The priest readied his dagger and brought it to the throat of the sacrifice that was in front of him. His eyes were as cold as ice and his voice was just as cold. As he stared at the one that was on their knees he uttered a few words.
"This is necessary for appeasing the dark one," he held the dagger at their throat as he finished,"Perhaps in the afterlife, you'll understand." As he slid the blade across the sacrifice's body slumped to the floor of the ritual chamber. The blood began to drain into a pattern carved into the floor. The Priest turned and walked to the door muttering to himself, "forgive me, my only daughter,".
He stepped out onto the roof of the temple just in time to see a blinding flash of light appear off in the distance and the sound of thunder as a column of smoke rose onto the horizon. The Priest watched in horror as a wall of blue and green colored fire engulfed the Temple and the village. Those that didn't make it to the underground caverns for safety were set ablaze or incinerated on the spot, a pile of ash left in their place.
How hard was this going to be she thought to herself. All she had to do was locate the tome and then get the hell out of there. She had been through so many other tombs it was like she felt no fear most of the time. This, was different. There were stories about this book, an old tome that she was recovering. Tales that could freeze one's blood in their veins.
The Book in question was the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, or better known in the archeology field as the Book of the Dead. Its pages were written in the oldest human text known to exist. The ink was said to be of human blood. It contained bizarre funeral rights and runic incantations to summon spirits from beyond the veil. Things like this should not and do not at all deserve to be recovered Daring thought to herself, they deserve to be destroyed instead.
"Something thing like this can lead to disaster,", she thought to herself. yea she was an adventurer, but even she knew of artifacts that could lead to the worst outcomes if allowed to be presented at all. She was determined to make sure this book stayed buried at all costs. She had to. She had already lost one daughter to its influence, she couldn't lose her only other girl to something so horrendous. She stared at the cover for the longest time before putting it back on its pedestal. Then doubt started to creep in. What if she held onto it, just for safekeeping? No, that wouldn't do. The last thing she needed was someone like Cabelaron to find this and unleash its power instead.
As much as it pained her to do so, she'd take the book with her and find someone that could help her destroy it. She dropped it into her sack and made her way to the Entrance. Lightning Dust was waiting for her as she left the tomb. She could see that look of excitement in her mint green eyes. Like she knew that her mother had found something. She just couldn't tell her yet. That was going to be the hardest thing to do.
"So," Lightning beamed," you found something mom." It was the tone that pained Daring. That eagerness that they on the cusp of something amazing being revealed.
"Yea, I did,but we can check it out later hon," she did the best she could to shield her from just how wrong this book really felt," We need to get back home first. I'll tell you about what I found then." The two of them left to find a guide back to the tribal village when she could feel something rumbling beneath their feet. What started out as a slight jog, ended with the two of them running through the forest. It was like the entire area came to life and wanted to eat them alive for their sacrilegious acts just now. Daring shouted for Lightning Dust to keep up.
Daring turned to see Lightning disappear for a moment before she finally caught up to her mom. There was no time to waste right now. They needed to get out of here. That was when Daring spotted one of the Tribals up ahead motioning to her. They made it to safety of the village before Lightning told her she didn't feel so good. That was when she started to vomit up a black substance. The Tribal woman saw this and ushered them into her hut. She took them into the basement and told Daring that the Old Gods were possessing her daughter and that there was not much they could but attempt to cleanse her. And if that failed, they'd need to burn her alive to keep this evil from spreading to the rest of the world.
The more she listened the more she scolded herself and realized she should have just left that damn book on its altar back at the temple ruins. She told the Shaman/Tribal woman to do what she could to save her daughter if possible. She also said that she was ready to put the safety of the village ahead of her own well-being. She thought back to the forest for a moment. When she turned the first time and saw Lightning Dust slip from her sight she saw something grab her and pull her down, but she hadn't been sure. The adrenaline rush she felt was pushing her to keep going.
A Book like that if it fell into the wrong hands could lead to a lot of problems. Daring turned around to tell her oldest daughter, Lightning Dust, to stop falling behind. She used that ," Double time it" tone that she had become well known for. Both of her daughters were a bit too brash and reckless at times but she still loved them.
It was easy she thought, get the book, and make it out of this forest alive, but the forest and the secrets it kept had other plans. And to think it all started with a single event. Daring had unknowingly unleashed an ancient curse on her family. It wouldn't rest until it sought to corrupt her daughters. She had taken her oldest, Lightning Dust with her on an expedition to the Everfree Forest in search of the ancient temple. All they found was a log cabin in the woods and a book of unspeakable horrors. Daring had opened the book and looked through it, all the while trying not recite the passages contained within.
Her Daughter, Lightning, wasn't as careful and got herself possessed by a spirit that required five more souls to consume before it could attempt to unleash an apocalyptic hell on earth. The shaman that acted as their guide was part of a local tribe that told stories of the ancient evil that slept for thousands of years beneath the ground of this haunted place. Daring had never believed in them before, that was until she and the others with the shaman priestess were forced to bind her daughter to a post in the basement of this accursed cabin.
Lying on a wooden table next to the door to the upstairs was a shotgun. It had been bought as part of the cleansing. It seemed outrageous seeing that Daring never used anything more than a service revolver and nothing so large, or with so much kick to it. She could only stare as Lightning was tied to the post, listening to this thing trying to trick her now.
"Mom," Lightning seemed to speak freely,"I wanna go home,", Daring saw right through its attempt at deceiving her.
"I'm sorry,", Daring Do softly pleaded as she forced herself to raise the shotgun while the priestess prepared the pyre in front of them. As she watched her first born daughter get set on fire the being that possessed Lightning Dust hissed at her," You'll burn in hell along with this whore!", But she tuned it out while she aimed and pulled the trigger.
They took the book and bound it in a way so that no one would be able to open it again, much see the contents. They wrapped it in clothing and bound it with barbed wire. She felt a horrible pain as she realized she has to tell her husband Blitz and their youngest daughter Rainbow Dash, that her older sis wasn't coming home. She decided to tell them a half-truth, that Lightning was killed in an accident, while she barely made it out alive.
She hated lying to Rainbow. It felt like a piece of her died each time she did. She wanted to tell her right then and there what really happened. Sooner of later Daring would have to tell her the entire story. That would be sooner then she expected though. She wasn't ready for it to be the next day.
Cloudsdale, the next day.
"Where.. where's Lightning Dust mom?", was the first thing out of Dash's mouth as her mom came up the driveway in her Ford Pinto. Dash always thought her mom should have sold that rust bucket and bought one of the newer Mustangs. Her mother kept telling her that she loved her car, and she wasn't going to get a hot rod just so Rainbow could steal and keep getting Speeding Tickets. Rainbow Dash's car was still in the shop apparently. She didn't know her mom had kept calling the place and that the owner agreed with her that Dash needed to slow the buck down when driving to school. That girl had more speeding ticket and moving violations than anyone in the house.
"I'm sorry honey, but there was an accident during one of the digs. There was a fire that came from a natural gas geyser that the crew didn't bother to survey. The Academy rushed us out there with no information that natural gas was running through an underground cavern," Dash couldnt really tell if that last part was true or not, but she could see that her mom was shaken up from it all the same.
"I cant take this,"Daring said in front Rainbow Dash. " Lightning went and found an old book that we pulled out of the ruins that were beneath a cabin in the woods,", She paused to catch her breath. it took something out of her for almost lying to her only other kid," Something possessed her and she tried to kill me." The look on Dash's face was a mix of anger and disbelief.
"Why didn't you try to save her?!" Rainbow lamented. As soon as she had uttered those words she saw the wounded look on her mother's face. She had to think of something to say to make up for that outburst just now. " I'm sorry mom, I shouldn't have said that." It took her a few seconds to say the right thing. She also felt that her mom really need consoling right now. This was going to be a difficult time in all their lives right now.
Dash hugged her mother tightly right as her dad walked in the room. He came right over and hugged both of them, telling Dash that Daring had called him on the way home and informed him. The three of them stayed in that hug for 15 minutes before there was a knock on the door. Daring was going to answer when Dash got up instead and answered it first. Today was the day they had planned on going on a camping trip. Daring thought it was odd that there were two Twilight Sparkles standing in front of the door until she remembered what Dash had told about the Fall Formal and the Battle of the bands. If the one without glasses is from another world, did that mean that there was another her out there?
There were a hundred thoughts running through her mind right now. She had heard about the multiverse theory from a colleague of hers years ago. He also had the insane thought that the Pyramids had been used as landing pads for Alien spacecraft. She heard he had last been sighted in Colorado before he completely went off the grid. She invited Rainbow's friends into the house before pulling the one named Princess Twilight off to the side.
"Please come in while Rainbow gets her gear,"Daring waved the group inside. She just had to know.
"So you must be the Twilight from Equestria," this took Princess Twilight by surprise," Don't worry dear, she hasn't told anyone outside her circle of friends,"That seemed to calm the girl down a bit.
"Yes, I am," she paused before continuing on," I'm sorry if this may seem odd, but it's not every day that I get to meet you for the second time in person."That gave her the answer she needed, but she still asked her anyway.
"So, I can assume that there's another me in your world dear?", One question down, one to go.
"Yes, there is, in fact, many of the people you know here also may have a counterpart in my world. There's another Rainbow Blitz, another Pinkie, another Rainbow Dash, another Lightning Dust," Twilight noticed that last name stunned Daring Do. Did I say something wrong she thought to herself? Rainbow Dash came back into the room, her bags and backpack stuff with everything she needed for seven days or longer camping trip.
"Before you leave, can I ask one more thing Twilight?" Daring was very pleasant with her, so why not indulge Twilight thought.
"Sure," Twilight commented.
"You said there's another Lightning Dust, what would happen if I went to your world to find her?" She could see a hesitant look forming in Twilight's eyes before it disappeared.
"You'd have to be careful, just in case there's the chance that you run into your pony double," Twilight stated,"but I don't see a real problem with you visiting my world.", She tell could Daring had one more question on her mind, "I can tell you must want to know about Rainbow Dash in my world, I can't tell you much in regards to her family. Apparently, her mom and dad split after she was born. I had heard a rumor she had a sister that left when their mom might have been pregnant, but it was just a rumor." Twilight was about to walk out the door when Daring stopped and handed her a picture. Daring Do, Blitz, Rainbow Dash...and Lightning Dust.
Twilight's pupils shrank as Daring whispered into her ear,"They're my daughters here. Which also means that my pony self-did something I would have never done, She walked out on her family." Daring Do took the picture back and asked for the direction to the portal. Twilight told her it was inside the front of the Wondercolts Statue. After all the girls had gotten into Sunset Shimmer's suburban, they took off down the road. There was one more person Sunset had to pick up back at their apartment which was on the way to their next stop.
No one in the truck, not even Twilight knew that Sunset Shimmer and Sonata Dusk had grown close to each other to the point they were dating. As Daring watched the Suburban disappear down the road, she jumped in her Pinto and headed to the high school. She told Blitz she'd be back in a day or two. There was something she needed to do that required her attention for the next 72 hours. He figured she must mean her latest book, so he grabbed himself some coffee and sat down to watch the news.
He didn't know that she'd be in another dimension, working to fix a problem that was and wasn't hers to fix. But she felt compelled to do it regardless.
She had to fix a mistake that she herself had once considered but realized how wrong it would have been in the end.
Author's Note
Enjoy.
