Daring Do and the Mystery of Eternal Ruins

by Khampostel

Act II

Finally, they reached the summit of the hill. There were no significant structures, such as stairs or nearby buildings, only some white stones standing 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. This had been the goal of one of her first expeditions outside of Equestria. However, back then, the expedition turned out to be a failure. Despite digging for a long time, she found no ruins, dungeons, treasures, artifacts, or remains indicating the existence of a lost civilization. After two weeks of research, she gave up and left the place. She never mentioned this journey to any colleague or referenced 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, recently, that place had returned to her thoughts. Now that she was back amidst those ruins, they seemed shrouded in an arcane and ancient aura.

"Stay away from those stones, miss. They're very ancient, and it's said they bring bad luck if touched, UWU," Meg Tree warned Daring Do as she began to examine the rocks up close.

"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 tell you, miss. But it's said they were here before the sun rose for the first time, UWU," Meg Tree replied.

Daring Do pondered those words for a moment and then began to review her notes. "Actually, I've been here before, several years ago, and in that investigation, I estimated that these rocks are at most about 25 years old," Daring Do said as she wrote in her notebook.

"Really? Are you pulling my leg? The hill and the ruins were already here before the nearest town was founded. That was more than 80 moons ago, UWU," Meg Tree said with an incredulous tone.

"It's true that the hill was already here, but the ruins weren't. Let me explain: these rocks were recently brought here, deliberately carved in this way, and placed here in this order. The same goes for the other rocks in the surroundings; they all come from the same quarry located south of this plain, and this very quarry is the one the town uses to build their homes," explained Daring Do.

"Are you telling me that someone just placed these rocks here for no reason? Or that the people in the town made up the story? UWU," Meg Tree retorted, 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, sort of like promoting tourism. But now, I believe there might be another explanation. I think someone else has been replacing the rocks of 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 discussed, then continued with an abrupt laugh. "Haha, so they replaced them... Doesn't it sound crazy that someone would steal rocks and swap them for identical ones?"

"I didn't mean theft. I meant that something or someone has been changing the rocks of these ruins for a long time," explained Daring Do.

Daring Do had a hypothesis, though she had no way to prove it at that moment. Based on her previous notes from the place, she suspected that the hill's soil contained compounds older than the surrounding mountains. The fineness of the soil, increasing as she dug, and the lack of biological waste were evidence of this. Her years exploring all kinds of ruins around the world had caused her to reevaluate her previous conclusions, and now she had a more expert view of the place.

"Why would anyone do such a thing?" Meg Tree asked in a confused tone.

"That's what I've come to find out," replied 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 measuring. 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 with a full team in the next moon.

Meg Tree, on the other hand, had lit a campfire, sat down, and was watching her intently, never averting his gaze. It was almost as if he was analyzing each of her movements. Daring Do noticed this unusual behavior but didn't pay it much attention. After a few hours, the Pegasus had finished collecting all the information she needed and finally approached the campfire to rest.

"Well, that would be it. I appreciate the company, but I'd prefer to spend the night alone here. I hope that's not a problem... Meg Tree?" Daring Do abruptly finished saying.

The tranquility of her thoughts had been interrupted by a spooky sight, something she did not expect to see.

In front of her, sitting by the fire, was a stiff Meg Tree. But it wasn't the unusual stiffness of the guide that frightened her, it was the face he had.

A face that would have made any other pony scream just by looking at it for an instant, but in Daring Do, it only awakened her instincts to face danger.

Thus, without saying another word, drawn by the fascination of confronting danger, Daring Do approached that pony slowly, observing that face without averting her gaze...

It was Meg Tree, without a doubt, but he looked very different. His eyes were wide open, so much so that it seemed they would pop out of their sockets at any moment. Thick and frothy yellow saliva dripped from his slightly open mouth, and in his mane, small restless shadows swirled, hiding from the light of the campfire.

Then, being so close, she realized he wasn't breathing.

Considering that she might be facing an undead, Daring Do subtly began to prepare the dagger she had hidden in her shirt when suddenly...

"HAAA!" Meg Tree suddenly shouted, causing Daring Do to jump back in the air frightened.

"Sorry, Miss Daring, I think I dozed off. I hope I didn't bother you with my snoring," said Meg Tree, yawning sleepily and wiping off the drool.

In the air and shaken, taking a moment to recover from the scare, Daring Do finally told him: "No, not at all."

"Well, it seems quite late now... would you like something to eat?" Meg Tree said very calmly as he pulled out a bunch of carrots from his saddlebag.

"Ummm... sure," replied Daring Do with a forced smile.

The bad taste left by the previous scare was still present, but she decided to conceal it, just like the dagger in her shirt. Daring Do touched down again and sat by the campfire.

The night continued to unfold...

After sharing the carrots, facing each other, they began to eat in silence. The warm wind blew across the meadow, and the moon had reached its highest point in the night sky. From a distance, the hill looked like a gigantic, glowing crown abandoned in the meadow.

Several minutes had passed, and they were almost done with dinner when Daring Do noticed Meg Tree starting to shift uncomfortably in his place.

"You know..., making campfires like this reminds me of my foalhood days. Do you like campfire stories, Miss?" Meg Tree asked absentmindedly and restlessly.

"Yes, like any normal pony," replied Daring Do dryly. She had noticed that Meg Tree no longer said "UWU" at the end of sentences, which increased her mistrust toward her guide. However, encountering eccentric ponies in her travels was not a first, so she decided to play along.

"Even if they are dark and mysterious," said Meg Tree, who suddenly began gazing at the starry sky.

"I have no problem with that," replied Daring Do confidently.

"Well, say no more," 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 very respectable and beloved mother had when I was very young..."

"A strange nightmare," said Daring Do skeptically.

"Yes, it was something that deeply affected her. So much so that she always talked about it with 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," thought Daring Do to herself, then asked with interest, "And what happened in that nightmare?"

"Well..." Meg Tree cleared his throat. "In that nightmare, my mother was forcibly taken to this hill by an unknown creature, and after being tied to one of these rocks, a voice began speaking to her, saying something like this..."

"'Before the sun and the moon rose, before the first tree was born, the world was plunged into darkness. And this darkness was ruled by the Dark Lords, who longed to seize the soul-light of the world for themselves. Stirred 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 bear this world.'"

At that moment, a cold wind seemed to blow over the silent hill.

"Wow, that was quite eerie. I've never heard something 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 had recited seemed very familiar to her.

"Gotcha!" 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 four slabs, each engraved with the depiction of a monstrous creature.

"Those are the lords of darkness. So my mother assured me. Look, miss, my dear mother told me that when the first settlers came to these lands, they found that the tribes of minotaurs, centaurs, and lion gargoyles avoided these plains because they believed the hill was cursed. The pony settlers 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 one was chased by those monsters and tormented by ominous omens. My mother was one of those unfortunate ponies. Can you believe it?"

Daring Do had frozen. A memory had rushed into her mind and soon began transforming into a terrible image.

Comments

[Clopian26]

Why do you keep switching between he and she for derring-do?