The Do Dilemma

by Metool Bard

Synchronized Confusion

Chapter 2:
Synchronized Confusion

Cautiously, Daring Do approached the glass case holding the tattered piece of parchment. Tailspin tried to follow, but Daring raised her wings and shook her head.

"Let me handle this, Tailspin," she told her student. "There could be more traps. In fact, I'll bet you anything that there are more traps."

"More?!" asked an aghast Tailspin. "How many traps does this temple need?!"

Daring snickered. "Believe it or not, I've ask that question many times myself," said she. "I agree, it's very annoying. But once you've gone on a few adventures, you come to expect it."

"Really?" said Tailspin.

"You bet," Daring answered. "To be honest, I'd be more surprised if a temple didn't have deadly traps around every corner."

"Wow," was all Tailspin could say to that.

"That's just how it is when you're an adventurer," said Daring with a shrug. "Now just give me a sec while I figure this out."

She then took the tablet in her hooves and flipped it over.

"Okay, so according to the sea pony who gave this to me, this should serve as a codex for 'the puzzle that guards the paper,'" she mused. "I'm really hoping that's not another nonsense riddle."

She read over the codex carefully and compared it to the runes on the casing. Despite her concerns, it looked straightforward enough. It was just a matter of tapping the correct runes in the correct order. Nevertheless, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that it most likely wasn't that simple.

"Tailspin, keep your eyes peeled," she said sternly. "I don't want to trigger some sort of falling boulder and not notice it."

"Who does?" Tailspin joked.

Daring gave her student a half-smirk. "Cute, kiddo. But seriously, keep on the lookout, would you?"

"Not a problem, Dare," said Tailspin with a salute.

Daring gave Tailspin a nod and turned back to the puzzle before her. Deftly, she tapped each rune as indicated on the codex. Once she had finished, each of the runes glowed and sparkled with a myriad of colors. Beads of sweat formed on Daring's brow as she waited to see if her answer to the puzzle would be accepted.

With a pleasant-sounding chime, all of the runes changed to green, and the glass case melted into vapor.

"You did it, Dare!" cheered Tailspin. "I knew you would!"

"Hold your horses, kid. We're not out of the woods yet," Daring said tersely. She then motioned her hooves around the parchment before her, looking for any booby traps triggered by light sources. When she was satisfied, she swiped the map from where it stood.

"Okay, now we're out of the woods," said Daring with a smirk. She then heard a curious noise behind her, and her expression fell. "Ugh. I always speak too soon."

She turned to see what trap she had triggered, only to see a most perplexing sight. The runes before her began to change shape and glow. When they had finished shifting around, she took a closer look.

"Hmm. It looks like these runes are now spelling out a message of some sort," she observed.

"What does it say?" inquired Tailspin.

"Hopefully not 'look out' or 'gotcha,'" said Daring. She then placed her hoof against the pedestal, reading over each rune with great care. When she had finished, she raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I've seen a lot of weird things in my adventures, but this takes the cake," she said.

"Why? What does it say, Dare?" asked Tailspin.

"Well, answer me this, Tailspin. Does the name Rainbow Dash mean anything to you?"

"No. Why?"

"Because these runes now say: 'Wow, Rainbow Dash! You were right! Reading is fun!'"

***

Both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash did a double take, their jaws dropping open in astonishment.

"Um, Rainbow Dash? Is this weird, or is it just me?" asked Scootaloo.

"It ain't you, Squirt," said Rainbow, her eyes still affixed on the odd line of dialogue she just read. "This is just freaky. And not in a good way."

"Yeah. It's like that book heard what I said just a few seconds ago," said Scootaloo. "I don't think books can do that."

"Unless Twilight is trying out a new spell or something," Rainbow mused, placing a hoof to her chin. "Maybe we should pay her a visit and see what's up."

"But wait! I wanna see what happens to Daring and Tailspin!" said Scootaloo. "Can't we at least finish the chapter first?"

"Scoot, I think this is..."

Rainbow trailed off as she looked into Scootaloo's pleading violet eyes. She couldn't say no to that face if she tried.

"Alright, fine," she said with a sigh. "But after this, we should go see what Twilight's up to, okay?"

"Okay!" chirped Scootaloo, snuggling up next to Rainbow. Rainbow chuckled and continued the story.

"'"Why would the runes say that?" asked Tailspin, tilting her head. "That doesn't make sense."'" Rainbow Dash read aloud.

"Hey, the feeling's mutual," commented Scootaloo.

Rainbow shrugged and continued to read. As she did, the book began to generate a faint glow. The glow became brighter and brighter with every word Rainbow read.

"'The runes began to shine brilliantly,'" Rainbow read, oblivious to the glow. "'They became more and more intense as Daring and Tailspin looked on in confusion and wonder. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash!'"

As soon as those words left her lips, the glow turned into a burst of intense light. Rainbow shielded her eyes from the glare.

"Wh-what's going on?!" she heard Scootaloo exclaim. "I-I'm starting to feel kinda strange..."

Before Rainbow could inquire as to what Scootaloo meant, the flash became even brighter, overwhelming her senses. It took sheer force of will for her to remain conscious.

After a few seconds, the light finally dimmed. Rainbow blinked a few times, allowing her eyes to readjust to the light. When her vision fully returned, she saw that nothing seemed to be out of place. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that was weird," she said. "Must be one doozy of a spell Twilight's working on. Hey Scoot, you alri...?"

When she turned to address the little orange filly, her eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. Scootaloo was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn't what got her attention. Standing just at the side of her bed was an olive-colored pegasus with a black mane and tail. She was wearing a green jacket and a pith helmet, and her Cutie Mark was that of a compass. Her magenta eyes reflected curiosity as she took a look around.

"Huh. That sure was something. Not quite sure what, though," mused the enigmatic mare. "Whatever it was, it looks like I'm not in Argoats anymore." She then spotted Rainbow Dash. "Ah! You there! Hi, sorry I just randomly appeared out of nowhere like that, but I had no idea Das Reingold had such complicated booby traps. The name's Daring Do. Think you could tell me where I am?"

Rainbow's eye twitched. She didn't know whether to be freaked out or psyched up. Unable to process the spectacle before her, she spouted off random gibberish before fainting dead away.

"Oooooookay then, apparently you can't right now," Daring said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh well, no biggie. I'll just ask again when you wake up. Hmm, I wonder if there's anything to eat around here..."

Comments

[musicalgamer]

yes just yes

[Rainbow87dash]

ok this was great. I want more

[kingtiger666]

Yo Dash, I'm Indiana Jones.

[Cold Spike]

Cute Story hehe

[Metool Bard]

2173484 Glad you like it.

[Avenging-Hobbits]

Hmm...yes....MOAR

[RedvsBlue327]

Hah.

"I'm in a completely different place with no way back through a force I can't explain, and the first pony I met fainted at my sight. Time to raid the nearest fridge."

[ShiningNova]

I've had this in my to be read for like ever now and I finally got around to reading it. I'm glad I did this seems like a crazy/cool idea for a story I can't wait to see where it takes us.

Side note suddenly I'm in the mood for a snack

[BenRG]

The time has come, I think, to talk to the Princess of Magic.

[Metool Bard]

3227759 Actually, she's not quite a princess yet. This takes place directly after the episode Games Ponies Play, so Twilight hasn't even gotten the spell from Princess Celestia at this point.