Avestraeoh

Daring Do shivered, her feathers quivering on end as she reached out delicately with her right wing and, with painstaking precision born of long practice, dipped her wing in a jar on her saddlebags. With finesse and a speed that was impossible for any other living pony to match, she carefully traced a pattern engraved into the wall. It glowed with a golden light, an eight-pointed star within a dodecahedron surrounded by writing in ancient Alicornian, then vanished. She sighed, then grimaced in annoyance as her teeth chattered. She shivered again, the hair on the back of her neck standing up in fear.

It wasn't because of the fact that she'd just almost triggered yet another set of defensive runes. She'd already disabled over four dozen nasty spells that would have killed intruders, including flame traps, impaling spikes, and a bizarre one that would have released exploding donkey heads. Besides, she'd been in far tighter spots before and survived. Ahuizotl could be fiendishly clever when he set traps for her.

No, it was because of the fact that, though it should have been high noon, it was dark. And the temperature was dropping rapidly as the day - or should she call it night? - rolled on, into its second day of darkness.

Daring was VERY concerned. Whoever was stopping the sun from rising, they were implementing the opposite of Ahuizotl's long-held dream of  unrelenting heat. She considered the possibility that Celestia was behind this yet again, and - yet again - discarded the notion. It didn't match her psychological profile.

But if Celestia wasn't the one doing it, who was? The only option left was Nightmare Moon, an old mare's tale told to children late at night, to scare them out of their wits. She wasn't prepared to dismiss it out of hoof, as she knew that there was often a bit of truth in legends.

The question continued to gnaw at her as she stepped forward and carefully redipped her wingtip in mana gel, then with equal care started tracing the highly intricate pattern of runes on the door that was the last obstacle between her and whatever was resonating in her bones.

Daring finished, and with a rising sense of impatience, pushed the doors open. She quickly scanned the room for more traps, and only then, satisfied that she wasn't about to be immolated or suffer another gruesome fate, did she step into the room. Then, as it began to truly register, she involuntarily released a small gasp of surprise.

On a raised platform were a set of spheres that she recognized. Very few others would have recognized them, but she had a knowledge of ancient relics that was unmatched in Equestria.

She walked slowly, reverently up to the ancient contraption that held the spheres. The sense of resonation was nearly unbearable now, uncontrollable quivers racking her frame. She stretched out a hoof, and touched a sphere.

The resonation instantly vanished, as the sphere declared, in a way that Daring didn't recognize, that it was the Element of Loyalty.

She suddenly heard voices, snapping her out of her temporary rapport with the Elements of Harmony. She mentally cursed, and flew up into a dark corner, slowing her breathing down to the point of near inaudibility.