Daring Do rolled her eyes for what had to be the umpteenth time in a span of a half hour.
In all her years of adventuring, she had encountered many different things. Treacherous terrain, monstrous beasts, vicious traps...for the longest time, she was positive she had seen it all. After all, with everything she had been through in her travels, how could something have escaped her?
As Daring stared at the looped rope snare on the ground, she purposefully stuck her hoof into it. An experienced adventurer like her would have never made such an amateur mistake, but given the nature of this labyrinth so far, she felt it was a rather safe bet. Sure enough, absolutely nothing happened. She stomped in the middle of the snare again and again, almost as if she wanted to be strung up from the ceiling. Finally, she delivered a kick to the rope itself, thinking that perhaps that would get the trap working. All that served to do was loosen the knot and disable the practically-disabled trap completely.
Daring thought she had seen it all. Apparently, she was wrong.
"Seriously?" Daring groaned, giving the rope another kick. If this was the first trap in this labyrinth that didn't work properly, it would have been mildly surprising, but chalked up to a fluke. If it was the second trap that didn't work, it would have been a bit confusing, but nothing that could not have been explained away by coincidence. This was the third trap in a row that was completely nonfunctional, and it infuriated Daring more than she could have expected, possibly even more than if one had been successful at trapping her.
The cage had been the first straw. It had fallen on her almost immediately upon beginning her quest for the Ruby of Raksamakesh. Her frustration at being trapped so quickly into her journey soon subsided when she realized that a flaw in the cage's design had left more than enough space for her to casually stroll between the bars and escape.
The pit trap had been the second straw. Pit traps in general were useless against her unless a precaution was taken to avoid the captive simply flying out. This wasn't even what bothered her; she could accept the fact that the one who set up the traps hadn't accounted for a pegasus. It was short-sighted and maybe the slightest bit racist, but not the most terrible of mistakes. It was just barely excusable. The pit's depth, measuring in at a scant two feet, was not.
And now this. The failure of a rope snare sat on the ground in front of her, its disassembled form a mockery of her life's work. She was Daring Do, adventurer extraordinaire. Even an amateur adventurer was incredibly unlikely to be stopped by these "traps." She was also A.K. Yearling, author extraordinaire, and any adventure with such uninteresting and ineffective perils would not make for a very good book. Whoever was behind this was insulting her on two fronts, and that was two fronts too many.
Daring took off down the nearest hallway, her keen adventurer's sense nearly certain that this was the correct path. Moments later, she heard a rumbling noise coming from behind her. She quickly surveyed her surroundings, realizing that the path was angled downwards. Combining those two observations could only mean one thing.
"A boulder chase!" Daring exclaimed. "Finally, an honest-to-goodness trap!"
Daring could have easily taken off right then and there. From the sound of things, she had a pretty good head start on this boulder. But where was the fun in that? Anypony could run from a threat they couldn't see yet. A real adventurer gave their threats a sporting chance. The rush of adrenaline from looking over one's shoulder and seeing a tremendous rock bearing down on you was a beautiful thing. Daring got into a ready position, ready to take off the second she caught sight of the giant rock.
It was this anticipation that made the actual sight that much more disappointing, as one tiny pebble rolled down the path. Daring could only state in disbelief as the minuscule metamorphic tumbled toward her, its gentle tapping against the stone floor frustrating her more and more until the not-so-deadly not-so-monstrosity collided gingerly with her ankle.
Daring Do's stare was as flat as her entire self would have been if the rock had been the size she was expecting.
"That's it," the annoyed adventurer stated. "I am getting that ruby and getting the hay out of this place before I have a fit." With that, she flew off once again, deftly zipping down the winding path. For a labyrinth, the path seemed pretty straightforward, but she had come to expect that kind of thing by this point.
The next corridor briefly stopped her in her path. A small moat impeded her progress, and in a stroke of relative genius for whoever had been coming up with these traps, the ceiling eventually got low enough that flying over it and never submerging herself wasn't an option. Surely, there had to be some pony-eating sharks in that moat, or at the very least some particularly feisty piranhas. This, of course, was assuming that the one in charge of the traps here was putting any real effort into them, and by this point it was fairly safe to assume they weren't. Daring grabbed a nearby stick and stuck it into the water. Sure enough, there was no bite. With this closer view, though, Daring could see that there was indeed something swimming around down there. Reaching into her trusty backpack, she pulled out a telescoping net. She dipped the net into the water, moving it around until she was certain she'd snagged whatever was down there. The net was slowly raised, and Daring wished she could claim to be surprised by what she found.
"Goldfish," Daring groaned. "Goldfish." The adventurer packed her net back up and dove into the water without a second thought. She emerged on the other side shortly after, soaking wet and with a goldfish behind her ear but otherwise unaffected. A quick flick returned the goldfish to its home before she continued on her expedition.
After a few more not-at-all-close calls with terrible traps–the big red button that read "push to get trapped" nearly caught her out of sheer curiosity, but she still opted to leave it alone–Daring found herself standing in front of an ornately-carved stone door. This had to be the place where the Ruby of Raksamakesh was stored! Especially since there was only one path through the entire labyrinth...if it could be called a labyrinth at all with that in mind.
Daring couldn't help but notice a stone key resting on a pedestal nearby. She picked it up and inspected the pedestal, finding an inscription on it.
"If you can figure out which hole this key goes in," Daring read aloud, "you may enter. But beware! Inserting it into the wrong keyhole could be dangerous!" Had Daring not been through this entire place without finding a single effective trap, the opportunity to solve a dangerous puzzle might have thrilled her. By this point, however, she knew better. Upon closer inspection, it was quite obvious that the key, with its star-shaped end, could only fit into the one hole that was shaped similarly.
"Gee, that sure was tough," Daring droned as she unlocked the door and pushed it open. "How did I ever survive."
"Was it really that tough? I worked forever on it..."
Daring's ears perked at the sound of a voice, one which had to belong to the one who set the "traps" up. The room she had just entered was large and empty, save for a little wooden chest on one side and a few stone chairs near the opposite end. Behind the chairs was a great stone door, and in the middle chair sat a large minotaur wearing a fanny pack. Or at least he was large in comparison to Daring. As far as minotaurs went, this one was a bit below average in the size department. His build, while still muscled, wasn't quite up to the standards of rippeditude that his type usually held–not that Daring paid that much attention to their chiseled physiques when she encountered them. Certainly not.
"So you're the one who left all those traps for me!" Daring shouted.
"That's me," the minotaur said, his voice far more sheepish than any minotaur she'd encountered before. "But you still made it through..."
"You're darn right I made it through!" Daring exclaimed, stomping closer to the chairs. "And I got a bone to pick with you!" Her nostrils flared as she approached the minotaur. It wasn't like her to lose her temper, but given the annoyances she'd been through, she felt well within her rights. Plus, minotaurs were a hardy folk, and one could sometimes win a minotaur's respect by fearlessly stepping up and threatening them. If this wasn't one of those times...well, at least she was ready for violence were it to come to that. With each step she took, though, it seemed less and less likely that violence would be involved–at least if the minotaur's cowering was any indication.
"Is it about the traps?" the minotaur asked. "I'm sorry if any of them hurt you..."
Daring stared at the minotaur as if he had three heads, like that other minotaur she'd dealt with some time ago. At least that one could set up some real dangerous traps, even though most of them seemed to be optimized for beings with three heads themselves.
"Hurt me?" Daring asked, her words rife with incredulity. "Those...were the worst, most ineffective traps I've ever dealt with! Did you honestly think you were going to stop me with a rolling pebble or a moat full of goldfish?"
"To be fair, they were pretty ornery goldfish," the minotaur replied sheepishly. "I hadn't fed them since this morning."
"And you thought they would try to eat me?" Daring shouted, her cool officially lost. "What kind of monster are you?" The minotaur sighed so pitifully that Daring might have even felt bad for it had she not already been so annoyed. Also, pitying a monster was no easy feat.
"I'm the Incompetaur," he replied, slumping in his seat. "And calling me a monster is very hurtful. Just because I'm not small and pretty like you doesn't mean I'm a monster."
Daring did her best not to groan. She was only mildly successful.
"Fine," Daring said. "Let me rephrase the question. What is wrong with you?"
"A lot, I guess..." the Incompetaur said quietly. "I try to make my labyrinths big and tough with lots of challenging traps to stop adventurers, but none of the traps I set ever work right. I was just really hoping they would have this time...no offense."
"No offense?" Daring shot back. "You just told me that you hoped I would have been stopped by your traps, and I'm not supposed to take offense to that?"
"It's nothing personal!" the Incompetaur insisted, shrinking back a bit more in his chair. "I had to do it!"
"You had to do it," Daring repeated, wholly unconvinced. "And why is that?" She flapped a few feet over the ground, crossing her forelegs as she awaited whatever explanation she was about to receive. For his part, the Incompetaur looked like he barely wanted to explain himself at all, but he was in far too deep at this point.
"I just wanted a friend!" the Incompetaur moaned.
"A friend?" Daring asked, furrowing her brow. "And you thought you'd make a friend of me by catching me with your traps?"
"Not you!" the Incompetaur exclaimed, before covering his mouth. "I mean, I'd be friends with you if you wanted, but I doubt you'd want to be friends with me even if I hadn't done all this."
Daring was quickly losing her patience. She wasn't sure what was worse: the terrible traps or the pity party.
"Okay, I'll bite," Daring said. "Why don't you think I'd have wanted to be your friend?"
"Because nobody wants to be friends with an Incompetaur," the Incompetaur replied sadly. "I can't do anything right. All the others in the trap-making circuit don't want anything to do with me on account of I mess up everything I try to do. But then Ahuizotl came around..."
"Ahuizotl!" Daring shouted. "I should have known he'd have something to do with this!"
"Sure does," the Incompetaur replied. "He said he'd be my best friend in the whole world if I could catch you." The creature let out a soft sigh, staring wistfully towards the ceiling. "And now he'll never be my friend. I'm gonna be friendless forever."
Daring was angry. This time, though, it wasn't directed at the Incompetaur and his traps. This bout of anger was directed at herself, for she could feel the guilt and pity beginning to fester in her brain for the beast. Feeling bad for a monster was not something she wanted...although maybe he was right about that whole "not a monster" thing earlier. Maybe it wasn't fair to judge somebody as a monster just because they were large and looked different from her. The guilt growing inside her for someone who had tried–albeit poorly–to trap her was almost more frustrating than the traps themselves, but she managed to keep it together.
"You don't want to be friends with someone like Ahuizotl anyway," Daring told him. "Knowing him, once you took care of me, he'd probably just insult you and drop you like a bad habit. Trust me, I've dealt with the guy plenty. That's the kind of monster he is."
"Oh..." the Incompetaur responded, hanging his head. "Guess I'm just a fool for believing him, huh? A useless, friendless fool."
The awkwardness in the room was palpable as Daring stared at the ashamed Incompetaur. About 75% of her wanted to carry on with her mission unfettered. With the Incompetaur busy feeling like a fool, she could easily get around him and head through the door where the Ruby of Raksamakesh was likely located. That was the reason she was here, after all. If it was left here, especially now that she knew Ahuizotl was somehow involved, there would certainly be trouble down the line.
The other 25% was feeling sorry for the poor guy. Ponies were, by their very nature, a sympathetic sort. There were outliers for sure, but the majority of them possessed a natural urge to comfort those in need. Fortunately–or perhaps unfortunately in this particular situation–Daring counted herself amongst the ranks of the sympathetic. Seeing the Incompetaur so downtrodden was rough in and of itself, but being aware of his lack of friends and desire to find some made the guilt even worse. As it stood, though, 75% beat 25%.
"I'll...just be continuing on my quest then..." Daring said, slowly flapping towards the exit door. "Gotta get that Ruby, y'know..."
"Uh-huh," the Incompetaur said, standing from his chair and reaching into his fanny pack. His hand came out holding a shiny ruby. "That's another trap I failed at, I guess. Had this fake ruby here to trick you just in case, but no use in that now. Guess that's another failure for the dumb, friendless Incompetaur."
Daring groaned the groan of a pony who knew that she couldn't avoid doing the right thing.
"Okay, look," Daring said, hovering in front of the pathetic Incompetaur. "I forgive you for setting those traps for me, alright? And since you clearly aren't trying to hurt me or stop me anymore, I guess we could be friends if you want."
"We could?" the Incompetaur asked, his eyes lighting up. "You'd be friends with a useless failure like me?"
"Stop saying that!" Daring insisted. "Maybe your traps need some work, but you're not useless. I'm sure there's plenty you could do!"
"Like what?" the Incompetaur asked. Daring tapped a hoof to her chin, trying her best to try and figure out something for him to be good at. Realization struck quickly as she gave him a big smile.
"So since this is your labyrinth," Daring said, "You must know where the real Ruby of Raksamakesh is, right?"
"Sure do," the Incompetaur replied. "It's in a hidden room just past the next one. But that's where Ahuizotl's waiting for proof that I captured you. Truth is, he doesn't even know there's really a treasure here. Far as he knows, he's just in this to get you taken care of."
"Of course he is," Daring said with a grin. "And now that you know you don't want to be friends with him, maybe we could help each other out, huh?"
"Friends do help each other out from what I hear," the Incompetaur said, sitting back down in his chair. "I'm listening."
"Okay," Daring said, sitting down in one of the other chairs. "Here's the plan. You tie me up and bring me in to see him."
"You're gonna let me tie you up?" the Incompetaur asked, one eyebrow raising in surprise.
"Only for a little bit!" Daring insisted. "You bring me in there all tied up and show him that you captured me, then you tell him you'll take care of me and get me out of there. You untie me, I leave and wait for Ahuizotl to get out, and then I get back in there and get the Ruby." Then she coughed and rubbed the back of her mane with a hoof. "You're not...too attached to it, are you?"
"Not really," the Incompetaur replied. "It's nice, but I don't need it."
"Perfect," Daring said. "So what do you say? Friends?" She held her hoof out towards the Incompetaur, giving him a genuine smile. The Incompetaur stared at the hoof for a few moments, then grinned.
"Friends don't shake," he said. "Friends hug." Daring was yanked out of place and pulled against the Incompetaur's chest, his strong arms squeezing her tightly. She certainly wasn't blushing as she was held against his rock-hard pecs. Certainly not.
"Let's get you tied up then," the Incompetaur said. Daring found herself effortlessly swung under his arm as he walked over to the wooden chest. She silently thanked Celestia that he was nice, because with how easily he was able to manhandle her, fighting him might have been difficult.
"Here we go," the Incompetaur said as he revealed a length of rope from inside the chest. The beast's smile couldn't have been bigger as he started unraveling the rope, and Daring couldn't help but admit to herself that she felt good about making him so happy.
What followed the feelgood moment was one of the most awkward situations Daring had ever found herself in, outside of those few minutes trapped inside a cipactli's belly and that time with Rainbow Dash and the cursed pacifier. The Incompetaur's large hands fiddled around with her, folding wings and moving legs as he tried to get her nice and bound. Unfortunately–and completely unsurprisingly–Daring soon found that making and setting traps wasn't all he was bad at. His hands were careful not to hurt her comparatively smaller body, but his tying technique left much to be desired. She found herself constantly rolling her eyes as his knots came undone. This clearly was not working, but she couldn't just tell him he was doing a terrible job. He was a friend now, and with his confidence up this much, she couldn't bear to bring it crashing down. He just needed some help.
Something about what she was about to do felt so wrong in her mind. One was not supposed to do what she was about to do with a creature that up until recently had been trying to plan her capture. This, however, was not a typical situation, and while her brain had its protests, her emotions were telling her that it was the right thing to do. Listening to one's mind was important, but sometimes an adventurer needed to listen to her gut.
"Uh...hey Incompetaur?" Daring said. "You should probably tie these a bit tighter. And you might want to use a different knot."
Telling somebody how to efficiently tie her up. Daring Do had reached a new low. Red flags had gone up in her head already, but she had a good feeling about the Incompetaur's trustworthiness. She had dealt with a lot of creatures before, plenty of which had attempted to trick her. None of them seemed as genuine as the Incompetaur in their efforts. Plus, he really seemed to need the ego boost. She could have easily let him do a terrible job of tying her up, but it felt a bit better helping him to do a job he could be proud of.
"Wow," the Incompetaur mused, patting Daring on the back. "This is the best I've ever tied somebody up. I mean, it's also the only time I've ever tied somebody up so I guess it's also the worst I've ever done it, but it's still really good!"
Daring glanced back at herself. Sure enough, she was expertly trussed up. She could already see another pillowcase of this predicament being sold at the next big convention.
"Yeah, you did a pretty good job," Daring agreed.
"It was with your help, though," the Incompetaur responded. "There's no way I could have done that well without you telling me what to do."
"Oh come on," Daring said. "Maybe that's true, but everypony needs help sometimes. And look on the bright side: now that you did it right, maybe you can remember how to do it for next time." Then she began to squirm. "Ugh, of all the times to get an itch..."
"Where?" the Incompetaur asked.
"Between my wingstalks," Daring said. She sighed in relief as he began to scratch her back. "Anyway, if you do something wrong, just try and figure out a way to make it work with what you did. Like...you had that red button, right? Just don't write 'push to get trapped' on it and...I dunno...hide it so somepony could accidentally step on it? What does it do anyway?"
"Oh, that was one of my best traps yet!" the Incompetaur said. "It sets off an alarm."
"Alright, that's a good start," Daring admitted. "Then what?"
"What do you mean, then what?" the Incompetaur asked.
"It's...just an alarm?" Daring asked in return.
"What else should it be?" the Incompetaur asked.
If Daring was physically capable of facehoofing, she would have been doing just that.
"We'll...uh...work on that," Daring said. "Anyway, let's get this over with, alright?"
"Right," the Incompetaur responded. He picked Daring up effortlessly with one hand, grabbing the rope right near the scruff of her neck. She found herself once again deposited under his arm, and thanked Celestia that unlike other minotaurs she'd encountered, this one seemed to possess the common courtesy to wear deodorant. The two passed through the stone door behind the chairs, and Daring found herself being carried through a long corridor. A small part of her still worried about this entire plan, but she had mostly mellowed out by this point. This beast just seemed too genuine to be lying to her, and frankly too inept to come up with a plan that clever and devious. Daring did her best to just relax and roll with it, making sure to equip a frustrated face and plan for some fake struggles to really play her part.
The door at the end of the corridor was pushed open, and the sight of what was in the room caused an involuntary scowl to cross Daring's face. There on the opposite side of the room was Ahuizotl, rummaging through little piles of coin. The blue beast turned his attention to the new entrants.
"Finally," Ahuizotl said. "It's about time you..."
The monster fell silent as he observed the trussed-up pony under the Incompetaur's arm. His jaw dropped and he let out an audible gasp.
"You actually caught her?" Ahuizotl asked, completely unable to hide his surprise. "You caught Daring Do?" The Incompetaur looked down to Daring, who was putting on her best grimace. He grinned a bit and nodded.
"Sure did," the Incompetaur replied, giving the pegasus a little squeeze.
"Unbelievable!" Ahuizotl exclaimed, moving closer to get a better look at the captive. "I must admit, I didn't think you would actually be successful! All the stories I'd heard about your abilities led me to believe you couldn't capture a fly, let alone a pest the stature of Daring Do!"
Daring glanced up at her new friend and felt a pang of anger rise up in her chest as she saw the look of discouragement on his face. She wasn't exactly a stellar actor, but she couldn't sit idly by and let him be insulted when she had a good feeling he wouldn't stick up for himself.
"I can't believe it either!" Daring growled. "I've never encountered such tricky traps before! You'll pay for this, Incompetaur!" When she was certain Ahuizotl wasn't looking directly at her, she gave the Incompetaur a little wink. He gave her a grin in return, then shrugged.
"That's what you get for messing with the Incompetaur!" he said, clearly enjoying himself. "Now, I'll just be leaving with this here pony and taking care of her, just like you wanted." Daring kept up her struggles as the Incompetaur turned to leave. She didn't even have to fake them much; the knots that she'd talked him through were more than capable of keeping her trapped.
"No you won't," Ahuizotl replied. The Incompetaur stopped in his tracks, looking back at the monster.
"What do you mean?" the Incompetaur asked. "I thought that was the agreement."
"I said I wanted her taken care of," Ahuizotl told him. "I never said by you."
Daring squeaked as she felt Ahuizotl's tail hand take hold of her rear end and yank her out of the Incompetaur's grasp. Her struggles became more real as she was brought face-to-face with one of her greatest foes, his hot, acrid breath on the border of offensive. This wasn't good at all.
"Hey!" the Incompetaur cried. "I'm taking care of her! Give her back or else..."
"Or else what?" Ahuizotl hissed, whipping Daring out of the way so he could get face to face with his challenger. "Do you think you can go toe to toe with me? Many far greater than you have tried, and all have failed! If you back off right now, I will forget this ever happened. If you truly wish to challenge me, then I promise I will find a good use for your hide following our encounter."
Daring watched the standoff nervously. The Incompetaur was quite large and possibly capable of taking Ahuizotl, but that all depended on his ability to stand up to him. Considering he'd backed down earlier when she looked ready to fight, he probably wasn't the bravest being around. All that was left was to hope that his newfound friendship with her would be enough to inspire valor within his heart. That hope was quickly dashed as she watched the Incompetaur back off and bolt from the room.
"Some friend he was," Daring thought to herself as she was lifted up to the grinning face of her nemesis.
"So," Ahuizotl said, lightly bouncing the bound Daring in his tail hand. "The spider has finally caught the fly, hm?"
"You'll never get away with this, Ahuizotl!" Daring growled. "As soon as I get myself free, you're gonna pay!" She struggled with all her might, but her trappings held tight. She silently cursed her eagerness to help the Incompetaur with these knots. If she had just let him tie her as he had been, or even provided only mild improvements, she would have been out of these ropes the second danger had reared its ugly head in the form of Ahuizotl's uglier one. Her own helpfulness had been her downfall, and all for a "friend" who had abandoned her at the first sign of danger. She wasn't sure what hurt worse: the knowledge that she was in deep trouble, the knowledge that it was her fault, or the betrayal–if it even was a betrayal. As far as she knew, this whole thing was an act, and the two had been in cahoots the entire time. That possibility easily beat the others in terms of what hurt the worst.
"Oh, I don't think you'll be getting out of these ropes any time soon," Ahuizotl said, grinning from ear to ear as he found one loose end of rope near her midsection. He looped it around his finger, then took delight in playing with her as if she was a sentient yo-yo. He palmed her as she returned to his hand, and the dizziness she felt was like nothing she'd felt before.
"Such a fun little toy I've acquired," Ahuizotl said, quite happy with himself. "Too bad for you that I don't plan on toying with you for too long. Oh, how I've dreamed of this day!" Daring was brought up to Ahuizotl's face once more, and was met with the sight of his toothy grin. Or rather, two of his toothy grins. Dizziness was not fun.
"Any more empty threats as I decide on the conditions of your demise?" Ahuizotl asked. Unable to do much of anything else, Daring's only available act of defiance was spitting in the monster's face.
"Very classy," the monster growled, wiping his face with a free hand. "Perhaps you will learn some better manners in the great beyond."
The tension in the room was broken by the sound of the chamber door opening. Both sets of eyes turned to see the Incompetaur enter. A box was stationed under the same arm he'd used to carry Daring. Daring's ears perked as he walked into the room. Perhaps salvation was at hoof.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ahuizotl said, eyeing him cautiously. "Has your bravery finally risen to match your ignorance?"
"Not at all, Mr. Ahuizotl, sir," the Incompetaur responded, bringing the mysterious box out in front of him. "In fact, I've realized the error of my ways. I'm more than willing to let you take care of Daring Do, but I thought you might enjoy using this tool I've got for the job."
"Oh?" Ahuizotl asked, eyeing the box. "What does it do?"
"You just put your captive in this box and close it up tight," the Incompetaur said. "Then press the button on the top, and the blades inside will do the rest of the work."
Daring's heart sank at this final act of betrayal by the one she'd befriended. She couldn't even bring herself to look at him as she shuddered at his words. It was rare for her to experience such a legitimate sense of fear, but shivers danced freely down her spine as she watched the two monsters plot her demise, utterly helpless to stop any of it. She had never expected to meet such a grisly end.
"Hmm..." Ahuizotl mused, mulling it over. "...Yes, I think I like that very much." He lifted Daring to his face again and smirked. "Are you prepared to meet your end, Daring Do? Don't bother answering; the fear in your eyes tells me all I need to know."
Daring gritted her teeth as she was moved towards the box, but couldn't stop her body from shaking in defiance of the tough demeanor she wanted to put forth. The box was opened, and she was lowered into it despite her struggles. She took one last look up at the traitorous Incompetaur as the lid began to close. Just before her world became dark, she made eye contact with him, and her eyes widened as he gave her a wink. That was the last thing she saw before the box closed.
Daring could hear muffled speech outside of her box, but couldn't make out a word. Either way, though, something in her had calmed. That wink was meaningful and she knew it. She had no idea how the Incompetaur would manage to get her out of this–save for just absconding with the box, which was unlikely given his disinterest in conflict–but some feeling in her gut told her that everything would be okay, and an adventurer's gut was worth trusting.
Daring felt a small impact on the top of the box, and her entire body tensed up as she realized the button had been pressed. She felt a shifting under her as something began to rise from the bottom of the box, presumably the aforementioned blades. Daring quickly whispered a prayer as she felt the blades begin to move. The blades made their way towards her, then finally made contact. Daring held her breath, preparing for pain...and was surprised when she felt none. The blades apparently were not long enough to make contact with her, but seemed to be just the right length to slice the ropes binding her.
"Oh, you sly dog," Daring thought as her trappings were cleanly cut. She raised her chin as the blade finished off the ropes and neared it, just in case of a disaster, but such measures ended up being completely unnecessary as the blades retracted harmlessly into the bottom of the box. Daring slowly spread her wings to shake the ropes off of them, trying to move as little as possible and keep up the illusion of her demise. Some more muffled voices were heard, some of which sounded like Ahuizotl's maniacal laughter. The Incompetaur sounded like he was asking a question, and Ahuizotl seemed to respond positively. Daring readied her legs to spring out of the box in case it was opened, assuming that Ahuizotl was going to want proof of the box working. Sure enough, light flooded her vision as the lid slowly lifted. As soon as she was certain she had enough room to do so, Daring burst from the box.
"She lives!" Ahuizotl screamed. All three of his hands reached for her, but the hands that snatched her out of the air belonged to the Incompetaur. She was quickly loaded under his arm again before he made a bull rush towards the door, Ahuizotl hot on his hooves. Daring felt like the ball in some bizarre manner of sport as the Incompetaur burst through the door and made his way down the corridor.
"Get back here!" Ahuizotl yelled as the two careened into the room where Daring had found the Incompetaur. The chairs were blown out of the way as the Incompetaur, undaunted, charged through them. One of the chairs collided with the chest, knocking it into the wall, but Daring's savior seemed unfazed.
"You can't have her!" the Incompetaur shouted as he burst through the other entrance. "She's my friend!"
The two continued to rampage through the labyrinth, the situation only exacerbated by Ahuizotl trodding over the red alarm button that the Incompetaur had set up. Sirens wailed as the chase went on, the situation so tense that Daring felt like holding her breath. Then she decided it was a good idea to hold her breath as she saw the moat coming up. She was given just enough time to fill her lungs before the two were submerged. Goldfish bounced off of Daring's face as the two shot through the water, eventually coming up on the other side. Ahuizotl popped out of the water not too long after, slightly slowed down by the fish covering his eyes. The momentary lack of vision lasted long enough for one blue paw to come down on the tiny pebble that had attempted beyond all logic to crush Daring earlier. The monstrous creature stumbled forward, yelping in pain but just barely managing to keep his balance and continue the chase.
"We're almost there!" Daring shouted, spurring her friend on. "You can do it!"
"You bet I can!" the Incompetaur shouted back. He continued to barrel through his own labyrinth, Ahuizotl in hot pursuit.
"You will be mine!" Ahuizotl bellowed. Daring could feel his fingertips just barely make contact with one of her hind hooves, and she tried her best to pull them away before he could grab them. Just as quickly as he'd made contact, however, Ahuizotl's hand was gone. A tremendous howl was heard from his direction as he tripped over the broken rope trap. Finally unable to keep his balance, the terrible beast fell forward, rolling head over heels until he finally fell into the two-foot-deep pit trap. His head collided with the edge of the trap, dazing him momentarily.
"We can make it!" Daring yelled, sunlight visible just a bit ahead. Then she covered her eyes as she saw the cage with the too-wide bars approaching. "Watch out!!"
The Incompetaur quickly took notice of the upcoming trap, but did not stop his progress, opting instead to lower his head.
"You're gonna-" Daring shouted. Before she could finish the sentence, the Incompetaur's horns came into contact with the cage bars. With a mighty whip of his head, he sent the cage flying, hurtling backwards through the air. Ahuizotl only had a mere moment to react with a terrible shout before the cage fell over him. The bars might have been wide enough for Daring to escape, but the same could certainly not be said of Ahuizotl.
"Curse you, Daring Do!!" Ahuizotl screamed. His curses fell upon deaf ears, however, as the Incompetaur and his haul burst out of the mouth of the labyrinth.
"We're out!" Daring cried, falling limp in the Incompetaur's grasp.
"Yeah..." the Incompetaur agreed, panting heavily. Then the two heard an ungodly scream from inside the labyrinth.
"Quick!" Daring demanded. "We have to close the entrance off!"
"I got it!" the Incompetaur shouted back. He lifted Daring up and behind his head, rearing back as if to throw her. "Aim for the X!"
"What?" Daring asked. Before she could inquire further, she was hurtling through the air. The adventurer spread her wings, scanning the rapidly-approaching wall for an X. Her eyes caught sight of one just above her, and she veered upwards, using her wings to turn herself around and buck her hind legs against the X.
At first, only one pebble fell from the compartment that opened in the stone wall beneath her. Then, as if a well had burst, an avalanche of rocks came forth from the opening. For the briefest of moments, the Incompetaur could see the blood-red eyes of Ahuizotl coming ever closer. Then, any sight of the beast was cut off as the falling rocks piled over the entrance, sealing it off completely.
"Whoa!" Daring exclaimed, flapping down to the ground and staring at the blocked-off entrance. "Now that was a trap!"
"Thanks!" the Incompetaur said. "It was supposed to fall on you when you tried to enter."
"But how?" Daring asked. "I would have had to fly up there specifically to hit the X. Even then, the rocks came from under it."
"Oh...right," the Incompetaur replied. "Guess that's another one that needs work."
"Looks like it," Daring agreed. Then she wrapped her forelegs around his muscled midsection as best she could. "Thank you so much for saving me. You were awesome back there!"
"Heh...it was nothing," the Incompetaur replied, wrapping an arm around her.
"I wouldn't call it nothing!" Daring exclaimed. "I probably would have been a goner if you hadn't come back! How'd you come up with that great idea for cutting the ropes anyway?"
"Oh..." the Incompetaur said, looking a bit embarrassed. "Uh...that was originally supposed to be a real trap for you. Then I got to thinking about how my traps fail and checked that one out, and sure enough, it was perfect. I worked with what I had, just like you told me."
Daring couldn't help a proud little grin. Even though he had just admitted to building something intended to brutally do her in, it was heartwarming to see him taking her advice to heart. Plus, she wasn't dead. That was always a plus.
"Good job, friend," Daring said as she let go of him. Then she turned back to the labyrinth. "So, was there another entrance?"
"Nope," the Incompetaur responded. "Just the one."
"And I'm sure not planning on letting Ahuizotl out to get back in there," Daring said, letting out a sigh. "Ugh...I came all the way here and risked my life for the Ruby of Raksamakesh and now it's stuck in there."
"Sorry, friend," the Incompetaur said, patting her on the back. He pondered for a moment, then reached into his fanny pack and produced the fake ruby. "You can have this if it makes you feel better."
"Heh...thanks," Daring said through a smirk as she reached for the gem. It was placed in her hoof, and she brought it up to her face to get a better look. Then she squinted, observing even closer. The Incompetaur watched in confusion as Daring's eyes suddenly lit up.
"No way..." Daring said, a smile blossoming. "I think this is the real Ruby of Raksamakesh!"
"What?" the Incompetaur said. He reached into his fanny pack once more and pulled out a hand lens, inspecting it closer. "Well, what do you know? Guess I accidentally put the fake one in the hiding place. Just another screwup, huh?"
Daring facehoofed. This time, though, she was grinning like an idiot.
"Incompetaur, you really are something else."
