The corridors of the pyramid were dark, littered with ancient hieroglyphs, with light being shined upon them by the torch belonging to an adventurer. Daring Do glanced around, holding the torch in her hoof. Rainbow Dash was close behind her, looking at the hieroglyphs. Daring Do had come to this pyramid because of the rumors surrounding a supposed buried scroll that grants immortality to those who read it. However, no one has been able to prove if it existed or not.
This pyramid seemed to have a spell on it, for that the girls couldn't use their wings to fly.
"We've been walking for hours." Rainbow commented, not used to using her hooves to travel. Daring Do was more concerned with the fact that this was unlike any pyramid she ever explored. She could've sworn she had seen that set of writings before just half an hour ago. Despite the many turns and crossroads they'd come across, everything felt the same!
"Wait a second, we've walked through this tunnel before!" The explorer said, stopping Dash as the sky blue pegasus looked at her in confusion.
"What?" Rainbow replied, looking around and realizing that they indeed had passed this corridor before. Daring Do took a second to think. Dash was a bit annoyed by this realization though. "We went in a circle!"
"Hmm... perhaps we're in some sort of maze." She thought openly, as her torch got slightly dimmer, which concerned both of them. Aside from that light, it was pitch black. Daring Do had a satchel with her, and began relighting the torch, making sure it never ran out of fuel.
They continued to look around, trying to find an exit. It was clear to them that the maze seemed to have magic, misdirecting them away from where they came from. As they were about to turn back, they suddenly heard something grumbling in the wall to their left.
"What's that?" Dash asked, as Daring Do pressed her ear to the wall, hearing some shifting. She started to think perhaps there's ancient machinery behind it.
Suddenly, a huge wall suddenly jutted forward from the wall! Jumpscaring both of them! The wall came between the two, heading toward the wall on the right.
"Daring Do!" Dash cried out as she tried to reach for her, but the gap between the 'door' and wall was already too small for Dash to fit through.
"Rainbow!" Her idol called out. Rainbow and Daring Do tried to reach for each other, but the wall was already only inches away from closing.
With the wall closed, the girls were now a wall apart from one another, having somehow activated a trap! They could vaguely hear each other through the wall, but it was too muffled for them to understand.
Taking a second to calm down, Rainbow decided to try and find another way out. Rainbow Dash usually liked the thrill of adventure, but something about being alone in a near pitch black pyramid made her nervous. As she walked back the way she and her friend came, she noticed a new opening, leading into a more well lit corridor. As she looked around though, she forgot to watch her step.
The floor suddenly broke beneath her! Rainbow yelped in surprise, before she fell into something soft yet coarse. She looked down, and realized very quickly that she was knee deep in quicksand! Rainbow called out to Daring Do, as she panicked a little.
"Wait Dashie, calm down. Remember the volume where she was trapped. I have to move very slowly, and calmly..." She said to herself.
"Perhaps there's an opening underneath?" She thought, as she was now past her knees and up to her chest. She looked around desperately for something to grab onto, and noticed a small vine hanging from above. Dash tried to reach for it, but soon realized that it was far beyond her reach!
Dash was now up to her neck, as she worriedly looked around, biting her lip. She was hoping there was an opening under her, but wasn't sure if it was possible. Rainbow closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, before she was swallowed by the sand.
Underneath, two sky blue hooves popped out from the sand, followed by her legs, and soon she fell from the ceiling!
Rainbow fell on her flanks, coughing from the sand as she shook herself off. After a few seconds of feeling happy she was alive, she slowly got to her hooves, and looked around. She was in a new chamber, lit by several torches down the hallway. She walked down the pathway, and noticed the walls. There were some hieroglyphics along with pictures showing a jackal, who watched over his kingdom like a silent guardian.
Rainbow didn't pay too much attention to the story, and saw that the path led to another chamber. The tomb had many pillars holding the roof up, along with an empty sarcophagus in the center of the room. Rainbow explored the room, and It was here she looked at the pictures on the walls again. Dash was a little surprised when she saw a picture of her with Daring Do entering the pyramid, and saw her being confronted by the jackal, who wrapped her in bandages, and placed her inside a sarcophagus.
Before Rainbow could continue looking through the gallery though, the torches started to become dim. Her wings stood up, as she looked around, tense about the thought of being in the dark again. Something was different though, when she heard slithering coming from behind her!
She turned around, and was met by a bunch of bandages slithering from out of the darkness! Rainbow quickly tried to fight the snake-like wrappings, two easily wrapping around her leg while a few others wrapped around her waist, but Dash wasn't going out without a fight. She kicked some away, and yanked off a few more. Dash was surprisingly able to hold her own against magical bandages.
The torches became more lit again, oddly enough, allowing her to fight more vigorously. Minutes passed as she was able to back away from the bandages, but then more appeared behind her, and eventually she was overwhelmed. Her arms were pinned to her sides, along with her legs bound together. She growled as she tried kicking again, but she grew tired from the constant struggles. She had been completely wrapped in bandages, leaving only the top half of her head unwrapped, but everything below her nose was encased.
Suddenly, she glanced back at the walls, as her eyes widened at what may follow next.
Footsteps were heard somewhere inside the pyramid, making her frantically look around, worried to see the jackal, if he existed. Suddenly, she saw two glowing yellow eyes staring at her from behind a pillar, making her pupils shrink. The jackal soon revealed himself to her, the pharaoh from the paintings. He had a strangely humanoid stance, tall and imposing. He made a quiet gasp, before he approached her. She was surprised how much taller he was to her. The jackal crouched down to her level, and reached down to pet her. She helplessly kicked and struggled before his hand touched her ear. Her eyes widened, and fought back a purr from feeling him pet her gently.
"You found my tomb." His voice was deep, and it sounded as if he hadn't spoken in a long time. For some reason, there was a soft look in his eyes, as if he didn't mean to hurt her. Rainbow Dash stared up at him, both confused and mad at the same time. For some reason though, when staring at him, she felt like he was a little… she didn’t know what emotions she felt. "I've been alone here for a long time."
"Mhrh nr mrr mrnh?" Dash's words were muffled, but he understood her. He explained to her that he had remained immortal thanks to learning a spell from a mysterious scroll, but it vanished afterward. Due to the resources being scarce, he wasn’t able to recreate the spell, and had to travel to find them. When he returned though, he realized far too late that his kingdom fell, those he loved dying from old age. Modern cities built over it, with his people moving on and soon he was nothing but legend to them.
Since then, he isolated himself, depression taking root in his psyche. The pyramid was untouched, and remained so thanks to him and his magic. Rainbow Dash blinked as she heard his story, before he told her that he had taken an interest in the multicolored mare, feeling as though she was a beautiful rainbow. He complimented her abilities, and her status as a Wonderbolt. Although he knew little of them, he found a small amount of happiness in seeing her happy.
"Your strength and courage is admirable. There is beauty within your soul." He spoke softly. Rainbow Dash blushed, as she looked away sheepishly. He then gently picked her up, bridal style, and began walking over to the empty sarcophagus. Rainbow started struggling again, thrusting her body forward as she kicked furiously while he carried her, but the wrappings were too strong, trapping her in a tight cocoon. She groaned helplessly as she fought his hold, but he assured her that she'll be safe inside her sarcophagus soon, and he'll cast the immortality spell upon her.
"Sadly, it means that I must cover your beautiful eyes and mane." He said, before bandages magically wrapped around to cover her eyes, and soon her whole head was encased. He made sure to leave small holes for her nose so she could still breathe. He placed the squirming Wonderbolt inside, placing a hand on her cheek for a moment, which for some reason calmed her slightly from the loving touch. With that, he gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead, before closing the lid, the lid now magically resembling Rainbow Dash in ancient garments. He placed another kiss on the lid, before he turned around and left into the darkness as the spell cast over the mare.
Rainbow Dash started to tire again, this time she felt herself growing a little drowsy. The magical spell made her sleepy. She didn't want to give up, but knew that she was powerless. She was going to live her endless years as his bride. The last thing she thought of before falling into a deep, peaceful slumber, was perhaps the benefits of being immortal.
...
Daring Do had no idea how she got here, but somehow after what felt like hours of solving puzzles that seemingly lead to nowhere, she finally stumbled upon the entrance to the secret tomb. The explorer wandered around, searching for not just the scroll, but Rainbow Dash as well. She saw the sarcophagus in the center of the room, and grew curious over it.
She cautiously approached it, and saw the lid looked a lot like her and Rainbow Dash. Confused, she tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge! She grunted as she kept pushing underneath the lid, but it refused to open. Unaware of her, a silent jackal stared at her, quietly sneaking up on her. Daring Do was about to grab something from her satchel, when she suddenly felt a bandage wrap around her eyes, blinding the explorer!