Hiking through the Everfree Forest is always a questionable course of action. But if people didn't explore the unknown and dangerous things would be nasty. This was the logic behind Oak Lovely's explorations. According to legend, this particular region of the forest contained a strange item from untold moons ago capable of disabling magical gem constructs on mass. Not that Oak had any idea there was a massive weapon of exactly that nature pointed at Canterlot, Celestia is yet to tell anybody outside of the Royal Guard.

Very little is known about the aforementioned magical item. All anybody seems to know is that it is an ancient artifact that is able to block magical senses. Many doubt the existence of it. Now it's up to Oak to prove them right or wrong. Knife in mouth, that's exactly what she intended to do. Even by Everfree standards this area has barely any history of habitation. While the forest is much more alive and full of communities than people give it credit for, this section is more like what the citizens of Ponyville think Everyfree is like: This weeds, monsters, darkness and a general unpleasant feeling.

Oak tends to avoid this area as there aren't very many historical artifacts to recover and it's rather painful to get through. More than anything however, Oak was bored. Everyfree was like a second home, possibly even more than Oak's actual home. If Everfree is a house this is the storage closet. After spending the entire day looking for this likely fake temple, it started to get dark.

As if on command, Oak noticed something in the distance: A light. It looked more like an electronic light than a lantern.
"Hello? Is somebody there?" She called out.
No answer.
"Are you lost? This is a very dangerous place to be." In hindsight that could have come out more poetic, but not much can be done about it now.
Could it be that zebra? Perhaps a tribe of creatures that live in the forest? That would explain why they didn't answer, On a few occasions Oak had encountered undiscovered being in the forest that did not speak Ponish.

Oak began walking in the direction of the light, realizing it was the only way to get answers.

Getting closer, it became apparent that this was a stationary light, similar to that of a submarine. It was on the top and center of a small mound. It was too dark to make out, but it seemed to be dirt piled ontop of a small. In the center of this mound there was a rectangle impression, about the size of a door. Wiping away the dirt revealed that it was a door. A very metallic rather modern-looking door. It looked like it had been there for a long time, nearly rusted shut. Thoughts were racing in Oak's head.
"Did ancients make this?" "How did it look so modern?" "If it was built within present times why was it so old looking?"
These thoughts were interrupted by noticing a small device the door had instead of a knob or handle. It had small wheels with numbers on them, like a very small slot-machine. Next to the numbers it was labeled with alien measurements.

And it was counting down.

Millennia: |0||0||0|,|0||0||0|,|0||0||0|,|0||0||0|
Centuries: |0|
Decades: |0|
Years: |0|
Days: |0||0||0|
Hours: |0||0|
Minutes: |0||0|
Seconds: |0||0|
Milliseconds: |0||0||3|

...

Milliseconds: |0||0||2|

...

Milliseconds: |0||0||1|

...

Milliseconds: |0||0||0|

Followed by a short almost inaudible click and a much louder thunk from inside the door. Oak never checked if the door was locked, but it wasn't hard to figure out what that noise meant. Pushing the door open revealed a set of stone stairs.
"This is more up my ally."
They looked much more "temple-like" than the door. After roughly 20 feet of decent writing became apparent on the walls. It was clearly math problems, but they were wrong somehow. Not that Oak could explain how. Figuring it was just the sleep deprivation, Oak continued on. Further down the math had more of that unexplained wrongness and grew increasingly erratic. Around 40 feet down it was totally unreadable. At 50 feet the stairwell opened up to a room. It was a perfect cube, again made of stone.

On the oppisite wall of the stairs was a stone slab seeming connected to a puzzle. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design.

The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design.

The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design. The puzzle was rather simple in design.

Following it's completion, which Oak couldn't seem to remember properly, the slab lifted. On the other side was a crude wooden and rope bridge above a pit of fire with no apparent source or bottom. The bridge terminated at a cylindrical pillar. After going across the bridge, which was unnaturally sturdy, Oak came across yet more stairs. Despite being inside a vertical cylinder the stairs seemed to progress at a 45 degree angle.

Proceeding down the stairs, for what seemed like longer than an eternity, Oak was presented with a long hallway covered with murals and descriptions. They seemed to be theological in nature. Before all the murals was a message burned into the wall:

Alright, You've had your grand entrance. Now it's my turn.

The first one was simply a black square with information under it.

Long before anything started.
Before the beginning.
Before The Gray.
Before nothing.
There was a great darkness.
Filled with less than nothing
And somehow even less.

The next one was the same black background, now with three dots in a triangle.

After an infinite instant.
Three beings "awoke".
They were old beings.
And were the first to ask the oldest question.
Why?
So they thought.
And thought.
And had an idea.

This one had 3 arms reaching from where the dots were located on the last one. Despite seeing it right there, Oak couldn't seem to discern any more information about these arms.

They cast their...
Let's call it "power" into something.
It made a great light.
And it cast many complex shadows.
Now we call these shadows "everything" and "matter".
As time went on the shadows got smarter.
Perhaps the aim of the project changed.

Was this a creation tale? The next one had several stick-figuraes, seemingly standing on their hind legs, standing around a dark green rectangle. They wore white clothes that didn't seem to be any normal clothing.

As the project seemed to be less about finding the creator of the Darkness.
One of the beings that we'll call "DAHKUU" began to go mad.
Eventually it started calling it's self "God" and seemed to legitimately think of it's self as one.
If not the main one.
It collected some of the shadows.
And had them create something amazing.
Something you need to contact the Royal Guard about confirming that you know about the device heading towards Canterlot and that this is the fabled machine that can stop it.

Oak awoke in a cold sweat, not paying mind to the dream described above. It somehow felt less real than most dreams but was also crystal clear. Finally mustering up the courage to face the morning sun with open eyes, Oak saw an all-to-familiar dark green slab at the foot of the bed.

Author's Note

Extended.