It was not long after that the chariot touched down back into the Ponyville town square with Twilight and Duskmane back on their hooves.
“You said you know how to get to that palace, right?” Duskmane asked.
“Yes, although it's been quite a while since I've been there. I think we'll be just fine, though.”
Duskmane considered asking Twilight for time to tell his mother that he would be gone a while, but decided against it. “She wouldn't care where I was.” He thought.
Twilight started down one of the many unfamiliar roads that branched from the town square with Duskmane at her side. It was comforting for Duskmane to be away from the high-class atmosphere and back in the florescent comfort of normal town life. It was not long thereafter that the houses stopped bordering the streets and the the entrance to the Everfree forest became clearly visible ahead of them. They stopped briefly at the shaded threshold before entering.
Twilight turned to Duskmane to see that his hooves were shaking lightly. “Don't worry, we'll be just fine.” She reassured him.
“I know, I know. You know what to expect better than I do, I've only read a few books that mentions this place, and they've never said anything good.”
“Well, it is a dangerous place, but we can handle it.” She smiled at him.
He nodded, “I'm not worried of the danger inside...” He thought, “I'm just scared of not being able to help.”
After a deep breath, Twilight stepped into the shadows with Duskmane following close behind. Once the shadows of the trees grasped him, Duskmane was tense with apprehension, keeping a keen eye out for any sudden movements in the foliage. Twilight maintained her forward gaze as she traversed the familiar path, reciting her previous journey down this path within her memory.
“You said dangerous monsters lurked here... What exactly should we be looking out for?” Duskmane asked quietly as he continued to watch into the dark depths around them.
“Oh, you know...manticores, cockatrices, the occasional dragon. Much of the fauna of the forest is undocumented, so be ready for anything.”
The knowledge did little to comfort Duskmane. “Oh, I-- I see.”
“Don't worry. As long as we're quiet, we shouldn't attract any attention to ourselves.”
It was not long after they had entered the dark forest that the path crossed parallel with a cliff, where the canopy receded enough to see sunlight upon the ground. The cliff was a fairly long drop to smooth, grassy ravine below.
Twilight paused and looked down the edge of the cliff. “We have to get down there to get onto the right path.” She recalled her last experience getting down there, currently impossible without her pegasus friends.
Duskmane stepped beside her and peered down along with her. “The path we're on doesn't take us down there?”
“I don't know.” Twilight responded in a distanced tone, much to her dismay. She never actually went further down that path on her last trip. “My friends helped me down last time, I don't think us two could scale this cliff safely.”
“I don't know very much about magic,” Duskmane began, “But are you able to wink us to the bottom?”
The thoughts of cliffs and magic gave Twilight a terrible lurching in her stomach as the scene of her near-death plummet played vividly in her mind's eye. “I... I don't think I can.” She replied nervously. She felt somewhat embarrassed for not being prepared for an obstacle she should have remembered.
Duskmane has relied on Twilight's confidence to ward away his own fears, but it seemed that he may had put too much reliance on her for his own well-being. “I must make my strength my own.” He thought. He then spoke; “Then let's go down that trail. It appears to dip and go downhill, so it's likely it will bring us somewhere near the the bottom of the canyon.”
Twilight was caught off guard by the bold voice in which Duskmane spoke. “Good thinking, Duskmane.” She was surprised again when he stepped in front of her to lead the way back into the darkened forest. “This surely isn't the same pony that could barely say hello back in Ponyville...” She thought.
Although somewhat bolstered by his display of courage, Duskmane still felt uncertain as the path went downhill, back in the shade of the trees. The path appeared to traverse downward as far as the two ponies could see as they followed it for a few quiet minutes. It was not too long after their decent downhill that a gray structure came into few.
“Is that the castle?” Duskmane asked as his eyes lit up.
“It can't be... We're still a long ways from where it should be.” Twilight responded behind him, “I'm not too sure what it is, let's get closer and have a look.”
They both increased in speed as the gray structure materialized in the darkness; several large columns lined a circular clearing in the forest, all of which appeared to have been taller at one time, but had broken and cracked under the strain of time. Ivy had woven its green tapestry around what remained of the pillars. The excess of stone rubble in clearing pointed to the columns holding up a stone roof at one point in time.
“Seems to have been a gazebo some time long ago.” Duskmane concluded.
“It sure does. This must have once been part of the Princesses' kingdom based around their ancient castle...”
They both walked closer towards the center of the clearing where a pedestal was visible amidst the leaves, stone, and ivy. Upon closer examination, an ancient book lay atop the pedestal. Silent curiosity of the strange sight overtook them as they peered down on it; the thin book was apparently aged from years of sun and rain, so much so that only the wrinkled leather cover remained with no title to clue them to the book's contents. Duskmane and Twilight could both feel each others' curiosity rising in them apart from the pressure of their main assignment. The whole setting seems to swell with a mystic aura, as if an event of great importance played its part there. Duskmane turned to Twilight, only too see she had already turned her equally bewildered stare at him. He looked down at the book and motioned his hoof slowly towards it, flipping the cover over.
Much to both of their disappointment, the ink had apparently leaked from the pages, only large black smudges remained. Duskmane turned a few more of the sun-bleached pages, hoping that the suspense of the moment would not crash to such an anticlimactic reality. Duskmane turned to the final page, to see a few legible words written in blue ink. He brought his head closer to read the fancy cursive words,
“And hold on to, beyond eternity, the treasure of friendship... For it shines brighter than the sun thousand-fold. Let not the darkness of hatred ever smother the... the...” The rest of the words seemed to have been rubbed out, evident by the flaking present on the page near the blurred text. Duskmane was not sure what he was expecting when he opened the book, but the unfinished passage left him somewhat disappointed.
“Doesn't look like a passage from any book I've read.” Twilight stated, stepping back from the pedestal.
“Me ei--” Duskmane was interrupted by a sudden vortex of wind that began to spin around the circle of columns, wailing in their ears. “What the hay?!”
A dark blue smoke began to seep from the ground and into the vortex. The smoke gathered into a large cloud above them, condensing into three different shapes. Duskmane and Twilight stepped backwards as they gazed up at the anomaly.
“Wh-- What is that?!” Duskmane asked over the howling wind.
“I don't know, I've never seen such magic, except...”
Duskmane turned to her briefly, expecting her to finish her sentence. The cackle of electricity brought his attention back to the shapes above them. Black lightning streamed through the smoky figures. There was a sudden bang that caused Duskmane to yelp, and then silence as the wind died. In the place of the smoke were three pegasus ponies. They all had a very pale blue coat with pluming blue manes. Most of their eerie bodies were covered in black and purple flight suits, each with a pair of golden goggles that obscured their eyes.
“The Shades of Betrayal...” Twilight said lowly, stepping into a readied position. “They are fragments of Nightmare Moon's corruption... Why they are here, I do not know.”
Duskmane turned towards the shades, who returned a gaze down upon them.
“The warmth of your heart... how it rings so...” Said the shade that looked like a mare, her voice sounding like a distant echo. “It would be a real shame... if it just--” She quickly raised a hoof, causing Duskmane to flinch, and Twilight to brace herself, “STOPPED!” She flung her hoof downwards at them, sending a stream of lightning their way. Twilight's horn glowed as she quickly poised a purple barrier around Duskmane and herself, absorbing the shade's spell.
Twilight lowered her shield, “What do you want from us? Did Luna send you!?”
The shade merely chuckled loudly. “Kill them.” The two stallions on the side instantly spread their wings and dived towards them. Both Duskmane and Twilight have to tumble away before being struck by the two pegasi. Duskmane felt a sensation he had never experienced before; his pulse rang in his ears as his muscles tensed. For the first time ever, he feared for his life.
Twilight rose to her hooves to see the female Shadowbolt grounded, facing her. She instantly swung her horn towards the shade, sending a magic scythe flying towards her. The shade dodged the fast-moving blade, allowing it to collide and destroy the columns and trees behind her. The shade glided overhead, launching balls of electricity down at Twilight. She countered with several magical bolts she sent towards the balls of electricity, destroying them on impact and continuing towards the shade. The Shadowbolt merely gave a smirk as she gracefully soared around the deadly projectiles...
The two other Shadowbolts came at Duskmane from all directions as he jumped to avoid their strikes. He wanted to turn to make sure Twilight was doing alright, but he dared not remove the two Shadowbolts assailing him from his sites. He could hear the slinging of spells over from her direction as the various spells cast multiple shadows in the shaded clearing. The two Shadowbolts ceased their individual attacks and came at him from separate directions simultaneously. The maneuver caught Duskmane off guard, and while he was able to dodge one of the pegasi, the other rammed square into his side, hurling him onto the ground. He struggled to get onto his hooves, but the pain and exhaustion kept him pinned. He looked upwards to see the pegasi he had dodged diving straight down at him at incredible speeds. He struggled again to move, but his frail body failed to budge. He held his hooves pointlessly above him to brace himself, but he knew it would not be enough to save himself.
“I guess... strength is more than just... hoping to be strong.” He thought as a tear rolled down his face.
There was a shick as a glowing spear of magic pierced through the Shadowbolt right before impact, flinging its body to the ground away from Duskmane. The shade gave a gasping breath before evaporating into a black smoke and dissipating into the air. Duskmane's mouth fell agape as he turned to see Twilight looking his way briefly before turning back to duel with the female Shadowbolt that relentlessly flung orbs of lightning at her.
“No... it's as Twilight said.” He said as he struggled to get to his hooves amidst the pain the pierced at his side. “Strength lies in the bond with your friends!” He saw the remaining stallion Shadowbolt diving down towards him. He used his remaining energy to balance himself on his front two hooves and contracted his hind legs, releasing them into a powerful buck that connected with the Shadowbolt's face. The recoil sent Duskmane falling over, relatively unharmed. The shade was knocked to the ground, momentarily stunned. Duskmane stepped up to go finishing him off.
He heard a pained scream erupt behind him, he immediately turned to see Twilight had fallen to her knees, small sparks of electricity arching through her. The female Shadowbolt lowered herself closer to Twilight, holding a massive ball of energy above her.
“It's truly a shame...” The shade cackled, “With your death, comes that of all the ponies you hold dear. Now peri--!” Before the Shadowbolt could finish her sentence and hurl the magic sphere at her, Twilight saw Duskmane jump and tackle the shade, wresting her to the ground. Twilight slowly stood up as the effects of the lightning magic wore off. She turned to see Duskmane had the shade pinned. It was short lived, however, as she kicked him off and returned to the air.
“Duskmane, duck!” Twilight yelled, before he could really get his bearings, Duskmane dropped as low as he could. Twilight flung a magical scythe over him, barely missing his mane, that cut straight through the stallion Shadowbolt that attempted to sneak attack Duskmane from behind. The two halves of the shade tumbled on the ground briefly before dematerializing into the same black smoke it came from.
Duskmane stood up and wobbled to Twilight's side, trying his best to ignore the piercing pain in his side. They stood together, looking up at the remaining Shadowbolt, who hovered in the air, mirroring their still stare.
“It matters not.” Said the shade, “True strength lies in your own power, having to rely on friends only leads to weakness and betrayal... Luna knew that well.”
“What do you know about Luna?!” Twilight shouted up at the Shadowbolt, “What is she up to?”
“You think that even if I knew, I would care to tell you?” The shade responded, “I have only had a very feint connection with the princess ever since you used the Elements of Harmony to remove most of her power. Enough to keep me tethered to this realm, only with the will to end the warmth of friendship wherever it may sprout. It's time for me to fulfill that purpose!” With her exclamation, she clutched her hooves close to her, spouted huge sparks of lightning coursed her body, cracking loudly in the otherwise silent clearing.
Twilight took a step back, there was no way she could block such a powerful magic. She felt something touch her side, she looked over to see Duskmane pressed against her, looking up at the shade in fear, his legs slightly trembling. She turned back to the Shadowbolt, who lowered her hooves, still coursing with absurd amounts of arcane energy.
“Stand together, die together...” The shade cursed under her breath. She gave a bellowing shout as she dived at suicidal speeds towards the two ponies. There was only one thing Twilight could do; she braced herself and channeled as much magic into her horn as she could, illuminating the entire clearing with a bright purple light. When the shade drew close, Twilight unleashed the collection of energy towards it. The Shadowbolt made no attempt to dodge the ball of magic, blinded by its destructive hatred. When the two entities of magic collided, the resulting flare shook the ground, leveling many of the old pillars.
When the blinding flash cleared, both of the ponies looked up as the dust cleared. They both gasped in fright as the shape of the shade emerged, unmoving, but apparently unphased by the magical blast. The moment passed by tensely as the ponies and the shade remained still, glaring at one another. The moment was only shattered when the shade made a grunting noise and fell from her spot in the air, colliding with the ground along with several cracking noises that caused Duskmane to wince. Twilight exhaled a large breath of relief, coughing out a few puffs of smoke in the process.
“It's over, then.” Said Duskmane, just realizing he was still leaning against Twilight. He jumped away, feeling somewhat embarrassed, but feeling more-so the pain in his side. Twilight took no heed of Duskmane's actions and began to slowly walk towards the fallen shade. Duskmane caught up with Twilight to see her peering down at the Shadowbolt, of which laid near-motionless, giving weak staggered breaths. She almost felt sorry for the creature, even if it was nothing but a phantom fueled by its former master's hatred. She contemplated if she should finish off the Shadowbolt.
“Duskmane, what do you think? Should we... send her to the eternal sleep?”
Duskmane did not feel the pity Twilight did, “What do you mean? It is only a magical aberration... When whatever drives it ceases, where does magic go? There is no eternal sleep for her... only nothingness.”
Twilight was conflicted by Duskmane's words, it was hard for her to see the shade as only a soulless puppet, void of feeling of soul. Perhaps it was because she knew that magic was a mysterious yet living entity. Or at least, so it seemed.
“...Regardless, it's best that she didn't suffer any longer.” She decided. Duskmane turned and gave her a bewildered look. To him, they were only mindless killing machines, created by dark sorcery. They felt nothing, thought nothing, deserved nothing.
Twilight's horned shimmered as she gathered enough energy to cast the magic scythe spell. She reared up in preparation, then--
“Gah!” She yelped as she fell to her side. The shade had swung her leg to trip Twilight before she unleashed the spell.
“You fools...” Said the shade as she stumbled to her hooves. “Waste your care... on somepony who needs it...” She unexpectedly turned around and ran into the trees, her wing hanging unnaturally to the side and limping. Duskmane stood still and mouth agape, completely surprised.
“Follow her!” Twilight shouted as she stood up and gave chase. Duskmane followed close behind her as she too entered the trees, his fear of falling behind much worse than the his pain that would normally have kept him from exerting himself.
Twilight ran as fast as her exhausted body allowed her, slowly catching up to the Shadowbolt as it hopped over roots and rolled under thick branches in dim light offered by the thick canopy. After what seemed like several minutes of chasing, Twilight was only a few feet from the determined shade. It jumped through a thick bush as Twilight made her jump to catch her. Duskmane, heaving large breaths, pushed through the bush to the other side as fast he could, lest he be left behind.
Duskmane emerged to see another cliff-side clearing with Twilight standing behind the shade, who appeared to have collapsed near a bridge that spanned the cliff. Dense fog rose out from the ravine, preventing Duskmane from seeing what lied yonder. He slowly stepped near Twilight, catching his breath. “What did you do to her?”
“She just came this far, then collapsed... I think I may know why.”
“Oh?”
“The shades are fragments of Nightmare Moon's corruption... My friends and I first encountered them here, when Nightmare Moon tried to sway one of my friends into betraying the rest of us. I can only guess that even after we dispelled Luna's corruption, the magic power that fueled them remained, and tethered them to near this place. I am still not all too certain why they appeared in the ruined gazebo, though.”
Duskmane turned to the shade, who now laid motionless. It slowly began to give off a black smoke as it ceased to be, and evaporated into nothingness. Duskmane was not too sure why he felt the splinter of remorse in his thoughts, even against the ill will and resentment for the creature. Perhaps what Twilight said had instilled with him a different outlook. This was the place the shade was “born”, and its longing to come back to it before it perished showed it was not just the mindless beast he pictured it to be. He steeled himself, for with the Shadowbolts out of the way, it was again a time of great urgency.
“If you've been here before...” Duskmane started.
“Yes, we're close now. Very close.” Twilight finished. “We should briefly rest before continuing onward. Are you alright?”
“My side hurts...” he responded, “B—but I'll be fine.” he quickly interjected.
They both sat down upon the dirt road that connected to the bridge, catching their breath and letting their pain subside.
“I know I already said this,” Duskmane started, “but I had no idea until earlier, you truly are a talented magician. I've never even heard of unicorns performing spells like those.”
“It's been a little something I've been practicing in my spare time... I had hoped I would never have to use magic like that, but it seem desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“Star Swirl himself would have been amazed at your magical talent.”
Twilight turned to him with a grin on her face, “You know about Star Swirl the Bearded?”
“Of course! Even though I may be just an earth pony, I like to read about all the facets of Equestrian history.”
“Are you planning on becoming a teacher one day?”
“I—No.” Duskmane said halfheartedly. “My mother expects me to take up the family business when I'm older, although it seems like she doesn't trust me with anything. I would love to be a teacher though.”
“Oh... I see.” Twilight responded, although she really did not quite understand. She thought every pony should always try to do what they dreamed, not what somepony else wanted for them. She slowly stood up, refreshed and ready to continue onward. “Alright, let's get going.”
Duskmane stood up and followed her as she approached the rickety bridge. Twilight stepped onto the first wooden step of the bridge, carefully placing her steps as she moved plank to plank. Duskmane looked over the side of the bridge, the fall going as far as the fog allowed him to see. He took a deep breath as he began to also cross the bridge once Twilight was halfway across it. After the several tense seconds, Duskmane stepped from the last plank and onto the other side of the ravine.
With the fog behind them, Twilight could see the familiar ruins of the Royal Sister's Palace only a short walk further down the dirt path. The dark gray stones of the ruined palace stood out against the dense fog that still obscured the view beyond it.
“This must be it, then?” Duskmane asked, eying the setting around him. Although it still should not have been evening time yet, the area was dark (even more-so than the rest of the forest), with only a few shafts of light piercing through the trees above.
“Indeed, the Royal Sister's Palace. It use to belong to the Princesses, yet there are very few books on the subject.” Twilight answered, increasing her speed to a trot. Duskmane matched her speed until they both came to a stop at the large wooden double doors. Twilight stood on her hind legs as she pressed her weight against one of the doors. Duskmane did the same, causing the door to slowly creek open.
Twilight found herself in the familiar room that once housed the dormant Elements of Harmony, a long oval room, long since missing its stone roof. Some of the sky was visible as rays of light danced across the room in the light breeze that shuffled the tree branches above. Dark colored vines climbed through archaic window frames and columns lining the walls; while the center of the room was empty except for the the circular podium that once held the dormant Elements of Harmony.
“I don’t remember seeing any other accessible passage when I was last here.” Twilight remarked as she slowly studied the interior. “It's possible their may be a secret passage to it.”
“Shouldn't the Princess have told us if we had to do something special in order to open the way?”
“Hmm... Well, who knows how many years its been since she's last been here. She may have simply forgotten, not to mention with the her need to quickly assemble her guards and inform them of Luna's intentions, she might have just overlooked it.”
“You're right,” Duskmane responded as he joined in on Twilight's search, “I'll begin looking over here.” He walked towards a pillar opposite of the area Twilight was inspecting. He rubbed his hooves against the brick to see if any shifted under pressure, and even tugged on the metal bars that crisscrossed the window frames. After several minutes of patting down the walls on his side of the room, he turned to see Twilight progress. She appeared to be taking a much more thorough approached, probing the stone itself with a magic unknown to him. She had a wrinkle in her brow as she murmured to herself. He walked to the circular podium in the center of the room and gazed it up and down. It appeared to be a whole, solid object with no means of having a hidden switch. Looking behind the podium revealed a doorway that appeared to go back into the forest.
He stepped through it to see that it led to the remains of another room, although calling it a room would have been a misnomer; the walls had collapsed along with any other rooms that may have branched off it. The only standing structure in view was a tower that appeared to overhang from a small plateau on the cliff-side. The stairs leading up to into it seemed to be intact.
“Did you find anything?” Twilight asked.
Duskmane turned around, “Nope, there don't appear to be anything that moves on my side of the room.”
Twilight walked passed him and looked out over the same rubble he had just inspected, also gazing up to the tower, reliving the memories of her battle with Nightmare Moon in her mind. “Maybe the entrance is in that tower.”
Duskmane gave the tower a quick look over before responding, “It doesn't seem likely. The tower is on an outcropping over a cliff, there would be no way to get underground from inside of there.”
“Oh, right. Good eye, Duskmane. That must mean it's somewhere in the room behind us, then... Or at least I hope so, the rest of the palace is nothing but rubble.” She turned around and returned to the previous room. Duskmane gave the ruins one last look-over, only seeing the severed head of what once belonged to a statue of one of the princesses, laying along the path towards the tower; a fitting representation of their lack of control in this dark frontier. He followed Twilight back into the room to see her eyeballing the podium, especially towards the small spherical shape on top of it. She tried to stand on her hind legs to get a better look, grabbing onto the circular rim, but it did not give her a good view.
“What do you see?” Duskmane inquired.
“I think I see a small hole on the circular stone up here, can you give you a lift up there?”
Duskmane walked to where Twilight was standing and bowed to his knees. Once Twilight had stepped onto his back, he stood back up, elevating Twilight enough to were she could pull herself onto the rim of the podium. She studied the supposed location of the hole for a few seconds before speaking again.
“A-hah!” She cheered, “I think I may have found the way in.” It then appeared that she pressed the top of her head onto the stone itself.
“Er... What exactly are you doing?” Duskmane questioned the strange sight.
“I recognize this slot,” she said as she wiggled her head a little bit, “Princess Celestia has a slot like this in her palace, she uses her horn open it. I'm trying to see if mine can as well, but...” She grunted as she briefly pressed forcibly against the stone before pulling her head off of it. She rubbed her horn with her hoof with a somewhat pained face. “Mine doesn't fit all the way.”
Duskmane gave it a brief thought before remembering what he had seen moments before. “There was a broken statue of one of the Princesses outside, do you think that might work?”
“It just might.” Twilight said as she jumped down from the podium, “Can you point me to it?”
Duskmane nodded, leading Twilight back outside, walking to the statue's head that lay camouflaged against the rest of the stone rubble. He pressed his hooves down near the base of the horn, causing the brittle horn to sever cleanly from the rest of the stone. Twilight grabbed the horn with her magic and led them back to the podium.
She levitated the stone horn up to the spherical portion of the podium, sliding it into the horn slot barely in view. There was a slight clicking sound as it fit snugly into the recession. “And now just a spark of magic....” She shot a purple beam from her horn to the stone horn in the slot. It glowed briefly before returning to normal, leaving Twilight and Duskmane in several long seconds of suspense.
The floor beneath them began to shake, causing both of them to jump away to opposite corners of the room. They watched in surprise as the stones in front of the podium began to sink incrementally, creating a stairway that disappeared into the darkness below.
“I guess this is it.” Twilight said, “We have no time to waste, lets get the Animoria and get out as quickly as possible.”
“How're we supposed to see down there?” Duskmane asked, following Twilight tentatively into the dark depths.
“No worries, I have us covered.” Twilight said as a small beacon of light appeared on the tip of her horn, revealing a large metal door at the bottom of the flight of steps. They reached the bottom, pushing the rusted door open, the screeching of its ancient metal hinges echoing against the damp moss covered walls. The room appeared to be circular with a low ceiling, only barely high enough for one of the Princesses to walk through without lowering their horns. Small pools of water formed in the uneven floor and the air was heavy with the smell of decayed wood. Even during its days of use, this did not seem like a place that was kept in good upkeep.
There appeared to be three other wooden doors at the other compass points of the room, with a small desk towards the door opposite of the two ponies. Twilight slowly approached the desk with Duskmane at her heels. On it, there was what remained of an empty inkwell and a rotted quill, along with a small black booklet.
“Maybe this will give us a clue as to what to expect in here.” Twilight said as she magically opened the book. The pages were distorted and stuck together from the misty air. Most of the words had faded, although the placement of the smudged words seemed to point that the pages were filled with grid-like lists. Duskmane hunched over the book, squinting down at the words.
“I think I can see this one... Gail...stride... Gailstride. That sounds like somepony's name to me, I think all of the left column filled with names.”
Twilight got as close as she could without creating a shadow between her horn-light and her face. She could faintly see the other words going down the list. “Rimehoof, Skyrender, Agate Blitz... You're right, these names sound like they're from olden times.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Duskmane responded, looking back into the book. The next column had smudged remains of one or two characters per row. “The next column looks like numbers... up to two digits in length. I'm not sure what they could mean.”
“Perhaps the last column will make sense of it.”
Duskmane got as close to the book as he can, but with the last column being the closest to the outside of the book, the moisture in the air left none of the words legible, with the reverse sides of the pages left blank. “I can't read it.”
Twilight gave it an intense stare before giving up as well. “I suppose we'll just have to see for ourselves.”
“If you say so.” Duskmane said worriedly, “I have a bad feeling about this place...”
“It once belonged to the Princesses, it can't be all that bad. Maybe it's just a cellar where they store stuff that can't be kept in the palace.”
“It sure doesn't feel that way... But no need for worrying.” Duskmane added for himself, taking a deep breath. “Which door should we take first?”
“We'll need to keep searching until we find the Animoria, so it won't matter where we start. Let's go in here first.” Twilight motioned towards the door closest to them. With a little effort, she managed to make the rusted hinges give way, opening to the room beyond. They stepped in, illuminating the surroundings in Twilight's magical light. The first thing to stand out are the vertical rows of metal bars going from the floor to the the ceiling that lined most of the sides of the corridor. Duskmane walked closer to give a closer inspection, to see that the bars separated the corridor from very small compartments that branched from the hallway. As Twilight slowly moved down the hall, her light pierced inside the compartments. What Duskmane saw caused him to yelp and fall back on his rump.
“What's wrong?!” Twilight called, rushing over the Duskmane. Duskmane was briefly unable to speak from his scare, so Twilight looked through the bars herself. What laid there were what appeared to be the ancient bones of a fellow pony, scattered across the stone floor. Twilight gave a small gasp. “This isn't a cellar... this is a dungeon.” She said quietly as Duskmane shakily got to his hooves.
“I—sorry.” Duskmane stuttered, completely embarrassed of himself.
“Well, looks like you were right to be suspicious about this place.” Twilight remarked, slowly backing away from the bars to continue further into the dungeon. Duskmane hurriedly caught up with her. “They're just bones, nothing we need to worry about, although it has me wondering... Why would ponies have been left to rot in this place?”
“Celestia did say that she had to abandon this place because of a war. Perhaps the ponies in the cells were prisoners of that war?” Duskmane suggested, keeping a good view of as much of the room as possible.
“Hmmm... then that ledger was probably a list of inmates, and the numbers were sentence lengths.” Twilight deducted. “I wonder why she'd keep the Animoria in a place like this... Let's hurry and find it so we can leave this place.”
Duskmane made no hesitation to agree, sticking as close as he could to his dear friend. The movement of the shadows in the cells as they walked kept him on edge, having him swing one direction to another to catch all of the things (which were merely just the shadows) that moved in his peripheral vision. Also punctuating the walls along the hallway were intimidating stone statues of ponies in a rearing position, staring down at them.
It was a long, quiet walk through the long hallway, Twilight's light showing no end in site as they passed countless more cells. Duskmane started feeling a strange sensation, feeling as thought the sounds of their hoofsteps were off beat. Out of a whim, he turned around to find himself face to face with a white entity. “Twi—Twi—Twi--!” He stuttered loudly as he fell backwards again before he could comprehend what he was seeing. Twilight quickly turned around to see a skeletal pony come alight from her horn, radiating with a dark blue aura much like the dark smoke that comprised the Shadowbolts. She instinctively launched a magic fireball at the aberration, orange light filled the hallway as it collided with the skeleton and exploded. Duskmane held his hooves up as the immense heat from the explosion reached with him. When the sparks settled and their eyes readjusted from the blinding explosion, only a few spouts of flame remained on the bones scattered up and down the hallway. Both of the ponies were breathing heavily in fright.
“It seems the corruption of Nightmare moon has seeped into this place as well.” Twilight noted as they watched the black aura dissipate from the bones and evaporate into the air. “We must be on our guard if we're to--”
“Behind you!” Duskmane called, pointing his hoof. She charged a spell as she whipped around, sending a magic scythe spinning down the hallway. It made a trail of sparks as it ground against the metal bars and stone walls until it hit the skeletal figure Duskmane had alerted her to. The bones of the creature shattered from the collision and scattered all across the hallway and into the jail cells, sending up the black smoke like the other skeleton had. Duskmane was shivering in fear, his joints locked and he sat bunched on the floor.
Twilight turned back around, seeing the coast was clear for the time being. She exhaled a breath of relief. “We'd best stay alert, who knows how many more there are.”
Duskmane got to his hooves again, feeling very weak in his knees. Never had he felt such a gripping fear, not even from his best horror books. He wanted to thank Twilight for saving his life yet again, but when he tried to speak, his voice encountered the lump in his throat, leaving him with an awkward face.
Twilight had not noticed, however, as she was distracted with something upon that floor that caught her eye. She levitated what looked like a short, thick stick with a blackened rag rag around the top. “An old torch.” She remarked. She brought the torch closer to her horn, where she created a small magical flame to dry and light the torch. “You should carry this, Duskmane.” She said as she hovered the torch near his head.
“Yeah, good idea.” He replied shakily. He grabbed the portion of the torch wrapped in leather with his mouth, holding it horizontally. The leather's age became apparent when its rotted taste hit his tongue, but it was well worth having a light of his own.
They had only resumed walking for a few seconds when a strange sound reached Duskmane's ears, causing him to come to a quick halt. “Listen....” He whispered. Twilight stopped and perked her ears up, there was a sound of metal hitting against metal ringing faintly from both ends of the hallway. The noise appeared to get closer and more frequent, causing both of them to get in readied poses, shuffling their eyes back and forth.
They both jumped when the source of the noise was finally visible in their limited light; each of the jail cells' barred doors were swinging open from an unseen force and slamming into the walls.
“What... what is this?” Duskmane asked as the last of the doors slammed open, leaving them with a moment of tense silence. They held their breaths, awaiting another sound other than the blood pulsing in their ears. Duskmane came to a sudden realization as he recalled his earlier fright when seeing the boney remains in the jail cell before. “Twilight...” his voice shuttered as he tried to keep a hold of his torch, “If all of the skeletons in the jail cells are about to... to....” He could not finish his sentence due to the images of an army of skeletons in his mind's eye.
Twilight was able see the intent of his message, picturing the same scenario that seemed to unfold before them. Twilight hesitated for a moment, waiting to see if their ill-fated predictions were true. It was not more than a moment later that they heard the click and clack of the bones that once laid dormant in their cells come together by the lingering force of Nightmare Moon's malevolent power.
“Quick, Duskmane, follow me!” Twilight shouted whilst preparing another spell. A white beam emitted from her horn, with which she painted a line from one wall to another, causing a wall of fire to erupt from it. The bright light illuminated an army of skeletal ponies in the hallway beyond, amassing their way towards them. “That should hold them off for now.” She dashed in the other direction, raising a pyramidal shield in front of her. Duskmane's hooves skid on the as he galloped to catch up.
“But, Twilight!” He muffled while keeping a firm hold of his torch, “The way out is the other way!”
“We aren't trying to escape.” Twilight said as the she pushed the shield through the skeletons that had gathered in the other direction. “We've got to find the Animoria!” There was a bit of a sting in her voice that gave Duskmane the dreaded feeling of impotence. He had let his fear overcome his duty, and Twilight called him out on it, and it felt like an arrow through his heart. He made not an attempt to respond as he galloped behind her, watching the bones explode away from the pointed shield.
Before he could contemplate further, Twilight had dropped her magic shield and stopped. They found themselves at a “T” intersection as the cell-lined corridor split into two other directions. The view down either was obscured by the slow-moving skeletal horde that approached from all angles.
“Stand close!” Twilight said as she reared onto her hind legs, channeling magic into her front hooves. Duskmane stepped behind her as she crashed her hooves down to the floor, sending an electrified shock-wave down the all three directions around them, exploding more of the reanimated fiends.
Rest was not within their grasp, however, as they felt the room begin to shake violently. Duskmane looked up to see the large stone bricks shifting as dirt began to fall through the cracks. “Look out!”
Twilight looked up in time to see the large bricks begin to fall from above. She tumbled away immediately after Duskmane had as a huge pile of stone and rubble collapsed where they were just standing. She stood up, looking around her with Duskmane nowhere in sight. “Duskmane! Where are you?!”
Duskmane pushed himself up, seeing his torch had rolled away from his hard collision with the floor. He heard Twilight's muffled voice beyond the tower of dirt and stone that had nearly killed them. “Twilight?”
She exhaled a sigh of relief. “Oh, good, you're safe. I'm going to try to move the cave-in, give me a moment.” She charged her horn as she attempted to create a hole in the rubble so that they may be reunited. Her constant magical exertion did not become apparent until now, as the adrenaline wore off and fatigue reared its ugly head. She fell to her knees, heaving large exhausted breaths. “I... I can't move them.” She exclaimed. “We are going to have to hope that the two passages link up further inward.”
“But...” Duskmane started, but he could already hear Twilight's hoofsteps fading as she traversed away. He stepped away from the tower of dirt and turned around. The hallway appeared void of any moving aberrations, although cluttered with the remains of ones destroyed by Twilight's shock-wave spell. Even so, he felt the heavy pull of dread in his chest. “But I'm all alone....”
He began to slowly walk through the dark hallway after retrieving his torch, his mind wandering as did his hooves. The dank darkness and threat of murderous undead did little to intrude into his fortress of thought. “I try to be strong, yet... all I can do is lean on the shoulders of somepony else. Twilight... now I see why she was sad to not have her friends along for this journey. Even someone as powerful as her can find even greater strength in her friends. I have only been a burden in this very important quest... does that mean I fail at being a friend?” Not much else kept him moving forward as his mental turmoil of conflicting thoughts continued. “I just need an answer....”
~
“So many deceased ponies fill these ancient halls...” Twilight thought, slowly walking down a flight of stairs. “If all of them were prisoners of war, as Duskmane had suggested, then it must have been a war of great proportion, yet not a single piece of literature in my library telling of such an event... definitely something to catch up on when this war against Luna is won.”
A small poof of black smoke rose up when Twilight stepped into the room at the bottom of the stairs. The entirety of the large rectangular room was covered in a layer of black powder. The fumes that reached her nostrils shortly afterward led her to believe it was ash. It tickled her nose and caused her to sneeze loudly. When she recovered, she was able to notice four large openings along the walls, two per side, whilst the wall furthest from here was blank aside from several scorch marks. “What could these be?”
She stepped closer to one of the square shaped holes. It was only slightly taller than she was, and the same width across. The smell of ash was very strong as she stuck her head inside. It appeared to slope downward, the ash suspended in the air preventing her from seeing far inside. She dared not step onto the slippery angled surface, for she would not be able to stop her plummet. “Hmmm.”
Turning back around, she inspected the other three openings to see they were mirrors of the first. “A dead-end...” She murmured to herself. “Unless I jump down one of these chutes.” She only contemplated briefly before deciding against it. “Suppose I'll have to make my way through the rubble and catch up with Duskmane... I hope he hasn't run into too much trouble.”
Twilight approached the doorway to continue back up the stairs. She paused as the sound of turning gears echoed in the quiet halls. Before she could react, a metal portcullis fell from the ceiling, slamming loudly against the floor as it sealed the way out of the room. She jumped back in surprise, feeling like she had been lured into a cliché tale from one of her books. It was not long after that when the sound of banging metal filled her ears, coming from multiple directions. She ran to the center of the room, realizing the sound was coming out of the square openings in the wall.
She did not have long to wonder what caused the sound, since it was only seconds later a black entity crawled out of one of the holes. It was what appeared to be a yet another skeletal pony, bones charred with the same black ash that covered the walls. She gritted her teeth, “More?!” and as if responding to her distressed query, more began to emerge from the other holes in the walls, moving menacingly towards her. She held her ground with her magic as every undead pony she felled was replaced by yet another crawling from the black depths....