Part 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.

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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.