Cross World Explorers

by Ximer

Chapter 8

Isabella waited for a majority of them to disappear into the ruins. The two outside were earth ponies, and from the looks of things didn’t seem that tough. Looks could be deceiving though, in those tiny bodies was a near limitless supply of strength that could out match a human. She would just have to be creative when dispatching them.

As Isabella crept closer she picked up a rock. She took aim at the stallion on the left side of the door, before throwing it as hard as she could. The stone connected, spilling a bit of blood from the earth pony’s scalp.

“Does somepony have a death wish!?” the injured stallion shouted.

Isabella roared in reply, cupping her hands to her mouth to manipulate her cries. She watched from the shadows as both earth ponies started to shiver now. Their movements became so sporadic that it caused one of their torches to go out. This made the two mumble nervously to one another.

Isabella moved closer to the ruins and let out another terrifying roar. While not scary or intimidating to another human, ponies could be quite skittish, and Isabella knew this better than most. She had the intention of abusing this trait flaw as much as she could.

“Screw this, I don’t get paid enough to fight manticors!” the stallion with the bloodied scalp said before retreating into the jungle. Since he was the one with the torch only lit torch between the two, his companion quickly followed him.

Isabella snickered as the two retreated from their post. If this was somehow her last adventure, at least she had a little fun with the villains.

Putting her small victory to the side, Isabella set to work quickly trying to relight the torch. Thankfully, there was flint on the ground and she was able to relight the torch. She had been in ancient constructs before, but never in a magical world where unicorns were. She would have to be diligent while looking for Daring Do.

Letting out a large, held breath, Isabella walked into the darkness of the ruins. She was greeted by ancient drawings, and what she could only assume were words and symbols. While primitive to some, to her they were some of the most beautiful works of art she had ever seen.

Isabella was so engrossed in the designs that she almost tripped over something soft, but relatively firm. Her eyes went wide when she saw a cooling corpse on the floor of the ruins. Lodged in the pony’s chest were three arrows, which made her take another look at the walls.

Sure enough, there were barely visible slits every few inches along the wall. Isabella traced them with her eyes until she noticed a lever that had been pulled down on the other side of the hall. Daring Do must have already taken care of things, or so she hoped.

Now aware of the danger she was in, Isabella took a few careful steps forward. Each one resulted in no odd clicks or stray arrow fire. Satisfied that the trap had been disarmed, she continued on, hoping to catch up to Falsemane before it was too late.

---

Daring Do felt the need to vomit each time she aided Falsemane’s henchponies in disarming a trap. While she did get an odd satisfaction from watching the results of them doubt her, which had caused three of them to become unaccounted for before Falsemane threatened his own minions to listen to her, she still felt sick knowing she was helping him.

She knew they were getting close to the chamber that contained the scepter. It should be her and Isabella that unearthed the odd relic, not this criminal. Daring Do was tempted to botch the next task, were it not for the occasional squeezes from Drake there to remind her that she was at his mercy.

“Well, here we are Daring Do, just one more door,” Falsemane gestured at the stone door. “Would you be so kind as to solve one more riddle?”

“Falsemane, if you know anything about the symbols on this door, and you’ve genuinely read that book, you know nothing good lies beyond this door.” Daring Do tried once more to reason with him.

“Ugh, again with this?” Falsemane groaned. “For once you’re beaten, you’ve no way to escape, why do you still struggle?”

“Because, the last room has a ward in it. If it’s opened incorrectly, it will ruin everything you’ve worked for.” Daring Do replied.

“A ward you say?” Falsemane asked, walking up to the stone door, pressing his horn against it. “Huh….fancy that. What kind of ward is it?”

“Do I look like a unicorn?” Daring Do huffed.

Falsemane ignored her comment and proceeded to try and extend his aura beyond the door. His orange hued energy mingling with the ward within the dark room that held the powerful scepter.

Daring Do hung her head, knowing that Falsemane was more than likely accomplished enough to undo the protective spell surrounding the treasure. The sound of a Pegasus falling to the stone floor however; quickly lifted her spirits.

“If that’s who I think it is, somepony had better dispose of her, now!” Falsemane growled, unable to move while he worked.

“Hey there ugly,” Isabella chirped, grinning at Drake. “Ready for round three?”

Drake was unsure of what to do. He had been instructed to hold onto Daring Do, but Isabella was charging towards him. He wanted to fight her, but if he let go of the pegasus, she would cause trouble for the other henchponies, which were still a bit stunned to see something almost as tall as Drake move so fast.

Isabella’s fist connected with Drake’s muzzle, making the diamond dog whimper. The brute relinquished his hold on Daring Do, allowing the mare to slip free and slam into a unicorn that was seconds away from attacking Isabella from behind.

Drake snarled as he squared off once more with the human. He had learned his lesson last time, that he shouldn’t judge her by her size. Isabella on the other hand, was already coming up with ways to dispose of the giant dog, once and for all.

“Skinny thing die now!” Drake roared, charging across the room.

“I am not a thing!” Isabella shouted back, rolling out of the way.

Isabella kicked Drake’s right hind leg, causing it to shift into an unnatural shape. The diamond dog howled in pain, falling to the floor now that he was unable to move without causing further harm to himself. He stared up at the human in fear, now that he was the helpless one for once, his bravery and brutality had fled.

“N-no, no more!” Drake pleaded, shielding his face with his paws.

“…don’t make me have to come back to you.” Isabella warned before moving on from the diamond dog, now that he was out of commission.

Daring Do had already dispatched one earth pony and was now working on her second. She popped her neck as she walked calmly towards the henchpony, letting him know to her he was simply another notch in her metaphorical belt.

The earth pony let out a battle cry, rushing blindly towards the explorer, only to be met with nothing as Daring Do took to the air, before letting herself fall back down on the pony. While her weight wasn’t crushing, her four hooves landing directly into the stallions back was enough to take him out of the fight.

“You missed a spot.” Isabella said as Daring Do walked off the stallion.

She was right, there was only a lone pegasus left, his eyes darting between Daring Do and Isabella quickly as the two closed in on him. The mare raised a questioning eye brow at the stallion, while her companion popped her knuckles, making a rather unpleasant sound to the pony.

“I’m paid a bit above minimum wage, you guys can have this shit.” the pegasus said, holding up his hooves in surrender.

“Good boy.” Daring Do mocked as the stallion flew past them.

“Now all that’s left is-“ Isabella started, just as the sound of stone sliding against stone filled the large room. “Shit!”

Isabella and Daring Do rushed towards the opening that had appeared, thanks to Falsemane’s meddling. While they had been busy dispatching his goons, he had been free to finish removing the ward that protected the room with the Storm Serpent Scepter inside.

As the two explorers entered the room, they found themselves in a shallow pool of water. At the far end of the room stood Falsemane, standing in front of a chest. There was little doubt what was held within, given his maniacal laughter.

Without a second thought, Daring Do took off her hat and fired it like a giant, make shift rubber band at the crime lord, just as he opened the chest. Her hat scored a hit, knocking the unicorn’s mask, and the unicorn himself, to the cold floor.

Falsemane started to wheeze, as he slowly turned to face the Daring Do and Isabella. His muzzle, and most of his neck, seemed to be badly burned, and horribly scarred. Both explorers were unable to say anything in response to the reveal, as they gawked at the unicorn’s scars.

“Now you know…now you’ve seen the real me,” Falsemane panted. “That won’t matter soon.”

The unicorn levitated a shiny object before him. Looking closer, it almost appeared to be made of bone. Several jewels seemed to be embedded in the object, giving it a regal aura about it. It was carved in the ominous shape of a serpent.

“Falsemane, stop! You don’t know what you’re doing!” Daring Do exclaimed.

“Enough of your pitiful cries. It’s time for the kingdoms to know just how powerful I truly a-ackgh!” Falsemane cried out in pain before he could finish.

“What’s happening? Is this like the lost ark?” Isabella asked nervously.

“The what?” Daring Do asked in return, just as the room temperature began to drop.

Falsemane’s cries of pain interrupted their conversation before Isabella could explain. The unicorn, doubled over, before falling to the ground once he was unable to support himself. The cries of pain, were soon replaced by slow laughs that seemed to drip with malice.

Falsemane stood up once more, his eyes glowing a hideous yellow. The scepter’s carved mouth suddenly opened and hovered just above the unicorn’s horn, before swallowing it whole, latching itself to the pony’s head.

A hideous transformation took place in the span of seconds. Falsemane’s muzzle extended, and filled out with razor sharp teeth. His body elongated, fur being consumed by scales, and limbs replaced with large, webbed appendages.

“…fuck.” Isabella mumbled.

“Well…this…um.” Daring Do tried to say something, but was unable to muster up a coherent thought that differed from Isabella’s.

“So this is the power they locked away…the power to become as a god!” Falsemane roared.

The pony turned serpent opened his fanged mouth wide in the direction of the two explorers. In the blink of an eye, a large burst of water was expelled towards the two.

Both adventurers dodged the attack. Isabella slipped in to the now rising water in the room, while Daring Do flew above Falsemane, making a dive for the scepter that was now a proxy for his horn.

“Ah ah ah,” Falsemane scolded, swatting Daring Do aside with his tail. “Can’t let you do that.”

Isabella looked around for something, anything, to try and fight this monstrosity with. She was determined not to die in a cave, to an over grown water snake.

Quickly scanning the room, she noticed a statue. While Falsemane loomed over Daring Do, Isabella quickly rushed towards the crumbling construct and propped herself against the wall, pushing against it with her feet.

Just as planned, the statue crumbled and gave way, crushing Falsemane’s new tail. The serpent let out a roar of pain, snapping around to face his attacker. He was quick to respond by coiling the rest of his body around the human, which gave her horrible flash backs of the movie Anaconda.

“Do you not realize how futile your efforts are now?” Falsemane asked as he coiled tighter around Isabella, making her cry out in pain. “After I finish you two, Equestria will be mine, and there’s not a thing you can do about it! I’ve won!”

Isabella felt the pressure around her body suddenly disappear, followed by a roar from Falsemane. Daring Do had delivered a kick to the pseudo horn atop his head, sending the giant creature reeling into the stone wall.

“Curse you Daring Do!” Falsemane roared, flailing in an attempt to hit the mare.

“You’re not leaving these ruins Falsemane!” Daring Do snorted.

“Die!” Falsemane snapped, unleashing another torrent of water.

Daring Do was less fortunate this time, and was hit by the full force of the blast. The torrent of water sent her to the floor. Before she could get up, she was hit by another blast which sent the mare rolling into the wall.

AS the mare tried to get back on her hooves, she was hit by a third, blast. This time, the spray of water was continuous, affectively pinning her. This came with the added danger of drowning, with Flasemane refusing to let up from his assault.

Isabella began scaling the serpent, climbing towards his horn. Daring Do had managed to nearly cripple the human with a few kicks, this was her only chance to save the mare before it was too late. She was tired, and her body was on the verge of giving in, but she knew she had to see her plan through.

Thankfully, Falsemane was too preoccupied to notice Isabella, until it was too late. Drawing on all the strength she had left, she kicked the serpent’s horn near its base. This caused Falsemane’s attack to come to a grinding halt, as stars filled his vision.

Isabella drew back and kicked the horn again and again, crippling the giant creature. Her strength alone wasn’t enough to crack it however, and Falsemane was beginning to adapt to the pain. Her kicks became more frantic and less focused as Falsemane rose up towards the ceiling, intent on crushing Isabella.

Before he could, a blur slammed into the horn causing him to freeze in place. Daring Do had rammed the horn with all she had left in her, giving Isabella a few more precious seconds. Her attack had caused a few cracks to appear, those few were just enough to encourage Isabella’s next course of action.

Using the last of her strength, Isabella lunged towards the horn, putting her full weight against the horn. It snagged for only a second, before snapping under her weight, and the abuse it had taken, unable to endure any more punishment from the pair.

Isabella felt a horrible shock travel through her body, before her world went black as she fell limp into the pool of water below. The last thing to echo through her mind was the death roar of Falsemane, as his body began to cave in on itself.

The once might serpent had lost the object that provided the magic to sustain his form. With it gone, he could no long exist in the world, and his magic was rapidly leaving his body until nothing was left but a pale mist.

---

Isabella opened her eyes slowly, feeling surprisingly well rested. She observed her surroundings before jolting upright with a start, as memories of what had transpired came flooding back to her.

“Rest easy,” Daring Do said placing a hoof gently against her chest. “He’s gone now.”

“We won?” Isabella asked, her heart still hammering in her chest.

Daring Do nodded in confirmation. “How do you feel?”

“I feel…good, actually.” Isabella replied, giving her arms a flex before standing up.

“You are the strangest individual I’ve ever met, but I’m glad to have met you none the less.” Daring Do laughed.

“Same, so what happened to the scepter?” Isabella asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” Daring Do shrugged. “After I pulled you out of the water, I couldn’t find it. I assume it vanished along with Falsemane.”

“That sucks…sorry you didn’t get the goods, so to speak.” Isabella said.

“Goods like that are better off left undisturbed, perhaps it’s for the best,” Daring Do said, dusting off her hat before placing it back on her head. “Shall we?”

“So…any ideas for an excuse I can feed my brother?” Isabella asked as she followed Daring Do out of the ruins. “I know he’ll want an explanation.”

“I’m sure we can think of something. We have a long return trip to come up with one.” Daring Do laughed.

Isabella wasn’t sure if she would be willing to come clean with her brother, for quite some time. Not that she didn’t trust him, or that he wouldn’t understand, but sometimes ignorance was bliss. She would tell him the truth eventually, but not before she was sure he wouldn’t forbid her from going outside again.

Comments

[Misty Horse]

Too bad that was it, i would have liked to have seen more from them.

[Ximer]

6375531

I know, and I feel bad that this story fell victim to me trying to do too many things at once.

[Misty Horse]

6375593

Nah, i understand. Big reason i haven't gotten to putting anything from my story up, so i can't blame you for it.

This is actually part of the original storyline, right?

[Ximer]

6375598

Yes, this story is canon