Twilight's eyes rapidly darted to every corner of the stone buildings, searching for the dragon. When she looked back to her friends, she saw Spike standing with them, holding a scroll.

“Ahem, Spike,” Twilight calmly called to him. “You aren’t helping me.”

“No, I’m not.” Spike firmly replied.

“…Why?”

“Because that book is evil,” Spike declared. “And here, is your proof.”

With a flick of the parchment, it unraveled and revealed its writing to the mares and Discord behind. Despite the rain’s best attempts to eat the paper, the mares could quickly scan over the book and noticed several keywords.

“’The Adventures of Arcega Minn’?” Applejack asked aloud.

Fluttershy inquired, “Isn’t that the name of your book, Twilight?”

Twilight instantly became flustered. She teleported to right over Spike’s shoulder and analyzed the document then and there.

“Lord Thanatus is in this too?!” Discord exclaimed.

“That’s right,” Spike explained.

“No…” Twilight gasped.

She teleported back to the podium, still glaring at the scroll in disbelief.

“It’s not possible!” She whimpered.

Spike explained to her, “That book was not always ‘The Adventures of Arcega Minn’, it was an almanac when a prince came across it. He read it, he gained incredible power, but became possessed by it. He went nuts and became, the one and only, Lord Thanatus.”

“Bu-Bu-Bu-”

“-And if you read to the end of that thing, that monster that’s controlling Thanatus will come to our world.”

“I-I-I…” Twilight stuttered. “I refuse to believe it!”

In a blind fit of fury, Twilight horn flashed with light. A loud crash rumbled through the earth. The others winced and Twilight even lost her hoofing. The quake died down, and the eight came to. Twilight looked forward and saw the others, standing with their jaws dropped, looking at something, behind her.

She turned around, her jaw dropped.

What was once a stone tower was now a wall of rubble, sandwiched between two slabs of solid dirt. The dirt walls were torn straight from the ground, like shillings torn from the rooftop.

This was something beyond what Twilight was able to usually do, let alone doing it blind.

Was it… Twilight thought to herself.

Her eyes shifted to the book, and saw the two-page illustration at the beginning of the final chapter being dowsed in the rain. It was of Arcega and Lord Thanatus, battling against each other with their respective black swords. The look on Ace’s face, full of determination, full of fury, full of anger, full of, surpassingly, desperation.

“Twilight!” A faint voice called out to her.

“Ace?” Twilight responded.

“Help!” The voice called out to her.

Twilight slowly approached the book. A faint glow emitted from the center, where Glacadh An Bháis and Margáil Le Bás met. Sparks leapt from the pages and twinkled in front of Twilight. Ace’s eyes glanced over to Twilight, but quickly returning to the red flare of her foe. Thanatus’s blade crept forward, forcing pressure on Ace’s sword. The sparks died down as Ace pulled out and backed away. Margáil Le Bás struck into the ground at such a great force, the podium shivered.

A grey hoof reached out and grabbed the book. Twilight caught it and looked to her left, seeing Eclipse with an arrow through her chest.

“Snap out of it.” Eclipse hissed.

“…No,” Twilight growled as she shoved back Eclipse.

She turned to the next page and read, determined to finish the book.

Lord Thanatus’s blade stabbed into the cave wall right next to Ace. Stalactites rained from above as the sword burrowed through the rock. Ace charged forward and prepared to strike. But Thanatus’s blade returned, and knocked Ace’s sword out of her magic grip. It fell into the pile of ash at the center of the chamber.

Upon his blade returning to normal length, Thanatus chuckled and tucked away his sword. He approached the ash hill and reached a hoof out for the sword.

As he picked it up though, Twilight’s voice screamed from behind, “No!”

Giving him only a fraction of a second, Twilight flung herself onto the steel armour and grabbed tight. Thanatus bucked around and slammed into the stone walls. But it was no use, as Twilight crawled up to his head and smothered her hooves across his view.

Ace held on with all of her might, never releasing from Discord’s mane as she reached the book. The pounding rain torn her bandages away, revealing them to the elements. Despite the sheer pain, she didn’t give up.

Ace held on with all of her might, never releasing from Discord’s mane as she reached the book. The pounding rain torn her bandages away, revealing them to the elements. Despite the sheer pain, she didn’t give up.

“Centura will not fall!” Ace declared.

“Centura’s no longer exists!” Eclipse retorted, riding upon the back of Rainbow Dash as she hovered around Discord.

“It’s just a book!” Applejack called out, scared for her friend’s sake.

Ace paid no heed. This was not just a book. This was the key to save the land, to becoming the greatest knight ever, to avenge her friends. Its last few pages flicked in the steel grip of Lord Thanatus.

“Give it back!” Ace hollered.

“Get her off of me!” Thanatus groaned.

Running out of options, she readied herself at his exposed neck she chipped away earlier. With a bite as strong as Ebony’s, she chomped down on the exposed flesh.

Lord Thanatus roared in pain as Twilight’s jaw locked into place. He could feel his internal fluids pulsating into Twilight’s mouth. Twilight snorted and bit harder, forcing him to vanish into a cloud of black mist. The Olc Sword dropped to the ground with a ringing chink. Quickly, Twilight grabbed it before Discord reformed atop the pile of ash.

He pulled out his original sword and fired it forward. Its flat tip soared so quickly, a small typhoon formed around the blade. It hissed with the sound of a thousand wings and pierced the white light of the room to a hundred colours.

Thinking fast, Twilight stabbed the sword into the ground and used it as a lever. She launched herself forward and planted a kick right in the center of the blunt head of Margáil Le Bás.

Rainbow Dash crashed into a stone pillar, shattering half of the base into pebbles. Her head slumped down as she writhed in pain. Eventually though, she found enough strength to look up with a single eye, and see Twilight in front of her.

Discord hissed, now defenseless as Ace approached him with Glacadh An Bháis. He attempted to shrink into a liquid, but was stopped by the sword slashing at him towards the chest. He backed away and called for aid from his friends. Applejack arrived, and slammed her hooves into the ground in front of Ace.

The earth below trembled and Twilight lost her balance. The power of Thanatus’s soldier was greater than expected. The soldier prepared another earthquake slam, but Twilight came to her hoofing in time and jumped just above the quake. She landed on the side of the chamber and raced around Thanatus and the soldier. Another soldier, winged, ran around the wall the other way, preparing to collide with Twilight.

“You leave Lord Thanatus alone!” The soldier yelled, revealing that it once was a mare before turning to evil.

Twilight snapped back, “In your dreams!”

She then left off from the wall and landed right behind lord Thanatus. She raised her sword, ready to strike. Unknown to her though, a cannon wielding soldier was beside her.

The party cannon blasted into the side of Ace’s face, launching her body headfirst into the grass. The book flew from her grasp and landed atop of one of the stone pillars over the cavern ruins. Ace leapt towards the book, but was locked in place by a freezing spell placed on her by Rarity, one of Thanatus’s soldiers.

Ace struggled and kicked, but this was one of her own spells that Rarity learned from her. It was fruitless to try and escape, and Ace found herself losing strength. Her wings eased into their frozen form, her chest grew flat and stopped pumping, and her eyes grew heavy.

Before she fell into the darkness, her eyes caught a glance of a pair of dragon feet, circling around to the front of her frozen body.

Eclipse taunted the unicorn before her, “It’s over. Give up now, or things will get ugly.”

Twilight gasped, “Never.”

“Your perception of reality has become an absolute wreck! You think this story is real, it’s only the demon messing with you. What you think is real is fake and what you think is fake is real.”

“…” Ace remained silent.

Her odds were greatly stacked against her. One against six, her friends now gone, her hopes atop of a pillar in the midst of a hurricane, and she was frozen by Lord Thanatus and his minions. However, not one thought of giving up crossed her mind.

As if telling her final words, Ace said, “Well, if there’s anything I know that is real, is that that book needs me. It needs me to complete it…”

“…no matter the costs!” Twilight howled. With the last bit of magic, Twilight shattered Rarity’s freezing spell and blitzed towards the sword. She ran as fast as she could across the chamber. Over the ash pile, over the fallen torches of the cavern chamber, over the blood she had shed, Twilight let no obstacle deter her.

She was within hooves’ reach of the sword, and she-

GONG!

Twilight awoke to the sounds of the rain. Her nose twitched and a sneeze of cold air and mist escape from it. Her body felt like iron, but soon regained its natural properties. Her vision was blurry, but could make out six shapes, surrounding her from above.

“Wha-” Twilight asked before a sharp pain pierced in her forehead. “What happened?”

“Good question.” Applejack replied. “We were wondering that as well.”

Fluttershy angrily barked, “Those squirrels still want an apology!”

“Wha-” Twilight was dumbfounded.

Looking at her friends above, her mind has a million questions. Why are they all upset? What is this place? Is that a hurricane going on up there? Why do I remember fighting a giant alicorn with a externally extending sword? And… Why is Spike holding the… the… The book!

As Twilight leapt to her hooves, the others quickly took a step back. Confusion arose in Twilight’s mind.

“Relax girls,” Twilight comforted them.

“Relax?!” Pinkie exclaimed. “You just went ballistic! You turned a tower into a rocky sandwich, which does sound rather tasty, but that’s not the point!”

“You ran away from us despite our pleas to stop.” Rarity huffed.

“You clocked me in the nose.” Rainbow Dash in a nasally snarl.

“You chanted some gobbily-goob at Discord and cast some weird spell on him.” Applejack added.

“And let’s not forget the bite on my neck.” Discord hissed from behind the five mares.

“What’s gotten in you?” They all asked at once.

Twilight stammered, “I-I-”

Then the memories came back.

The kick into Rainbow Dash’s skull, her biting Discord’s neck, her desperation to read that book, it all came back. Twilight was lost for words, she knew what she had done.

The storm and rain no longer came to her attention. It was just them, standing at the center of the ruins. Her head tilted down in shame, and saw the white glow of the glyph below her hooves, etched into the circular altar. It had been glowing brighter and brighter the closer she reached the end of the book. There were only three pages left for her to read, three pages left to finish her quest.

Twilight silently thought for a minute, thinking of what to say to her friends for her actions. She struck dead ends left and right, there was no way she could apologize in a way that all ends okay. She looked back at the book, closed and in Spike’s claws.

It was a hardcover book like most others, made of a leather fabric dyed purple. It looked incredibly old, but was in suspiciously good condition. On the cover was a silhouette of a mare and a golden title that read, “The Adventures of Arcega Minn”. It was roughly the size of a small novel, and had a completely blank backside.

As she stared at the cover of the book, she recalled when she and Spike first found it. As she stared, she noticed the shadow behind the silhouette of Arcega Shutts Minn, Ace. The shadow stared back at her, and slowly crept from the cover to her.

It slithered to her ear, and whispered to her, “Twilight…”

Shut up. Twilight winced at the invisible creature.

“You nearly finished the book. It was all going to be over in a matter of seconds. Centura would be saved, and Ace would be the greatest knight of all. Come on, in remembrance of Sanctus.”

I don’t care. She isn’t real.

“Of course she is. She’s more of a real friend than those others ever were. Look at them, judging you, preparing to punish you. You can almost see them planning for every response you make.”

I can.

“And for what are they punishing you for? You did nothing wrong.”

I did! I-I ran away, I insulted them, I fought them!

“Were you not justified?”

I-I-I-

“You were simply reading.”

But bad things hap-

“You were having the time of your life! But your friends made it seem like you were making a deal with the demons. Didn’t they? They became paranoid, they questioned your intellect, they were begging for you to fight them!”

…

“So, how about we finish the book, and prove them wrong. Show these ‘friends’ that you are capable of handling it.”

This is like a nightmare I once faced. From one bad day, I turned on my friends and became something… terrible. My view on what was right and wrong was destroyed, and I saw the mares, the mares that had been at my side for years, become monsters. I tried to fight it off, but the idea of the nightmare being possible... It…

“Nightmares give a pony reason to become strong. They show what monsters are out there, and how to vanquish them. I have taught many-a-pony about those morals. But of course, not many listened. So I became the Nightmare.”

Who are you?

“…Your only escape.”

Twilight’s attention returned to her friends, waiting for her answer. An inner rage churned in her stomach, and her lips quivered, ready for action.

“Give me the book, let me finish.” Twilight coldly declared.

Her iron glare stabbed Spike in the chest, and the little dragon begun to shake in his place.

Discord stepped out in front of Spike and shook his head at Twilight.

“No.” He firmly stated.

Twilight’s horn began to glow.

“No.” Discord stated once again. “You want that book then you’re going to have to go through me.”

“You would like that wouldn’t you?” Twilight growled.

“What?”

“To play martyr for your team of traitors,”

“Traitors?” Fluttershy asked.

“Traitors!” Twilight repeated herself. “You turn your backs on me for him? You’re all paranoid of me, you all don’t believe that anything I say has merit, you go so far as to put the Spirit of Chaos above me! You aren’t my friends!”

Twilight’s horn reached its peak, and energy crackled at the end of it, aimed right for Discord’s head. Twilight’s eyes lock onto Discord, and stare down his soul as she pulled the mental trigger.

“We are your friends!” A voice suddenly hollered.

Frozen in place, Twilight’s eyes darted back down to Discord’s legs, seeing Spike standing there. The book held to his side with one claw, while the other reached out to her in a halting gesture.

Spike continued, “We are your friends. We love you, Twilight! We love you so much, that this is why we’re so scared, it’s because we care of your safety.”

“You just don’t think I’m capable enough to handle myself!” Twilight hissed.

“I do.” He sharply replied.

Twilight cut off her spell from surprise of such an answer.

“-What?” She then asked.

“I do think you can’t handle yourself. Nopony can. With things like this demon book around, we need our friends to break from temptation. I’ve read that book, and I loved it when you read it, but Discord helped me realize that it wasn’t right. I didn’t like it, but he was right.”

“Then why, why didn’t you stop me earlier?”

“…I was scared of hurting you, Twilight. I saw how much you loved that book, and if I were to intervene and say that it was wrong, then… You’d be so heartbroken. I thought perhaps you’d come to realize it on your own, or at least be bored of it, lose it, or something, but I was wrong. Things only got worse, and more ponies were hurt, including you. Twilight, I’m sorry things had come to this.”

Spike sniffled as he continued. His eyes turned bloodshot and teary.

“I’m sorry Twilight.” He whimpered whilst approaching her. “I’m sorry for hurting you.”

Reaching his arms out, he gave his friend a hug on the chest. His digits ran through her fur, and the book dropped to the altar floor.

Eventually, Twilight found herself tearing up as well.

“Oh Spike,” Twilight muttered to Spike, but before she could continue, she saw the open book.

It was on the third to last page, the apex of the climax and on the verge of the resolution. Thanatus had Ace pinned to the wall with his hoof pressed against her belly and his sword to her neck. The Olc Sword was in Ace’s grip, but without its full power unleashed, it was useless against Thanatus.

About halfway down the page, the words begun to leap from the page and into Twilight’s eyes.

“Twilight?” Spike asked the sidetracked mare.

Twilight didn’t even hear him speak. The only thing she heard was Ace grunting and Lord Thanatus’s maniacal laughter.

“Ace…” Twilight whispered.

“Excuse me?”

“Give it up, Arcega!” Thanatus cackled. “Without the activation spell, your little knife will never kill me!”

“Twilight! No!”

“Ace!”

Ace chocked her retort, “You know, that would be a shame…”

A thin white slip of paper poked out from her quivering lips.

“Luckily, I take notes!”

“Stop her!”

“Do it, Ace!”

“No!” Thanatus hollered.

Desperate, Lord Thanatus lunged her blade forward, only for it to be stopped by Glacadh An Bháis. Its runes glowed brightly as Ace looked at the paper and scanned its words into her mind.

Thanatus pounded his hoof into Ace’s stomach, causing her to spit out the paper. With one swing, he shredded the paper to thin bits.

“Stop, Twilight! The altar is literally surging with lightning!”

“I will never stop reading!”

Ace landed on the floor and held the black blade to her chest. With the wisdom of Ebony, the song of Silver, the tale of Huntsmen, the motivation of Ebony, and her own intellect, Ace put together the activation spell, the spell that will unlock the true power of Glacadh An Bháis.

Her horn shone with light, and the sword before her came to life with energy.

Ace opened her mouth, and screamed,

“No!” Spike bawled.

It didn’t stop Twilight. Not him, not the other five, not even Discord. She turned to the final two pages, the end of the book. The two-page illustration was a black and red collage of mad scribbles, with words of white scratched into the wall, the activation spell.

Twilight opened her mouth, and screamed,

"Veni ad nos iterum! De tenebras inter saecula! De regno nonreality! Fac tui notum olim! Egredere, tanti praenuntia mortis metum et potestatem! Devolvat in Sanctus! Surge, Sanctus Nightmare!"

A beam of darkness shattered the skies and consumed the altar, grinding it into dust. Gales of smog and shadow tear apart the ruins, and send Spike, Discord, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy into the air. Twilight remained glued to the podium as her robes were torn to shreds by the swirling rock and debris.

Moans and screams hissed from the beam, followed by a maniacal cackle, worse than anything Twilight could imagine Lord Thanatus could conjure. Twilight watched and listened in horror as she took witness to this, and realize what she had just done.

A pitch black figure formed in the center of the black beam. It looked like a pony, but certainly wasn’t one. It had a massive frame, and even larger, leathery wings to boot. Its horn was gnarled and twisted, but razor sharp throughout, like it was made that way.

Finally came the eyes. Like spotlights, they pierced through the void with their glow. They were completely red, with the irises an opulent saturation, all except for the pupils, which were absent of all life.

As the creature walked out from the beam, Twilight backed against one of the remaining stone walls. Tears filled her eyes, both of guilt and fear, as she stared at the beast. Its body was as black as every upon exiting. Its long, purple mane and tail didn’t even react with the howling gales, a simply waved side to side in junction to the body’s slow movements.

The creature turned its head back and saw as the beam of darkness die down, yet the storm and gales continued to tear through the forest. It chuckled to itself as it continued to turn all the way around to Twilight. Sickly sounds of snapping and slapping cracked from the neck as it did so.

A wide grin formed on the being’s face, full of rows of jagged teeth. They were pure white, but had a dripping red tint at the end of each tooth.

Twilight gasped, and words came to her dribbling mouth.

“What are you?” She uttered under her cold, frightened breath.

With the voice of a hundred thousand tortured souls, the black mass replied, “Your only escape from this world, Sanctus Nightmare.”