They were made by those who are dead...
The snap of twigs and the rustling of bushes broke out in the silence of the night. From the canopy of the dark oak trees crows cawed and leapt into the sky. Out from the edge of the woods a pony stepped forth onto the lush northern plain.
“We’re here.” Stated the unicorn, who’s pink coat and lavender hair stuck out in the dark canvas that was the trees and the sky and the clouds. Then came a pegasus stallion, his long steel gray mane fluttered lightly in the breeze of the plains, and his pearl white coat reflected the moon’s touch. He seemed almost like we would be more comfortable high amongst the stars than down on earth.
“You sure this is the place?” He questioned, “I was expecting something a bit more…”
“Scary?”
The pegasus nodded, “Well, it’s definitely creepy.”
The plains were illuminated only by the grace of Luna’s moon. The white, cool rays touching everything beneath the sky, the tips of the grass and the leaves of the trees and even their own fur was infected with a tiny bit of bloom. It wasn’t much, but it was only from the moon’s painting of the landscape with it’s light that allowed the party to see what was ahead:
Set before them, just a minute's trot away, were a series of hills. There were nine from what the trio could see, set apart evenly across from one another with about eight ponies length between each one. In the flatness of the plains, they were clearly out of place, and the tall, soft grasses flowed over them like ocean waves.
But, what immediately caught the eye were the stone pillars that jutted out from each one: towering monoliths of aged rock born from the earth and rising high into the air. They were dangerously tall as well, as if the earth itself wished to touch the stars themselves, and sprouted these pillars of jagged stone in an effort to do so.
The pink unicorn gazed around, “The Barrows…”
The trio heard the rustling of grass behind them, and the other two ponies came into view. First was an earth pony filly with her seafoam green fur and maroon red braided mane lumbered forward, a large pack on her back.
The pink unicorn cocked a brow, “Finally decided to join us, eh?”
The earth pony filly flicked her braid, “Sorry Starshine.” She said, her voice slightly accented, “Had to get some twigs outta’ my mane.”
Starshine nodded, then looked around at the edge of the forest, “Buddy, where is your brother, Roots?”
The teenage filly shrugged the pack on her back, “He had to take a leak, he should be here soon.”
Just then, another pony emerged, an earth pony much like Roots, though his coat was a dirty brown color, and his mane an unkept dull emerald green. He too carried a large pack on his back, and trotted up noisily beside his sister, “Sorry ‘bout that. Nature called.” Roots said.
“At least you didn’t get lost.” Quipped the gray pegasus, “We wouldn’t want to put anymore stress on your parents.”
Starshine glared at the stallion, “Leave them be Thundercloud.”
He waved her off, “I meant nothing by it. Come along you two.”
The group continued on towards the hills. The monoliths occasionally blocked the light of the moon, casting dark shadows down on the gloomy earth below, but that didn’t seem to bother Thundercloud as he marched down the center between the mounds. The wind also seemed to die here, the waving grass that had tickled their feltlocks lying limply against the ground.
Starshine kept her head on a swivel, her ears twitching back and forth in search of the faintest sound beside the rustle of the grass and the distant fluttering leaves on the wind.
Buddy broke the silence, “Our granny used ta’ tell us stories about this place. It’s older than even Celestia ‘erself, she used to say. This place here is ancient.”
Roots snickered, “Not as ancient as Swift Wind’s mom.”
Buddy knocked her flank against his, “It’s rude ta’ talk ‘bout other folks like that.”
“Can-it you two.” Starshine hissed, “I’m trying to listen.”
Thundercloud rolled his eyes, “Don’t tell me you believe all that hoo-ha about this place, Starshine. Just a bunch of small-town folk making up spooky stories to keep themselves entertained, like usual.”
The pink mare narrowed her eyes, “I’m not listening for ghosts you featherbrain, I’m trying to make sure there isn’t anything that's going to jump out and eat us.”
Thundercloud smirked, “Alright, mare, alright.” The group stopped in the center of the formations, and listened for a moment. Nothing but the ambience of the night met them, “Ok.” The gray pegasus called, “We’re here, now what?”
Starshine was silent for a moment, taking in the more noticeable details of the mounds. They were clearly artificial, she could see where old blocks of stone were piled up at the face of each one, and where each one had a small entrance. But the one that caught her attention was the ninth hill, just at the end of the stretch. It was larger than the others, if only slightly, and had a monolith atop it made of black stone, maybe even onyx, that seemed to suck in all the light around it. She was surprised they hadn’t noticed it before.
“That one.” She decided, pointing her hoof at the ninth. The group looked on at the mound in question, and they made their way towards it. “We make camp here.” Starshine declared.
The two earth pony siblings looked at eachother, then back at the unicorn, “You want us ta’ set the tents…here?”
“Right in the middle of the Barrows?” Roots questioned.
Starshine rolled her eyes, “That’s what I said, right?”
The two earth ponies seemed hesitant, but the flick of a golden bit their way had them dropping their packs and unloading their camping supplies. Meanwhile, Thundercloud inspected the hill. He marched up to the chosen barrow, the entrance was little more than a stone lined hole in the side of the hill, barely large enough to fit a dog, and Thundercloud knew it would be a bit of a squeeze.
“Alright.” He began, “I don’t think we’ll be able to take a pack in there.” He told Starshine, “So let's just bring the essentials.”
The mare nodded in agreement, and began sorting through their belongings. In the glowing pink aura of her magical grip she grabbed a pair of flashlights with extra power crystals, an oil lamp, some bright yellow flag markers, and some rope. As well as a small canvas bag no larger than a hoof.
“Do you two know how deep this place goes?” Thundercloud asked the pair of siblings as his partner-in-crime fetched their supplies.
Roots shook his head, his messy mane flying about, “Nope. I wouldn’ go down there if ya’ paid me.”
Thundercloud cocked a brow, “Even if it was more than we already were?”
Buddy nodded, “Not if ya’ gave us a million bits.”
“Strange things are said ‘bout this place.” Roots gazed around, eying the monoliths surrounding them, “Things I ain’t gonna’ mention now that we’re actually here.”
“Don’t worry fillys and colts.” Starshine reassured, a mess of items floating beside her, “I’m sure it’s just local legend. They said a lot of the same things about these old mines we explored out in the Appleloosa Desert.”
Thundercloud nodded, a grin on his face, “The local ponies said that the spirits of Buffalo haunted those caverns, and you know what it turned out to be?” He peered at the duo, as if expecting them to know the answer. When they didn’t answer, giving him curious looks instead, he said, “It was just a couple of quartz crystals in the rock that would reflect light!”
“And the sand-dogs, don’t forget the sand-dogs.” Starshine added.
“I always forget about the sand-dogs.” Thundercloud frowned, “But anyway, the point is, this place may be old, but I doubt any of those stories are true.” The duo didn’t look convinced, but continued to pitch their tents as the pair of explorers/researcher/daredevils planned their approach.
“Alright, let’s go.” Thundercloud signaled. He turned on his flashlight and shone it down into the hole. He could see the bottom where dirt and grass and tiny roots had taken hold, and knew it wasn’t more than a few hoofs down. He reached into the small canvas sack and pulled out a small white piece of crystal quartz, “Charge this for me?” He hoofed it over to Starshine.
After a second, the crystal was glowing bright as a white star in the night sky. It wasn’t blinding, but it was enough aura to light up the area around them and the campsite. With it back in his hoof, Thundercloud let the crystal roll down into the hole, illuminating it and hopefully spooking any creepy-crawlies away.
Then he went down himself, head-first, and landed with a light thump against the dirt pile beneath. Starshine followed suit, lowering their supplies down one by one before joining her partner. Down below they saw walls of old, dirty rock and another short entryway, this one rounded at the top with bricks of chiseled, mossy stone.
“Welp.” Starshine said, “Here we go again.”
The earth pony siblings watched them dive down into the surface entrance, and soon after the light of the crystal and their flashlights disappeared further into the abyss. “I’ve gotta bad feeling, Roots.” Buddy said.
Her brother nodded simply, “If they’re not back in a few hours, I say we take the packs an’ get lost.”
“Agreed.”
Down in the darkness, the duo had a realization. The holes that they thought were entryways were not only caved in doorways, flooded with dirt and mud, but there were stairs that led further down into the depths of the barrow, once they were no longer covered by layers of earth. So here now they stood, at the top of a set of rough steps, which seemed not made for pony hooves.
The downward tunnel was also quite wide, well enough to fit four ponies standing flank to flank, and the arching roof was tall, at least twelve hooves in height. The two studied the stonework that made up the walls of this place, and even with the wear down from the air that flowed in through the crevices they had wiggled in, they were still smooth.
“I don’t think this place was made by ponies.” Thundercloud said.
Starshine hummed, “It could have been minotaurs. I read that they used to occupy the western lands before the tribes united.”
Thundercloud nodded, “That seems likely. They were known for their masonry. And this is top quality stuff.”
The duo gazed down into the darkness of the stairway, and started down. It was a little hard on the hooves, going down these massive steps, but their curiosity was piqued, and with the lack of any aggressive, probably hungry, creatures down here, they felt they could breathe a little better despite the enclosed space.
Thunderclouds ears perked, “What if this is one of those long lost Labyrinths of Minos?” He pondered.
Starshine couldn’t help but smile at the idea, the two would make it into the history books for sure, though she wasn’t afraid to admit that Thundercloud always seemed more into this exploration gig more for the fame, than the knowledge gained. But, he was a brave stallion, and had just as much interest in discovering long-lost places and relics of times long past, so she was always happy to have him by her side.
The pair finally touched the bottom of the staircase, and Starshine killed the enchantment on the crystal and lit up her horn, a similar, bright light emitting from it. From their place they could see where a small hall stretched before them, before coming to a tall door. The wood was rotting and its iron bracings were red and black with rust.
“Damn, I didn’t expect to find an intact door down here.” Starshine grunted.
Thundercloud trotted to it, and knocked it in a few places with his hoof. Then, with a firm push, the door creaked on its rusty hinges, swinging open just enough to let them through. Starshine’s eyes widened in surprise, “Was it locked?” She asked her fellow explorer.
Thundercloud shrugged, “I saw some kind of keyhole, but I’m not sure if it was locked.”
Starshine hummed, “I suppose that would explain why not many ponies have ventured down here.”
Thundercloud chuckled, “Yeah, they probably saw the door and figured there was no way in.”
Thundercloud stuck his flashlight in the crack in the door and entered through. Starshine rushed to his side, and the two were so perplexed by the sight before them they didn’t hear the door close, soft as a whisper, and lock itself.
The two stood in a chamber, its walls covered from floor to ceiling in hieroglyphs and strange writing. Images of places and things they didn’t (or couldn’t) recognize littered the stone. Starshine walked up to the wall on her left, mouth agape, as she took in the carved silhouettes of strange, upright figures pictured doing everything from tending crops with scythes, to driving carts with whips and oxen, and waging war with spears and swords. All the while, detailed depictions of alien figures were carved high above on the cap of the ceiling, some holding scepters in their minotaur-like hands, others holding maces or swords, but all had crowns of weird design upon their oval heads.
“These are some weird minotaurs.” Thundercloud muttered.
“I don’t think these are minotaurs.” Starshine stated. The unicorn spotted some text upon the wall at her eye level, and blew the thin layer of dust away from the carved runes. “I’m not even sure if this is a language.”
Thundercloud came over to take a look. A puzzled look on his face, “This almost seems like Mino-Speak.” He said, “There are a few shapes and characters I can recognize, but everything else is just…wrong.” Thundercloud lit the oil lamp and set it in the center of the chamber, giving them a bit more light, it was a rather large room.
The two walked along the edges of the chamber for sometime, studying the images and runic words, but then they noticed another doorway, this one still very much intact. It was still very old, but the wood was not nearly as decayed and the metal rivets and bracing was much less plagued with rust.
“I think we should head back up.” Starshine suggested, “This is already a massive discovery, we could get the university in on this, do an excavation.”
Thundercloud nodded, but seemed drawn to the doorway, and trotted up to it. “Let’s see if this one is locked before we go.” And with a slight push, the doors flung open violently, and Thundercloud tumbled down into the darkness blow, his flashlight cutting through the abyss with random strokes at it too tumbled down further into the ruin.
“Thunder!” Starshine cried, and galloped to the doorway. Before her was another set of stairs, and from her place she could see Thundercloud’s flashlight bouncing around in the tunnel. She raced down the stairway as fast as her awkward hooves could as she held her own flashlight in her mouth, her magical aura floating their supplies tightly beside her. When she finally reached the bottom, she saw Thundercloud rubbing his head, groaning in pain.
“Sweet Celestia, are you alright?!” Starshine breathed as she rushed to his side.
Thundercloud grunted as he rubbed his side and head, “I…think I’m ok.” He hissed as he stood up, “That sucked.”
“I can imagine.” She stood up with him, “Wait here, I’ll got get the first aid kit-” She paused. The light from her flashlight revealed a series of small crevices along the wall that was lit, a pile of lumping cloth and other items set inside. She set down her flashlight and their supplies and powered her horn again. The room exploded in light, and even Thundercloud, who was likely sporting a concussion and a bruised rib, dropped his jaw.
Hundreds of crevices lined the wall from floor to ceiling, and all had piles of cloth and small boxes and jars set within. Starshine crept towards a pile, and immediately froze. “Thunder…”
“Y-yeah?”
“This isn't just a ruin.” She eyed the lifeless eye sockets of the skull that starred over at her, “It’s a tomb.”
In each of the burial slots was an alien body, all but skeleton now with ancient burial clothing laid over them. Some clenched rusty swords in their skeletal hands, others had rusty, loose pieces of armor strapped about them, and some were much smaller than others in length and width, a sign of great youth.
Starshine felt a chill go up her spine, “This…this is…”
“Amazing!” Thundercloud cheered, scooping the smaller mare in his hooves in a bear hug, “Haha! This is what we've always dreamed of Star! Imagine, a tomb filled with the remains of some ancient, lost civilization. Filled to the brim with ancient artifacts and knowledge beyond our imagination! We’ll be legends!” He laughed.
Starshine struggled to break free, and pushed him away, “Luna P. Moon, Thunder!” She dusted herself off, “Can’t you calm yourself down for just a damned minute? You do this every time!”
“But this time it’s different!” Thundercloud asserted, “How can I overreact when we have this?!” He gestured to the tomb around them.
Starshine went to retort, but she stopped and thought for a moment. This wasn’t like when they explored those mines, or when they had found that old pillar out in the north, or even when they had explored that old castle in the Everfree. No, this…this was big. Huge even. A strange, possibly pre-minotaur, even pre-pony, civilization, unearthed after who knew how long. This place possibly being the last surviving piece of evidence of such beings existing. She found herself smiling, a light feeling in her heart, and she thought that, for once, Thundercloud would finally have something to brag about.
Then she saw something, a shadow moving in the dark, and her head jerked to the corner that she had seen it, and there was nothing. Then she felt something cold roll over her, the bright aura from her horn was killed. “What the Tartarus?” She tried to light it up again, and no more than a few pitiful blips of light fired off, then died.
“What happened?” Thundercloud asked, surprised by the sudden lack of light.
“I don’t know.” Starshine answered, trying again to light up her horn, and failing, “I shouldn’t be this mana-drained, not yet.”
Thundercloud hummed, “Maybe you’re just excited? About what we’re going to show to the university?”
Starshine shrugged, “I don’t know.” She picked up her flashlight, “Come on, let’s get out of here. We could probably make it back to Misty Hollows before morn-” Then her hoof touched something hard and leathery. The mare shined her flashlight down at the ground.
“EEEEKK!” She shrieked as she fell back, almost knocking Thundercloud down with her.
“What?! What’s wrong?!”
She shone her flashlight where she had stepped, and there was a body. Not one of the strange minotaur-ish ones, but one with an elongated skull and a curved spine and four stuck-out limbs, it was the skeletal remains of a pony. Patches of leathery, rotted skin and fur still riddled it, and a small sack hung around its chalky shoulders.
“T-T-Thunder?”
Thundercloud continued staring at the dead pony, “What?”
“Did you see that?”
He looked up, and saw out of the corner of his eye a shadow dart across the abyss. He shone his flashlight quickly, but nothing was there. Then he saw another, and another. Then, turning against the stretch of the crypt, the duo felt their hearts sink deep into their chests.
There stood an inky-black silhouette who’s form was so dark its shape stuck out against the dreary abyss of the tomb. It almost seemed as if it was set apart from the dark, and the two couldn’t tell how far, or how close, the figure was. Thundercloud quickly shone the flashlight its way, and while the area around it was illuminated with bright light, the figure seemed anything but affected, its shadowy form seeming to absorb all light around it.
“S-Star?”
Starshine didn’t answer, she was trembling, her flashlight rattling in her grip as they stared at the shape of something there, but not there all the same. Then, with not even the sound of moving air, it bolted towards them, its black figure showing no signs of locomotion or even movement at all. A floating abyssal form rushing flatly towards them, like how a piece of paper could be shoved in someone’s face.
Starshine screamed, and dropped her flashlight, bolting blindly behind her. Thundercloud also dropped his flashlight, its beam centered on the black mass quickly approaching. Instinctually he pulled out the small dagger he keeps tucked within his tunic and flung it at the shadow. He heard it clatter against the stone wall behind it. He too, then ran.
Starshine ran as fast as her legs could carry her, in all her years as an investigative explorer she had never actually encountered anything superstitious or magical. At this point she had started to believe that, unless chaos magic was at play, there was no magical creature or enchanted item she couldn’t possibly understand. She had looked back to see Thunder try and knife the figure, only for it to fly right through. This was something else entirely.
She tripped on something that sounded like a bag of marbles and hit the ground with a thud. She felt a few scraps on her chin and legs, but she seemed alright. Looking down at the culprit she saw her little canvas bag of enchanted crystals, and smiled deviously. Pulling the quartz from it, she tapped it to her horn and activated the ambient magic she had pumped into it before. The crystal, in the darkness of the tomb, lit up with the power of the sun, near blinding her.
Thunder was galloping at full sprint, but even that didn’t stop the inky silhouette from keeping up. He felt the dull pain in his head worsen, and the sharp stab in his side from where he fell earlier, and then he felt something unnaturally cold touch his hind leg. Screaming bloody murder he fell onto the stone ground and peered behind him. A stick-like appendage had sprouted itself out from the shadow-form behind him, and was barely touching him with a long, boney finger.
He felt the heat of his body begin dissipating in seconds, the pearl-white fur on his lower body turning a sickly pale. First he lost feeling in his hooves, then his hinds, then his flank, and soon everything started going numb. It surprisingly did not hurt, but he screamed none-the-less until he couldn't move his throat muscles.
“Thunder!” Starshine cried as she watched him crawl his way towards her, the very color from his face and his emerald eyes draining from him. In a desperate act to save her friend, she threw the sun-quartz at the shadow, only to watch in horror as its light was extinguished as it passed through, and she was left in darkness as the quartz clattered and echoed through the crypt.
“Thunder!” She bawled, tears flowing freely from her eyes. She shuffled backwards until her flank hit something hard and sharp: the stairs. Before she could even turn to get up on her hooves she saw the shape of the silhouette floating slowly towards her, stopping just a few hooves short of her, its black shape peering down at her. She looked up at its tall form and cried, and cried, and cried. She cried for what seemed like hours, thinking about all the places she still wanted to see, all the life she still wanted to live, all the things she didn’t get to tell Thundercloud.
Once she was down to hiccupping, her cheeks wet with tears and her lower muzzle dripping with snot, she looked back up at the inky figure, and wondered why it hadn’t killed her yet. Was it pitying her? Was it confused? Or was it just waiting for her to be in a weak and helpless state? Her answer came to her in dark forms. Eight more formed from the shadows and surrounded her, now that she had a moment to look, she saw others things in their silhouettes as well. Some held scepters, others carried swords or maces, but all had crowns around their black, flat oval heads, jutting out in a vicious mockery of the power they might have once had in life.
Starshine felt the tears come back, and she heaved a few cries as they reached out their boney hands towards her and, all at once, touched her lumped form against the staircase. Draining her warmth and the color from her once beautiful amethyst eyes, and her last thought was of how much she had noticed Thunder peer into them in the quiet moments they had in life.
The two siblings sat around a fire just a few feet away from the mound. They were roasting carrots over it on a bit, and Roots looked over the small entrance the duo explorers had crawled down into, “They’ve been down there awhile.” He stated.
Buddy nodded, “Maybe they really did find somethin’ down there.”
Roots continued eying the mound, his eyes moving towards the monolith, which seemed a little less dark somehow, “Maybe we should see ifn’ they’re alright.”
Buddy shook her head sharply, “No-way horse-ay. I ain’t goin’ down there.”
Roots blew air from his nostrils, “Look, I know they weren’t the kindest bunch, but what if’n somethin’ bad happened? We’re the only ones out here, an’ town is an two hour hike from here.”
Buddy glared at her brother, “I said…no.”
Roots squinted, then took out an oil lamp from his pack as well as a small ax, “I’m gon’go check on them, whether you’re comin’ or not.”
Buddy watched her brother, hoping that her intention of not going down into the Barrow would dissuade him. But when she saw him lower the lamp down into the hole, she new full well he was actually going to go down into the one place all the elders in Misty Hollows says you shouldn’t go.
“Celestia, damn your big heart and your stubbornness.” She muttered under her breath as she chomped on a hot carrot and grabbed her own few pieces of gear, “Ma’ an’ Pa’ are gon’ be pissed.” She said, and followed her brother down into the abyss.
Author's Note
Here's a little piece of horror for you on this All Hallows Eve. This is an unedited piece so if you see any mistakes do point them out and I'll get on them right away.
As always, thanks for reading, and have a safe Geheimnisnacht!
