her antenna were not bright enough to illuminate the path. She snorted in frustration before turing to Tra-La-La and Tiddlywink. "We gotta go after them."

"Mei lotono, pommella," said Tiddlywink with a nod. "Lalu lazu, Tra-La-La."

"Ay, ni ni, Tiddlywink. Lalu lazu," said Tra-La-La, bowing to Tiddlywink.

"Mei nenista, Tra-La-La. Lalu lazu."

"Moto bene, Tiddlywink. Lalu lazu."

"Ni ni ni ni ni, Tra-La-La. Lalu la—"

"Oh, for crying out loud! Shut up!"

The argument was derailed by Daring's outburst. The two breezies shrieked and hid themselves behind a rock. Daring sighed and flew up to them, massaging her temples all the while.

"Look, I'm sorry I yelled like that, but you two are really straining my last nerve," she said.

Tra-La-La twiddled her feelers. "Pomo, meitena pommella ito mei Tiddlywink. Kelom teino marokano ella mei pommella tono doto, neh?"

Daring crossed her forelegs. "Okay, I didn't understand a word of that, but I think I know what's going on here. You both value your friendship, so you're constantly being nice and polite to each other. Great! That's wonderful! I'm not against that. However, our other friends just got captured, not to mention that your entire species is in grave danger! Don't you two care about that?"

Tiddlywink nodded meekly. "Aye, pommella. Namo icho? Loka—"

"If that last thing you said means 'but,' I'm just gonna stop you right there," Daring interrupted. "There's a time for pleasantries, and this ain't one of them. We have more important things to worry about than being prim and proper. Besides, if you're that concerned about letting your friend have the honor of doing something, which is a silly thing to be concerned about, but I won't judge, why don't you just do everything together? That's what you always end up deciding anyway, from what I've seen."

Tra-La-La and Tiddlywink looked at each other for a moment. They then huddled in close and whispered to one another. After a few seconds, they turned back to Daring.

"Ento melana, pommella? Nate mono ali pommella da Tiddlywink?" inquired Tra-La-La.

Daring heaved another sigh and shook her head. "I can't answer that question, mainly because I don't speak the language," she said. "Look, if you're worried about your friendship, don't be. I can tell you two are pretty close. And if you do something without asking your friend if they want to do it first, that doesn't automatically make you a bad friend. It's all about when that kind of question is appropriate. And right now, I think the fate of your species is a tad more pressing than common courtesy, don't you think?"

Tra-La-La and Tiddlywink huddled together and whispered to each other again. They then touched antennae and smiled.

"Anato maltise! Faldara!" they cheered together. They flew up to Daring and nodded.

"Good. Glad you see things my way," said Daring with a smirk. "I, think. Again, don't know the language. Well, whatever. Let's just get moving!"

Suddenly, a sinister laugh echoed from the chasm below. Tra-La-La and Tiddlywink squeaked in terror and hugged Daring Do, shivering all the while.

"Girimehkala..." Tiddlywink whimpered. "Tra-La-La, esso Girimehkala."

Daring scowled. "Well, that saves me the trouble of finding him," she said, cracking her neck. "Time to give that stupid pachyderm what-for."

"Ni, pommella! Girimehkala noto mant!" Tra-La-La cried. "Mokono neel!"

Daring squirmed out of the hug and gave the two breezies a concerned look. "You two are really scared of this Girimehkala guy, huh?"

They both nodded and whimpered. A warm smile crossed Daring's face as she held out her feeler.

"Well, don't worry," she said. "I'll protect you both. You're my partners, after all. And whenever I have a partner, I have to make sure they stay alive. That's how I roll."

Tra-La-La and Tiddlywink both took a deep breath and slowly calmed down.

"Ano telema inella on, pommella?" asked Tra-La-La.

"Not sure what that meant, so I'm just gonna say yes," said Daring with a chuckle. "Now, c'mon. If we work together, we can bring these guys down and free our friends no problem. Trust me, I've done kind of thing before."

The two breezies nodded and huddled close to Daring. All of their antennae touched, creating a marvelous glow.

"Meito nal olean, pommella!" the breezies cheered. "Faldara!"

With that, they dove down into the chasm.

"Hey, wait for me!" Daring called out, following after them.

Comments

[solartiger]

awesome chapter