It was dark, far darker than Clay Dust had anticipated. Of course, they had brought a lantern, which was now shining bright in the pitch black, along with several flares, candles, and a helpful unicorn intern who volunteered to use her magic to light the way should things go wrong. Their expedition into the catacombs had begun over an hour ago, and so far, everything was going well. The only thing that now bothered Clay was the overbearing darkness that seemed to press against the light, as they could only see a few feet in front of them. Still, he trot onward, his colleagues close behind, not daring to be abandoned in the strange black.
In spite of his growing fears, Clay would not allow himself to back out. Few ponies were ever given this opportunity. When he heard that an underground tomb had been discovered beneath Unicorn Range, he thought that he would only hear about the place from the many archeologists who would explore the ruins instead of him, and that he would never see the place for himself. However, as luck would have it, he was commissioned by the local university to explore the newly discovered tomb, and they equipped him with all of the necessary supplies for such an expedition. What’s more, he had three ponies that would join him, all were experts in their respective fields and were just as eager as he was to discover whatever lay hidden beneath Unicorn Range.
And so they marched on, their curiosity driving them forward through the pitch black passage that seemed to stretch on for miles. Clay was just about to speak up when he felt a cool draft blow against his cheek. Evidently, he wasn’t the only one who felt it, as the whole party had stopped, staring ahead at seemingly nothing at all.
“Are we getting close?” asked Tumble Hoof, his echoing voice startled Clay, who felt compelled to snap at the pegasus, but the sound of another voice made him realize just how much the silence had been bothering him, and he was happy to have conversation.
“No idea, we’ve been walking for at least an hour. I’m sure this tunnel leads somewhere, it has to.” He peered ahead, hoping to see something, though he had tried to make out shapes in the darkness many times before, without success. It was truly black, an unnatural kind of darkness.
Clay was startles once again not by a voice, but by a light. Crystal Burst, the unicorn intern who joined purely for the credit for her archaeology class, has let out a sudden spark of light from her horn. Clay would have said something had her light not revealed just how unnatural the darkness really was. Though their immediate surroundings were now well lit, revealing every crack and groove in the weathered stones, the darkness that lay just a few feet ahead remained utterly immutable.
“This… this isn’t right,” stammered Tumble, “we should head back… this isn’t right.” A hoof was placed on his shoulder, intending to reassure him, but instead caused him to jump and scream, bumping his head on the ceiling of the tunnel before flapping back down.
“Sorry,” said the Earth pony behind him, “but we’ve come so far now, how can we head back? We could be the first ponies to have set hoof in here in over a thousand years.”
Clay grunted. “You still haven’t told us anything about this place, Rune Rock. Aren’t you the expert here?”
Rune let out an exasperated sigh. “I told you, this place is new to me, everything. I’ve never seen this kind of architecture before, and there aren’t any carvings indicative of early cultures that lived here. If I had to guess… maybe this was made by Diamond Dogs, only because of how deep the tunnel goes. Ponies and griffons aren’t known for their excavation skills.”
They trot onward in silence for quite a while, still finding no change of scenery, and the darkness remaining as solid as ever. The only change that had occurred over this time, besides Tumble keeping extremely close to Crystal, was the lantern, which was dimming considerably.
“Alright, Crystal, you—you can light it up now.” Tumble suggested with a shaky voice. Crystal ignored him. She didn’t want to see that solid black darkness again. Of course, she could hardly see anything now. She wanted to wait until the lantern finally burned out, which she came to regret when it did. The little light they had left now gone, they were completely engulfed in the darkness that frightened them so much, and Crystal, desperate for that small bubble of light again, let out a spectacular burst of light, completely piercing the darkness.
Rune Rock was the only one who let out an audible gasp. The others simply stood there, their jaws hanging down in awe. Though they hadn’t moved, they were no longer in a tunnel. They now found themselves inside of a giant atrium, the ceiling rising fifty feet above them, and the wall opposite them was splashed with shadows cast by odd protrusions on the stone floor. Clay looked around in fascination, and even Tumble took a few steps forward, now that the pitch black was gone. In fact, the darkness in this room seemed like normal darkness, and, turning around, he found the mouth of the tunnel they had come through, also illuminated and void of… void.
Rune walked forward, taking in whatever Crystal could light. The shadowy protrusions now appeared to be massive stone tablets, which were arranged in a line in front of a small trench. Peering over the edge, she saw water slowly trickling through the bottom.
“Incredible,” she breathed, “it must come from an underground reservoir, and these tablets… Crystal, come closer, I need to read these. Crystal?”
The unicorn hadn’t moved, but was looking around herself, wide-eyed. “How did we just… we were in the tunnel. We didn’t move. I know we didn’t…”
Evidently, neither Clay nor Tumble cared. They were glad to be out of the tunnel, regardless of how they were now in the massive atrium. They were far more interested in the tablets, which Rune was squinting to read. “Crystal… any day now.”
Crystal sighed and walked up behind Rune, shining her light over the tablets. She looked around cautiously, unaware that her moving horn caused Rune to have to keep moving her head to read. The intrepid linguist grit her teeth and squinted, leaning in closer.
“These characters…. They look Elkish, but they’re very strange. What’s more, I don’t recall any elk tribes having inhabited this area. They’re all from the far north.” She scanned the tablet carefully. “This character…. means sleep. I’m not sure about the others—oh!” she peered and cocked her head to the side. “A ruler, a sleeping ruler, everything else…” she looked downward and frowned. “It’s no good. It’s all faded, but can you believe this? This may be the tomb of a king! An elk king!”
Tumble stepped forward, shaking his head. “Elk don’t build underground tombs like this. They build burial mounds. If I may offer a theory,” he cleared his throat, “this place was not built by elk, but by another tribe who lived here long ago. They may have built this place for elk, but judging by your inability to read these writings, they weren’t proficient in Elkish. They must have built this in a hurry.”
Clay furrowed his brow. “That don’t make sense,” he said in a rustic accent, “why would some other ponies build a tomb for an elk, if they never-“ a sudden yell almost made him jump.
“AHA!” cried Rune. “This word, it’s not a word, it’s a name! Arrrrtook? No, Art—hold on—Artuk! I think that’s it!”
Clay grumbled, and Crystal backed away, hoping that Rune was done translating. “And how will that help us exactly? Does anypony here even know who this Artuk is?”
Crystal looked at Rune, who looked at Tumble, who looked at Clay, who shrugged. “I haven’t the foggiest, but let’s keep going.”
Crystal stared at him in disbelief. “What do you mean ‘let’s keep going’? We’ve reached a dead-“ She looked behind him. There was now a stone bridge going across the waterway, and another tunnel with a higher archway leading even deeper into the tomb. “That…. That wasn’t there before. I know it wasn’t.” Before she could object, the others had already crossed the bridge, stopping in front of the tunnel.
Clay lit another lantern as Crystal ran to catch up. “Guys! What are you doing? We need to turn back, this clearly isn’t safe!” Her warnings were ignored, as Clay, Rune, and Tumble all passed under the archway, albeit apprehensively, and descended further into the tomb. Crystal let out a frustrated groan and followed them inside.
Unlike the first tunnel they passed through, the darkness in this one seemed fairly normal, and a few flashes from Crystal’s horn proved that it was indeed penetrable. They were much more relaxed and curious now, eager to discover where this new tunnel led.
“I wonder if there’s treasure down there,” said Clay, “I mean, if this Arktoot guy really was a king, he must have hordes of gems buried with him!”
At this, Crystal now smiled and eagerly pranced ahead. “Finders keepers!” she called cheerfully as she bounced down the stairs. Rune laughed and Tumble bit his lip.
“C’mon Crystal, wait up!” Tumble ran after her, with Clay not far behind. Neither of them wanted to lose claims on whatever might lie at the end of the tunnel. The light from Crystal’s horn kept flashing, lighting the path ahead, and the four ponies, laughing and smiling as playfully as foals, came upon the enormous archway at the end of the tunnel. The light from Crystal’s horn flared brighter than ever as she stared into the circular room beyond—and screamed.
At the center of the room was a round stone dais, and upon the dais, a cadaver, the skeletal remains of a massive creature that Clay could not identify. Its legs, or what was left of them, were bent, as if it was crouching, and it has a long neck, easily spanning seven feet. Its head was gigantic, with large, round eye sockets, and what Clay had initially assumed was another stone structure were, in fact, antlers. However, was struck Clay as odd, aside from its incredible size, was the mane, which appeared to still be attached to its head, and all along its neck.
Rune took a cautious step forward, knowing full well that the creature was dead, but quite unnerved by the size and implausibility of it. “This… can’t be Artuk, can it? I mean, elk… elk don’t get this big.” She climbed up on the dais and stared at its face. Its eye sockets were very dark—pitch black. She shuddered. “We… need to go. Now.”
Clay wouldn’t have it. “After we came so far? We don’t even know if this is all there is. Crystal, search the walls, there must be something else here.” Crystal nodded hesitantly and began to circle the room while Tumble looked around, glancing back at the carcass every now and then. Rune backed away toward the exit, not wanting to leave the others, but terrified of what that darkness held.
“Find anything?” called Tumble, still circling the room, pressing his hooves against the walls. “I’ll be there’s a secret room on the other side.” Clay examined the dais itself while Rune kept her eyes fixed on Artuk. Before Tumble could suggest they go back and search the atrium, Rune screamed.
“IT MOVED! ARTUK, HE-“
Crystal’s light was soon diminished to a small space, not because she decreased it, but because of a solid darkness which immediately filled the room. Rune, Tumble, and Clay we’re all left in complete darkness, unable to see anything.
“Crystal! Where’d you go? Where’s the light? I can’t see!” The voice was Tumble’s, and it was thick with fear. He moved toward where he saw her last, and was surprised when he suddenly entered within her range of light. “How-… what? I couldn’t see you back there.” He took a step back and, indeed, once he left the extent of what Crystal could illuminate, he saw nothing. Not even her. “Guys, we’re over here!”
Clay soon found them, his head poking inside Crystal’s bubble, startling the both of them. “Well I’ll be darned… how come I couldn’t see you?”
Crystal shrugged, still trying to increase the light on her horn. “I don’t know, I’m trying as hard as I can… where’s Rune? Rune, where are you?” She moved slowly, Clay and Tumble keeping close, listening for any sign of Rune. Suddenly, they heard a small sob, and moved toward it. There they found Rune, curled up, her eyes fixed in terror at seemingly nothing, though Clay knew it was in the direction of Artuk.
“Rune?” he asked softly, “You okay? We’ll… we’ll go now, okay Rune?” She didn’t move or speak, still staring at the void and whimpering. Clay sighed. “Aright, I’ll go check it out.”
Crystal looked at him pleadingly and Tumble put a reassuring hoof on Rune’s back. Clay pulled a lantern out of his bag and set off into the pitch black, vanishing from the view of the others, but now with his own small source of light. He climbed up onto the dais and looked around. He could see nothing, nothing within the range of the lantern anyway. “Now I could have sworn-“
Those were the last words that Clay ever spoke. As he took another step forward, his lantern illuminated the erect shape of Artuk’s skull, which unhinged, loosing an unholy growl as it lunged forward. Clay didn’t have time to react, scream, or even process what he was seeing when the massive incisors bit down, cleaving his body in half.
Rune, Crystal, and Tumble all screamed in unison as blood sprayed through the dark and splashed at their hooves, Tumble’s hooves being splashed with his own urine as well, unable to control his body, though his brain screamed for him to run. Eventually, his body consented, and he turned, running out of the light and smacking into a wall. He heard Crystal and Rune running too, and followed the sounds of their hooves, scampering through the tunnel.
Rune managed to pull out her own lantern as tears poured down her face. “Clay… oh Celestia… Clay… we l-left him…” she panted as she tore up the stairs. Tumble was close behind, constantly looking back, though the darkness prevented him from seeing more than two feet.
“You guys… s-saw the size of it….” he choked, “ It can’t… get us here… can’t fit…” Yet they could hear the howl growing louder and closer. Somehow, Artuk was following them. Tumble, in desperation, tried to fly ahead, and zoomed out of the range of Crystal’s light, into the pitch black.
Crystal and Rune then heard a bloodcurdling scream, not from ahead, but from behind. Tumble’s cries raised Rune’s panic to a fever pitch. “The dark… it doesn’t matter where we go…” She pulled out a lantern as Tumble’s voice was silenced forever, not daring to imagine what grisly fate he had met. The two mares stuck close to each other, climbing the long tunnel, with Artuk’s howls sending them further up regardless of how tired and panicked they felt.
“We should have reached the other room by now!” yelled Crystal. Rune noticed this as well, and, in sudden realization, her eyes widened as she quickly put out the light in her lantern.
“Crystal, turn off your light,” she ordered, “just for a moment. It’s the only way.” The terrified unicorn kept running, not bothering to look back at her.
“Are you insane? That th-thing… no, I can’t-“
“You have to!”
“Why?”
Rune clenched her teeth. “Remember how we ended up in that huge atrium in the first place? You have to put your light out!”
Crystal finally turned to look at her, realizing as well what she must do and, breathing heavily, she quickly dimmed her light, allowing the blackness to swallow them up.
Everything was completely silent. They stood there, feeling and hearing nothing, unsure if it would work. But Crystal was scared and impatient. She swiftly relit her horn, her light revealing that they were indeed back in the atrium, but they weren’t alone; directly in front of them stood Artuk, the innards of Tumble hanging from his teeth.
Crystal tried to scream but nothing came out. Rune was already gone, tearing past the massive skeletal beast and galloping over the stone bridge, no longer caring for the fate of her friend.
Artuk moved slowly, as if knowing that Crystal would not move. The young mare’s light flickered as her mouth hung open, trying to form a cry. Artuk’s maw gaped open to devour its next victim and, in staring at her executioner, Crystal’s final thoughts were understanding a mystery she never considered: How can a skeleton eat a pony?
The inside of its mouth was pitch black.
The next day, a group of campers who were hiking through the range were frightened when a crying, injured mare ran toward them, collapsing and passing out before she could say a word. She awoke several hours later and, in a shaky voice, explained that she escaped from a monster that was awakened within a tomb. Against her pleas and cries, two of the campers set off in the direction she (regretfully) said the tomb was. They eventually found it and went inside.
An hour later, they emerged. There was no monster, no immutable darkness, and not a speck of blood or trace that any other ponies had been there. They were going to disregard her story as insane ramblings when one of the campers noticed something odd. A trail of enormous hoof prints leading out of the tomb and right in the direction of their camp.