Daring Do pushed her way through the jungle, brushing aside the vines to create a path through the untamed wilds.

Following not too close behind was her travelling companion for this particular adventure, the ever-timid Fluttershy. “A-are we there yet…?” she muttered, partially to herself, barely getting hit by the brushback of the vines.

“We should be getting closer to Wisteria’s hideout,” the adventurer explained. “Shouldn’t be too much longer.”

The sudden rustling of some of the leaves nearby made Fluttershy jump in shock, but Daring Do was quick to put a hand above Fluttershy’s mouth to prevent an untimely scream.

“It’s fine, Fluttershy,” Daring Do quietly reassured her. “They don’t know we’re here yet, so long as we keep quiet.”

The leaves parted away to reveal a lynx that had emerged to examine the commotion.

Fluttershy wasted no time crouching down to meet the feline at eye-level. “Aww, hello little guy! We’re looking for somepony, do you know where she is?”

The little lynx began to purr, nuzzling up underneath Fluttershy’s chin before pointing its paw over by a clearing in the foliage.

“Thank you so much! You take care now, okay?” Fluttershy gently patted the lynx on the head like she would a kitten before sending it off.

Daring Do gave her an amused chuckle. “See? Aren’t you glad you decided to come with me on this adventure?”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile as she saw the lynx walk off. “A-a little bit, yes. Sorry, I know that Rainbow Dash is a lot braver and more adventurous than I am.”

“You’re doing great. No offense to Rainbow Dash, but we need to sneak around and be quiet, that’s not exactly her strong suit,” Daring joked. “You’re a lot more suited to help me out. Plus, I did promise you’d see a bunch of different animals in here, right?”

Fluttershy giggled. The prospect of exotic animals was one of the bargaining chips Daring Do used in order to convince her to go in the first place. “Mmhm, it’s been wonderful so far!”

“Good, now let’s keep going.”

The pair of pegasi pushed on, with Daring Do taking the lead. The further they got into the jungle, the more overgrown the plant life had gotten. The leaves of the trees were half their size, and the grass started to reach up to their chins. “Yep, definitely getting closer…” Daring Do noted, finding it harder to push it aside.

“I-Is this all Dr. Wisteria’s doing?” Fluttershy asked.

“Mmhm, ever since she got ahold of the Pendant of Xochipilli, the plant life goes haywire everywhere she goes,” Daring explained. “I’ve been trying to stop her for a month but she’s always…escaped before I can catch her. Hopefully with your help, we can trap her this time. If we work together, we might be able to corner her to capture her, or at least get that pendant away from her.”

Fluttershy looked around at the overgrowth. All the vines had invaded what used to be nests and dens for the animals that lived there. It was a tad selfish, but seeing the damage that Wisteria was causing to the wildlife gave Fluttershy a personal reason to fight back, and helped steel her resolve.

Daring Do and Fluttershy went wherever the plant life was the densest, finding it harder to walk without tripping on a thick vine or root underneath. After an exhausting trek, the pair had finally found what they were looking for.

The thick jungle had finally given way to the first actual clearing they’ve come across in what seemed like forever. Standing among the towering trees was a temple covered in vines, roots, and flowers. At the center of the temple was a massive tree that had burst through the ceiling, reaching higher and higher as if it were a pillar to the heavens. Outside the temple were a few earth ponies in white labcoats covered in the green of chlorophyll stains.

Daring pulled Fluttershy aside, moving back into the thick of the jungle to avoid detection by the guards. “Alright, we found the place. I don’t see Wisteria, but she’s gotta be here.”

“S-So what do we do?” Fluttershy whispered, her nerves coming back now that the threatening part of their adventure was right in front of them.

“Lemmie think...Alright, there’s a few guards we need to sneak past to get inside. Maybe we could make a distraction and steal their lab coats to disguise as them-”

As Daring Do was coming up with an infiltration plan, there was a sudden rustling of the leaves behind her. Before either of them could turn to look, Daring Do was suddenly yanked away, disappearing into the bushes.

“Daring DooOOO!?” As Fluttershy reached out for her friend, she felt something wrap around her ankles and drag her in the same direction.

Fluttershy felt herself getting dragged through the leaves, bushes, and vines, screaming with fear the entire time. She naturally began flailing her arms in a panic, but started to notice that despite how far she was going, she hadn’t been slammed into any tree or dragged across the ground.

After being pulled for what felt like hours, Fluttershy finally came to a stop in another jungle clearing, right next to Daring Do. They had landed in front of another pony, a purple earth pony with a white mane. Like the ponies they saw at the temple, she also had a white labcoat stained with green, but more importantly, around her neck was a crown-shaped emerald that emitted a light glow.

“Well, if it isn’t Daring Do! And you’ve brought along a friend this time, too! How lovely!” the mare cackled, looking down at Fluttershy with a crazed grin.

“Wisteria…” Daring Do growled.

Fluttershy let out a small whimper. They were already face-to-face with who they were supposed to stop, and it was because they got captured.

Before either of the pegasi could make a move, Wisteria snapped her fingers, and vines wrapped around their wrists to prevent them from fighting or escaping. “Did you really think you could waltz into MY jungle without me knowing? You truly believe you can take my pendant away from me?”

“It’s NOT yours, and you know it.” Daring Do said with a harsh glare, trying to break out of the vines’ grip. “You don’t know what kind of damage you’re causing with that thing!”

“Damage!? I’m making things better!” Wisteria barked out. “You just don’t appreciate the beauty of nature, but perhaps when all of Equestria is enveloped in my plants, you’ll see…”

“Um, b-but all these giant plants are pushing the animals out of their homes!” Fluttershy spoke up. “You can’t just overrun everything with plant life!”

Wisteria looked at Fluttershy, bewildered by her argument. “Hmph, I see that you two are still in need of convincing.” She snapped her fingers again, and her pendant started to glow brighter. She began walking back in the direction the two were dragged from. “Farewell, Daring Do! Perhaps you and your friend will be able to see all the joy my plants can bring after this...”

Fluttershy watched in confusion as Wisteria walked away, then turned to Daring Do. “Um...what did she mean by that?”

“No...no no no not again, damnit…” Daring Do began cursing under her breath as she struggled against the vines wrapping her up.

The vines around their wrists began to pull their arms upwards, keeping them above their heads.

“W-What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked, trying to fight back and pull her arms down.

“D-don’t panic, I’ll try and get us out of this…” Daring said, trying to be reassuring, but it was clear that she was panicking herself.

More vines started to surround the pegasi, crawling towards them on the ground like snakes.

Daring grit her teeth, rocking her body side to side to try and escape, but the vines had already surrounded the adventurer, and started sliding into her boots.

“What...what are they doing?” Fluttershy looked in every direction, trying to figure out what the vines were up to as they closed in. One of them slithered onto her stomach, prompting an involuntary giggle out of the timid pegasus. In response, the vines poked her stomach again, getting another squeak out of her.

Daring Do and Fluttershy felt a sharp pang of dread, both for entirely different reasons.

The vines went on the offensive, the tendrils attacked Fluttershy’s stomach first. The way she was suspended above the ground, her midriff was perfectly exposed, allowing plenty of vines to poke and wiggle against her belly and sides.

“Eeeeeheeheehee! N-Nohohohohoho!” Fluttershy squeaked and giggled.

Tickling. Why did it have to be tickling? She wiggled around, not strong enough to pull her limbs together and defend herself.

With Daring Do, the vines seemed to take their time, slowly wiggling their way into her boots and pushing them off, forcing her to watch as they did the same with her slightly worn socks. “D-Don’t worry, Fluttershy! I’ll save you!” she grunted, already sweating as she tried to fight back against the vines.

“O-Ohohohokaaaaaahahahay! Eeeee!” Fluttershy was torn between wanting to escape for the sake of helping out Daring Do, and waiting to see just how many vines were there to tickle her.

She could count at least five in total tickling her belly so far, and there were plenty more that still surrounded her. She could feel the tips wiggling around her stomach, though they were starting to explore, going up her shirt to tease her ribs.

Daring helplessly watched as two vines wrapped around her toes, uncomfortably grunting as she saw the vines teasingly hovering above her and at her feet. The feeling of two of them sliding up and down her soles made her flinch. “Hnngggh...Nnngh…!” She clenched her teeth, angrily fighting back the laughs building up inside her.

Fluttershy’s cheeks were already red from the embarrassing combination of being tickled in front of a friend in an increasingly more intimate places. When she felt them slither up higher to reach her armpits, she let out a loud squeal, her wings popping out with a very noticeable pomf.

Daring Do looked over at Fluttershy’s apparent struggle, mentally regretting bringing her along on an adventure that would subject her to this. By the time she looked back, however, the vines decided to increase her own torment with two more vines to slide up and down her arches. Daring was barely able to hold her laughter back, but she couldn’t fight the ticklish grin on her face.

The vines over at Fluttershy’s body seemed to take notice of how loud she squealed when they touched her pits, and adjusted accordingly, more of the vines on her belly moving up her shirt to wiggle against her helpless pits, the vines wrapped around her wrists pulling a little more tightly to make sure her pits were nice and taut.

“YAAAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHO!” Fluttershy could feel the vines stretching her arms higher above her head, making the vines tickle even more.

Daring desperately tried to keep calm in the situation she was in, but the vines were relentless. Each slow stroke against her soles was maddening. She let out a shaky exhale, barely suppressing the laugh that was building up inside. She watched in horror as another pair of vines slid between her toes, and the adventurer finally broke. “GAHAHAHAHA DAHAHAHAMNIHIHIHIHIT!”

Though Fluttershy didn’t look over at what Daring Do was going through, it was a pretty safe guess that she wasn’t also secretly enjoying every moment of this. But she definitely didn’t have Daring’s strength or cleverness, and if she couldn’t break out of the vines, what chance did she have? She barely had the time to worry about escape, as one vine started prodding around in her navel, making her scream and jerk her body around as much as she was able.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHAHAHAAA!” Daring mentally cursed herself. If it were up to her, she’d sacrifice herself and take the brunt of all the tickling to let Fluttershy escape. Unfortunately, Wisteria’s plants were perfectly capable of tormenting both of them. She could feel the vines slithering between her toes, making her throw her head back and cackle with helpless laughter.

It seemed like more vines reacted to the sound of Fluttershy’s high-pitched squealing, as more surrounded her to add to the tickling. Just like they did with Daring Do, they slipped into Fluttershy’s footwear, forcing off her boots and dainty socks.

“No...nohohohoho! Not my feeEEEHEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEET! AAAHAHAHAAAAHAHA!” Fluttershy’s pleas went ignored. The moment her feet felt the warm and humid jungle air, the vines attacked, wiggling against her slightly sweaty soles.

The vines tickling Daring went to explore the rest of her body, sliding down the sleeves of her olive shirt to get to her armpits. Daring clenched her fists, desperately trying to pull her arms down. “YAAAHAHAHA! GET! GET OHOHOHOUT!”

Fluttershy felt the vines slipping under her clothes to tickle her ribs and armpits, but plenty of them were content to get at her exposed belly, sides, and feet. She felt the soft yet pointy vine tips poking at her soles and arches, making her scream. “NAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! P-PLEHEHEHEEHEEAAASE! EEEEEEHEEHEE!”

Daring Do had started to lose hope that she’d be able to escape, but she felt a couple of the vines stop tickling her. Through teary eyes, she managed to track them slithering all the way towards Fluttershy to tickle her feet instead, much to the yellow pegasi’s secret delight.

“AIIIEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAA!?” Fluttershy’s toes splayed out, practically inviting the vines to tickle in between. Each additional vine added only increased her giddy hysterical laughter.

“Hehehehehehehe!” The vines didn’t completely leave Daring alone, she could still feel them tickling her soles and armpits, but with less vines tickling her, she could think a little more clearly on how to escape.

Fluttershy could feel the vines on nearly every ticklish inch of her body. They stroked her armpits, poked her ribs, rubbed against her sides, and circled her belly. But her feet certainly got the worst of it, with vines on each toe to tickle everywhere on, under, and in between, and making maddeningly slow strokes against her blushing soles. If she wasn’t supposed to be trying to escape, she’d be begging for more. “EEEEHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAAHAAAHAHAAHA! AAAAHAHA DAHAHAHARIIIIHIHIING!”

Fluttershy’s helpless ticklish cries had given Daring Do the opportunity she needed. The vines tickling her had left her alone to add to Fluttershy’s torment, leaving Daring Do free to struggle against the vines, pulling her arm down just long enough to grab her pocket knife in her breast pocket. With a few quick slashes, she cut the vines holding her and broke free.

Once she hit the ground, she stood up, threateningly waving her knife at the vines that continued to surround her, keeping them at bay. She slowly walked towards the howling Fluttershy, making sure she wasn’t about to be ambushed by a sneaky green vine. Once she was close enough, she started swinging, releasing Fluttershy from the vines’ tickly grasp.

With Fluttershy free, the vines retreated back into the jungle, leaving Fluttershy giggling, panting, and gasping for air while laying on the dirt while Daring kept brandishing her knife.

“Sorry you had to go through that,” Daring apologized, helping Fluttershy back up to her feet.

“I-It’s fine.” Fluttershy sheepishly giggled. It was probably the best case scenario that she was the one that got tickled the most while Daring was the one to free her, but there was no point in mentioning exactly why.

After taking a moment to breathe and put their socks and shoes back on, the adventure continued.

“Alright, we got dragged from over there…” Daring said, pointing to one of the openings in the jungle bushes. “Unfortunately, Wisteria knows we’re here now, and that means getting to her is gonna be tougher.” The adventurer let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t usually say this, but if you wanna give up and go home, I won’t stop you. I can try and get her another day. I don’t wanna drag you into more of Wisteria’s torture-”

“No!” Fluttershy quickly blurted out. “I-I mean, I’m not going to leave a friend behind. I’m going to help you get Dr. Wisteria, no matter what!”

“You sure? This isn’t exactly going to be a walk in the park…”

The idea of taking on Wisteria was certainly scary, and she still wasn’t the adventuring type, but Fluttershy didn’t feel afraid of going with Daring Do, even if it was powered by a few selfish private motivations. “I’m sure. I want to help you!”

Daring Do smiled warmly. “Thanks, Fluttershy. So! Let’s get going.” She led the way back towards Wisteria’s temple, with Fluttershy following closely behind.

After a long walk back, they found themselves back at the temple. Daring Do peeked her head up through the bushes. “Well, good news is that I don’t see any of Wisteria’s guards on patrol outside. Bad news is that means they’re on patrol inside.”

“Does...does that mean she’s waiting for us?”

“Most likely. Be prepared for anything, Fluttershy.”

Keeping a constant lookout for an ambush, Daring and Fluttershy snuck inside the temple.

The temple’s interior was covered wall to wall in vines and leaves. Even the floor was littered with plants that Daring and Fluttershy needed to be careful not to trip over.

“I don’t see any of Wisteria’s minions...do you think she abandoned the temple?”

“I doubt it.” Daring shook her head. “The way she was gloating, I doubt she was scared enough to run. She’s still somewhere here, I know it.”

After a bit of silent sneaking around, Fluttershy spoke up again. “Um, Daring? Back when we first met Wisteria and the vines tied us up, you said ‘not again’...What exactly did you mean by that?”

Daring pushed the brim of her helmet over her eyes. “Er…L-Like I said, I’ve had plenty of run-ins with her before...”

“A-and, did it usually end up with her tickling you?”

“...Maybe…” Daring’s response was curt, but it told Fluttershy everything she needed to know.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle a bit. It was understandable why Daring didn’t want to admit that she’d been foiled by her nemesis tickling her on several separate occasions, but she couldn’t help but feel a little bit of envy.

Daring let out a resigned sigh. “...Yeah, I haven’t written about my pursuits of Wisteria because...ugh. It’s humiliating to constantly lose to something like being tickled, let alone write about it happening to you. I mean, who’d want to read about that?”

“Oh, I don’t think it’d be so bad…” Fluttershy said, nervously pressing her fingers together. “I-I mean, it should be important to show all the struggles you go through!” she quickly added, realizing what she blurted out.

“Yeah, but, I don’t think every little detail about Daring Do’s adventures needs to be published,” Daring softly chuckled.

Thankfully, Daring Do was in the front, too busy navigating Wisteria’s temple to turn around to see Fluttershy’s reddening face. The idea of reading an official Daring Do tickle-centered story was incredibly appealing, even if it probably wouldn’t be popular with the reading masses at large.

“Still no sign of any of Wisteria’s lackeys…” Daring Do noted, “Wonder if they’re all guarding her…”

“So would we have to fight all of them at once?”

“Nah, I could probably take them all at once. Maybe while they’re all distracted, you can sneak up and grab the pendant from Wisteria...Though we’ll figure it out when we get there.”

The pair traversed through several corridors, trampling through the grass and flowers on the floor. Some of the dead-ends had pitfalls, but wings and quick reflexes meant that they weren’t a problem. Soon, they came across a sealed door that towered above the pegasi.

“Well, if Wisteria’s anywhere, it’s gotta be here,” Daring smirked.

Fluttershy looked around the corridor. “But there’s no handle on the door, how are we going to get inside?”

“Easy,” Daring pointed towards a panel next to the door. It was a large square panel with fifteen different square tiles inside. Each tile had a different sort of pattern on it.

Fluttershy touched one of the tiles, sliding it into the one empty slot on the panel. “Oh! I see now!”

“Yeah, this is a pretty sorry excuse for a security system! I could solve this in my sleeEEEEEEEEP!?”

Fluttershy whipped her head around to see Daring Do once again ensnared by vines. Though these vines were purple instead of the usual green that had been seen around the temple. Fluttershy reached out her hand, trying to rescue her.

“No! Don’t! Just solve the puzzle and get inside! That’s more important!”

Fluttershy looked back and forth between Daring Do and the door. “I...I can’t just leave you!”

“You won’t! I’ll get myself out of this!” Daring grunted, struggling as the vines wasted no time tugging off her boots and socks.

Fluttershy stood in front of the sliding puzzle, hands trembling as she could only stare at the tiles. “Oh, I’m not so good at this puzzle solving thing!”

Hearing Fluttershy say that didn’t exactly fill Daring Do with confidence, especially as the purple vines slithered up and down her bare feet. “Nnngaaahahahaha!”

Daring’s laughter started to get Fluttershy panicked. She slowly slid around the tiles at random, hoping that she’d eventually come across the answer eventually.

“C-Cahahan’t you gohoho any fahahahahaster!?” Daring’s arms started to get wrapped up together, forced above her head as the vines stroked against her arches.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m trying!” Fluttershy looked at the tiles, trying to figure out what she was supposed to make with the tiles.

As Fluttershy was busy looking at the tiles, Daring Do could feel the vines secreting something against her feet as they rubbed up and down. When a vine stroked against her bare sole, Daring’s eyes widened in shock as she screamed. “YAAHAAAHAHAA!?”

Fluttershy squinted her eyes, looking at the individual tiles, seeing how the edge of one matched the edge of another. She gasped in epiphany. “Oh! It’s a pitcher plant!” Fluttershy’s little burst of joy quickly faded. She knew what to do, but now she actually had to do it.

“NO! NO NO NO NOHOHOHOHOHOHAAAAHAHAHA!” Daring Do cackled, trying to kick her feet helplessly as the vines spread more of their oil across her soles. “STAHAHAHAHAHAP!”

Fluttershy started to slide the tiles around in a more methodical manner, trying not to get distracted. Though Daring’s heavy laughter sounded enticing, Fluttershy didn’t want to be tempted with a look to watch in envy, or worse, try to join in.

“AAAAHAAA IT TIHIHIHIHIHICKLES SOHOHOHO MUUUUCH!” Daring thrashed around, tears began flowing down her cheeks as she felt the vines slide between her toes, and even more purple vines spreading more of their natural oils against her stomach and sides.

Fluttershy hoped that Daring Do wasn’t watching too closely, at least not enough to notice her wings twitching behind her back. She had a few tiles correctly in place, but the rest was proving to be difficult.

“AHAHAHARE YOU DOHOHOHONE YEHEHEHET!?” Daring shut her eyes tight, flinging around tears and sweat with each shake of her head. The vines spread across the tickly oil across her body, going up her shirt to get to her ribs and armpits. Her heart was racing, feeling more and more of her body suffering the effects of increased sensitivity.

Fluttershy was sweating from the pressure. “A-Almost!” Her hands were trembling as she tried to complete the puzzle, but it seemed like whenever she had two tiles left to complete, she had to undo progress just to get them in the right spot.

“BAAAHAHAHA COME OHOHOHOHOHOOOOON! DAHAHAHAHAMNIT!” Daring didn’t mean to put so much pressure on Fluttershy, but her current circumstances made it difficult to keep calm.

“O-Okay!” Fluttershy muttered to herself as she quickly slid the tiles around. “Come on, you can do this, Fluttershy…!”

Vines were tickling Daring Do everywhere against her body. Her armpits, her ribs, sides, stomach, hips, thighs, wings, and especially her feet had slippery vines stroking her oiled up body. She barely had the energy in her to struggle more than twitching and curling her toes. All that came out of her mouth was hysterical laughter. No encouragements or pleas to Fluttershy, just heavy laughs. The only word that she could get out amidst her laugh was a very drawn out “TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!”

Fluttershy gasped, sliding the last tile into place. “I got it!” Sure enough, the walls began to rumble as the door slowly began to open.

Though the door to Wisteria’s lair was open, the vines didn’t stop tickling Daring Do. Fluttershy turned to see the sight of Daring ensnared in vines and tickled crazy.

“J-JUHUHUHUST GOHOHOHOHO!” She cried out, weakly pointing towards the opening, squealing as she felt the vines stroke her wings.

“But...how am I going to stop Wisteria without you?”

“I-I’LL BE FIHIHIHINE! I’LL GEHEHEHET! HAHAHAHAHEEHEEHEE! GEHEHEHEHEHET OUT OF THIHIHIHIS! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Neither of them exactly believed Daring’s words, but Fluttershy went on ahead, leaving Daring Do behind at the mercy of the vines.

Now all alone, and Daring Do’s hysterical laughter getting harder to hear. Fluttershy really felt the pressure of stopping Wisteria. She expected Daring Do to come up with the plan to corner her, but now it felt like she was the one with her back against the wall.

“I can do it...I can do it...I can do it…!” she repeated to herself, rushing ahead.

At the end of the temple, Fluttershy finally came across Wisteria. “T-There you are! There’s n-nowhere left to run now!” She yelled, though it clearly lacked Daring Do’s confidence.

“Oh, I don’t need to run anywhere…” Wisteria chuckled, walking up to Fluttershy with no fear. “I think it’s you who needs to flee…”

“I...I’m not going to run away! I’m going to stop you!”

Wisteria let out a haughty chortle. “Oh please, if Daring Do could not stop me, what chance do you have? Did she really think that you’d be able to stop me alone? Or perhaps she’s just trapped and hoped that you’d pick up where she failed! Hmhmhmhm, oh to see the look on her face...”

As Fluttershy started trembling in her shoes. Wisteria walked circles around her. “Hm, I think I may still have use for you still...” She snapped her fingers, and two of her minions grabbed Fluttershy by the arms. “Let’s see what we can get out of her, boys.”

“No! Nooooo!” Fluttershy kicked her legs as she was dragged away.

Fluttershy was taken deeper into the temple, at what looked to be an altar room of some sorts at first glance. A massive stone table lay in front of a massive statue, around the table and idol was a pit filled with those purple vines that had taken Daring Do.

Fluttershy was shackled down to the table, wrists and ankles spread out to each of the corners.

As her minions took off Fluttershy’s shoes and socks, Wisteria rested her fingers on Fluttershy’s stomach. “Well, you’ve been quite friendly with Daring Do, but you must’ve known that I’ve always eluded her grasp. Why not join the winning side for once? I have all this power of the pendant at my fingertips, wouldn’t it be better to aid that power rather than fight it?”

“No! Daring Do is my friend! I’d never betray her!” Fluttershy stood firm, though she had no idea how she’d be able to escape without help.

“Oh, so you’re her friend?” Wisteria slid an index finger down Fluttershy’s foot. “Then you must have plenty of information on her that I could use to my advantage…”

“E-Eeeep…”

“And you’re plenty ticklish, apparently…” Wisteria grinned. “So, why don’t you save us both the trouble and tell me all those little secrets of Daring Do. Or don’t, I’ll have fun either way.”

“Never!” Fluttershy glared. “You’ll never get that information, and I’ll never join your side!”

Wisteria merely smirked at Fluttershy’s defiance. “Very well, with Daring Do out of the picture, I’ll break you eventually…” She wasted no time getting to work, dragging her fingers down Fluttershy’s feet.

“Aaack! Eeeheeheeheeheehee!” Fluttershy broke out into a fit of giggles, her toes flexing and curling against Wisteria’s touch.

“Oooh, such a cute little giggle you have,” Wisteria teased, raking her nails down those yellow soles. “Oh, this is going to be fun…”

Fluttershy wiggled around on the table, trying to break free or at the very least wiggle out of the straps. “Naaahahaha! Nohohohohoho! Hehehehehelp meeheeheehee!”

Wisteria clicked her tongue. “Are you expecting Daring Do to burst in and rescue you? The only one stopping this torment is you, dear. Are you going to tell me what I need to know?”

“Nehehehehehever!”

“Hmmph, suit yourself, more fun for me.” Wisteria chuckled, sliding her fingers in-between Fluttershy’s toes.

Fluttershy let out a squeal, one that even made Wisteria flinch in surprise. “YAAAHAHAHAHA! N-NOHOHOHOHOHO! N-NOT THE TOHOHOHOHOES!”

“Oh? Have I found a sensitive spot?” Wisteria grinned, now giving some special attention to Fluttershy’s toes. Despite their wiggling and curling, Wisteria’s fingers dug into those sensitive stems, scritching away with no mercy.

Fluttershy arched her back, her wings involuntarily popping out to their full length. “EEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! NOHOHOHOHO PLEHEHEHEHEAAASE!” She hoped that Daring Do found a way to escape, because she didn’t see herself getting out of this situation any time soon.

Wisteria casually pushed the toes of Fluttershy’s left foot back. “You already know what will make this stop. And I’m feeling pretty generous today, seeing such a ticklish mare in my clutches.” She wiggled a single index finger up and down Fluttershy’s big toe. “So, last chance to join my side, or I’ll stop playing around. And based on how hard you’re laughing already, I don’t think you’re going to last against a tickling this intense...”

Wisteria’s threats made Fluttershy shiver, though not out of fear. The idea of seeing just how far Wisteria could go was actually a bit exciting, even if she’d never actually admit it. “D-Do your worst!” She blurted out, still playing defiant.

“Tch. Suit yourself.” Wisteria shook her head as her pendant started to glow. Fluttershy found herself surrounded by purple vines. “I’m sure you’ve seen these beauties before, I bet you’re wondering how devastating they are after seeing them torment Daring Do...Well, it’s your lucky day...”

Fluttershy looked at the sheer number of vines that Wisteria summoned, far more than what she saw attacking Daring Do. “Eep…” The tips of her wings twitched in anticipation as they closed in.

True to Wisteria’s word, she was doing her worst. The vines struck all at once, slithering into her shirt to tickle her armpits, ribs, and stomach, slathering something over her body at the same time.

“AIIIIEEEEHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAAA!?” Fluttershy was expecting a lot of tickling, but she was still taken by surprise by just how much it tickled. The vines alone tickling all over was one thing, but whatever it was they were spreading on her was bringing her laughter to new heights.

“Ah, are you enjoying the sensitization sap?” Wisteria grinned, casually leaning against the table. “Took quite a while to get it just right, but it was quite worth it. Isn’t it great?”

Fluttershy almost blurted out a “YES!” on instinct. She could feel the vines spreading more of that sap over her body, but what took more of her attention was the sap’s effects. She twisted and turned on the table, unable to get away from the vines no matter how much she struggled. “GYAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! H-HEHEHEHEHEHELP MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!”

“Struggle all you want, you’re not escaping me or any of my lovely vines,” Wisteria teased. “If Daring Do fell so easily, what chance do you have?”

Fluttershy felt the sap all over her upperbody, the vines even spreading it across her stiffened wings. She screamed with laughter, a torrent of tears going down her crimson cheeks, secretly loving every second of her supposed torture.

“Hmm, your armpits, your ribs, stomach, sides, wings...I feel like I’m forgetting something...” Wisteria mused out loud, giving Fluttershy a grin that she could barely see through the tears. “Oh, of course, how silly of me…” With a wave of her fingers, some of the vines slithered away from Fluttershy’s stomach to go lower.

Fluttershy lifted up her head, looking down to watch the vines. “Eeeeheeheeeee! Oh no oh NOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!” Fluttershy went back to arcing her back up as high as she could, squealing as the vines wrapped around her toes. “AAAHAAAAHAAA TIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!”

“I hope you’re enjoying yourself, you’re going to be here for a long time…” Wisteria said, leaning on the table near Fluttershy’s head. “Oh, all the different ways I can play with you...Maybe I just double the amount of vines, or have each of my minions take turns having some fun, or I could just focus aaaall the tickling on these toes of yours until you finally break…”

Fluttershy was slowly losing herself in sappy, tickly bliss. All of Wisteria’s suggestions sounded heavenly to her. She was torn between the need to help Daring Do, and the love of one of the most intense tickle sessions she’s had in a long time. Of course, without any real way to escape, it wouldn’t hurt to just enjoy the moment for as long as she could, right?

“Hmph, I thought you’d have given in by now, but that’s not a problem. Maybe in an hour or two I’ll ask again if you’ve changed your mind on whose side you’d like to be on,” Wisteria smirked. “Just remember that we have all the time in-GUH!”

Without any warning, the vines stopped, going completely limp under Fluttershy’s clothes and over her feet and ankles. Fluttershy weakly tilted her head up in confusion.

After blinking the tears away, she saw Daring Do, still red in the face, locked in combat with Dr. Wisteria.

“But...how?” Wisteria grunted, trying to push back against Daring. “How’d you escape?”

Daring smirked, still panting for breath. “Heh...don’t you know me...at all? I always find a way out of anything…”

“Well, no matter, because you came all the way here to be doomed once more!” She slowly lifted up one hand, making her pendant glow once more.

Fluttershy could feel the vines against her body come to life once more, only this time they had a new target in mind. “D-Daring Do! Watch...out!” she barely managed to call out while panting.

With Fluttershy’s warning, Daring looked back and forth between the vines and Wisteria’s raised hand. She rushed towards the doctor, but instead of reaching for the pendant or throwing a punch, she grabbed onto her raised arm, forcing it in place as her other hand went for her exposed pit.

“Gyaaahaaa!?” Just on reflex alone, Wisteria instantly lowered her arm, causing the pendant to stop glowing and the vines to fall limp.

“Gotcha.” Now without being in danger of the vines, Daring continued her tickle attack. With one hand safely in Wisteria’s armpit, the other one started squeezing her sides.

Wisteria weakly pushed against Daring’s arms, giggling and squealing as she couldn’t fully commit to protecting herself from either the armpit or side tickles. “Nahahaha! S-Stahahahap iiiit!”

Fluttershy could only watch Daring slowly gain the upper hand via tickling, quietly wondering to herself what it’d be like to get tickled by Daring Do herself. The thought made her wings flutter, even if she would probably never have the courage to ask it.

After enough tickling, Daring had Wisteria pinned down. Once she was on the floor, she finally snatched the pendant off of the doctor’s neck, flying up high once it was in her possession.

“N-No! Give it to me!” Wisteria cried out, her voice shaky in panic.

“Oh, I’ll give it to you, alright…” Safely in the air, Daring raised up her hand to work the pendant’s magic, the vines easily ensnaring Wisteria up.

“Y-You can’t do this! That pendant will be mine again!” Wisteria cursed as the vines surrounded her. “I’ll get you Daring DOOHOOHOOHOOHOO! NOHOHOHO NAHAHAT THEHEHEHEHERE!”

Daring looked down at Wisteria’s minions, using a few of the purple vines to threaten them and send them running. Once it was just her, Wisteria, and Fluttershy in the room, she landed back down to set Fluttershy free.

“Oh dear, I hope Dr. Wisteria likes the taste of her own medicine,” Fluttershy said, sighing in relief as she was released from the shackles.

“Hah, that was a good one,” Daring chuckled. “Sorry it took so long to rescue you. I hope it wasn’t too horrible on you.”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad, really,” Fluttershy looked off to the side, not wanting to reveal too much. “I actually had a lot of fun on this adventure!”

Daring gave Fluttershy a warm smile, comforted by the fact that her partner was also happy. “Well, glad to hear that, cause I couldn’t have done it without you helping out. I, uh, probably won’t write about what happened here, though,” she sheepishly admitted.

Fluttershy giggled and nodded. “I understand. So, what do we do now?”

“Well, I’ll take care of Wisteria,” Daring said, gesturing over to the captured laughing mare. “After that, I’ll get ya home.”

“What about the pendant?”

“I’ll keep it with me for a bit until I can find a safe place for it, somewhere safe and away from ponies like her.”

“Aw c’mon, Fluttershy! How come you got to go on a Daring Do adventure and I didn’t?!” Rainbow Dash complained, bewildered at what Fluttershy was telling her.

Fluttershy playfully rolled her eyes. “Well, Daring Do wanted me to help sneak around. It was a very thrilling experience!”

“Well don’t keep me out of the loop, at least tell me what happened! Can’t you like, reenact the good parts or something?”

Fluttershy shot Dash a mischievous smirk, her wings starting to flutter behind her back with excitement. “Oh, if you insist…”

Author's Note

Next Time: The Dream