Twilight blitzed through the forest as fast as her hooves could carry her. The hard rain, the roaring thunder, the rampant wind, and even the light of the lightning smashed against her face as she ran. She knew what was going on. Discord had been telling lies to her friends, telling them that she was possessed. And they bought it. Now they’re here to take away the book from her.

“No!” Twilight yelled to herself. “I have to finish! Ace and the others are in trouble!”

Frantically, she opened to the next chapter, Chapter Ten, and read on,

“Run!” Ebony hollered as she lifted Ace over onto her back.

Ace, Ebony, Silver, and Huntsmen ran into the deeper regions of the cavern. The roaring stampede of hooves smashing into the cavern floor followed as Lord Thanatus gave pursuit to them.

Silver looked behind and saw the troops approaching at a slower rate than they were fleeing. He turned to Huntsmen at the other wall of the cave and approached.

“Looks like we’re losing them,” he delivered in a pant. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted that Eclipse mare.”

“Watch it, numb-nuts,” Huntsmen barked.

“What? ‘Cause Eclipse might be possessed by Lord Thanatus and we don’t know it?”

“No, you’re tempting fate.”

“Oh please, you still believe in fate-I’m about to eat my own words about now.”

A pair of galloping hooves, much heavier than the regular soldiers’ of the chasing army, echoed from behind them. The stallions looked back and saw two massive soldiers charging from around the corner.

They were covered head to hoof in thick, spiked armour. They looked to be thrice the size of a regular soldier, but moved at incredible speeds. They moved so fast, Silver and Huntsmen could see their afterimages trailing behind them.

Huntsmen called them out by name, “Night Walkers!”

“What?!” Silver exclaimed.

“A tribe of mythical warriors, only heard of in legend. They are incredibly strong, and incredibly fast. Would figure Lord Thanatus would’ve gathered them to his army and bring them along to get us.”

“What do we do?”

“…” Huntsmen had no idea what to do.

He looked down to his friend, Silver, then forward to Ace and Ebony. There was no way that all of them would make it with the Night Walkers trailing behind. He looked back at Silver, who, despite trying to hide it, was holding back his full speed to be alongside him.

“What do we do?” Silver asked again.

“Go.” Huntsmen solemnly answered.

“What?”

“Go, help the mares get as far away as possible while I hold off the Night Walkers.”

“No! I am not letting you.”

“Who said you had a say in this?”

With that said, Huntsmen pulled out his sword and plunged it into the ground, grinding to a stop while Silver galloped onwards with the others.

“Huntsmen!” Silver cried out to his friend far behind.

Huntsmen turned his body and prepared for the Night Walkers, drawing out their humongous maces from their backs as they came within a few dozen metres of Huntsmen. Huntsmen looked back at Silver and saw his tearing face. He gave a slow nod, a final gesture of friendship before the duo finally comes to an end.

He returned to the Night Walkers, and swung his blade.

The forest grew thicker and thicker as Twilight approached the center. She looked back, and saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy approaching behind. Their faces couldn’t be seen in the dark, but Twilight knew they could only be that of determination.

Quickly, she looked around for a means of shaking them off. Her luck came in the form of a large tree in her path.

With a flick of her horn, a large lightning bolt falls from the sky and strikes the tree at its base. She teleports herself and the book through it as it falls towards Dash and Fluttershy.

Back in the clear, Twilight read more as she ran in the ever-growing monsoon,

A light could be seen at the far end of the cave. Ace, Ebony, and Silver were approaching the end and hopefully the Olc Sword. Silver joined alongside Ebony and boosted the limping half of Ace onto his side.

It didn’t matter how much blood from Ace was staining his clothing and fur, Huntsmen gave him a job, and he’s going through with it.

Ebony looked back and saw Eclipse at the head of the stampeding forces. With her magic, the stampede was catching up.

“They’re catching up to us!” She hollered.

Silver Chord cursed, “Damn it! We can’t make it. We gotta throw them off.”

The two’s eyes darted around the cave in search of something useful. Silver’s eyes then set on Ebony’s circlet, and an idea quickly came to mind.

“Ebony, can you make a fake path in the cave and have clones of you and Ace follow me?”

“I-I-I think?” Ebony replied, unsure of herself. “Wait, why follow you?”

“Somepony’s going to have to hold them down once they realize it’s a trick.”

“Silver,” Ace muttered in her slowly dying consciousness. “Don’t.”

“We have no other option. Ebony, take Ace to the end of this cave and to safety, live your lives to the fullest, both of you.”

“But-” The two attempted to retort, but Silver was quick to retort.

“Do it!”

Reluctantly, Ebony agreed. Focusing as much of her concentration as she can allow, a non-existent alcove was drilled into the cave wall and a large shadow appeared next to her, resembling the combined bodies of Ace and Ebony. A stone wall then formed ahead, blocking the actual path.

Silver gave a salute before running to the entrance of the false alcove with Ace and Ebony’s illusionary clones following. He stopped right as where the wall is and taunted at Eclipse. Eclipse and the other soldiers noticed and charged towards him, not noticing Ace and Ebony phasing through what seemed to be the cave wall just out of their peripheral vision.

Silver pulled out his bow and aimed it at Eclipse.

As he loaded the arrow and pulled back, he said to her, “I hope that this hurts real bad.”

He released the arrow.

A large shadow lingered over Twilight. Looking up, Twilight saw the tree she knocked over several minutes ago, now levitating with a blue aura.

Rarity.

The tree was then slung over, aside of Twilight’s path. A flash of blue light shone from behind Twilight, and Rarity and Applejack ran out from the light. They were only a few metres behind, but the speeds made it seem like they were just a few inches behind.

Their voices try to reach Twilight’s ears, but are obscured from the rain and adrenaline pumping throughout Twilight’s body.

Regardless, Twilight wanted to shake them off as well. Her magic was running low, but it would be more than enough for this trick.

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, and as Rarity and Applejack tried to reach her, Twilight teleported behind them. She then teleported to ahead, then at their sides, then on a tree, then another, then below them, and continued to spam her teleportation spell. Eventually, Rarity and Applejack became dizzy from keeping track of Twilight and fell over each other. Twilight returned to where she first stopped. She was a bit dizzy herself, but found enough strength within to continue forward.

Stumbling through the final stretch of her journey, she continued to read.

The rumbling hoofsteps of Thanatus’s army died down as Ebony and Ace approached the source of the light. Before them stood a final gate, much greater than any of the previous ones. White light poured from the cracks and around the outline of the door. Surely, what they have been seeking throughout this entire quest was behind that stone door.

A warm smile grew on Ace’s and Ebony’s faces as they looked upon the door. There was barely anything on the gate, only two massive stone handles, side by side. Ebony set Ace down and flew up to one of the handles.

She pulled on it, but nothing happened. She then flew to the other one and pulled, but to no avail.

“Perhaps they need to be pulled at the same time?” Ace asked, her horn already glowing.

An ocean blue aura surrounded the first door handle.

“Ready?” Ace asked.

“Ready.” Ebony replied.

With their combined might, the mares pulled on the two handles. The cavern rattled and shook as the two pulled. The gate rumbled before a large crack began to form down the middle, between the two handles. As it reached the bottom, the gate halves lurched forward, and light flooded the cave.

There it was, after all of their work, their sacrifices, there it was. In the blinding white light, Ace could see it, stabbed into a pile of black ash, the Olc Sword lay.

Ace shrilled with joy, “Ebony!”

“Is it open?”

“Yes!”

Ebony, as quick as a fiddle, leapt from the handle and glided down to Ace, cheering, “We did it! Centura is saved! I knew we can do i-”

But as she was about to reach the cave floor, right beside Ace, something lurched out from the darkness. Ebony stopped in midair, and a bloodcurdling gasp escaped her throat. Through her chest, was a long, black blade, engraved with runes of blood and emanating a ghastly red glow, extending from the shadows.

Ebony’s eyes became bloodshot. A tear dropped from her check and landed on Ace’s quivering nose. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Ace saw the life drain from her best friend. Her mouth slowly drew open and a tearful scream erupted from her throat. The blade lowered itself to the Ace’s shoulder, and Ebony’s dying body slid down into Ace’s grasp.

“Ebony!” Ace yelled for her. “Please, don’t die on me!”

The blade dagger quickly drew back into the darkness, and outstepped the armoured boots of Lord Thanatus. Frightened, Ace dragged Ebony with her into the gate. She closed the gate doors on the approaching stallion and returned to Ebony’s cold body.

The only sign of life still in her was her chest rapidly pulsing up and down. Ace rested her hooves over Ebony’s chest to block out the stab would and keep her calm.

“I-I can’t feel my wings, nor my lower half,” Ebony gasped and sputtered in shock.

Ace quickly calmed her, “Don’t-don’t panic Ebony. Please, you’re going to be alright. You have to be alright. We can get through this. You have to live!”

“It’s too late, I can feel the exit wound, this is it.”

“No! No it isn’t!” Ace yelled as she frantically tore off her green tunic and wrapped it around Ebony.

She then reached for the bandages around her barrel, only to be stopped by Ebony’s hoof, resting on her covered side.

Ace barked, “Ebony! I’m trying to save your life!”

“…” Ebony didn’t answer, instead taking a moment to collect herself.

Her breath slowed down, and her eyelids slowly closed. Her panicked grasped evolved into the hums she would sing to Ace whenever Ace had a bad dream back in Southern Town. Ace reached for Ebony’s eyelids and tried to keep the up.

“Don’t die on me! Please! I don’t want you to go too!” Ace cried.

Ebony, now having found peace in her situation, calmly responded, “Ace, this is the end for me. It was a heck of a journey though, I’m happy that it was my last one before I go on to Who-Knows-Where.”

“No!” Ace bawled with tears raining from her eyes.

“Ace, remember on one of our adventures, when we spend the night in the old treehouse?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Do you remember when we told each other our greatest wishes?”

“…You, you wanted the last thing you’d see to be me.” Ace answered.

“And you wanted to be the greatest knight in history, one with a legacy known to all over the world. Well go, fulfill that wish. I got what I wanted-” Ebony said before a violent cough struck her.

“I, I will.” Ace choked.

With the last of her strength, Ebony pulled herself up to Ace’s face. Her lips locked onto Ace’s, and the two locked together for what felt like hours. Eventually though, Ebony’s grip on Ace’s shoulder’s died, and her body slumped over onto the stone floor. Her eyes became sealed shut, and her heart no longer pulsed. A small smile still remained on Ebony’s face though, the only warm still that remained on her corpse.

A pool of tears reached her grey mane as Ace wept. She wept for minutes on end, mourning the loss of her best friend, as well as Silver’s, and Huntsmen’s, and even Eclipse’s, all to the grasp of Lord Thanatus.

A long shadow reached to her from behind, and a haunting whisper spoke in her ear, “Pity, she had so much potential.”

Ace leapt forward and over Ebony’s body and looked at the shadow. Her sword drew from her scabbard as she examined the being. His body, five times taller than Ace, was dressed head to tail in solid, steel armour. His twisted, gnarled horn and wings made of a sickly skin, black as pitch, were the only things to be seen.

The orange and red fiery glow his eyes shone gleamed through his helmet and illuminated his head and the spiked crown that laid upon his head. At his side was the longsword that slain Ebony, still dripping red from its victim.

A fury, a rage, a hot-blooded desire of revenge, quickly engulfed the last hero. Ace’s teeth were gritted together and grinded against each other. Her sword vibrated within her shaky magical grip. Her eyes burnt in wrath and her mouth boiled, waiting to release its full steam of curses onto the stallion who murdered her friends.

“You monster!” Ace screamed as she swung her sword forward.

Upon making contact with the armour, her sword became bent to a hard curve. It didn’t stop her however, as she continued to wail onto Lord Thanatus. Lord Thanatus simply walked forward while the sword clashed against the impenetrable steel.

When he had enough of Ace’s sword, Thanatus raised his blade to his side, and it’s blade extended upwards, right into Ace’s next swing and cutting half her sword blade clean off upon contact.

Ace pulled her sword, now a jagged dagger, back to herself, but didn’t show one sign of fear.

“Arcega Shutts Minn, daughter of a soldier and medic upon the battlegrounds between Centura and Damascariot, oh, how I’ve heard so much about you in such little time,” the lord spoke.

“Lord Thanatus, vile filth, and murderer of my friends and innocent ponies!” Ace barked back.

“You want to know something; I never wanted to kill your friends. Not at all. Silver Chord, Huntsmen, Ebony Diamond, they were all perfect fit to join my army. But then, much to my displeasure, they sought after that blade behind you. They were so well set on it. I couldn’t run the risk of keeping them alive, especially after what Silver did to my newest proxy.”

“Eclipse…”

“Correct.”

“Well say goodbye to her, ‘cause I’m taking you down!”

With a single bound, Ace leapt towards Thanatus. She dug the remains of her sword into the visor of his armour. A slicing sound was heard, but Lord Thanatus’s body didn’t even flinch. A cackle instead roared from inside the armour, and Thanatus sprung into attack. His wings grab hold of Ace and fling her down to the floor. His sword then hovered above and its blade changed down to the floor. Ace rolled away just in time.

She grabbed hold of Lord Thanatus by the wing and bit down. With wrath still rife within, Ace rampantly chomped down on the wing. Thanatus’s sword swung and extended to reach her, but she wriggled too much. Finally, with a blast of magic, Lord Thanatus shot Ace off of him. He caught her with his hoof and swung her over the pile of black ash and to the other side of the resting chamber.

Ace’s body struck the stone wall with a powerful thud before it slumped onto the floor. Lord Thanatus appeared before her in a gust of black smoke, his sword aimed for her chest.

“You-” Ace said before coughing violently. “You won’t get away with this. As long as I’m still fighting, Centura, will never be destroyed.”

Lord Thanatus did not answer, but instead pulled his sword back. The blade snaked back into the hilt before firing out at Ace. Ace closed her eyes, as a loud shing echoed throughout the chamber.

What followed next was an eerie silence. No sight of red, no sounds of screaming, no smell of steel or iron, no taste of warm copper, no pain to be felt. Ace opened one of her eyes, and saw the tip of Thanatus’s sword, only a centimetre from her body.

The black statue of steel stayed still as it looked over Ace’s shivering body.

Finally, it asked, “Do you know why I am, who I am?”

At the center of the raging hurricane, Twilight finally reached her destination. It was a clearing in the forest, with several large standing stones and ruins standing at its center. On these rocks were the hieroglyphics detailing the history and mythology of an ancient pony tribe that no longer existed to this day. And at the center of these stone ruins was a round altar, with a unique, circular drawing etched into it and a podium at the edge, all carved from the same stone.

The Inanis Zone.