The Darkness Beckons

by Flash Conception

Chpt 1: The Darkness Draws Back

The Darkness Rises: Book one

Written account by: Flash Conception

The days where ponies knew Equestria are much different from what they were thousands of years ago. Celestia had defeated Discord, Sombra, and her sister. With so much of her power spent, she had to rely on others for smaller tasks. To the pegasi, she left the creations of rainbows. Not all of society knows about how the pegasi created rainbows, but why should they? The ones who find out are always silenced forever, that dark secret they would carry to their grave. The Earth ponys were told they had to do whatever it took to keep the other ponies in line and under control. Shortly after, dozens of residents began to disappear around town, and would never be seen again. Finally the unicorns were asked to keep balance between this plane of existence and another plane, which was partial to merging with our own.

All three races kept their dark secrets throughout the ages, however, two of these dark secrets were illuminated. The pegasus’ rainbow machine and the earth pony’s “pony costume” were brought to light. However, neither of these actions were stopped by the victims or the guilty. As time went on, the world forgot about the second plain of existence the unicorns tried so hard to keep abroad. This secret was safely guarded, due to its catastrophic effect on the world in earlier years. To keep ponies from finding out their secret, the unicorns devised a plan to make sure their secret was never discovered. What better place to hide it than in plain sight?

---

“Twist, Specs! Flash is already half way up the mountain. We’re going to be late to Argon’s place. Again!” whined Sunset Remedy.

“This would have been easier if you were all Pegasi like me!” shouted Flash, soaring back and forth to find a faster way to Argon’s house, “but, since none of you are, we have to walk around this mountain.”

“Come on guys, this is good bonding time! We hardly get to hang out anymore since Twilight Sparkle had us go on those wild goose chases.” Called Lemon Twist, who was the farthest behind in the group.

“Who’s to say this isn’t another one of those?” moaned Retro Spects. “For all we know, Argon isn’t even home.”

“Don’t worry.” Reassured Sunset, “I was just at his place earlier today, he said he’d be home for the rest of the day ‘Preparing something’. Whatever it is, it must be important.”

“And just WHAT were you doing at his house?” accused Flash, “did you go ‘have a drink with him’? Are Remmy and the Mad Scientist of Ponyville hooking up?”

“For your information, Flash, No. I already have a very special somepony, thank you!” Sunset shot back.
Twist tilted her head “You do? But I thought you liked F-mmhmmph” She was cut off. Spects had shoved a small shrub into her mouth.

“Keep it down,” Spects whispered, “Remmy is going to tell Flash tonight, that’s part of why we’re going too, to make sure he doesn’t fly off in a huff or die from a heart attack. Its not every day you find out your best friend loves you”.

Remedy blushed and looked on towards Flash, noting his distance she remarked “you’re also there to make sure that I actually tell him this time. I’ve almost told him three times this week, but I either froze up, got mad at him, or he started talking about his silly game shop.”

“I thought you loved my job!” shouted Flash, who was near the summit of the mountain. "you never complained about the free stuff I got you".

“If he could hear that, why didn’t he hear our earlier conversation?” said Twist, dumbfounded. She never came across as the brightest in the group.

“He’s a boy, he may have good hearing, but it has a filter. If its not about mares or games, he isn’t interested.” Grunted Remedy. “lets just get to Argon’s place, we can talk there.”

---

As the group of friends skipped up the mountain, they couldn't see the dark presence stalking them on their way to their friend's house. The shadow condensed to form a dark unicorn, with a scar across his red eyes. He watched as the group ascended the mountain and smirked.

"they have no idea what's in store for them. Soon they will meet their fate, and my task here will be complete".

He took his shadow form once again and sulked into a bush, waiting for the group to get farther ahead before he went after them.

---

“Ah! You've all arrived! This is wonderful news!” Argon spewed. He was sitting in his lab chair, eating a blueberry muffin as streams of data clung to his computers. The usual smell of a work-in-progress experiment fermented from somewhere in the room. The streams of cobwebs a clear sign how often Argon had gone back to work on it.

“Anything you’d like done, Doc?” Flash beamed “you know how helpful I can be!” Flash looked around the lab to find anything that could be done to hasten their visit. The faster he got everypony out and about, the more time he could pester Remedy about her very special somepony.

“Ah yes, I recall a certain parasprite outbreak because you lost my specimen. You still owe me one parasprite, by the way” Argon shot back, quickly nodding his head toward a broken containment chamber. "They're not easy to come by you know".

“Hey its not my fault that the stupid little-“ Remedy cleared her throat, cutting off Flash before he could finish. “so, what’s this ‘new discovery of yours? We rushed here as fast as we could.”

"Ah, well, as I was digging for some iron and copper for chisels and tools for my lab, when I stumbled upon a new discovery. An entire temple hidden throughout the years, some kind of ancient civilization must have built it. I need you all to come with me to check it out. If something were to happen, my magic might not be enough to escape that wretched tomb.” Argon said concerned. His eyes scanned the group to find anyone who dared question his stand.

Retro Spects was the first to look to Argon, confused. “What do you mean? is there some ancient barrier preventing you from moving rocks aside? Judging from the region we’re in you shouldn’t have trouble-”

Argon, whose face was full of frustration now, shot back “What would happen if the temple is full of traps? I know nothing of this civilization, and all of my books say nothing should exist there, but i can guarantee with a certain margin of error that the temple is no place for anypony to travel alone. That, and the entrance is blocked by a giant boulder which can only be moved by more than one pony. There seems to be a certain mechanism to move it away from the door.”

“Sorry i asked” deadpanned Spects. He should have seen that coming. He thought of ways to handle situations like that better, in preparation of when it happened again.

Lemon Twist sprung up and looked at Argon. She smiled and said in her usual bubbly voice, “So lets get this show on the road! I can’t wait to see an ancient civilization other than my auntie Lime’s house.”

“Alright, if we get separated, everypony should meet up back here.” Sunset ordered. She slowly trotted around the room. “there’s no telling what might happen, so be on your hooves”.

There was a collective “Yes Ma’am”, as they piled into the cave, unaware of the events that would soon follow.

---

As the group finished moving down into the tunnel, a shadow emerged from where Argon had been standing. It started to morph into the sinister pony who had followed the group to their house. He began to trot around the room to see what chaos he could cause, when something caught his eye. The data on Argon’s screens talked about a temple just bellow the house location dating back 1,000 years in the past.

“Ah, so it finally showed itself” sneered the dark pony. “After all this time, we have been waiting. I know what I must do.”

He ran down the hole, after the group. He turned to the entrance of the cave and blocked it by forming a giant rock to block the tunnel. As he formed into a shadow, it hissed “I’m coming for you, Flash. The prophecy must not be fulfilled. She must not escape”.