Night of the second day:
36 hours remaining
As the team left Starlight's laboratory and music house, she kept the music playing to keep the Gibdos at bay. They made their way into the well where Sharp was initially found. They explored the underground catacombs of Ikana and the castle's private transport.
While skulking around in the gloomy tunnel, Twilight used her horn to light the way forward through the inky darkness, which would otherwise be impossible to navigate. It was so dark that you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face.
The team moved carefully and tried to move quickly to get through the catacombs. Applejack and Rainbow consoled Fluttershy so she could tolerate the darkened atmosphere.
Suddenly, the team heard ghastly moaning in the tunnel and froze with fear. "Everypony, be as quiet as possible; do not draw their attention," whispered Twilight to her team, who all agreed to stay silent.
Inching forward, they tried their best to avoid contact with the Gibdo in the tunnel, who was moaning at a low pitch and curled into the fetal position, twitching slightly as if possessed.
Hero kept his sword ready immediately and instructed the team not to let the Gibdo see them, as its shrieking would paralyze them. They listened to him as he had often dealt with these foul creatures in Equestria.
They managed to slip by the Gibdo as they made it to the center of the catacombs. Further down, they traveled to reach the end, encountering a few more Gibdos positioned near the walls and corners of the sprawling catacombs underneath Ikana.
Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel and emerged into the courtyard of an ancient castle that looked dilapidated and devoid of life, like the rest of the Ikana Kingdom.
The team had arrived at the entrance of Ikana Castle. Upon entering the derelict structure, they were greeted with an unwelcome sight: Four Gibdos were stationed at the center of the Main Foyer. Hero put on the Gibdo Mask from Starlight, and as a result, the other undead creatures ignored him but started following his friends instead.
Hero then removed the mask and put on the spiritual golden mask with the purple hood, which caused a different reaction from the undead creatures. They started dancing in coordination. Starlight was equally surprised as everyone else and said, "Well, as long as they don't try to attack us, I guess we should be fine with that."
Starlight feared the undead creatures since she had nearly turned into one. The team felt relieved when they realized that the undead creatures showed no signs of hostility. However, their presence still made the group feel uneasy. The team moved past the dancing corpses and entered the left corridor, which was sealed with a block with a picture of a sun symbol.
Turning left down a corridor, they saw what appeared to be a vast study. "Oh, wow, forbidden texts and knowledge to be gained here... no, Twilight. We're on a mission right now. Sorry, guys, it's a force of habit."
Further down the corridor, they came across what seemed to be the first half of the back of Ikana Castle, resembling a walled garden. "This place almost reminds me of Everfree Castle back in Equestria," Twilight remarked.
"Yeah, but Everfree Castle didn't have undead plaguing it, last I checked," Starlight teased. Twilight shrugged in agreement.
"Point taken; Look, Hero, there's a chest up those stairs. It looks like a ceremonial chest," Twilight pointed out. Hero climbed the stairs and opened the ornate chest, obtaining the Mirror Shield. "A mirror shield? It looks very sturdy, Hero. This'll help us out immensely," Twilight added.
As they left the walled garden section, back through the study, and out to the foyer, the Gibdos were still dancing. They headed in the right direction and found an aged and worn dining room like the rest of the castle.
"This must have been where they were eating their meals and celebrating, possibly after their many victories here. This place's rich history makes my body tingle excitedly, guys," Twilight was giddy with learning about this Ikanaian culture and found this place's secrets to be very intriguing. "Further down looks to be the other side of that walled garden, which looks like a gallery. It's also not exposed to the outside like that garden was. How old is this place exactly?"
"I have no idea, but judging by the designs, I'd estimate centuries old. Very antiquated designs are depicted here. There's also a stairway to the second floor of this castle. Let's check that out." Starlight then pointed her left forehoof to the way up for the team.
They went up to the second floor and noticed that the foundation in the center was slightly cracked. Above the cracked floor was a strange magical lantern that seemed to be turned off and had been so for many years. The lantern was suspended by a rusted chain and anchored to the second floor's ceiling. It looked like magic could be deposited on one side and fire on the other.
"How curious," said Starlight. "This must be a generator for elemental magic. I briefly read about it in the library back at Twilight's Castle. As for why it's here, I honestly have no clue."
Twilight came up with an idea and told Hero, "Use your fire arrows, and I'll use my magic to simulate Celestia's solar magic. It's difficult to mimic another's magic, but since it's nighttime, we don't have much time to wait for the sun to rise. Are you ready, Hero?"
Hero nodded and readied his bow with magic, switching to fire arrows to light up the lantern.
At the same time, Twilight was weaving Celestia's solar magic, which was a strain on her. She gritted her teeth and managed to do it, which was genuinely unbelievable. After finishing her spell, an artificial sun was created in the lantern. The fire from Hero's arrow ignited the lantern, so the spell would work correctly as it needed heat.
Twilight was panting from exhaustion after finishing the spell, and she said, "Y-Yeah... I did it..."
"Wow, that was impressive, Twilight," Starlight said in awe. Twilight's lantern emitted a field of solar energy, illuminating the room with bright light. "We could probably break this cracked floor beneath us. Gibdos hate natural and magical light."
"Do you think you have something strong enough to smash this floor, Hero?" Starlight asked as Hero nodded and removed his spiritual mask, replacing it with his wooden yak mask. As it crunched onto his face, he began to transform into his yak form, screaming in pain. In a flash, he was his yak and unicorn self-fusion, "Uhhnn... that looked very painful for him; what have you guys been doing all this time before you rescued me?"
"A lot has happened, Starlight. Hero's been through one heck of an adventure with us," Twilight replies as Hero looks down at the cracked floor and stomps on it with his forehooves, shattering the floor to the bottom, shedding light into the foyer, and petrifying the four Gibdos that were dancing in coordination.
"Nice going, Hero! Now, let's go back to the foyer of this castle to see if anything has changed," Twilight said. She then led the group down the stairs and back to the foyer to see the undead frozen by the light and unable to move.
"Okay, we're safe from them, everypony. Great. But what about that block in our way?" Rainbow asks the group.
Twilight deeply thought, "I have a theory about that block. It was placed there to keep something inside from getting out. Look at its symbol chiseled onto it. It looks like a sun. But why?" Twilight then looked up to that lamp she lit, and Hero both lit up and grinned, "I think I know why."
"That sun symbolizes enlightenment; this place was shrouded in blood and darkness, right? Well, how do we shed light on it? Easy. Hero's mirror shield can bounce off light particles, yes? That's just basic science," Twilight grinned as she explained her theory. Hero then removed his yak mask and felt Darmani's sorrow being pulled from his body as he reverted to normal.
"He then readies his mirror shield to bounce the light beam from the ceiling to the block. As the block glows bright white, it vanishes from sight."
"Great job, everyone! The path ahead is now clear," Twilight celebrated with Hero and their friends, acknowledging their progress.
The team entered the central corridor leading to the throne room of Ikana Castle. Inside, they saw an ancient throne upon which sat a skeleton horse adorned in ceremonial armor and royal attire. As soon as he saw them, his eyes began to glow red, and he spoke in a gravelly, supernatural voice.
"Ggrrrnnn... what is this intrusion? You are interlopers, full of life in this land scarred by death and darkness. Your courage is palpable but foolish. Now, you shall forever roam the deepest darkness. My two best soldiers will demonstrate the true definition of darkness and fear."
With that, his two lackeys stepped forward, laughing maliciously and making the team shiver. "My loyal soldiers! Flay the flesh and meat from their bones and make them like we are—undead."
Twilight said, "Oh dear... Hero, I'll keep everything else protected. You deal with those two." The two soldiers fought like typical stalpony knights, but Hero knew their tactics. He deftly dodged their attacks and slashed them in the back with his razor blade, gradually dulling its sharpness.
Attacking the more lanky stalpony, his body crumbled into a pile of bones as he let out a groan of defeat. He slashed at the more stalky one, whose body broke into a pile of bones. They both rose back up while chuckling as they rebuilt themselves back together. "No. No good. These Stalponies are not your typical variety. Tread carefully, Hero," Twilight said as she observed them reassembling themselves with unease.
Hero looked up at two windows on the second floor of the throne room. They were covered by tapestries with the Ikana Family Crest, and light shone through them. Hero decided to test something by shooting a fire arrow at the tapestry on the right, which burned it away and revealed a beam of solar light in the throne room. Hero and Twilight had worked together to create this beam of light.
The King was shocked to see something he thought he would never see in his entire life. "W-What?! This is inconceivable. Do not allow them any quarter, my troops," he ordered.
Two soldiers approached Twilight and her friends, laughing menacingly. Hero blocked their advance and attacked them with his sword. They turned into piles of bones. Hero then used his mirror shield to direct the beam of light from the window onto the soldiers, and they were set ablaze with sapphire-blue flames. They perished in the throne room, shrieking in terror.
"How infuriating. It seems that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," the King said, rising from his throne to face the intruders, cracking his ancient bones in his neck as he brandished his weapons for battle. "Come and face me and meet the same fate as the others before you."
Hero puts on the Keeta mask, and the king looks at him with surprise. "G-General Keeta?! Here? In my castle? It's an honor to see you well, my friend," the king says before narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Hero, "But hold a spell... You look so tiny." He laughs and hops in place, pointing his left hoof at Hero before chuckling darkly. "You nearly had me fooled for a moment there."
He then rushed at Hero as Hero leaped over his larger body to deliver a swift vertical slash onto his back, making him groan from the attack, "Augh?! That blow was luck. It will not happen again," While still in his blind spot, Hero was rushing to slash at his bony haunches to weaken the creature.
One last slash made his body fall apart as Hero wasted no time using his mirror shield on him, too. Igniting his body with blue embers as his body perished away, his shrunken head was levitating with a dark aura around him. "Do not believe me to fall as they did. This skirmish is not over yet, intruders!" The king said as he began his final gambit against the Hero.
Hero then used his fire arrows on the other tapestry to open the second window, bathing the entire room in bright light as the dark aura around his floating head vanished, making him more vulnerable. Hero then slashed at him as he panicked and tried to retreat: "W-Wait?! No! Stop! You win! I concede!" The king says that Hero intended to end this threat to him and his friends.
That King's fear could easily be seen in his bony face as he was cornered to his throne, and Hero delivered his last attack to him to make him groan in defeat as his head vanished from sight. "I-Is he... are they gone? Woah... nice job, Hero." Rainbow said as they gasped in horror upon seeing the two floating heads of those bony soldiers manifest; however, they were no longer stalponies but spirits.
"Oi, Blade, we're not finished fighting yet, are we?" asked Edge.
"Well, look at our bodies! We don't even have them anymore," replied Blade.
"What?! Oh no! What have you intruders done to our bodies?!" exclaimed Edge.
"You're such a bonehead, Bro. Edge... hah, more like Dull Edge," teased Blade.
"Say that again, why don't you? I was the best swordspony and bladesmith in our kingdom. How dare you imply the opposite," retorted Edge.
"You used to be, but not anymore," replied Blade.
"Why you... Do not say that again, or so help me..." threatened Edge.
"Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, and dull," teased Blade.
"That's it! I've had it with you. Draw your weapon, now!" demanded Edge.
Blade looked genuinely puzzled and asked, "How?" before laughing with immense delight—much to the ire of his presumed older brother.
“Both of you, cease this nonsense at once! Do you not realize that this senseless violence has led to our cursed existence?” Twilight, her friends, and Hero heard the booming voice of the older stalpony king before his attention turned to Twilight's group. “Our kingdom lay in ruins and darkness, scarred by war and bloodshed.”
“We were locked into a fatal stalemate with our enemies to the point of total eradication. We were doomed to be here forever and condemned to eternal death. But you, who do not fear the darkness, had broken us from this curse.”
“I am Igos Du Ikana, the proud king of this once glorious kingdom. I have made many foolish mistakes, which I regret. I took my throne and its people for granted, but you have freed us,” Igos, expressing his remorse for his previously failed tenure as king of Ikana.
“The evils of the temple of worship that the ancient ones of old once resided in have been safeguarded by our family's warding to prevent its escape and misuse. Only one who sees deep from within themselves may ascend the Stone Tower, then the truth you seek shall reveal itself to you,” Igos explains to the group.
"I sense you have a spiritual instrument. Take it out now, so then I shall teach you a song. This song rends any veil over your heart. There shall be no secrets kept from the world with this song, and all transparencies shall be laid bare. Remember this, the Elegy of Emptiness."
"Now play along with my vocal tone:"
Hero played the song as it matched Igos's baritone voice. He moved his hands according to the notes: right, left, right, bottom, right, high, and left. His friends watched in awe and astonishment as strange yellow magic came from the Ikana King and circled Hero.
As he played, Hero's aura looked like it was splitting apart from his body, creating a chiseled stone effigy of himself in front of them. He was standing on his hind hooves, balanced upright, and using the Blade of Harmony as a makeshift cane. His forehooves were resting at the hilt of his Blade, with his head tilted slightly, eyes closed, and tears streaming down his cheeks.
Sorrowful and poignant emotions could be felt from what lay dormant within his heart.
Igos bowed his head in respect to Hero and said, "That is your inner self, your effigy. You seem to be held down by many burdens, I see. You are strong for such a young life. You who do not fear the darkness, may your journey after this one be one of immense peace. Bring light to this land ruled by death and darkness, and then you'll know what horrifying truth awaits you."
"Stone Tower Temple is where you will advance towards. Things were fine during my tenure as King of Ikana until those doors were thrust open, and the evils poured over our home. A thousand of my troops would not even be able to topple it. But I think that you might. You are different. Farewell, and thank you." Igos and his two soldiers then vanished into the afterlife to finally be at peace.
"Hero, is this the sadness you feel deep inside? I'm so sorry." Twilight hugged him, and he returned the hug in kind. Then, all his other friends joined to help console him for a moment of tender warmth. Happy to accept that, he sighed in contentment as the hours during their fight with Igos went by, and it was now the dawn of the final day.