The Black Days - An Equestrian Tale

by HeWhoFollows

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Adventure, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Original Character
Length: 1101

It is a time of peace in Equestria. But a rising darkness will shatter that peace with it's corruption. Only the last Darkenrarg, along with the Elements of Harmony, and beings of myth and legend, can bring it to an end.

Equestria is at peace. The beasts of the catacombs, the deep caverns, and even the cursed Everfree, have either vanished or begun to wane in numbers. Exploration is at it's zeinth, and one would think that even the darkest evils would quail amongst the light and order of the realm. However, a great darkness rises, greater than any known before. It will take the last of the Darkenrarg, a very pony-like warrior named Berserkeon, along with the Elements of Harmony and beasts of myth and legend to bring hope of victory. But can Berserkeon conquor his turmoil of emotions in time to land the fatal blow? Or will his doubts and fears lead to a weak heart, and bring about failure? And with allies becoming enemies, can he beat the corruption to those required to aid his quest? An alternate ending will be included.

Published 2013-01-11 23:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-11 23:50:01 UTC

Chapter 1: A Dying Race

"One shall rise to face the evil, and if he survives, the topsiders shall thrive. If he falls, the darkness will forever claim these dim halls."
Chornologius, the earliest Seer

They had always been a strong race, expanding their realm with their bare, taloned hands. But they were always few. The Darkenrarg was a race that was exclusively male, forced to crossbreed with other species in order to survive, and creating new subspecies, some intelligent, some submissive, some wild and beastly. They mostly stayed in their underground havens, but would be besieged by the beasts of the caverns, often losing several warriors before driving the monstrosities back. But even then, their numbers declined. While their species would be incapable of obtaining sicknesses such as colds and fevers, they would occasionally be swept with a deadly plague that they labeled Bonerot, because that is what it did – rotted the bone away, causing the body of the sick to collapse on itself and suffocate. None had ever survived it.

They had quickly become few, only a handful of warriors struggling for survival. After a time, the plague had passed, and the Darkenrarg began the long process rebuilding their civilization. Near the end of Age of Disease, the Darkenrarg were close to fully restoring what was lost, and ready to call the new age the Age of Return. However, the feral races of the Darkenrarg suddenly laid siege in their more intelligent brethren, bringing about another war and the Age of Downfall. Darkenrarg salvagers on the surface world became noticed by the ruler of the surface, and were found to be the abductors of many females that inexplicably returned nearly a year later. With this knowledge, the ruler ordered that all Darkenrarg (though she did not know of the race's name at the time) seen on the surface be slain on sight. The feral Darkenrarg had by then claimed the mines and hunting holes, blocking away food and resources. The Darkenrarg, trapped in their own caverns, were engulfed in despair.

They were preparing to release the final topsider they had abducted, as she was soon to give birth and would be prepared to leave shortly afterward. The current and last Seer, Bolguimes, gave a blessing to the youth in the womb, and had the Final Vision that same night – a vision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. The only one he told the vision of was the sire of the unborn. The sire agreed that such knowledge would throw the remaining Darkenrarg into turmoil. As such, he held the secret safe as the days passed. At last, it happened – the birth of the infant. And all the Darkenrarg were struck dumb as they beheld the child, for he did not appear to be of the Darkenrarg, his black coat and crimson eyes the only signs of relations between him and his race. For the child bore the look of a topsider, something that had never happened before. And the sire took his child and the mother, and spoke to them both, though the child could not understand it, and foretold them of the Last Vision – that after this one, no other Darkenrarg would be sired, and that their race would die.

The topsider chose to remain with her child and care for him, as his sire did the same. Eventually the sire granted him a name, Berserkeon, naming the last Darkenrarg after the very gods they worshipped. As the child grew, the name was found to be fitting, as if the youth were a gift from the gods as a final farewell. The child was observant, intelligent, strong, and cunning. The few remaining Darkenrarg – Bolguimes, a Wraith named Delgondorn, and the sire, Emacion - rejoiced, now knowing the Final Vision completely, and proud that their last youth was such an excellent specimen. The topsider was finally urged back to the surface, and the four Darkenrarg lived their lives together, not knowing that soon, the Great Prophecy, long forgotten in the scrolls of the Darkenrarg, would soon begin. And with it, the end of order on the topside. Chaos and darkness will be the order of the day, and the last Darkenrarg will change from the simple observer he has been the past five years to a hero determined to save a world he only barely knows. But for now, all is quiet, and as we turn to the topside, or Equestria, as you know it, and look into the lives of the heroes that restored order where chaos reigned.

Prologue

"As our kine declines, attempting to rise again in vain, a darkness will rise to be all life's bane."
Chornologius, the earliest Seer

There is darkness in all light. The darkness in the land of law and order of Equestria has been long forgotten. Centuries have passed since the sight of the wandering dead in their crumbling catacombs, the hunting beasts of their deep caverns and tunnels, and the mechanical gaurdians of bygone races. Even roaming the places where such can be found, they are gone. It is a time of peace since the fall of Discord. Exploration and learning have been expanding. Even the beasts of the Everfree have laxed, permitting some exploration of it's reknowned expanses.

But none are aware that the fall of the dark beings is thanks to the awakening of a greater evil. A thing that corrupts all it touches, that claims all, living or dead, organic or synthetic, animate or inanimate. And as the darkness stirs and begins to rise, a race that has been eternally linked to it will fall, leaving only one of their kin amongst the living. The last of the Darkenrarg is hidden, but even he will be forced to surface in order to save the world from eternal corruption. But he cannot do it alone. To succeed, he must gain the aid and trust of the heroes whom defeated Discord, and the greatest beasts of myth and legend amongst his kind – in the sea, desert, forest, sky, caverns, time, and space, and face himself during the journey. But if he fails the final test, the one that will prove he is the hero that will grant victory, the darkness will take the world as its own for eternity. And he will find that even the darkness has its own tricks that will turn the very land against him. Impossible, you may say? Oh, but my dear friend...Equestria is just the place for making the impossible possible.