The surface was cold, and smooth, and glowed faintly. Runes, long faded but still visible, stood out in bright red rubies against the obsidian stone. The shrine that the large hexagon of obsidian sat in was caked in dust and had long since been taken over by weeds, and the only source of light was the flickering of bright gold crystals that seemed to be made to resemble candles that would never burn out, for the gold crystals sat on small columns of pale, milky white stone. Traces of any interaction between a living creature and the long-forgotten buried tomb had been gently but surely taken away by time; it truly looked as though the entire shrine was built by nothing but Unicorn Magic, as if hooves had never once graced the floors or the walls.
It almost made Script Reader want to cry out in pure ecstasy that he would be the first pony in possibly centuries to see this place, let alone maybe even solve the ancient puzzles he just knew were buried in the runes. Steeling himself, the unicorn stallion sucked in a deep breath, glued a strong, confident smirk across his face, and took a slow step forward, reveling in what must've been one of his finest moments yet in his career before shaking himself out of his joy and setting to work.
His horn began to glow in a soft blue light and from his saddle bags a journal was produced, with a worn dark brown cover and a dark red emblem that held a similar color as the runes carved on the hexagon of obsidian. Carefully, as if a single molecule out of place would cause the whole tomb to turn to dust and blow away with the breeze, Script opened the yellowed pages and paused for a moment, looking from the runes of dark red magic to the tokens in the journal and then back again.
-~-~-
"Sister...we have something to ask thou." Purple eyes removed themselves from the blazing orange skies to rest on the Princess of the Night's dark blue figure and curious eyes.
"What is it?" Celestia asked calmly, lifting a brow and tilting her head. Luna hesitated for a single moment before gesturing to the old looking book that she held in a magical grip. Celestia tilted her head and Luna quickly held up a hoof to ask for time to explain.
"We know that this doth seem rather trivial, but we found this tomb in the Ancient Athenaeum and it intrigues us." She said, gesturing with her horn to the title. Written in a slightly forgotten language that only a select few ponies other than the Princesses would even recognize, was the title, 'The Dark Ages'.
"Doth thou remember any Dark Ages? Or hast we missed any Dark Ages during our...stay...on the moon?" Luna asked. Celestia tilted her head and shook her head.
"No, there weren't any Dark Ages during our rule, and times were peaceful during your vacation." She said in confusion. She hadn't ever seen that book before, even in the history section. Where had it come from? With a twinge of unease she grabbed the book in a magical grip and brought it up to her face, studying the cover harshly as if mentally commanding it to explain itself would somehow do something.
"I've never seen this book before...are you sure you found it in the old library?" Celestia asked carefully. Luna nodded and, deciding to be helpful, cleared her throat and said, "Yes; we found it deep in the Ancient Athenaeum near your old study that you used before you moved to your current study in the castle." Celestia flicked her tail, contemplating. She couldn't remember ever seeing this book...unless...
Quickly her horn lit up and she cast a seal detecting spell, and soon enough she found a seal, as well as a magic transmission. Finding this only fueling both her curiosity and slight irritation, she opened the figurative envelope and a burst of dark red magic suddenly burst from the title on the book, forming into a brown unicorn female with a light grayish brown mane and reddish brown hooves. The figure seemed to stare at the wall, and Celestia reflected on the fact that this mare was probably long gone and wouldn't actually respond to them. Yet suddenly, her eyes snapped to life and she panicked as she looked towards the princesses.
"A-ah! So her imprisonment didn't last forever?! Oh t-this is bad!" The mare suddenly exclaimed blinking directly at them. She quickly quieted herself and cleared her throat, bowing.
"F-forgive my outburst; y-you are the rulers of Equestria in your time?" She asked timidly. Celestia blinked in surprise. What magic was this? Contact spanning time, maybe? But that kind of magic wasn't supposed to be possible!
"Ah, I'm sorry you must be confused. My name is Sand Script. And...Equestria is in very grave danger, if you found my tomb. The Dark Ages?" Luna cleared her throat.
"Indeed, fair Sand Script. We are Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night, and this is our sister, Princess Celestia, Ruler of the Sun and main ruler of Equestria. What, pray tell, Sand Script, is this danger?" She asked. The unicorn mare once again bowed, this time much more gracefully and with much more respect, before slowly rising again.
"She's called Queen Tenebris; an ancient spirit older than even the Dark Ages. She's...she's an odd creature, but she's powerful. I-I'll show you." Sand Script's horn lit up and a hologram appeared in front of her. It showed the image of a large mare. She had the strong build of a caribou, yet the specific femininity of a mare, with a long unicorn horn pointing sharply forward, with a long blue, violet, and black mane billowing out behind her. A long draconic tail extended behind her, and her front legs were those of a dragon's, as well as the base of the large wings she had that went from leathery scales to Alicorn feathers. Her body and scales were mainly violet, though the tips of the feathers on her wings were midnight black.
"She's ruled our lands for as long as anybody can remember; only just recently did a future me come and tell me that she will be overthrown and trapped in an old temple, so in the future a bunch of unicorns decided to truly destroy all evidence that she had ever existed, so we cast a massive erasing spell that destroyed her rule from history. it backfired on the unicorns though; we accidentally erased ourselves too. I'm one of the few that managed to save ourselves by trapping each other in these books. I put a seal on mine to make it nonexistent unless Malicia were to somehow either be released or released herself." Sand Script explained. With that she looked at the book the magic that was projecting her was coming from.
"So you're saying this...dragon-caribou-pony is a threat to Equestria?" Luna asked. Seconds later she let out a snort of laughter.
"She looks to be nothing more than a hodgepodge mix of a mare, caribou, and dragon! What threat could she possibly pose?!" The princess of the night asked, snickering between words. Celestia felt a prickle of unease.
"She casts magic; powerful spells- destructive spells! Please listen to me your majesties; she's dangerous!" Sand Script exclaimed, trying to take a step forward. Celestia held up a hoof soothingly.
"Where is the temple?" She asked calmly. Sand Script's eyes shone with both astonishment that Celestia had listened to her and relief. She then thought for a moment then tugged at the simple emerald necklace that hung from her neck.
"It's hidden away deep within the ice of North of North. It takes a pony several moons' walking with much supplies and protection against the cold. Her actual castle, however, is embedded within the Obsidian Cliffs, behind a magical barrier that transports you from the Cliffs directly to her palace, which I can only guess is hidden further into the cliffs than physically possible to get to other than to teleport to." She said dutifully.
"And how does thou know all of this?" Luna asked suspiciously. Sand Script turned to her.
"I used to work as her Spell Caster." She replied.
-~-~-
Script Reader yelped in pain as he was thrown to the ground thanks to the release of Arcane Magic, and he looked up as it began to swirl and roar around him. A great wind began to whip at his messy dark gray mane, his chocolate brown coat becoming caked in dust. Slowly, a black horn formed from the typhoon of Archaic energy, then a dark lilac muzzle. That muzzle connected to a face, that face connected to a head, that head connected to a long, slender, dragon's neck. Script could only watch, mesmerized and taken as that neck connected to a set of caribou-reminiscent shoulders, draconic claws growing from the creature's slender, long legs, her body elongating behind her as two scaled, feathered wings unfurled from her back, her back legs those of a mare, and finally, a long, whip-like tail lashed the air, dispersing the energy. The creature's black horn flashed briefly and a long blue mane with lilac and black ends began flowing from her neck.
Script stared, wide eyes scanning every detail, taking in the creature's graceful form with amazement. He'd never, in a million years, guessed that it was as easy as reading a simple phrasing to release such a seal as the one this creature had apparently been trapped by.
"Mortal." Script jumped and locked eyes with the creature, her black and violet eyes instantly ensnaring him in a trance.
"Would you happen to be the one who released that seal?" She asked, making sure to shake herself out to get rid of the dust on her scales and fur. Script hesitantly shuffled his hooves.
"Y-yes...is that...good?" The creature let out a laugh.
"Good for me, yes. Good for you, yes indeed. For you see, you have given me the chance to reclaim my throne." Script was at a loss by now. The creature seemed to guess this confusion and let out another laugh.
"I am the illustrious Queen Tenebris, rightful ruler of Equestria, North of North, and the Beyond. Very long ago, long before even the fair ruler Lauren Faust, I was the queen of this land, and I ruled over all the kingdoms. The Griffons bowed to my whims, the Diamond Dogs obeyed my every commands, the Manticores performed as guards within my palace to listen to my every command, even the Dragons paid heed to my wishes. I was the most powerful ruler the world has ever seen." She said, gesturing towards some unseen object or force pridefully. Script tilted his head.
"Then...how...did you come to be trapped in that seal?" He asked. Tenebris's smile turned to a frown. Slowly, she turned around, her whip like tail thrashing so that Script had to jump back to avoid getting hurt. Tenebris began to speak.
"Those fools, the Alicorns, they rose against me. I suppose I hadn't paid much attention to their kingdom; I was focused on lulling the Unicorns, the Earth Ponies, and the Pegasi into my rule. The Alicorns lead a fearsome battle against my forces, attacking in the dark of the night, and before I could retaliate, a fearsome Alicorn warrior named Solaris, and his brother, Artemis, struck me down, and trapped me forever more in that seal. I can only guess that they assumed that my seal would last forever." Tenebris let out a laugh.
"Those fools never guessed that an archaeologist would release me!" She crowed happily. Her laughter once again echoed off the walls and she turned towards Script.
"What is your name, archaeologist?" She asked, joy still ringing in her voice.
"M-my name is Script Reader ma'am." He answered, taken by the display the obviously ancient creature was putting on. She let out another laugh, this one the loudest yet.
"You MUST be descended from my Spell Caster, Sand Script! Your pelt is even the same color, and Script has been running in her family's name for generations I can guess! Yes indeed, you, my dear Script Reader, shall be my helper as I reclaim my throne!" She declared loudly. She smiled.
"My advisers were trapped in seals similar to mine, and you my friend, shall free them. The griffon king, King Ragna, was sealed in the Icelands, the dragon king, Ghidora, was banished to the Seventh Sea, the Diamond Dog Alpha, Tourmaline, was hidden within the Crystalline Caverns, and the Manticore king, Cryptus, was sent to the highest peak of the Tramplevanian Alps, near Ib'Xian." Script found himself simply overwhelmed. He hadn't even ever heard of three of those four locations. No doubt they were very...VERY far away. Tenebris, again, seemed to sense his thoughts and she giggled.
"Fear not Script, I have ways." She declared. With that she turned around, flashing her wings extravagantly.
"But first we must return to the Obsidian Cliffs, to return to my palace!" She said loudly. Script was beginning to think that she liked to be the center of attention, and it certainly showed the wall her coat and scales shimmered, her mane flowed, and the way she flared her wings when she was making a point. Tenebris got his attention by letting out a loud laugh.
"Ah but first! I have a special job for you!" She cried loudly.
"I would like you to find two things. First is several old tomes most likely kept in the Canterlot Ancient Athenaeum, hidden behind some old dusty seals. Secondly, I'd like you to find a being known as Discord and release him!" She said. Script stopped dead.
"B-but Discord is the Spirit of Chaos!" He exclaimed.
"Oh he just needs to be disciplined, then he'll shape up! Just obey you ridiculous silly mortal~" She laughed. With that she grabbed him, her draconic claws carefully tilted to avoid cutting him. Within instants they were flying through the hallowed halls of the temple.
"You did quite a good job avoiding all of the traps, Script! You're definitely from Sand Script's blood!" Tenebris said, smiling. And then they reached the blasting cold wind outside, chips of diamond hard ice digging into Script's face.