The Timeless One

The sweat rolled off the earth ponies forehead, his body sore as the harsh winds and scorching heat of the Equestrian Desert battered his body. Not exactly the happiest, he groaned as he stuck his shovel into the sand.

"Who the fuck said there was something out here? The only thing out here is sand and death!" he yelled, annoyed, and upset as his archeological dig officer. The officer just growled at him before taking a sip of his water. "If you want whatever's under the sand, you fucking dig for it!"

The hole the archeologist stood at the top was nearly several thousand feet deep. The lead said something about a cave in the desert at the coordinates of the dig site, something about how the cave was very narrow and very deep. The archeologist didn't know the details of the dig site, but after several months in the sand, chipping away at the walls of the cave to get closer to the bottom, he was beginning to feel like this was a waste of time. The sound of labored breathing and rushed footsteps came from behind, close to the ladder into the hole.

"S-Sir, we think we found it," another archeologist nearly fell over as he approached. He fell to his side panting and laughing softly as he rested, as the officer stood up and stretched. The climb down was very slow, the rickety wooden ladder creaking with every rung. Only a few ponies died during this dig, but the Equestrian Archeological Society would cover it up so no one would know anyone died. At the bottom of the cave, everyone had gathered around what looked like a large metal plate, writing, runes, and symbols inscribed into the metal via welding marks. The letters were nothing that anyone there had ever seen.

"What the hell is it?" Someone asked as several earth ponies got closer. The sheet appeared to connect to more sheets that entered the floor of the cave.

"It looks like a box... a massive one at that..." The officer mumbled as he got closer. "Alright, get to the top and throw down some chains, we need to pull this thing out!"

Ponies dispersed quickly, everyone's curiosity peaked as they went to quickly begin digging this thing out.

The chains connected to the metal with a magical connection, as the pullies slowly began to turn as the chain go taut and the container begins to rise. The container rose and swung, hitting the edge of the cave, causing sand and debris to fall to the floor of the cave, but the container remains intact and looks spotless except for the many welding marks. After a while, the container is placed squarely on the desert sand, the wind whistling against the side of the container. Everyone stared at the doors to the metal container, before two ponies approached to open it. The two grab the handles to the container and pull with all their might, before the doors open with a low, groaning creak.

Inside was more inscribing on the metal, except this time the inscriptions appeared to be of dried blood. There were several crates and wooden boxes on the floor of the container, but most surprising of all is what in the middle of the container. In the middle of the container, held up by chains and meat hooks, was a creature. The figure was like a minotaur except he had no fur on his body, except for the hair on his head. The figure was dressed in a black straight-jacket with the same inscriptions burnt into the fabric.

"W-What in Tartarus is this?" The officer asks, before looking at someone. "Someone message the royals, we need their help out here."

No one approached the corpse, afraid of the creature and the contents of the container. Everyone sat around, waiting for the royals to arrive, the soft sound of ponies popping up are heard nearby.

"I was told this was a top priority, so this better be damned important," the voice said as he approached the officer.

"Your highness, we found something that... well it lacks description," the officer explained, as he leads the king over to the entrance to the container. The officer bowed his head as the king looked into the container, a bemused look on his face as he enters the container.

"Hmm... I don't know what language this is, definitely isn't anything I've seen in the past 5000 years, but I do know that these runes are something I've seen before," the king speaks, examing the many runes and symbols. "The symbols too, both of them are used in binding or trapping spells, but these are far more advanced than anything I've ever seen, the strongest I've ever seen was a trap spell used by me and my wife when we encaged more or less a god, but this creature?"

"W-Would you like to have some time to examine the container, my highness?" the officer asks, his tone shaky as he stares at the massive alicorn.

"No, I like having something to speak to when I investigate something, it's why I'm one of the best mages in all of Eques," he boasts, before laughing. "That and several millennia to practice... The creature is held up by what appears to be silver meat hooks, chains appear to be solid steel."

The king slowly moves in closer to the creature, looking over its body. He frowns before his horn lights up and the several crates and boxes float out of the container and outside.

"Open them, I want to see what is inside," the king demands, his tone flat and authoritative. He exits the container as well, waiting for the boxes to open. He doesn't have to wait long, as the crates are cracked open, one pony crying softly as he steps on a nail, blood oozing from the sole of his hoof. Inside the crates were many books and journals, the pages yellowed with time, but still readable. That is if the text was something the ponies could read, but it was the same text as the words on the container. "Damn, I'll have Starswirl translate this."

Inside the container, the smell of blood hit the corpse's nose, sending signals off inside the creature's head. It wanted to move, but couldn't, the many inscriptions made movement impossible.

"Alright, put everything back into the container, close it, and get the container to the castle... by the time you get there, I'll have a place for it planned, and this excavation is to be kept off the books, no one should know about this except us," the king announced, before clearing his throat. "If anyone says a thing about this, you and the pony you told will vanish from Equestrian history."

With a final threat to ensure ponies stayed quiet, the king teleported out of the desert, leaving the archeologists to pack up and prepare to leave.

"Dad, where you go?" the small filly asked, wanting to know of her father's adventures. The stallion sighed before he smiled.

"Maybe I'll tell you when you're older, Celestia," the king told his daughter, before putting the young princess on his back. "Come, let's go see if we can find your mother, see if she wants anything?"

MANY MILLENIUM LATER

With a shallow cough, Celestia weakly kept up the shield against the barrage of attackers. Twilight fired attack after attack at the slowly advancing enemy, but nothing seemed to stop them. Celestia looked at Twilight, blood flowing down her brow as she growled softly, before looking around her. The entrance hall to the castle of Canterlot was destroyed, rubble and debris lay everywhere, as many unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi fought for their freedom and survival. These weren't soldiers, these were civilians, they were scared and desperate. As Celestia looked around, the words of her father echoed in her head.

"If you feel like you are about to lose Equestria, there is a special weapon underneath the castle, deep in the dungeon... it will help you," the words echoed through her head. She never wanted to use a weapon that could be that powerful, but right now her country and ponies were on the line, and damned if she was going to it fall today.

"T-Twilight, I need you to go to the dungeon, at the bottom of the dungeon... there should be a weapon there that can help us... I need you to go get it," Celestia told Twilight, her words weak as she strained to keep the magical shield up that was keeping the attackers out of Canterlot castle. Twilight looked up at her mentor, fear plastered on her face, before nodding and running off for the dungeons.