“So, let me get this straight,” Huntsmen spoke. “You, Arcega,”

“You can call me Ace if you want to.” Ace replied.

“Okay. You, Ace, are a young mare from Southern Town, who decided to go on an adventure to beat Lord Thanatus, bringing only a bat-pony and a home-made sword with you.”

“It’s a beautiful, custom thick-steel longsword with a magic lock embedded in the pommel.”

“Alright… And you, Ebony, are said bat-pony, who has recently discovered that that circlet on your head has the ability to cast illusionary spells.”

“Yeah…” Ebony nodded, feeling a bit guilty.

Huntsmen simply put a hoof to his face and muttered, “And I thought Silver was ridiculous...”

“Well, look where it has gotten us so far.” Ace remarked.

“Yeah, a nice gash right in the barrel. Hold still.” Huntsmen commanded as he lifted the foaming mug to Ace’s side.

Ace dug her hooves into the grass as the drink was poured. As the liquid lapped onto her wound, she squeaked in pain, but kept still. She could hear the foaming drink pour down her side and drip onto the grass and dirt below.

As much as the treatment stung, it was nothing compared to the humiliation. She, Ebony, and their new friend were at the back of the tavern, performing a primitive medical operation with beer while Silver is paying off his tab by performing songs. She could only imagine what ponies would be thinking if they were ever to pass upon this.

“Remind me why we have to do this?” Ace yelped.

Huntsmen simply answered, “Well, there’s no hospital here, the sunlight is a good light source, and if this here wound wasn’t treated, you’d die in about… sixty nine hours.”

“Six to nine hours?!” Ace exclaimed.

“No. Six-ty nine hours.”

“Oh… Eep!”

“Alright, Ebony.” Huntsmen declared. “Next cu-”

A loud belch interrupted him. He slowly turned to face Ebony, only to see her spread across her back down with an empty mug on her chest.

“Bah…” He grunted. He reached behind him and pulled out a bandage roll and begun to dress Ace’s wound.

Ace apologized, “Sorry for my friend. She means well, just doesn’t really, do well. We’re both really thankful for you joining us. Silver’s probably the most thankful, he-he.”

“Bah, he knows I’ll always have his back.”

“Are you two close friends?”

“…Something like that. Tell me, you bunch had a scuffle with one of Thanatus’s soldiers right?”

“A scout, to be exact,”

“Yeah, if I was there, I would’ve easily beaten him. I’ve gotten pretty familiar with the little buggers… Wait.”

“What?”

“Did you guys see only one scout?”

“…Yes?”

“Scouts are never alone.”

A massive cannonball suddenly crashed into the nearby building, disintegrating it. Harsh hoofsteps could be heard in the distance.

“Get ready.” Huntsmen declared.

“Born ready.” Ace replied.

The two unveiled their weapons on held them at the ready as the distant stomping grew closer. Finally, crashing through another building, the second scout revealed himself. He was equally as massive as the first, but wielded a large cannon on his shoulder instead of a sword. On his back was a black banner with red eye at the center, the symbol of Thanatus’s army.

The scout roared and lunged forward. Huntsmen charged forward as well. The two collided at the center of the road, holding each other on the spot. Ace then teleported above the two and swung her sword down upon the scout. The scout back away from the sword and Huntsmen shoved him into the building ruins. He backed up to Ace’s side as the scout reclaimed his hoofing.

A wide smile was on Huntsmen’s face as he saw the dark soldier ready for another attack.

“Let’s do this…” he chuckled, gripping his weapon tight.

“Charge!” Ace screamed.

“Charge!” Rainbow Dash read outloud. “Within that moment, chaos erupted throughout the entire temple as Daring Do and Wolf fought their way past The Thousand Jackals of the Eclipse.”

“Who.” An odd sound echoed throughout the library.

Dash quickly turned quiet in surprise. She looked around who said that, but with no pony in sight.

“Who,” The voice spoke once more.

“Who’s there?” Dash asked. Her cyan coat-hairs stood at end.

“Who,”

“Hey! I’m asking you!”

“Whooo.”

Rainbow Dash’s head darted around once more, finally seeing the source of the voice. It was Twilight’s pet owl, Owlowiscious, perched on the bookcase Dash was leaning against.

“Oh, yeah…” Dash remarked, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.

The owl simply turned his head towards the book rested in Dash’s lap.

“Oh, this thing?” Dash asked the owl. “This is ‘Daring Do and the Philosopher’s Legend’, sequel to ‘Daring Do and the Lost Kingdoms of Trihearth' and possibly the best one! Of course, Twilight must have told you all it already…”

“…” No response was given from Owlowiscious.

“Well, I guess she would, if she wasn’t so focused on that other book.”

“Who,”

“I don’t know, I think it’s called ’The Adventures of Ace Ventura’ or something.”

“Whooo,”

The owl flew away into another part of the library. Dash simply shrugged and continued reading. However, the owl returned and hooted once more.

“What do you want?” Dash asked.

Owlowiscious grabbed Dash’s book and flew away, prompting Dash to follow.

“Hey! Give that back!”

It wasn’t a long chase, as Owlowiscious landed on a study table near the center of the room. Rainbow Dash was still annoyed, and snatched the book from him as soon as she arrived.

“Next time, ask.” She barked.

“Who,” Owlowiscious hooted.

His wing pointed at a series of books spread out across the table. Dash examined the books, curious of what he was trying to tell her.

“’Alchemy for Morons’, ’Interdimensionalism; The In-Between’, ’The Princess in Yellow’… I don’t get it. Why would Twilight have these three books on her table? She would’ve placed them back on the shelf when not using them.”

Owlowiscious placed a wing to his face and pointed at himself.

“You did this?” Dash asked.

“Who,” the owl nodded.

“Why?”

“Who,”

The owl then flew off towards Twilight’s bedroom and Dash followed, growing evermore confused. Upon entering, Dash saw Owlowiscious perched at the head of Twilight’s bed. He was looking over what she was reading.

“That book?” Rainbow Dash whispered. “What about it?”

Suddenly, Twilight squealed out amidst reading, “Ka-boom!”

Dash nearly jumped in shock, but soon realized that her friend was merely reading aloud.

“The scout’s cannon roared and its projectile launched at Ebony. But upon hitting, Ebony disappeared into a veil of smoke. It was an illusion, as Ebony then appeared right behind his head and attacked with her blades.”

“Sounds pretty intense,” Dash remarked.

Owlowiscious pointed at the book, prompting Rainbow Dash to look. Dash did so, quietly sneaking to Twilight’s side and looking into the book.

“Huntsmen then charged and held the scout in place. Despite the cannonballs being fired into his face, Huntsmen felt more alive than ever before over the last year. Ace quickly followed and casted a magical glyph above and below the two massive stallions.

‘Get out!’ She yelled out.

Hunstmen quickly did so and a powerful beam of light discharged between the two glyphs, encompassing the scout in blue light.”

Dash noticed that on the next page, it showed an illustration of said event. It was an overhead view of Ace’s attack. The glyphs were circular, and were decorated with various shapes and ruins.

Wait, those look familiar… Dash thought to herself. She only had to jog her memory for a moment before realizing what it was. It’s a transmutation circle! Ainm Sampla used one of those to create the Eternal Soul Key in ‘Daring Do and the 76 Soldiers’. Alchemy… Owlowiscious books… I wonder if Twilight knows what he’s on about.

As the soldier of Thanatus lay still on the ground, Huntsmen approached him, huffing in delight.

“Well, that was fun.” Huntsmen spoke, congratulating his rival.

Silver Chord hopped out of the fresh hole in the tavern and was shocked at the sight.

He asked, “What happened?”

“The result of you not checking for followers,” Huntsmen answered solemnly.

“Oh…”

“At least we got him.” Ebony cheered.

A sudden noise denied that however. The four heroes turned back to the fallen soldier, now back on his four hooves. Despite the damage done to his body, the fire in the soldier’s eyes still burnt brightly. His breathing lengthened to a normal pace, and his cannon automatically reloaded.

“Aw come on!” Ebony moaned.

“Impossible!” Ace exclaimed. “I used the most powerful spell I got! He should be dead!”

“Disturbing intentions aside, it seems your spell is whack.” Silver replied.

“No,” Huntsmen retorted. “Her spell isn’t the problem. It’s these soldiers of Thanatus.”

“Are you saying we can’t beat them?” Ebony asked.

“…” Huntsmen stayed quiet, and prepared his weapon.

The risen soldier roared at the ponies before him. He raised himself onto his hind legs.

“For Thanatus!” He yelled.

Just as he was about to strike though, a green aura surrounded his body. It crackled in purple sparks and blasted the soldier in its grasp. The scout screamed violently, and dropped to the ground once more. As the green aura faded, and the electrical sparks subsided, the soldier of Thanatus turned limp and lifeless.

Huntsmen, Silver, Ace, and Ebony were all speechless.

“Looks like you ponies needed the assistance.” A mare’s voice spoke from behind them.

The four slowly turned around to the source, and were surprised at what they saw.

A massive blue blob then immediately washed over them, consumed the entire town, and everything was gone.

“What?!” Twilight exclaimed.

She reared back from the book and Rainbow Dash’s hoof waving in front of her face.

“Twilight!” Dash shouted once more, having asked for her name several times before.

Twilight took a moment to recollect herself and turned to Rainbow Dash, growing more furious by the second.

“Yes?” Twilight asked, gritting her teeth.

“Sorry to interrupt your reading,” Dash said. “But Owlowiscious wants to point out something to me, about your book.”

“And?”

“Well, on one of the previous pages, it showed a transmutation circle, alchemy.”

“…”

“Now, in your library, Owlowiscious set up a line-up of books that-”

“Let me just stop you right there.” Twilight interrupted.

She didn’t want to yell at Dash. Twilight hated the idea just as much as shouting at Spike. So she took a moment to breathe before talking.

“Look,” She calmly explained. “That’s his job to line up books for me to study. He is an assistant, just like Spike. There’s nothing paranormal going on. It’s simply just a coincidence.”

“…I didn’t say anything paranormal was happening.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Twilight’s mood quickly lightened. She was almost relieved that there was a pony out there that wasn’t obsessed with this book conspiracy.

“So, what’s with Owlowiscious?” Dash asked.

“He may just be a bit jittery from the storm.” Twilight answered. She reached a hoof above her and petted the owl.

“I see. Hey, speak of a demon, the storm’s gone!”

Twilight immediately glanced towards the window and saw a beam of light entering the bedroom.

“I’m going out. Thanks for letting me crash.” Dash thanked her friend.

“Anytime,” Twilight nodded.

“See ya!”

Without giving time for response, Rainbow Dash bolted out of the castle, leaving Twilight and Owlowiscious to their own business.

“Wanna go outside?” Twilight asked her companion.

“Whooo,” Owlowiscious gave a long hoot in response.

He jumped down onto Twilight’s shoulder and snuggled into her neck.

“Alright then,” Twilight returned with the snuggles.

Twilight no longer felt the tension that had accumulated over the past couple of days. For once, she felt like things were going right.

Owlowiscious broke away from the cuddling and began to peck at Twilight’s sandwich, which only had a single bite in it.

Hm… the gears in Twilight’s head turned. I swore I took at least a second bite from it. Perhaps I do need a break from this bed, and go outside. My mane is a bit matted, and my body is a bit dry... I know! I’ll go to the spa, that’ll be nice. I’ll bring Rarity along as well. What about the book? …I’ll just finish this chapter.

Bringing the book along, Twilight bolted outside her castle and headed to Rarity’s Boutique. The ground was almost covered in puddles of water, so Twilight flew.

She opened the book to where she left off and continued as she flew through the damp air.

“Looks like you ponies needed the assistance.” A mare’s voice spoke from behind them.

The four slowly turned around to the source, and were surprised at what they saw.

Sitting at the top of a tree was a mare. Not a sorceress or anything like that in appearance, just a small, unicorn mare. Her thin coat was as black as the night, and her long mane and tail were as red as rich, darkened silk. Purple streaks of royal hues were imbedded in her hair as well, which juxtaposed greatly against her jade green eyes.

Wrapped around her was a dark grey cloak, with something shifting around within it. Around her neck was a red star-shaped necklace, glowing as bright as her horn.

“Who are you?” Silver asked the mysterious mare.

“Name’s Eclipse,” She quietly answered.

“Well, Eclipse, thank you for helping us out.”

“No problem.”

“Wait!” Ace hollered. “How did you do that? You just took down that soldier without a problem!”

“I am also curious.” Huntsmen added.

“It’s not as easy as you say it is,” she answered.

She teleported from her tree to right in front of the group before continuing, “Those soldiers are not alive.”

“Not anymore.” Ebony bragged.

“They are not dead either.” Eclipse added.

“Excuse me?”

She further explained, “These soldiers that you see are simply the bodies of fallen ponies, manipulated by whoever their master is.”

“Lord Thanatus…” Ace answered.

“Indeed. You ponies wore down the body and exposed the strings which I cut with my magic.”

“Where did you learn it?” Ace asked.

“Don’t bother her with so many questions,” Silver tugged at Ace’s tunic.

“I have some friends on the other side.” Eclipse vaguely answered.

Creepy… Huntsmen thought to himself.

“As we have said,” Silver concluded. “Thank you. We’ll just be on our way and not disturb this town anymore with these ‘not-dead’ fellows you speak of.”

“Wait!” Ace exclaimed.

“Hmm?” Eclipse turned her head in curiosity.

“Would you like to join our team?” Ace offered. “We could need your assistance on our quest.”

“A quest?” Eclipse’s ears perked.

“Yes, to find the legendary…”

“Glacadh An Bháis-” Huntsmen spoke.

“That, a sword able to stop Thanatus and save this land from his tyrannical oppression,”

“…” Eclipse thought for a moment.

Meanwhile, Silver grabbed Ace and pulled her over behind Hunstmen.

“Are you insane?” He quietly barked.

Ace hesitated before answering, “…Somewhat?”

“You are recruiting a mare, who we know jack-diddily-squat about, who has the ability to kill us on the spot, to join us on an adventure we are barely equipped to take on? I don’t like the looks of her.”

“To Silver’s credit,” Ebony added. “We don’t even really know where to go. We just assembled this team on the spot.”

Ace hesitated to think. She glanced at Eclipse, looking back at her with a deadpan look on her face.

“I have faith in her.” She replied, shocking Ebony and Silver.

“You… trust in her? On the spot?” Silver questioned.

“Yeah, that’s basically how I met Ebony.”

“…”

Ebony knew Ace was right. When they met for the first time, Ebony was running away from the law for stealing a loaf of bread. She was taking a rest when Ace, midway through a solo adventure, came across her. Ebony could still remember the glowing smile her friend had on her face as she held out her hoof and introduced herself. Was it obliviousness, or seeing whatever good was inside her at that moment? Either way, it resulted in a friendship that stayed true to this day.

“I support you.” Ebony proclaimed.

“Et tu?” Silver muttered below his voice.

Ace walked out from behind Huntsmen and approached Eclipse. Her bright, blue eyes met her sharp, green eyes as Ace held out her hoof.

“So? What do you think? You in?”

“…Sounds fun, I’ll tag along.” Eclipse responded, taking the hoof and shaking it.

“I’m Arcega, or just ‘Ace’ if you like.”

A low grumble could be heard from Huntsmen and Silver Chord.

“Relax.” Eclipse said to the stallions. “I think I can help with your navigation problems.”

Thunk!

Twilight reared back from the tree and rubbed the new bruise imprinted on her head.

“Ow…” She groaned.

Twilight had been so engrossed in her book, that she didn’t even notice the tree in front of her. In her mind, she defended herself, noting upon the tree’s oddly skinny structure. What she also never noticed was Pinkie Pie right below her.

“Are you alright?” Pinkie called out.

“Yeah…” Twilight grumbled. “Wait! How long have you been following me?”

“Since you flew past Town Hall. You looked really distracted, so I followed in case you got yourself stuck in a tree. Luckily, you only rammed into one.”

“…”

“So? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to pick up Rarity. Since the rain’s gone for now, I thought it would be a good idea to spend the rest of the day at the spa.”

“Sounds great!” Pinkie cheered. “Can I come along?”

“Sure.”

“Yippee! Do you need a rope?”

“A what?”

“A rope so you can keep on track. We’re currently in Sweet Apple Acres.”

Twilight took a quick look at her surroundings. Pinkie was right, Twilight was way off her mark.

Twilight hesitated a moment before nodding, “…Sure.”

Without any warning, Pinkie slung a rope end over Twilight. It made its way over her torso before dropping back down to Pinkie. Grabbing both ends of the rope with her mouth, Pinkie walked away from Twilight and to town. The rope slowly pushed on the back of her neck, prompting Twilight to fly forwards.

With Pinkie now directing Twilight, Twilight could return to her reading with full confidence and enclose. She was a bit dizzy, but eventually found her spot and continued reading.

“So, let me get this straight,” Silver asked Eclipse. “You’re saying that my song and Hunter’s tale are the same thing?”

“Not exactly,” she corrected. “They are two halves that, when put together, create the whole, the yin and yang, the lock and key, the sextant and stars,”

“Huh?”

“When you solve the puzzle that is shared between the two of them, directions to Glacadh An Bháis are revealed.” Eclipse clarified.

“Oh.”

“Silver, mind to repeat your song, in whole?”

“Not a problem.” Silver smirked.

He pulled out his guitar, plucked at its strings for a moment, and begun to sing, “There once was a stallion, whose name be forgotten, that became a hero in a night. When his village was in peril, by a demon of great power, its ponies were lost and confused. The demon had powers, beyond comprehension, and no weakness except for one. The hero set off, along with four friends, to find it and save his land.”

“Four friends, that being the four knights in the tale.”

“You know it too?” Huntsmen asked.

“No, I just listened in when you told it.”

“Oh…”

“Continue Silver.”

Silver continued, “They searched far and wide, for the weakness few told. They walked across fiery deserts and snowy mountains, but not a tear shed from their eye. They fought many battles along the way, never letting their sights off their duty.”

“In the tale, it says that the knights set off at dawn in search of the princess. It would be blinding for them if they were to set off to the East and too dark to go to the West.”

“That would only leave the North and South right?” Ebony asked.

“Not exactly. In the song, it says that the knights never shed any tears, as if rejecting them.”

“The Cape of Tears!” Ace exclaimed.

Eclipse nodded, “Correct. And in both accounts, no bodies of water are told about, just mountains, and deserts.”

“So that means…” Ace thought for a moment. “That wherever the knights were heading, it was south of the Cape of Tears. And having to traveled for six days… They would’ve had to go through Heliopolis at some point...”

“The dangerous lands where battles were fought!” Ebony squealed.

“They were seen as intruders.” Eclipse added. “Silver, continue.”

“And there they found it, a blade buried in black sand, forged by the gods themselves. They took the blade home, and the hero slayed the demon, and the land was safe evermore. The hero and his friends, forever became legend, and were met with a deserved fate. Thank you, thank you.”

“And finally, the resting place of the sword-” Eclipse begun to explain, but was quickly cut off by Ebony.

“I think I got it! Let me do it!” Ebony spoke.

“…Sure.” Eclipse nodded.

“Alright,” Ebony begun. “The knights fought a dragon in a cave.”

“…” The other four silently listened.

“And what do dragon’s breath?”

“Fire?” Ace, Silver, and Huntsmen answered, unsure where this was going.

“That’s right! And what ‘cave’ produces fire?”

“A volcano,”

“Yes! This would also explain the black sand,”

“Ash,” Ace remarked.

“Yeah!”

“Also,” Eclipse added. “Black sand is often a symbol for Death, a god of sorts.”

Ebony concluded, “Therefore, where the Olc Sword is, most likely, inside a volcano on the southern tip of Wisteria.”

“The only volcano down there is Mt. Gné.” Silver remarked.

“Then it’s settled!” Ace declared. “Off to Mt. Gné, and save Centura!”

“Onward!” Ebony and Silver cheered.

“Hey Silver!” The bar maiden yelled out from the tavern. “You better lend a hoof in fixing this!”

“Oh… I will!” Silver yelled back. “Hunter, help me, please.”

“…” Huntsmen hesitated.

“Please!” Silver pleaded.

“Only if you sing Jack Diddily Dongers.”

“No! I hate that song!”

“Well, suit yourself.”

“…Bah, let’s get this over with.”

As the two stallions made their way to the destroyed tavern, Ace and Ebony thanked Eclipse.

“I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.” Ace told Eclipse.

Eclipse nodded and replied, “You’re welcome. Thank you for offering me the chance to join in on this adventure. You girls have food on you right?”

“…Huntsmen is currently holding it for us. We just got tired from carrying our loads.” Ebony lied, seeing as it’s only him that’s holding any decent food, water, or money.

“I see.”

The mares continued to talk with each other and waited for the stallions to fix the wall. Unknown to them however, is a set of eyes in the forest, watching them in the distance.