The Forbidden Tombs

Deeper and deeper into the Everfree Forest, the gang of eleven cuts their way through the braches, as Daring Do swings her machete against the vines and wood block their path. Twilight keeps close eye on the red diamond, flashing in the direction that Tirek is hiding. Rarity the eyes angrily at the diamond dogs, as she brushes into Twilight.

“Do THEY have to come along?” she whispers at her.

“They seem to be reforming like Discord.” Twilight lets her know, “Plus, their friend might be killed, and they can sense our enemies as much as Daring Do’s.”

“Dog instinct?” Rarity asks.

“Probably.” Twilight replies.

Right by the gang though, Spot suddenly notices something shinny.

“GEMS!” he cheers, looking at diamonds, “MINE!”

He jumps towards the, only to have Discord catch him.

“Nope. Our mission is the ponies. Not treasures.” Discord scolds.

“Darn…” Spot mutters.

Daring Do suddenly stops in her tracks.

“No… we should follow the gems…” Daring Do said.

“YES!” Spot barks.

“WHAT?” Discord said in shock.

“YES! WHAT?” Rarity protests, “How can you…”

“Look…” Daring Do said, picking up a rock.

She swings it toward the path in front of them, as if it were suddenly paved with sand and dirt. The disguise was all to perfect though, as it transformed into vicious giant teeth ripping out from the path ground, as the trail ground too becomes quicksand in the process. The ten characters scotch back in fear, as Daring turns to them.

“Ahuizotl anticipated us to think we’re making a selfless route.” Daring explains, “That’s why he laid certain traps all over the place by now, predicting anypony would follow him to attempt this rescue.”

“So… you’re saying he planted bobby traps… almost everywhere in this here amazons?” Applejack asks.

“I’m afraid so….” Daring sighs, “So Spot, pick up the gems and lead us to the new route.”

As Spot gladly does so, the rest of the ponies sigh in irritation, and follow the direction the dog is heading. The line of gems took a couple minutes, but eventually the trail ended. Fido bumps behind Spot, as he looks up at awe at the sight in front of them, along with the ponies.

It was some sort of temple, with an a certain entrance that’s a hundred feet high, and a wall length that looks like it’s miles long. There are even strange encrypted hieroglyphics of native ponies performing disturbing rituals from olden times. Vines cover the walls and entrance from top to bottom, with centipedes crawling through the cracks.

Fido then snags a gem from Spot.

“HEY!” the small dog protests.

Fido then holds the gem up towards one of the temple doors, squinting at one of the holes that looks like a keyhole.

“Those gems… look like keys…” Fido guesses.

“Really?” Rainbow asks, surprised.

“Yep…” Fido nods, “But why would our two enemies lay them out for us?”

“Because these ruins are nothing but a death trap.” Daring Do figure out, “No… a gambling game of survival. They want to challenge us… to see if we fail when going through this certain temple maze.”

“Oh! Is it like a puzzle?” Pinkie said in excitement.

“Yes…” Daring answers, “Here’s the serious part though… one wrong move in a section of these ruins… and you get stuck here for life…”

The gang shudders.

“In other words… this is a life or death maze…” Applejack said in fear.

“We have no choice…” Twilight said, “We must take this risk for the other ponies.”

“Then let’s start!” Pinkie beams, racing toward the temple.

“HOLD IT!” Daring said, blocking her path with her hoof.

She then takes off her hat, looking inside.

“All right little fella… I need your help again.” she whispers.

Inside her hat suddenly pops out a tarantula spider, grinning as looking at Daring Do.

“A SPIDER?” Rarity screams.

“Oh… it’s so adorable!” Fluttershy smiles.

“His name is Flytrapper.” Daring said, lowering him to the ground, “And you’re going to unlock the door for use with this gem.”

She then takes one gem from Spot, and hands it to the Spider.

“Can you do it?” Daring asks.

Flytrapper nods, and scuttles over through the open area that goes toward the giant temple.

“What a trusty sidekick and pet.” Spike grins.

“The best.” Daring smiles.

“This is pointless…” Spot mutters, “There are no traps…”

SWISH!

The gang jumps back, as they see arrows suddenly flying out from odd looking holes on the walls of the entrance. The blades are extremely sharp and big, they can skewer a pony painfully alive like a kabob. Flytrapper is quick, as he dodges the darting arrows while scuttling.

He then jumps towards the door, where sharp swords suddenly swing through the inner gap of the entrance that surrounds the door. Flytrapper then inserts the gem in the keyhole, and the door opens. When that happened, the trap weapons suddenly comes to a stop.

“After the door is unlocked, the traps come to a halt.” Daring explains, “The grass on the empty ground was actually disguised as a weight sensor floor that’s connected to the temple, ready to kill anypony who steps forth toward it.”

“Another one of Ahuizotl’s traps?” Fluttershy asks.

“Definitely.” Daring nods, “All right Flytrapper, come back.”

Her pet spider then runs back to her, nuzzling by her cheek as she picks him up.

“You did good.” she congratulates, while putting him back in her hat.

As she puts it back on, she heads towards the entrance.

“Follow me.” she instructs, “And stay together.”

“Right.” Twilight agrees.

They all go in a line, looking back at their last time outdoors before spending time in a cluster phobic maze filled with peril. They go in one by one, as Rainbow Dash is the last to go through the door. Then, as Spike, Discord, the dogs, and ponies are in the temple, the door quickly shuts behind them, sealing them in.

“All right…” Applejack sighs, “Better keep moving.”

As they look forward, they then see that there’s a fork of two different hallway directions.

“Should we even split up?” Rarity shudders.

“No, we’re going to stay together.” Daring Do assures, “ And I also say let’s go right.”

As she points that direction, the gang follows her as they go into the darkness of the hall.

The hall had some torches on the walls to bring in saturated light, reflecting onto the floor as the ponies can feel and her crunching of the tiny pebbles scattered on the path. The hall soon became bigger, and shaped like a tubed tunnel. In the middle of the path are circular sculptures of papaya fruits. Supporting the ceiling are circular columns, with hieroglyphic paintings of native ponies performing sacrifices to raise some sort of spirit from a sadistic dimension. Twilight grimaces at the violent imagery.

“You… don’t suppose Ahuizotl and Tirek are planning something like THIS, do you?” Fluttershy asks Twilight, as she looks at the paintings with her.

“Maybe…” Twilight thinks out loud, “But we better see for ourselves rather than jump to conclusions.”

It was a couple more minutes when the group kept walking, keeping their eyes peeled for anything that could trap them.

Then, they approach a door, leading into the first room of the caved labyrinth.

“We’ll go in one by one…” Daring Do instructs, “Go slowly…”

The gangs breathes slowly, as they walk silently without making any noise. The room they’re entering is lighted up with torches on the walls as well. In the square room, each corner has a crypt on four sides that are apart from one another. The door to the next hallway is just across from them as they enter. Spike gulps as he looks at the crypts, hearing some wind coming out from them.

“I think this room is…” Daring starts to whisper, as soon as all of them are in the room.

SLAM!

Behind them, they see the door they went through is sealed shut!

SLAM!

In front of them, the door to the next hallway is shut closed as well.

“WE’RE GOING TO DIE IN HERE FOR ETERNITY!” Rarity panics.

“I don’t think so…” Rainbow Dash said, as she looks at the lids from the crypts moving, “I think this is a fight to get out…”

“What makes you assume that?” Pinkie asks.

“BRAHHHH!”

Out of the for cryptic coffins, came out big beasts with bird wings on their backs, and sharp horns on their heads. Their claws are extremely sharp, and they carry black colored swords. Their eyes are even blood red.

“Child’s play…” Discord grins, as he attempts to use his chaos.

Before he can snap his fingers though, the first beast’s clawed hands grab hold of Discord’s talon. It gives him a painful shock, as a painful aura scatters through his body. Twilight and Rarity gallop over to help him, but the beast makes a counter attack with the chaos absorbed from Discord, shooting the two ponies back.

“A devil angel…” Daring Do tells Rainbow Dash, “They possess power from any being that carries magic. They’re nowhere between good and evil, yet they feel nothing.”

“So they don’t care if we get killed?” Applejack winches, as she rushes to rescue to Discord too.

“Yes…” Daring Do said, fighting another off, “But they aren’t immortal… so they have to have a weak spot.”

Spot cowers behind Fido, as the big dog pushes against the thorny arm that’s trying to pin him down. Fido pushes back, but the weight is almost too great for him, he can feel his bones nearly popping to nearly breaking. Spike then comes behind the devil angel, breathing his first might green flame for the first time. The burn scorches the beast, but it doesn’t back down. It only swings its hand to try and attack the dragon, as he jumps back.

Applejack grabs her lasso to then loop around the second devil angel’s ankles, making a knot and having it topple to the floor. Pinkie then attempts to do an arm hit from above, when flying towards its head. The beast gains strength though, and swings its fist at Pinkie to have her crash to the wall.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stay close to Daring Do, as they then retrieve Discord from one of the devil angels.

“Their… source of magic is too great…” Discord said in shame, “I have no chance against them.”

“That’s no surprise…” Rainbow agrees, “No matter what we do, they won’t get killed by us.”

Daring Do then looks at the swords, as the next two beasts swing the black blades at them. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash panic, as they miss the cutting swing. Discord then grabs Daring Do as the next beast clings the sword to the floor with might sparks.

“All right… I don’t care if you guys don’t get destroyed by this…” Rainbow hisses at the devil angels, “But you’re going to taste my flight…”

As she speeds up, she has her hooves swing out punches as fast as she can, stabbing through the demonic beasts with her bullet speed. Smoke was the only blood from them though, as they have their bodies absorb the holes to close their wounds. However, they still groan at the strike they got.

“Ha! How does it feel?” she grins.

The beasts’ eyes then grow brighter, with its pupils showing tiny dots. Fluttershy then flies up to grab Rainbow, as she pulls her away from a might ray coming from the black sword. The firing beam makes a scorched mark at the top corner of the room, smoking…

“I don’t think that was a good idea…” Fluttershy whimpers to Rainbow Dash.

As the beast roars when nearing the two pegasi ponies, Daring Do flies upward to distract the devil angel. She then has it follow her, guiding it towards the second devil angel as it extends out its sword. She then flies downward, having the two beasts accidentally collide, as the sword blast evaporates BOTH of them.

As Fluttershy and Rainbow land on the ground, they watch in awe as they see Daring Do land softly, seeing her move to destroy the first two demons.

“They only die when one sword of theirs accidentally collides with another body of their own.” Daring explains, “The piercing makes the explosion great that both get destroyed.”

“But we still have two left.” Fluttershy points out.

“I know, that’s also the problem.” Daring seethes, “Now that the other two devil angels know about this attack, they’ll try and not fall for any of our attempts.”

“Gotta improvise then…” Rainbow nods.

As the three pegasi ponies fly upward, they assist Twilight as she flies to weaken one of the devil angels with her horn ray. The blast was only sucked in by the demon’s hand though, having it shoot out the same ray she made to strike her. She dodges, swooping down as she and Rarity go under the second devil angel.

Rarity shoots a beam from her horn to cut a gash through the demon’s artery, having it crotch down slowly.

“That will only slow it down…” Rarity tells Twilight, “It’s not like it will weaken it…”

“I know.” Twilight nods, as she runs with her.

Spot, Fido, Spike, and Discord suddenly realize their leaning their backs against one another, as they find themselves surrounded by the two devil angels now taking their interest towards them.

“Think… you can combine your chaos with my fire?” Spike asks Discord.

“It’s worth a shot.” the spirit of chaos nods.

As Spike takes another chance to weaken the demon, he breathes out another engulfing flames while Discord combines a yellow blur to stab through the devil angel’s legs. Fido then swings Spot around to have him pound another devil angel in the torso, having it fall onto the ground on it’s back. Spot jumps off, but is then grabbed by the throat by the devil angel. As it drags him upward, Spot chokes in fear. Then… he pulls something out from his vest pocket.

“Be fooled, fiend!” he hisses.

He then crushes a gem, and throws it against the devil angel’s eyes. The monster then drops Spot, covering its eyes as it shrieks like an eagle. It then looks at the other devil angel across from him, seeing it fight Rarity and Twilight. The image then starts to fog up reality, as the demon now sees the other devil angel as Discord, which really it isn’t. It creates its black sword once more, running toward the last devil angel.

Twilight gasps as she sees it come forward for the brainwashed attack, pushing Rarity aside with her. The devil angel makes the stab. A big aura bang is flashed.

FSSSH!

The last two devil angels are at last destroyed.

Rarity then turns to Spot.

“Elegant… work…” Rarity compliments reluctantly, “What was that?”

“A simple magic gem that fogs the enemies’ mind  from reality.” Spot explains, “The dust simply fools the enemy to then attack the other one.”

“Not bad.” Daring grins, as she helps the others up.

Fido then looks at the diamond shaped keyhole in the door in front of them.

“Allow me.” Spike offers, as he takes the diamond.

He then walks over, and injects the gem into the keyhole. The hole then turns, as the door shifts upward, revealing another hallway. A line of torches even shine on the left side of the wall.

“Better keep moving.” Twilight said.

With that, the gang of eleven finally leaves the first stage of the tomb.

As they kept walking, Fluttershy notices the line of torches are coming to an end. The hallway becomes slightly dark, but thin rectangular holes on the top rims on the right side of the wall shine out sunlight. The lights from outside make rectangular shaped lights reflecting on the left side on the wall.

“Well, I’m no longer afraid of the dark…” the yellow pegasi hums.

“That was amazing back there!” Pinkie cheers as she hops, “We really put up a fight with these baddies.”

“We almost got killed too.” Rarity huffs, “This isn’t a joyride you know.”

“Yeah… she’s right…” Applejack admits, “Take it seriously. Remember, this is a win win situation on life or death.”

“Pffft. Okay.” Pinkie sighs.

Daring Do squints her eyes as they walk, seeing specks of dust shine through the lights. She then sees another white hue shinning at the end of the hallway. It had to be the next room.

“I think THIS will be even HARDER than the last room.” Daring warns.

“We’re ready for ANYTHING.” Rainbow promises.

After a circular turn, the team enters through a circular doorway. The next challenge was as they anticipated. WORSE.

The circular floor in front of them is cracked, and it’s a certain kind of cliff overlooking a deep pit, dropping into a circular pool of burning acid below. A floating slab with railings then circles around the room, as if it’s part of the brain mastering game. The other side from the cliff end they’re at also faces a circular floor that’s at least twenty feet away from them, also high up from the pit, but the same level with the floor the team is standing on. There’s even a coffin in the middle of that floor on the other side, and two bridges connected to two doorways that lead to different hallways after they cross. The walls themselves are stone grey.

“We can help others fly across with us.” Rainbow thinks out loud.

“I wouldn’t bet on it…” Daring Do advises.

She picks up a pebble on the floor by her, and throws it into the pit. With the tiny rock just falling halfway, something sensed it and INSTANTLY reacts. A GIANT STONED worm with a BIG CIRCULAR MOUTH rises up from the acidic water to eat the rock. Its teeth go around the circular mouth, and they are EXTREMELY sharp. Its inside of the mouth is colored red, and it makes a firing roar as it goes back down.

Fluttershy and Rarity nearly faint at the grotesque peril in front of them, as Spike and Discord catch them.

“I don’t think my chaos can go against that beast either…” Discord sighs.

“But we still have that floating slab.” Spike points out, “However, if the monster sense us again…”

Daring Do paces around, rubbing her hoof under her chin.

“Oh boy! She’s thinking of a plan!” Rainbow squeaks.

“Not when you keep squeaking…” Daring points out.

“Sorry…” Rainbow corrects herself.

Daring Do looks at the floating slab circling around the room again, seeing it go over the dangerous pit below.

“I think I have a strategy for us… it may be the only way to get across…” Daring plans.

She then looks at the coffin in the middle of the floor across them.

“But we also better expect to be attacked by another… thing… once we get across.” she adds.