//------------------------------//
// Chapter 160: The Temple of Ponhenge 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

That night, Shining, Twilight, and the others all set off for Foal Mountain. Upon arrival, they soon spotted what looked like the remaints of an old temple. Six stone slabs with small perches lay in the center of the ruins, laid out in a roughly circular style.

But now the whole place appeared to be overrun with vines.

"So, this is it? This is the great Temple of Ponhenge the journal mentioned?" Soarin commented as they examined the ruins. "Doesn't look like anyone's been here for years, maybe decades even."

Sunburst was more noticeably impressed, largely because of the ruins' historical value. "I've never even seen magical runes like these before!" He happily exclaimed. "I'm practically in heaven! Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Everyone shook their heads as Twilight held the book close.

"Well, I reckon it'll probably take an entire team of ponies to clear away all these here vines and get this place lookin' spotless again," Big Macintosh commented. "The years have done a real number on it."

Thunderlane tried to move some of the vines on his own, but ended up discovering that the stone slabs themselves had decayed. A part of one of them even gave way, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get make the piece fit back into the slot it had made. "Even then, I'm not sure we'll ever truly find out just what happened over a thousand years ago."

Twilight let out a sigh of sorrow, resigning herself to the possibility. "Guess you're right, it was kind of a long shot anyway. Can't blame a devoted mare for trying though."

"I'm just disappointed that the trail ends here," Shining glumly commented. "All that effort and yet we have nothing to show for it but these old ruins. We still don't know if Starswirl even made it here, or if the pillars ever occupied this space. We're right back where we started."

"Well, cheer up," Spike encouraged. "At least it's not a total loss. Finding these old ruins has to count for something. Maybe you could write a paper on it or something?" He suggested to Twilight.

"I suppose it's better than nothing," Twilight unhappily sighed. "But I guess I was hoping we'd get here and the mystery would just magically be solved. It's what I get for getting my hopes up."

But when Twilight set Starswirl's journal down on one of the stone slabs, something rather unexpected happened! All of a sudden the journal began to glow! In the blink of an eye, a transparent image of the mighty wizard emerged from the journal!

Everyone was shocked, but none were more shocked than Twilight! "Starswirl the Bearded!" She fondly gasped! "I can't believe it, you're finally here! I always wanted to meet you!"

But Starswirl didn't answer. It was if as he didn't know anyone else existed.

Twilight waved a hoof. "Hello? Starswirl?"

"I don't think he's actually here, Twilight." Spike commented in observation.

"I don't think any of them are here," Sunburst added. "See for yourselves!"

The ponies (and Spike) could hardly believe the sight that greeted their eyes! Transparent versions of each of the pillars appeared on the six stone slabs, each of them carrying an item of significance as described in their legend (except for Starswirl who did not appear to have one on him).





And then, seemingly from nowhere came a massive black blob. Said blob slowly morphed itself into a massive pony like creature made of pure darkness, complete with blank white eyes and a curved horn. The creature laughed wickedly and boasted. "You summon me here at your own peril, Starswirl! You must be getting senile in your old age! Even you must know that drawing me out here will only make me stronger!"

The creature appeared to draw in power, as massive waves of black energy surged through it and then suddenly extended outward as black tentacles! Said tentacles ensnared the pillars one by one, preventing them from moving! "Only now, in your final moments, do you see the error of your ways!" The creature boasted. "Once I defeat you all, this entire realm will embrace the darkness as I did so long ago! And you'll have only yourselves to blame for it!"

But Starswirl did not seem to be deterred by the bold assertion of the creature. Instead he simply bellowed in response. "It is you who is senile, fiend!" He coldly hissed. "We did not come here to defeat you!"

One by one, the pillars became surrounded by a white glow that originated from their objects (in Starswirl's case it was his journal), forming a circle around them that looked not unlike a seal.

The creature stumbled back as if realizing it had just made a mistake. "No, you can't possibly mean-"

Starswirl nodded. "We came... to contain you! Begone!"

The seal circled around the pillars and appeared to trap the shadow creature they were facing. Then they all began to rise into the air, before they vanished in a blinding flash of light! The display ended as the transparent projections of each of the items fell from the sky and disappeared upon making contact with the ground.

"Okay, does someone here wanna tell me what the heck that was just then?" Soarin remarked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that looked like some kind of banishing spell. One cast by Starswirl," Starlight spoke up. "And do you suppose that shadow creature was The Pony of Shadows?"

Sunburst nodded! "Of course!" He realized! "Now it all makes sense! Powerful magic like that would leave an impression on this place. And bringing the book back here let us see what happened all those years ago."

"Which was what exactly?" Big Macintosh asked.

Shining draped a wing over his chest as he somberly declared. "Starswirl and the Pillars did indeed make the ultimate sacrifice. They sacrificed themselves to stop The Pony of Shadows. That's why no one's ever seen or heard from them in over a thousand years."

"Then, what are we supposed to tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" Braeburn asked. "That their teacher's neither truly alive or truly dead? And we don't know how to get him out or even contact him?"

"I... don't know I'm afraid," Shining confessed. "We may know why the pillars sacrificed themselves but we don't know how they did it. That... may be a mystery we will never solve."

"Well, I for one don't intend to give up now!" Twilight vowed. "I won't rest until I've figured out just what Starswirl and the Pillars did to banish the Pony of Shadows! With your permission of course, B.B.B.F.F."

Shining nodded. "You're quite welcome to pursue any avenues you want, Twilight. Just run any potential spells by me first. We don't wanna risk another disaster like Starlight's doozy of a spell combination. No offense, Starlight."

Starlight sighed. "None taken. But you know I apologized for that a thousand times already, right?"

The prince nodded again. "Yes. However, my point still stands."