I
Daring Do was trotting slowly through an immense plain illuminated by the moonlight, which, along with the gentle and cool nighttime breeze, made the grass ripple in silver and brilliant waves. It was a splendid, almost magical landscape that invited any pony to venture in and gallop until they got lost on the horizon, ultimately immersing themselves in a tide of eternal tranquility and rest.
However, for Daring Do, tranquility and rest had a different meaning. Unlike what many of her fans believed, she also had moments when she grew tired of dangerous, action-packed adventures and focused solely on relaxing. Although, considering her own personality, "relaxing" had another meaning for her, and it consisted of carrying out "field investigations," one of the few activities in which she could act as a true archaeologist.
Another one of her recreational activities was writing, which she had perfected as much as her combat skills. "Daring Do and the Fugitive of Kristalhav," she suddenly thought. Whenever she returned from a long journey, she would write a new book, using the most epic adventure she had experienced as the basis. However, this time she was in a predicament. She had been away for so long on various extraordinary adventures that she now had too many options to choose from. So she decided to use a new method: she would select the adventure with the coolest title to turn it into her new publication.
Daring Do's thoughts were interrupted by the question from the pony walking ahead of her. "Isn't it a wonderful night? UWU," the pony said.
"Yes, it's a rather pleasant night," she responded curtly.
Her guide was a middle-aged pony named Meg Tree, whose name was fitting as his green mane was as lush and unkempt as the treetops themselves. In addition to his striking hairstyle, tucked under a straw hat, he had an obviously fake accent and a raspy voice that almost seemed forced. If he didn't carry a lantern with the title of "official guide," whose light shone less brightly than the moon itself, anyone would think he was a lost farmer rather than a travel guide.
If this individual was an undercover agent trying to eliminate her, he was undoubtedly one of the most mediocre she had seen. On the other hand, it could also be a desperate beggar trying to earn some money. Although everything indicated that it was the latter option, personally, she hoped it was the former.
"It could be a quiet night, UWU, but these plains are wild lands where it's best to be accompanied. UWU... Giant eagles are known to hunt at night too, UWU, so a lady like yourself should be careful, UWU," said Meg Tree as he suspiciously looked up at the sky.
Daring Do rolled her eyes. She had already studied those territories. In the past, they had been the setting of wars between minotaurs, centaurs, and lion gargoyles, located to the south of Equestria. Those kingdoms knew nothing of harmony and were constantly embroiled in disputes over the tiniest matters. It was believed that Tirek and Scorpan, two powerful creatures who had caused great turmoil in the land of ponies, had emerged from those lands.
Currently, however, those kingdoms had isolated themselves and did not allow foreigners or changes in their cultures. The same war had become a taboo among them. She didn't believe it was the best solution for those societies to remain isolated and backward, but it was much better than an era of eternal conflict.
Daring Do stopped trotting and gazed at the beautiful plain before her. Her gaze swept across the river they had crossed and the dwarf forests they had left behind. Finally, she paused at the distant lights of the village they had departed from.
What future awaited those lands? Daring Do couldn't even begin to imagine. The arrival of settlers from Equestria in the last hundred years had brought improvements to the land, almost erasing the traces of past wars. It had also paved the way for improved trade with the other species inhabiting the region. All of that was very positive, but it could also become a new source of conflicts in the future. Undoubtedly, the new princess would have a lot of work ahead of her.
"UWU! We're almost there!" whinnied Meg Tree.
Both of them were approaching a solitary hill with unusual rocks at its summit.
"That's alright, there's no need..." Daring Do was interrupted by Meg Tree's delayed 'UWU'. "...for you to accompany me to the top," she finished, clearly uncomfortable. That catchphrase that the pony kept repeating was becoming increasingly annoying.
"Of course, it's necessary, UWU. I've given you my word to take you to the top, and I intend to fulfill it, UWU," Meg Tree responded as he took off his hat as if making an oath.
"Alright... thank you," Daring Do said, looking away.
"That's great, UWU!" Meg Tree responded cheerfully. He turned around and continued ahead with a proud stride.
Daring Do regretted accepting Meg Tree as her guide. She had passed through the nearest village that morning to stock up, and while chatting in one of the shops, she casually mentioned that she was heading to the "Hill of Eternity." Suddenly, that pony appeared, begging her to allow him to be her guide. After causing a shameful and humiliating scene in the middle of the square, she finally agreed in exchange for a few coins. That solved the problem, but considering she was a pegasus and only needed to fly for less than an hour to reach the hill, having a guide became ridiculous.
The journey had taken HOURS since the afternoon. Surprisingly, Meg Tree had behaved fairly well throughout the way. However, his dull and improvised conversations became as uncomfortable as a bent horseshoe.
Putting that pony aside, Daring Do had her destination within reach. With a light flight and Meg Tree marching ahead, she followed until they reached the summit.
II
Finally, they reached the summit of the hill. There was no relevant structure such as stairs or nearby buildings, only white stones protruding like teeth on both sides. However, at the top, four large vertical slabs, arranged by size, lined up in an incomplete circle.
The place was exactly as Daring Do remembered it. It was the objective of one of her first expeditions outside of Equestria. However, the expedition turned out to be a disappointment. Despite digging for a long time, she found no treasure, hidden entrance to an unexplored dungeon, or artifacts or remains indicating the existence of a lost civilization. After two weeks of investigation, she gave up and left the place. She never mentioned this journey to any colleagues or made any reference to it in any of her written works. Only in her personal notebook were the details of that adventure found, in the section of inconclusive and irrelevant expeditions.
However, that place occupied her thoughts once again. Now that she was amidst these ruins, they seemed shrouded in an arcane and ancestral aura.
"Stay away from those stones, miss. They are very ancient, and it is said that they bring bad luck if touched, UWU," Meg Tree warned Daring Do when she began examining the rocks closely.
"Really? But do you know how old these ruins are?" Daring Do asked as she lit a torch near the largest slab.
"I couldn't say, miss. But it is said that they were here before the sun rose for the first time, UWU," Meg Tree responded.
Daring Do reflected for a moment on those words and then began to review her notes. "Actually, I've been here before, several years ago, and in that investigation, I estimated that these stones are at most about 25 years old," Daring Do said as she wrote in her notebook.
"Seriously? Are you kidding me? The hill and the ruins were already here before the nearest town was founded. That was over 80 moons ago, UWU," Meg Tree said incredulously.
"It's true that the hill was already here, but not the ruins. Let me explain: these rocks were brought here recently, deliberately carved in this shape, and placed here in this order. The same goes for the other rocks in the vicinity, they all come from the same quarry located south of this plain, and it is the same quarry that the town uses to build their houses," explained Daring Do.
"Are you telling me that someone placed these rocks here for no reason? Or that the people from the town made up the story? UWU," Meg Tree replied, frowning.
"Not exactly. In the past, when I discovered where the rocks came from, I suspected that the inhabitants had placed them here just to attract attention, like to promote tourism. But now I think there might be another explanation. I believe that someone else has been replacing the rocks in these ruins for a long time," said Daring Do as she took out her equipment from her backpack.
Meg Tree was absorbed for a moment, as if processing everything that had been said, then burst into a sudden laughter. "Haha, so they've been replaced... Don't you think it's a crazy idea that someone steals rocks and replaces them with identical ones?"
"I didn't mean it as theft. I meant that something or someone has been changing the rocks in these ruins for a long time," explained Daring Do.
Daring Do had a hypothesis, although she didn't have a way to prove it at that moment. Based on her previous notes on the site, she suspected that the soil of the hill contained compounds older than the surrounding mountains. The fineness of the soil, which increased as she dug deeper, and the lack of biological waste were evidence of this. Her years of exploring various ruins around the world had led her to reassess her previous conclusions, and now she had a more expert view of the place.
"Why would anyone do such a thing?" asked Meg Tree, sounding confused.
"That's what I've come to find out," responded a confident Daring Do with a mischievous smile. If anyone was going to solve the mystery of these ruins, she was the right pony for the job.
The night passed without surprises, with Daring Do fluttering from slab to slab, taking notes, collecting samples, and calculating measurements. Her goal was to gather as many samples as possible to analyze them in Equestria. If her hypothesis turned out to be correct, she would embark on a new expedition in the next lunar cycle.
Meanwhile, Meg Tree had lit a campfire and sat down, watching Daring Do closely without averting his gaze for a moment. It was as if he was analyzing her every move. Daring Do noticed this unusual behavior but didn't pay much attention to it. After a few hours, she had finished collecting all the information she needed and finally approached the campfire to rest.
"Well, that's it. I'll spend the night here and leave at dawn tomorrow... Meg Tree...?" Daring Do noticed Meg Tree's stiffness and examined him closely with her gaze.
Then she realized that Meg Tree had fallen asleep with his eyes open.
"Ha!" the guide pony suddenly shouted, and Daring Do jumped in fright. "Sorry, Miss Daring, I think I dozed off. I hope I didn't disturb you with my snoring," said Meg Tree, yawning sleepily.
"No, not at all," responded a annoyed Daring Do as she sat back down.
"Well, it seems to be quite late. Um, would you like something to eat?" said Meg Tree as he pulled out a bunch of carrots from his saddlebag, which seemed quite fresh.
"Mmm... sure." Daring Do didn't have much of an appetite at the moment, but she wanted to get rid of the bad taste left by the earlier scare.
After sharing the carrots, they sat around the campfire, facing each other, and began to eat in silence. The warm wind blew over the meadow, and the moon had reached its highest point in the night sky. From a distance, the hill looked like a gigantic, abandoned, shining crown on the prairie.
Several minutes had passed, and they were almost finished with dinner when Daring Do noticed that Meg Tree began to shift uncomfortably in his place.
"You know... making campfires like this reminds me of my days as a foal. Do you like campfire stories, Miss?" asked Meg Tree absentmindedly and restlessly.
"Yes, like any normal pony," responded Daring Do dryly. She had noticed that Meg Tree no longer said "UWU" at the end of his sentences, which increased her distrust towards her guide, but it wasn't the first time she had encountered some eccentric ponies in her travels, so she decided to play along.
"Even if they are dark and mysterious," said Meg Tree, who suddenly started gazing at the starry sky.
"I have no problem with that," responded Daring Do confidently.
"Well, then, let's not waste any more time," said Meg Tree firmly, turning his gaze back to the adventurous pegasus. He now looked more serious and focused. "This story is about a terrible and strange nightmare that my highly respected and beloved mother had when I was very young..."
"A strange nightmare," Daring Do said skeptically.
"Yes, it was something that deeply affected her. She would always talk about it to everyone she knew. In that nightmare, she had a vision about these ruins and the Lords of Darkness," said Meg Tree seriously, with a subtle change in his voice.
"The Lords of Darkness," Daring Do thought to herself and then asked with interest, "What was it about?"
"Well..." Meg Tree cleared his throat. "In that nightmare, my mother was taken against her will to this hill by an unknown creature, and after being tied to one of these rocks, a voice started speaking to her, saying something like..."
"'Before the sun and moon rose, before the first tree was born, the world was immersed in darkness. And this darkness was ruled by the Lords of Darkness, who yearned to snatch the light of the world's soul for themselves. Driven by their own greed and arrogance, each of them fought against the others to always be the first to claim it. And from that beginning, neither time nor desire has been able to stop this endless conflict, and the inhabitants of the world have been mere witnesses, as powerless as the stones that uphold this world.'"
At that moment, a cold wind seemed to blow over the silent hill.
"Well, that was quite gloomy. I've never heard anything like that... before," declared a surprised Daring Do. She didn't want to admit it, but for some reason, the strange verse that Meg Tree recited sounded very familiar to her.
"There you go!" said Meg Tree with a smile. "My mother did have quite a bad night, and there's more!"
"More?"
"Yes, have you seen the drawings on those slabs?"
"Yes..." Behind her were the 4 slabs, each one engraved with the image of a monstrous creature.
"Those are the Lords of Darkness. That's what my mother assured me. Look, miss, my dear mother told me that when the first settlers arrived in these lands, they discovered that the tribes of minotaurs, centaurs, and lion gargoyles avoided these plains because they believed the hill was cursed. The settler ponies never got too close to the ruins, so there was no way to prove if they were cursed or not. Over time, the story of the hill became just a witch's tale, but some farmers said that if a pony spent the night near the hill, they would end up with nightmares where they were chased by those monsters and tormented by ominous omens. My mother was one of those unfortunate ponies. Can you believe it?"
Daring Do was paralyzed. A memory had rushed into her mind, and it soon began to transform into a terrible image.
III
Daring Do had traveled a great part of the world and had seen all kinds of creatures and kingdoms. However, she hadn't yet explored everything the world had to offer. Despite this, she had already reached certain conclusions about the world she lived in. First, that the world was truly magical, with floating islands, lakes of fire, soap deserts, and other scenery that defied logic. Second, there was a myth that repeated itself in different cultures and species: the "Tree of Beginnings," from which all races were believed to have originated. However, this myth was only shared by the creatures that inhabited the surface, while those living in the oceans or the underground world were unfamiliar with this story. Third, the depths of the oceans and the underground world were completely unknown and vast, just like the North and South Poles. And finally, it was the discovery she had made today.
"Miss Daring, are you alright? Is something wrong?" asked a puzzled Meg Tree.
Daring Do, shocked, had turned towards the rocks behind her and stared at the figures engraved on the slabs. Then she replied, "I know you won't understand, I don't even understand it myself, but I know the names of the creatures depicted on these stones."
Daring Do couldn't uncover the origin of the world, but she did know who had brought about its end. In front of her were the figures of those criminals, according to the myths and legends she had learned. The shadow of these terrible beings appeared in the world in different places but during the same era. The arrival of one of these entities brought an age of darkness and terror that culminated in a primordial cataclysm, from which few were said to survive.
On her latest journey, Daring Do believed she had come across a sanctuary dedicated to these monsters. It was a cult of camels called "The Eternal Mountain," worshiping alleged "dark gods" who granted blessings to their believers in exchange for tributes to their congregation. As expected, it turned out to be a scam, and the images of their supposed gods were nothing more than exaggerated depictions of known predators. The local authorities arrested them, and their temple was burned for heresy.
However, the name of each of those "dark gods" seemed familiar to her. This doubt grew over time, depriving her of sleep and making her feel sick. Without really knowing what she was searching for, she decided to return to Equestria. It was then that she remembered having visited a place with a name similar to that camel cult, and so her hooves led her back to the "Hill of Eternity."
Now that she had the names and faces of those wicked beings, the only thing left was to put them in order.
She focused her attention on the smallest slab and said aloud, "Ever Fand," the dark queen who filled the world with a forest of nightmares. Her figure resembled an inverted flower.
Then she looked at the next slab: "Bottom Ness," the tyrant of the oceans who submerged all continents beneath the sea. It was a demonic octopus with five eyes.
Finally: "Nodoub Death," the necromancer who reversed the world's poles and drained the seas. The figure on the slab was that of a skeletal, two-headed bird with four limbs and four wings.
But on the largest slab, Daring Do didn't recognize the creature depicted. There was no record of it or any reference in her previous travels. It was a dragon with three stars above its head, clutching an empty orb on its chest as if trying to conceal it with its claws. Then, thanks to the moonlight, she noticed the faint reliefs of two more stars near its tail.
"Wow! You know the names of these beings, have you seen them before? Are there other stone ruins around the world?" exclaimed Meg Tree excitedly. "It's a great discovery, miss!"
"There are no other stone ruins," said Daring Do. "I only heard the names of these creatures from a strange group of camels on the other side of the world. I didn't understand why their propaganda felt so familiar to me until now."
Meg Tree fell silent, trying to process what he had just heard.
"ARROGANT PARASITES! HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE THE SACRED SANCTUARY OF MY BELOVED MISTRESS!..." shouted an angry and shrill voice.
Daring Do reacted immediately, turned around, and there was Meg Tree, hurling threats towards some place on the horizon, but he was no longer the same pony with a fake accent she had met moments ago. He now acted like a completely different pony, perhaps not even a real pony.
"...JUST WAIT, YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THIS OFFENSE, YOU WILL ALL BE TRIBUTE TO ETERNAL DARKNESS," said Meg with an evil laugh.
Daring Do watched as a green mist enveloped Meg, and from it emerged a creature she had never seen before.
That creature wore a fuchsia cloak and hood, had no lower limbs, a green enchanted scarf around its neck, its arms were withered branches ending in webbed claws, and its unfathomable face of darkness contained two unblinking emerald eyes.
Then, all that anger dissipated, and it slowly turned towards her.
Daring Do always faced danger; it was practically 80% of her life as an adventurer and explorer. But in that moment, all her instincts screamed one thing at her: "RUN."
She took flight with all her might, but it was already too late. A sticky, invisible force halted her escape and threw her to the ground, leaving her breathless. It was magic, of course, but it was the first time she felt such an unyielding magical grip on her body.
"Well, well, my apologies for my previous behavior. I didn't intend to 'scare' you in this manner, Miss Daring Do," 'Meg's' voice was calm but tinged with mockery and anger. "I think it would be impolite to leave without saying goodbye... Don't you think?"
"Who the heck... are you?" Daring weakly asked as the magic pressed her harder against the ground.
"Ha! You can still speak? You truly are a formidable pegasus. Well..." Meg paused to think as she looked up at the sky. "I am a messenger... or rather, a herald of a Lord of Darkness. Don't worry, I won't harm you. The stars favor you today. In fact, since you warned me about those bothersome pests, I'll give you a gift: the gift of 'knowing'. Knowing that this is not our first encounter, knowing that from this moment on, I'll be watching you, knowing that our next encounter... will be the last."
Daring Do lost consciousness at the end of that ominous threat.
Daring Do jolted awake, still disoriented. She looked around and realized she was still amidst the ruins. Then the memory of the previous night hit her like a wave, bringing with it a terror that ruffled every feather on her body. Why didn't they finish her off last night? What was that creature? Had she encountered it before? What were the Lords of Darkness, and what were they planning to do in her world?
The pegasus stirred, trying to gather herself and shake off the dark thoughts. It wasn't the time to seek answers to questions she knew she couldn't answer. She sat up and gazed at the sky, as the light of a new day began to filter through the clouds. There, a lone visible star seemed to greet her with its brightness.
An idea illuminated her mind. She remembered a pony, or rather a "princess," who could help her unravel this mystery. Confidence and courage returned to her in a determined look on her face, and she stood up, knowing exactly what to do next.
Daring Do adjusted her hat and took flight into the sky, leaving behind the darkness of those infamous ruins. She set off toward the sunrise, heading for her homeland, "Equestria."