Daring Do and Dr. Hoof sat in the small kitchen of the latter’s large and somewhat-decrepit house.
Both bore dark circles under their eyes and both of them were cradling their coffee cups like they contained the Nectar of Life.
It had taken their combined efforts to restrain Ahuizotl, Daring had to sit on him while Dr. Hoof tied his wrists and ankles to the thick, wooden posts of his former-wife’s bed. She had also helped him secure his tail using a pair of fuzzy, pink handcuffs that had induced a massive blush from the good doctor when she had found it in her closet.
In the time from his awakening to the present-some 4 hours-Ahuizotl’s screaming had reached a pitch and intensity that made the adventurer and the good doctor cringe; Daring was starting to wonder how long it would take before his vocal chords burned themselves out.
Finally she couldn’t take it anymore and she got up from her position and stormed out of the large bedroom, down the dusty and winding hallway, past the massive iron crescent-moon-and-wand family crest that hung over a large fireplace, past the collection of odd knick-knacks that had been ensconced behind dusty glass shelves.
She turned a right and found herself in front of the door that held Ahuizotl.
I can’t believe his screams carried all the way from here. she thought with no small amount of annoyance.
She opened the door and walked inside, pinning her ears flat against her skull to avoid getting ruptured eardrums. Ahuizotl was writhing in the bed, the sheets had been thoroughly soaked with sweat and there were several bloodstains were the binds had torn his skin.
When Daring slammed the door behind her, her former archenemy stiffened and went silent. The tan pegasus trotted closer and eyed him warily as he averted his white eyes.
Daring opened her mouth to speak, but Ahuizotl beat her to the punch.
“I feel…. different, I feel like my head… my head is clearer. All that blood has faded a-a little and I can see you like you were when we met.”
He looked her in the eyes and Daring saw-much to her surprise- that there were tears leaking from them.
“I was under that thing’s shadow. It showed my what it thought the world should look like, not what it really was, and I believed It with all my heart and mind. But my soul was restless… I-I started to wake up after you tied me down.”
“Are you asking me to untie you?” queried Daring.
Ahuizotl clenched his jaw and spoke through gritted fangs, as though the words hurt him. “Yes-no...I don’t know.”
He looked away and whispered, “I’m so afraid.”
Daring perked her ears, “What are you afraid of?” she asked in a soft voice, trying to use a more comforting tactic to get him to open up.
He whimpered, “I’m afraid that…. that I’ll go crazy once I get untied and that I’ll hurt you.”
That last bit took Daring completely off guard and rendered her speechless.
Ahuizotl seemed to catch on to her current emotions, because he looked at her again and said, in a clear tone that held none of the fervent psychosis from before, “I may be your arch-nemesis, but I would never, ever want what has happened to me to happen to you.”
“You seem like you’ve gotten over your crazy-ness.” said Daring evenly.
Ahuizotl shook his head, “No… it’s still inside me, like a worm in my guts. It’s sleeping now, but it might wake up at any time.”
Daring nodded, “I see, that’s…. interesting.”
“No it’s not!” hissed Ahuizotl, “I can feel it burrowing through my mind…. but I think it was worse when He was near.”
“He? D’you mean Dr. Cabelleron?” asked Daring.
Ahuizotl let out a high-pitched giggle, “No, no, no. Dr. Cabelleron, along with his posse, died in agony back in that infernal place! This-this thing is merely using his face as a mask to walk amongst the normal ponies without being detected.”
“What are they?” asked Daring, intently.
“They are some of the Children of Darkness” said Ahuizotl, growing solemn, like a professor giving a lecture, “They have been lying dormant in the dark corners of the world, awaiting the day when something gives them the incentive to reveal themselves to the world.”
“And what happens then?” asked Daring, already guessing the answer.
Ahuizotl seemed to know what she was thinking, because he scoffed and said, “You know what’ll happen: the whole world will be plunged into everlasting darkness. The Children of Darkness will rise again and annihilate every living creature, then they will rule in shadows forever.”
He said this with such conviction in his voice that Daring had little choice but to believe him.
“So how do we stop them?” was her next question.
Ahuizotl shook his head, “You can’t.”
“Don’t give me that!” growled Daring, “I’ve heard that stuff hundreds of times before and I’ve always found a way to beat it, so don’t tell me that there is no way to stop this!”
Ahuizotl shot forward his his fangs bared, “Don’t be a fool, Daring Do!” he bellowed, “The Children have already started to return to this world and they will rule it.”
“Oh come on! I’m sure that me and some others can deal with them, I mean Princess Celestia could-”
“No, Daring!” Ahuizotl snarled, “Those creatures that you saw are not the only ones out there. There are many, many more: things that drink blood, things that burrow beneath the graves to gnaw upon the bones of the dead, things that can resurrect the dead with dark magic, beasts of fog and icy mist. They are the true kings of this world and they shall inherit this world.”
Daring had backed up and was now tense for a fight, in his fervor, Ahuizotl had freed himself.
She fully expected the crazed villain to take the opportunity to try and escape, but Ahuizotl merely gazed unblinking at his broken bonds, then he sank to the floor and buried his scarred face in his maimed hands; a moment later his shoulders began to shake with silent sobs.
Daring blinked, then shook her head, chalking his reaction up to him being crazy. She turned and started to the door, intent on getting Dr. Hoof to tranq Ahuizotl again, but she was stopped by a hand on her wing.
She turned and brought her hoof up to defend herself, but stopped short when she saw the look of absolute dread on his face.
“Daring, they’re-”
His next words were drowned out by a cacophonous crash that came from downstairs. Daring turned and bolted down the hallway with Ahuizotl in tow.
They had found the house.
Daring charged into the bedroom, grabbing her whip and a large satchel before Dr. Hoof could so much as open his mouth.
The poor doctor became even more confused- and afraid- when Ahuizotl entered, looking behind his back and fidgeting nervously.
“W-what’s going on?” he asked.
“They’re here.” said Daring.
Dr. Hoof went as pale as a sheet and held a now-trembling hoof to his mouth, she could hear him mutter “Oh no.” in a voice that sounded close to tears.
Daring opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a few bits, as well as a pocketknife. Once she was finished with that she turned to Dr. Hoof and asked, “ How good are you with teleportation spells?”
The doctor rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof, “I’m… good enough, I guess.”
Daring huffed, “Can you get us all out of here?”
He nodded and Daring felt relief flood through her body. Good, now I just need to-
Then Daring felt the air in the room go cold. The others felt it too and they hugged themselves as their breath began to form icy mist. The very air seemed to grow heavier and colder with each passing second, each of the trio wanted to move, to run, but their limbs were feeling leaden.
Daring was starting to relive the time when she had been partially paralyzed by a cockatrice; the feeling of that same numbness cascading up her limbs made her shudder.
Everything fell silent as Daring’s lids began to grow heavy. The cold slithered into her lungs, the dread weighed her guts down and time seemed to stretch out to an eternity.
It would be nice to get some sleep… she thought through the have that was creeping up on her mind.
Yes… sleep…. sleep…. sleep forever…. sleep while we make you our puppet… sleep so we can feast on you…. so we can devour you…. so we can become you…
Daring’s eyes, which had closed from fatigue, snapped open and she gasped as air returned to her lungs.
I’ve got to get myself moving. Daring thought as she began to struggle against whatever was affecting her. She slowly began to move, first one leg, then the other.
Then the silence which had fallen was broken by the sound of the floorboards outside of the door creaking and groaning.
Daring broke free of whatever dark spell had bound her and grabbed a heavy lamp from a nearby nightstand. The feeling of the hard, smooth marble of the lamp’s base against her hoof brought her fully back to reality.
The door buckled inwards, groaning like a dying beast as it did. It bulged out until it cracked, then it split down the middle and fell inwards.
Daring saw the twin halves of the door fall away to reveal the hallway outside. She saw the Creature that was imitating Dr. Cabellron standing there with its red eyes glowing faintly in the soft light.
The facsimile Cabelleron opened his mouth to speak and Daring knew- she knew- that, if he were to utter a word, she and the others would be lost forever.
Daring felt rage, hot and acidic, bubble up within her gut. She had fought against evil for so long : she had stopped Quatzequatel from bathing the earth in everlasting light, she had defeated the last faction of the Coltstappo and driven them back into their hiding holes, she had destroyed countless unholy artifacts across the globe and had foiled every single one of Ahuizotl’s plans, no matter how many obstacles she had faced.
With a primal roar Daring sprang forward and swung the lamp as hard as she could.
The base of the lamp was a square and the edges were only moderately sharp, but- with the force that she swung- it was enough. The edge sheared through the Facsimile’s brown fur and tore a divot on the flesh; the force of the blow was enough to split its cheek wide open and break its jaw at a sharp angle.
Daring dropped the lamp and stepped back, her heart racing from adrenaline and fear.
The Facsimile raised its head and snarled at her, giving Daring a good look at what lurked beneath its false skin,
There was no blood, no gore, no exposed bone, there was only a mass of writhing, oily tendrils that resembled muscles.
Daring turned to Dr. Hoof and slapped him across the face. The blow did its job and the doctor gasped as if he had been doused with cold water.
“Wh-what’s happening?” he stammered.
“Now isn’t the time for questions, now is the time for teleporting.” said Daring as she dragged Ahuizotl closer.
Daring grabbed him and Ahuizotl just as the Facsimile realigned its jaw with a dry CRACK!
Daring turned to the doctor and shouted “Teleport now!”
Dr. Hoof nodded and lit his horn. Daring saw the Facsimile start towards them just as the world went white.