The Catacombs of Zalgo

Chapter 13: The Necropolis Quarter

"There's no trace of them yet, your highness!" The royal guard reported. "But rest assure, we will not stop until we have found them!" Princess Celestia nodded her head in approval at the guard. It's thirty minutes passed three, and not a single trace of evidence was to be found. Anxious to find answers to this mysterious disappearance, the princess traits back and forth. She knew Discord's imprisoned body was locked away in a safe vault, encased by a magical barrier. She also knew that nothing… and absolutely nothing would get passed her barrier. However, she had a possible theory that Discord must of planned this before making his move. She had her doubts on that theory. But the more she thought about it, the more it fits in. And if that were the case, where would he hide the mane six? What had become of them now? The more she drove deep into this mystery, the more flummoxed she became. Celestia continued to trait back and forth, struggling to find the answer. She stopped and gazed at the sinking moon.

*Sigh*… just when things were turning back to normal… this happened. She pondered in her mind. I just don't get it, if Discord wasn't involved in this, then who? Who would kidnap the bearers of the elements on short notice? Just then, a gray royal guard trotted through the doorway, panting for breath. Celestia turned around, looking surprised.

"Report, Private Silver." Celestia said. Private Silver took a few seconds to catch his breath before speaking. After that, he stared at the princess with terror in his eyes.

"Your highness, like uhhh, you're not going to believe what we've found! It's something very wicked man!" He spoke in a traumatized state. Celestia's eyes widen, as some evidence was revealed.

"Lead the way!" She ordered. Silver led the princess outside the borders of Ponyville, where two other royal guards were investigating to what seem to be black puddles, with a large footprint on the ground. The stench surrounding the area smelled so dreadful. And there seemed to be a small portion of splattered blood right next to a black puddle. Silver pointed his hoof at the black puddles before him.

"Your highness, like, this black puddle thing here that we like uhhh… ya know found is something out of this world. We placed like a stick in there, and it like turned into ashes in a few seconds! Totally wicked stuff if you ask me. Try not to… ya know put your hoof in there… that stuff ain't normal." Celestia took heed to his cautions, and proceeded over to the black liquid. The stench begun to turn her stomach, making her feel a bit nauseous.

To test this strange liquid's properties, Celestia used her magic to hover a rock. She hovered it over the puddle and dropped the rock, plummeting it into the black puddle. In an instant when the rock hit the puddle, the rock began to break apart. Celestia couldn't believe what she had seen. This type of strange liquid left her bamboozled and bemused. Noticing the splattered blood next to the puddle, her eyes darted something over at the distance, just a few feet away. It looked like a light tango object lying unattended. Her eyes squinted as she spotted the object.

Curiously, Princess Celestia walked over towards the object. When she arrived, she gazed over the strange object. It smelled even worse than the puddle itself. It was some sort of a chunk of ripped flesh, lying rotten with flies swarming it. The guard ponies went over to see what Celestia had found. They looked down, and felt a little disturbed by gazing it. Using her telekinesis magic once more, Celestia lifted the flesh up into the air. She closely observed the hide for any clues.

Right away, she spotted a tiny black dot inscribed on the flesh. It looked as though it was a symbol or some sort. Celestia used her magic to make her eyesights increase, as her visions were slowly analyzing the black dot. Once her eyes were like microscopes, she read the symbol. The symbol had a circle pentagram, with three circles and a few lines overlapping a star. It was a weird symbol, yet to her astonishment, it looked so familiar to her. It was a sign she hadn't seen in a very long time. It only took her a few moments to recollect her memories about this symbol. And that's when it hit her, it wasn't a symbol… it was a sigil. Recollecting her memories, she found out that the sigil represented the Necronomicon Gate.

In a shocking revelation, the princess heaved her head back and gasped in shock. She released the chunk of flesh, and just stood there, staring the face of the void. Her eyes widen with fear while her pupils and iris shrunk. She was left gaping in horror from her discovery.

"W-Why…? O-Of all the places… w-why here?!" She spoke to herself in a dreary tone. A guard pony approached her, displaying a concerned look.

"Your highness? Is everything alright?" He asked. Instantly, Celestia snapped out of her traumatized trance, and darted her eyes at the guard.

"This is bad! Real bad! Captain Thunder Head, notify all the residence in Ponyville about the disappearance of the elemental wielders. Not only that, tell them to lock up all their doors and windows! They are not allowed to leave their homes until further notice!" She ordered in a demanding tone. Captain Thunder Head saluted to Celestia.

“Yes ma’am!” He exclaimed, before taking off into the air. Then she looked over her shoulder at the other two guard ponies.

"Captain Storm Cloud and Private Silver, head back to the castle and send some pegasi captains to patrol around the Everfree Forest! If you spot anything suspicious, report back as soon as possible!" Both of them saluted back at her.

“'Right!” Both said in unison. Both guards immediately took off into the air, and head towards the castle. As soon as the guard ponies were gone, Celestia turned around and glared at the Everfree Forest.

So… they finally came out of hiding and made their move. But why now… why here? She pondered in her mind, as the cold breeze blew past her mane.

"Alright, we should be getting closer now. Keep up." Jack announced. Everyone continued their journey towards the final quarter. The ponies informed Pinkie Pie about the whole thing while they were walking. Strangely enough, Pinkie felt more and more of her joyful self. In fact, the fear she developed not too long ago faded away. She just kept smiling along the way, like it was some sort of Nightmare Night. All but Jack was aware of Pinkie's mysterious behavior. He couldn't figure out why she was so happy all of a sudden, when death continuously surrounds them all. The more he thought about it, the more it felt creepy to him. But aside from that, Jack finally spotted the door yonder. He lowered his head and stared at the door in determination.

"We're here." Jack said. The ponies soon stopped talking to one another and faced the door. When everypony gathered at the door, Jack looked over his shoulder.

"This is it, The Necropolis Quarter," Jack said, while sounding seriously. "Inside this room is where we extract and keep the souls of our victims. Our main purpose was to collect enough souls to feed Cthulhu's hunger during the summoning ritual. Countless of damned souls are locked away in this god forsaken vault, guarded by the Soul Devours." The way he said it sent chills down every pony's spines. Fluttershy gulped down in fear from hearing the monster's name.

"S-S-Soul… D-Devours?" She shuttered. Jack nodded his at Fluttershy.

"Yeah. They're the sentries that patrol around the vault, spotting any soul trying to escape the vault. If they capture a fleeing soul… then… well you know why they're called that. The reason why, is to protect the cults from being possessed by the fleeing spirits. It's a small sacrifice to pay, but losing a soul did not matter for us, because we receive more than ten extracted souls each day. The Soul Devours don't harm the cults… however," Jack turned his body around towards the frightened ponies.

"They do harm intruders. Also, if we do encounter one, avoid looking into their hollowed eyes. That will get them very aggressive, turning them into deadly hostiles. Even worse, when they spot intruders, they make a terrifying screech that alerts the other Soul Devours. Then, we will be swimming in a pile of fuck. It may seem impossible to get pass through here… but there is one way. With this…" Jack reached into his back pouch and pulled out a wooden carved cross with Jesus Christ crucified on it. He showed it to the ponies, leaving them confused. Rarity gazed at the wooden carved Jesus, confused about who he was and what was this strange object Jack's holding.

"What in Equestria is that, Jack? A letter T, with a human on it?" Rarity asked. Jack twitched his eyelid as he stared at her scornfully. But he did not blame Rarity for her naive thoughts, for the ponies knew nothing about the human religions. He sighed heavily and brought the cross closer to Rarity.

"No… it's not a letter T… this is a Christian cross." Everypony looked at each other in confusion, then back at Jack.

"A Christian cross?" Every pony asked in unison. Jack nodded his head once again.

"It's a very long story, but this cross symbolizes protection from evil spirits and demons. I'm not much into Christianity, but I do know some stuff about it. It's said that a holy man named 'Jesus Christ' was crucified and killed by the Romans two thousand years ago. By doing so, he saved us all. This cross represents Jesus Christ shedding his blood for the forgiveness of all of our sins. Therefore, the cross is a symbol of the sacrifice so that the Christians, the followers of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible, can have the reassurance that they will go to heaven through Christ. With this cross, the evil spirits and the Soul Devours won't be able to harm us. But you must stay close within a 4-yard radius around me for it to work. I won't protect you all if you're neither out of the cross's radius, nor facing against a Soul Devour. Just keep that in mind…" Jack turned his back towards the ponies and faced the door.

Realizing that upon touching the door handle, the avatar's invocation would echo across the hallway. He went up towards the door, and touched the handle with his finger. He looked up in the ceiling and waited for the dark whisper. But strangely, all he heard was eerie breezes and the breath of all ponies. The ponies looked at Jack quizzically, wondering what he was doing. Then they looked at each other confusingly, and then back to Jack. Applejack looked around, but saw nothing strange in particular.

"Somethin' the matter, Jack?" Applejack asked. Jack knew that he's wasting time and that the dark whisper was not coming. He sighed deeply and grasped the door handle.

"No… nothing. Now let's go and stay close to me at all times." Jack said, developing eerie tensions in him. He twisted the handle and opened the door. Inside, the room was pitch black, as heavy fog surrounds the whole room. Coming prepared, Jack reached into his back pouch and pulled out a small LED flashlight. He flicked the switch on, and strong light emitted from the lens. The lumen range was at four hundred, giving off a strong light. When the light illuminated the room, the light revealed several human skulls lying decayed. Proceeding with caution, Jack entered the room with no fear of death, while holding the cross tightly. The ponies gulped in fear, and slowly proceeded inside with Jack. When entering the room, their hearts began to feel cold like never before. The room was so dark, that Fluttershy was just about ready to burst into tears. She could only see Jack with the flashlight.

Suddenly, the door behind them slammed shut unexpectedly. Everyone jumped in surprise, as the shock of the sound electrified the ponies. Fluttershy yelped in fear, and collapsed to the ground, covering her head with her forearms. Her body shivered immensely, while hyperventilating from a sudden heart attack. While she was hyperventilating, weeps were added to the sync. She already felt broken inside. But the other ponies came to her aid and comforted her. Applejack wrapped her forearm around Fluttershy and hugged her.

"It's alright, sugarcube, we're all here fer you. I know you're very scared, like the rest of us, but you gotta stay strong." Applejack unwrapped her forearm around Fluttershy and helped her up.

"Now let's get up. Sittin' here ain' gonna help." She added. With a bit of confidence building up in Fluttershy, along with some courage, she wiped her tears away and stood up looking a bit serious.

"Thank you, Applejack." She said. Once the group was ready, they moved forward into the deep darkness. The only sounds they heard were their own footsteps, heartbeats, and their slight heavy breaths. The temperature of the room was very chilly, almost felt like a snowy night. The air's stench decayed dead skin and undead rats. There were series of rooms with human skulls sitting in the wall sockets, along with burned out candlesticks. Each room had two perpendicular hallways that lead to a series of stone bunks on the walls. Each stone bunks had rotten skeleton corpses lying on their backs.

The ponies kept their eyes out for any Soul Devours patrolling, but there were none so far. Jack eyed around the room, trying to spot anything suspicious. He noticed right away that there was spilt blood lying before him. Jack stopped in front of the blood splattered on the floor, and leaned down. He scooped up a small amount of blood off the ground with his index finger, and observed it closely. The ponies gathered around him, seeing the blood on his finger. Jack knew that this blood was fresh and clean. He also knew that someone was recently here.

He grunted silently and rose back up. Wiping the blood on his jeans, he pressed onward. The ponies looked at the blood on the floor, pondering on whom it belonged to. If Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash knew by now, they'd hope that it wasn't Twilight's blood. Praying that nothings happened to her, they continued following Jack. It took three minutes to get to the end of the hallway. Once they were there, Jack opened the next door and entered through. The room was a bit brighter to see, but the fog was very dense. Something about the room made Jack all tensed up.

Proceeding in with extra caution, Jack slowly entered the room. The ponies followed after him, feeling like this room should be taken very seriously. The ambiance in this room was very dark and sinisterly. The area gave off the stench of it rotting, while dust flowed on the ground. And faint screeches could be heard from a certain distance. Jack puzzled himself, as he tried to figure out what on earth could be making that sound.

His curiosity took the better of him, as he walked a little faster towards the sound. The ponies followed him closely, trying their best to not get out of his range. He was walking aimlessly in a fast pace, when he suddenly realized he had to come to a full stop. He skidded along the ground and stopped along an edge, with dust getting brushed off into the air. There was a huge chasm, with a long ravine going towards the left. Jack never noticed this, nor he was aware of it.

There were a lot of columns and rows of stone bunks heading towards the foggy distance. It was an endless road of rotten corpses on stone bunks. His jaw dropped a little from seeing how many innocent lives were taken. He knew that they killed a lot of people, but this was just stunning. Feeling a little sympathy over of those corpses, Jack eyed away and sighed silently. The ponies' eyes widened in astonishment, to witness such an achievement. Pinkie Pie looked at Jack and frowned.

"Why? Why did you do this?" She asked in a distressing tone. Jack wanted to reply, but found no words to back him up. He knew that killing innocent lives was wrong. And on top of that, he felt the same way Pinkie was feeling right now. Pinkie Pie took her eyes off of Jack for a moment to view the tragic of the befallen victims. Fluttershy displayed her dismal expression at Pinkie.

"It's not his fault entirely, Pinkie. And besides," Fluttershy spoke, but was immediately interrupted by a floating figure hovering in the distance. She squeaked in fear, as she started to work her way up to hyperventilation. The way the floating figure moved began to drain her sanity. With her words now clogged up, the only sounds she could make were loud muffles. Pinkie looked puzzled at Fluttershy, wondering what got her worked up. She looked over towards the direction Fluttershy was staring at and gasped quietly. Her eyes widen with fear, seeing how horrifying that mysterious floating figure was. Just before her words could be clogged up like Fluttershy, she managed to ask a short question.

"U-Umm… J-Jack? Wh-hats… that?" Pinkie stuttered in fear. Jack snapped out of his remorse state from his past deeds and drew his attention over towards the foggy distance. Right away, Jack knew what was coming. He let out a small shocking gasp, causing the ponies to be wary. He slowly backed up, clenching his teeth.

"Shit…" Jack murmured. Knowing what to do, Jack faced his head towards the ponies.

"We need to hide, now!" He spoke in a state of panic, and rushed towards the hallway on the right. The ponies took his advice and made a quick run for it. In the wide hallway, there were piles of skulls, bones, and decayed flesh sitting on rows of shelves. Blue fire torches lit the hallway, making the room a little bit better to see. But the fog was so dense, Jack and the ponies couldn’t make of what's ahead of them. As they were running, the floating figure emitted strange, whale-like noises and moans that sent chills down the ponies' spine. And what's worse, the sound was drawing closer to the group.

They tried looking back, but the fog was too thick to see. All they saw was a dim purple orb of light swerving from side to side. The purple light was glowing brighter by every second passing. Jack was running out of time, as he was aware that the enemy was drawing closer. With a few seconds to think of something, Jack was overwhelmed with suggestions. With only one option that was freely available, Jack strafed to the side and hid behind an ancient sarcophagus.

The ponies followed after Jack, and hid behind the sarcophagus too. Jack immediately flicked the flashlight off and kneeled down. The ponies put their backs against the sarcophagus, trying their best to not be seen by the enemy. After a few seconds, the bright purple light illuminated the area. The floating figure stopped its pursuit, making a dark and broken moan. The ponies ducked their heads into their knees, and went into a fetal position. Quiet whimpers escaped from the ponies' mouths, as the tension was rising.

Jack slowly raised his head, attempting to get a glimpse of the enemy. When Jack had enough height to see, he spotted the enemy. It was a phantom wearing a worn out white cloak, with rusty chains wrapped around its shoulders. Its arms were long, and the hands were like gnarled branches. It had circular hollow eyes, along with sharp and pointy fangs. And it was holding a rusty lantern with a purple sphere of light trapped inside of it. Once Jack got a good look at it, he quickly ducked back down. He confirmed that the floating figure was a Soul Devour.

Damn it, I hoped I'd never had to face those fucking Soul Devours! Jack spoke in his consciousness. The Soul Devour twisted its head around in a three sixty angle, trying to spot the intruders. While it did that, it made bizarre sounds of whining and growls. Judging from the noises it produced, the Soul Devour sounded hungry. The light of the lantern grew and dimmed with every five seconds that passed. The group could hear faint screaming and painful moans coming from the bright purple sphere. The cries of children, women, and men made the ponies feel hearts sunk to their stomachs. After the Soul Devour's head stopped spinning around for about a minute, the phantom turned its attention towards the ancient sarcophagus, where the group was hiding.

Jack saw the phantom's shadow growing darker, knowing that it's coming towards them. His pupils shrunk, as the hungry soul eater drew closer and closer. The ponies had their eyes completely shut. While they cuddled, the ponies cringed dearly to their lives. If the phantom were to spot the group, then it would be all over. The cross Jack held could only handle one phantom, but multiple ones were impossible. He knew that there was no escape. With only one option, Jack was prepared to make another run for it. That is until he spotted a small rock on the ground. Realizing what to do, he picked up the rock, and chucked it across the opposite side of the room. With the rock tumbling across the hall, the Soul Devour's attention was driven by the sound. It made a small wailing noise, as the phantom immediately pursuited the sound.

Determined by the sound's distance, Jack had enough time to outrun the phantom. Once the phantom was gone, Jack peeked up and there was no sign of the Soul Devour. Jack sighed in relief, but he knew that this was no time to rest. He tapped on each ponies' shoulders gently to get their attention.

"Hey, we need to move now!" Jack whispered. Everyone got up, and followed Jack once more. However, just as Jack faced towards the hallway, his face lit up in surprise. The ponies came to a complete halt, and gasped in horror. Jack furrowed his eyebrows in frustration.

"Oh come on!" Jack yelled out in frustration. Right in front of him was another Soul Devour. Right away, the Soul Devour made a loud and wailing noise that ruptured everyone's eardrums. Everyone covered their ears, as the sound was too much for them to handle. The wailing noise sounded so frightening, it fractured a handful portion of the ponies’ sanity. A few seconds later, the loud screech ceased. Jack slowly uncovered his ears, and looked back. The previous Soul Devour appeared again, along with two more behind it. The whole room shined with a deathly luminosity reminiscent of violet. The group was surrounded, as death was right in front of their faces. Each Soul Devour growled sinisterly, as their hallowed eyes were staring into the ponies' souls.

Fluttershy couldn't help but burst into tears. The fear driving her was too overwhelming. Knowing that the horror of a lindworm was originally her number one fear in her book, the Soul Devour immediately took the lindworm's place. And made it her number one newest fear. The level of her sanity made her vision very wrapped up. She could hear her own heart beat loudly, as if it were close to her ear. Her breathing intensified; she couldn't stop looking at the Soul Devour's features.

Slowly, her eyes trailed upwards. Unable to stop herself, she worked her way up towards the hallowed eyes. Then, Fluttershy's sight was looking straight into the eyeless abyss. At that moment, her mind raced like never before. The hallowed eyes on the Soul Devour suddenly gleamed red. Then, the other three Soul Devour's eyes gleamed red. Each one started to grumble violently, as if they were being antagonistic. While they stared at the group with deathly eyes, the Soul Devour's piercing eyes struck the very foundations of Fluttershy's sanity. She was now left standing helplessly, unable to move a single muscle.

The other ponies were scared, but they still had the strength to move about. Applejack gulped a lump, as she was very anxious into getting the hell out of this situation.

"J-J-Ja-ack…?" Applejack stuttered in fear, trying to get Jack's attention. "H-He-elp…?" Jack eyed at Applejack and back to the Soul Devour.

"I know, I'm on it." Jack said, and immediately launches himself towards the phantom in front of him. He strikes the phantom's chest with his cross. This sent the Soul Devour off towards the distance, making a painful wailing noise. But at the cost, the cross recieved a recoil, causing it to shatter into hundreds of pieces from the Soul Devour's presence. Realizing that this was the only window of opportunity, he turned his head towards the group.

"Now's our chance! RUN!" Jack announced. Almost instantly, the ponies took his word and retreats. Jack was just about to run, when he realized that somepony was missing. He swerved his head around and saw Fluttershy not moving. Her fear overtook her entire body, making her vulnerable. Jack turned his body around and swerved his right arm across.

"THE FUCK YOU DOING, FLUTTERSHY?! MOVE!" He yelled. But to no avail, Fluttershy was lost in pure insanity. The other ponies came to a complete stop and skidded along the ground. They turned their heads back and spotted Fluttershy not retreating. Rainbow Dash cried out her name, but found no response. Suddenly, one of the Soul Devours began to inhale, as its stomach inflated with air. Jack knew what was coming, and tried to call out her name once more.

"FLUTTERSHY, GOD DAMN IT! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" But still no response, Fluttershy just continued to stand there like a statue. Tears easily came rushing out of her eyes, as her visions clouded her. Jack was just about to make a run for it, and forget about her… when something in his stomach blocked him. He struggled to move forward, but his mind over took his whole body.

"D-Damn… Damn it… w-what's wrong with me?! W-Why… do I have… the urge… o-of… n-not running away?!" Jack muttered to himself. He couldn't figure out what's keeping him at bay. But at the same time, something's telling him to do something rather than do nothing.

All of a sudden, the Soul Devour's inhale stopped. Its stomach was the size of another Soul Devour. Ready to fire at the defenseless pegasus, it exhaled a sonic boom roar. Then, out came a beam of darkness from the phantom's mouth. The beam launched itself straight towards her. The roar was so loud, the foundation of the ceiling started to crumble pebbles. Waves and ripples spread out of the beam, as it traveled without losing momentum.

And at that moment, Fluttershy's life flashed right before her very eyes. Every single moment of happiness, sadness, and even joyfulness flashed all in just a mere second. Her eyelids closed themselves, as she awaited death.

At that moment, the beam of darkness made contact and exploded right in front of her. Powerful wind gushed through the hallway, putting out some of the blue fire torches on the ceiling. The ponies embraced for impact, and shielded their eyes with their forearms. While dust and pebbles flew back, the thick fog was pushed away. It only took a few seconds for the gust to cease. The ponies uncovered their eyes and gazed into the dusty scene. Everypony went silent, as they tried to find out what happened, but they couldn't see anything yet. They feared that the blast might of killed Fluttershy and Jack. Rarity was about to call out their names, when the dust began to lift, and they could spot a black figure inside the dust. They couldn't tell who it was.

After the dust partly lifted, they were shocked and surprised. They saw Fluttershy still standing well and alive. No scratches or wounds were anywhere on the yellow pegasus. They were relieved to see her, but that moment soon faded. The dust fully lifted, and it revealed Jack standing right in front of Fluttershy. His arms were crossed, while his head was hiding between his arms. As he shielded himself from that impact, his legs shook. Steams emitted from parts of his body, as if he looked like he was melting. Fluttershy stared at Jack; she didn't expect him to be there at all.

"J-Jack…?" Fluttershy asked silently. Suddenly, Jack grunted silently in pain, and collapsed down to his knees. Then he fell to his stomach, as his face plant first. Lying defeated, Fluttershy gasped in horror.

"JACK!" She cried out. At that moment, Fluttershy heard bizarre sounds of whining and growls. She looked straight and noticed the Soul Devours was still levitating in mid air. Another gasp of horror escaped from Fluttershy's mouth. Her fears began to build up once again. Her eyes widen with fear, as the sanity she gained started to drain. The other ponies prepared themselves to charge after to save Jack and Fluttershy. When suddenly,

"I say, chapettes!" A mysterious voice called out from behind the group. Everypony looked behind them, and there stood an animated skeleton stallion. Gleaming green dots act as irises for his hallowed eyes. The stallion had perfectly good condition clean teeth. And he had ears that were transformed into the same bone minerals. Even though he was an animated corpse, his appearance looked harmless and friendly. He waved his bony hoof towards the group while hiding behind a sharp corner.

"Bring your fellows over here if you chapettes want to live!" The mysterious skeleton stallion called out. He sounded friendly enough, but the group couldn't fully trust him. But they had to do something, because Fluttershy and Jack were on the brink of death. Putting aside the distrust, every pony nodded at each other and charged blindly towards the Soul Devours. The phantoms saw the incoming ponies, and then they began to inhale simultaneously. The ponies knew what was coming next, as they had to hurry. Once they reached towards Fluttershy and Jack, Rainbow Dash and Applejack lifted Jack on top of their backs. Pinkie Pie and Rarity nabbed Fluttershy's neck, and forced her to retreat. The Soul Devours were almost ready to fire their beams of darkness at the ponies. The skeleton stallion waved his hoof back, trying to make them trot faster.

Then, the Soul Devours stopped inhaling… and unleashed their mighty roar at the same time. Three beams of darkness shot across the hallway. The whole room shook violently, as the ceiling started to crumble a lot of pebbles. The beams trailed after the group with such speed. It felt like they could be hit, but they were lucky to reach towards the skeleton stallion. They all leaped towards the side, and hit the deck. A beam barely hit Pinkie Pie's flank, as she yelped in shock. The beams flew past the group, and all three clashed at the end of the hallway. But strangely, the beams dissolved before they made contact with the wall.

The Soul Devours noticed that their attack didn't go off, mainly because it only effected on living beings. At that moment, they began to pursuit the intruders once more. The flying phantoms noticed a sharp right corner. The phantoms went right, and they immediately spotted the group hiding at the end of a square room. The Soul Devours took aim, and flew straight towards the open doorway.

But just then, they were blocked by an invisible force field. Blue energy ripples appeared on the open doorway, making a chiseling sound on impact. The ponies were surprised that a huge glowing circle of rune marks and symbols appeared on the floor. There even were symbols located next to the doorway. The Soul Devours tried to barge in once more, but the force field kept them at bay. The ponies guessed that this room was supposed to be protected by those phantoms. After a few more attempts of barging in, The Soul Devours lost their interests. They backed up, giving one last deadly stare at the intruders, and faded away into the darkness. The ponies inhaled deeply, and then exhaled in relief. With Jack out of commission for now, the ponies took refuge in this room, and prayed that Twilight Sparkle was in no harms way.