Chapter Ten: Similar Worlds

"...Yeah, Daring Do is like this universe's Indiana Jones."

"I'm pretty sure she's an original character, I mean, what non-original character is so awesome?" Rainbow responded, unable to comprehend that this character was, to me, simply another character in pony form with a few modifications and a Rainbow Dash-esque figure, complete with the same magenta eyes and the same mane shape and pattern, which, instead of being colored like a rainbow, was several shades of gray. She's more like a palette swap than an original character- she even shared some of Rainbow's personality traits, if not all of them.

"So you know what to expect now?" Twilight asked me.

"Traps will be everywhere, villains will try to foil us with said traps, and are unlikely to actually fight us. Most obstacles will be the traps, puzzles, or riddles. We're probably going to be looking for an artifact of great power, value or both, and the villain will either be its guard or vying for it as well. That's how it goes, right?"

"Very good! And you're sure you've never read any of these books?"

"Yeah, and I haven't seen many Indiana Jones movies either. In human culture, things like this are all over popular media. Pretty much any human with some knowledge of popular fiction knows how these treasure-hunt stories are. Do we know any recurring villains I should be aware of? They have a tendency to reappear during every other adventure, that is, if they survive."

"Just Ahuitzotl, but he's always foiled in the end." Twilight showed me a book cover featuring the quadrupedal blue villain.

"Okay, now that we're all ready, we can go, right?"

"Yeah! We can! Zach, open the portal!" Rainbow was bouncing with excitement. I complied, and we stepped in.

"What- who are you?!" I heard Twilight ask. A quick glance revealed that it wasn't my companion Twilight, it was this universe's Twilight. She bounded up to our team's Twilight as she asked her questions. Of course, we were still in Twilight's library. "Are you me from the future? Hi Rainbow, are you from the future too? Who and what is that?"

"No, this isn't time travel, Twilight. This Rainbow Dash and I are from another universe, and this is Zach, from yet another universe," Twilight explained.

"Trans-universal travel is possible? How? How did you do it?" This Twilight wasn't going to let up on the questions for a while.

"Discord's magic allows me to travel between universes at will," I answered, "I'm a human, not from this universe. We're here to find Daring Do, do you know where she might be?"

"Daring Do? She came by here just a few hours ago. She checked out a book on ancient ruins situated deep in the Everfree Forest. Last I heard she was on her way to Time Piece's house. Why do you ask?"

"We want to meet her!" Rainbow said.

"What's different about the universe you're from, Twilight?" The identical unicorn mare asked the other.

"Well, not much, except that Daring Do doesn't actually exist, and is instead a fictional character." Hearing two Twilight Sparkles exchanging words was an interesting sight.

"Really? That's it? You can't tell me any more? How did Zach get to your universe, and what made Discord give him these powers?"

"I fell through a hole in my universe, ending up in Equestria. Twilight here found out that I was instrumental in saving the universe, and, well, we succeeded, but other people from my universe were sent by Discord into other universes and he gave me the power to save them, kind of like a scavenger hunt, it's complicated," I explained.

"That sounds exactly like something Discord would do. Is one of your kind trapped here?"

"No, we're waiting for word on where they might be. Rainbow Dash and Twilight want to meet Daring, and since I'm the only one who can summon trans-universal portals, here we are."

"Is that safe?" The local Twilight was concerned.

"Of course, Luna said so." She was relieved by this.

"What can you tell me about your universe?"

"Well, in my universe, the entirety of Equestria is completely made up. Humans- that's what I am- are the only sentient being, and there is no magic of any kind. Pretty much everything is different, it'd be hard to explain it all," I explained.

"Twilight, I'm sure Zach would love to answer all of your questions, but we've got to get going," our Twilight said, cutting off the curious unicorn before she could say any more. We exited the library then, leaving a rather confused Twilight Sparkle behind.

"I wonder what's going through her mind right now," I said, chuckling.

"She probably thinks she's completely lost it. I mean, when a future version of myself ended up in my library-" Twilight began.

"I know that story," I interrupted.

"Zach, what don't you know about us? It's kind of creepy that you watch what we do through some gadget," Rainbow asked.

"Well, I only know the major events of your lives since Twilight moved to Ponyville from Canterlot. For example, I don't know anything about your family or Fluttershy's, and I don't know much about any area of Equestria outside of Apploosa, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, or Ponyville."

"What do you know of my family?" Twilight asked.

"You've got a brother, Shining Armor, recently married to Princess Cadance, and I've seen your parents before. Otherwise, pretty much nothing."

"Hmm."

"Let's get to Time Piece's house, he might know where Daring is," I directed.

"I know where he lives. This way!" Rainbow led the way.

If everything went well, Daring would still be there, and not going on some adventure the ponies would insist on going with her on, and we could just sit there and chat for a little while, and be home before sunset. Though, if Daring was borrowing a book from Twilight, and visiting a historian, there was probably something in the Everfree Forest she wanted, and was sure to launch an expedition to get to. It seemed to me like another adventure was imminent.