centaurus2 (Ch73) - They both have their advantages ;)

centaurus2 (Ch72) - Just a wee bit. But can we really blame her, or is something else going on...

PyraohXBlaze - Well here you go; the next update, and maybe some answers too ;)

landmoverman (Ch16) - I do too... Glad she got an entire episode dedicated to her, but it'd be nice if she got more consistent screen time.

PBJFanFiction - Lol can't say it did :P

Kyguy - Umm...

xel101 - So, you got the impression it was more than just a sword, did you?

darksoul78 - That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

DarkwolfLord - Just a wee bit :P Thanks! It always gives me the warm fuzzies to hear that someone likes my story so much!

TurnupGrain43 - But will it really be that simple, or will there be more to it...?

YvngMask - Lol thanks, I think.

KillerWoW - Lol and I thought I had a hard head... And Pinkie, what have I told you about weaponizing candy?!

ShadowfireAngel - You say that like he didn't have real power before :P

Ponified Bacon Boss - Nah... lol not one little bit :P

Zero the Warrior of Chaos - Well, it probably should have, save for one tiny little detail; Blake left it in Ponyville...

Mikalzilla - Who indeed...

A/N - Howdy everypony! I hope you're all ready for the next installment of A Second Chance! This week's Author's note is going to be a little on the serious side, so I apologize in advance for that. I've been thinking lately back to a promise I made in an earlier chapter, and I've been wondering if maybe I was a little... premature in that promise. As an author, I've developed certain topics that I'm uncomfortable writing, and I've been considering forcing myself out of my comfort zone by writing a non-canon (not even relating to the main story really) short story to force myself out of my comfort zone. My biggest dilemma with this is; should I post it? I'm going to be putting a poll up as soon as post this chapter asking you all for your opinions. I warn you now that these topics I'm referring to include rape and death, so be aware of that if you decide to help me make my decision. Thanks for taking the time to read this... As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; enjoy!

*CRASH*

I jumped clear up into the air as something upstairs broke and Dinky shrieked. I started running for the stairs to check on the girls, but I wasn't getting anywhere; I looked back to see if something had grabbed my tail, or if it had gotten caught in the fridge door again, and saw that my wings were flapping. I folded my wings to my side and dropped straight back to the floor.

I got back to my hooves as fast as I could and ran up the stairs. I was almost at the top before I remembered that I could have flown and gotten to the top even faster. I ran to the fillies' room and bucked the door open. Dinky shrieked again and hid under her covers. "What happened Dinky, are you alright?"

"I-I'm ok sis. Something in your room broke and it scared me…"

I trotted over and stroked her mane. I found out a long time ago, during a really bad thunderstorm, that that made her feel better when she was scared. "It's ok little sis, I'm sure something just fell over. I'll go check, you stay in bed so you can get better."

She snuggled back under her covers and I trotted back out of the room and down the hall to the big master bedroom I shared with Blake and Applejack and sometimes Luna. I put my hoof on the door, but didn't open it; I was really worried about what was on the other side of the door. Sure, it could have been some punk colt throwing a rock or even just an accident while somepony was playing outside, but I was afraid it was something else.

I took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door open. The princesses had made sure to get really good hinges for all the doors when they had the house built for him, so they didn't make a single tiny sound as they swung the door open. I peeked inside with my good eye, but I didn't see anypony inside right away.

I pushed the door open a little further and stepped inside. "H-Hello?" I waited, but nopony answered. "Is anypony in here? It's ok if you are, I just want to know." I noticed a broken pane of glass in the door that led out to the balcony out of the corner of my loopy eye.

I carefully trotted over and looked at the broken glass with my good eye. I looked back behind me, but I didn't see any rocks or anything laying on the ground. I opened the door and started to trot out onto the balcony to make sure some poor bird hadn't run into the glass on accident.

I stopped when I heard something crunch under my hoof. I looked down and saw a bunch of broken glass sitting on the ground; only, it was all on the outside of the door, not the inside. I turned around and headed back inside; I was going to ask Pabu and Aurora if they had been playing in the bedroom and accidentally broke the window.

Applejack

Ah was powerful worried about Twilight; she never came back ta the camp after Ah walloped her like Ah did. Ah didn't mean ta do it, Ah just got so mad when she talked about Blake… not comin' back ta us. Ah'd asked Wanate ta let me take a few stallions into tha forest ta look for 'er, but he just said that everything'd turn out fine, and Ah shouldn't worry about her. He must not'a known Twi very well; smart as she was, that mare could be as clueless as a newborn foal, especially when she was in someplace like the Everfree forest.

Ah went back ta our tent and packed a few things in a little knapsack one o' tha farmer mares had given me and headed towards tha edge of camp over where Ah'd last seen Twilight. Ah hadn't gone very far in when Ah heard the brush rustling of ta my right. Ah crouched down low, ready ta pounce on whatever critter came outta there, but let out a huge sigh when a certain purple horn popped out at me.

"Phew… Dagnabbit Twilight, y'all nearly gave me a heart attack! Just where tha hay have ya been all night anyway?!"

Twilight's face popped out of the brush, then the rest of her. She didn't look so good though; she looked plum tuckered, like that time she stressed 'erself out over some weird time thingy that had 'er runnin' around town like a crazy pony tryin' ta make sure nothin bad happened fer a whole week. "Sorry Applejack… I did some thinking out by a little pond in the forest. I guess I was so stressed that I fell asleep without realizing it."

"'Fell asleep'? Twi, y'all look like ya ain't had a wink in a coon's age…" Ah trotted over and slung a foreleg around her. "C'mon, let's get ya back ta camp and get ya in bed so ya can rest proper."

She looked at me and gave me a weak smile. "Thanks AJ, I do feel a little under the weather today… maybe I caught something out here…"

Ah turned her towards tha camp and we started trotting back. "Ah believe it Sugarcube; y'all look terrible… Ah bet sleepin out there in tha cold didn't help none neither…"

When we got back ta the edge of tha camp, Ah took 'er back ta our tent and got 'er settled down under that nice, thick blanket the tribesponies gave us. When Ah was sure she was ok, Ah left tha tent ta find 'er somethin ta eat; that mare looked like she needed some good vittles in 'er belly right about then. There wasn't much left from breakfast, but Ah managed ta scrounge up some o' them sweet treats Blake shared with us tha other night and some o' that mush they always seemed ta make fer breakfast. Ah had no idea how well it'd sit on 'er stomach, but it was all Ah could find for 'er ta eat.

Blake

I looked on in disbelief as the shadow-bones did its best to crawl away from the deadly blade that had somehow severed its hoof like paper. What really had me captivated though, wasn't that the formerly arrogant and seemingly invulnerable shadow-bones was now cowering away from a floating sword, or even that said sword had just appeared out of nowhere and come to my aid, it was the fact that the sword was mine.

All I could do was watch as the blade, who's hilt was coated in a silvery magical aura, whirled through the air and sliced through the foliage that bound me with a grace that I knew no human swordsman could achieve. When I was finally free, it flitted over and freed Quickhoof with the same inhuman elegance.

I looked back to my right as the shadow-bones caught my attention with its grunts of pain. The thing wasn't paying me any attention though; its empty sockets were fixed on the sword, which was now floating back towards me. It stopped when it was in front of me and hovered there. I shook my head to dispel my disbelief as I realized what the sword wanted.

I reached out a hand and wrapped my fingers around the cord-wrapped handle. As soon as my grip on it was firm, the blade stopped hovering, though it dropped its weight into my hand over the course of about a second, keeping me from dropping it.

"Greetings Blake Marshall." I nearly jumped as a woman's voice suddenly spoke up inside my head. "I apologize for not introducing myself to you sooner; I am known as Falathiel the Huntress, and I have been searching for a worthy bearer for some time. But that is enough introduction; for now, we must act."

I looked up from the blade, having not even realized that I had focused my aurasight so that it took up my entire perception, and expanded my aurasight again, feeling for the mental barrier that signaled the limit of its range. And I expanded it. And expanded it…

"I have chosen you to bear me, and I will aid you however I can." Something about her words gave me a new confidence, and I continued pushing my aurasight further; and when I finally decided to stop, I could see the entire chamber we were in, as well as parts of the Everfree beyond it.

I could even see the dismembered hoof of the shadow-bones that had tried to kill me, as well as its former owner, who was now limping away on three hooves, back towards his companions. Since I could finally perceive the world around me well enough to do so, I summoned my armor's wings and took flight, doing a somersault in midair and slowing myself, coming to land in front of the bony stallion.

The skeletal pony cowered as I pointed the tip of my sword at him in an accusatory fashion. "What say you? Why are you so afraid of this blade? You seem to know it."

"That is a blade crafted by the Ancient Ones! There are none that can match such a blade!"

"Quiet you fool! He is not worthy to know such things! Now stand up and destroy him!" I looked up from the cowering wreck of a skeleton to see the other male-sounding shadow-bones advancing towards us.

Something tingled inside my head, telling me to dodge, and I did, jumping back just in time to avoid the hind hooves of the shadow-bones that had been cowering as he lashed out with them. I twirled Falathiel and swiped at the stallion's extended hooves, severing them as cleanly as Falathiel herself had when she rescued us just minutes before. I was amazed at how different she felt in my hands now that she had revealed herself to be more than just a sharp bit of metal and some cordage.

"Finish him, lest he attack you again!"

I drew her back, and in a blinding flash of movement, drove her razor-edged blade deep into the shadow-bone's fleshy heart. His jaw dropped in a silent scream and his eye sockets went wide as the blade pierced him. I watched as he dissipated into wisps of magic, just as the eel creature had, and tracked the tendrils of magic as they flowed towards his companions.

Each of their auras grew brighter as their slain comrade's essence flowed into them. The other male, who was stalking towards us, sneered arrogantly at me, while the other, female shadow-bones held her place, her body language showing that she had been rattled by something; though whether if it was the death of her companion, my words from earlier, or something else entirely, I couldn't be sure.

"You will pay for your arrogance, heathen!" The remaining stallion broke from his low, stalking stance into a full-on gallop, charging me with no regards at all to Quickhoof.

I readied my newest companion, meaning to cleave the arrogant abomination as he neared. The second I started my swing, he disappeared into thin air, only leaving behind a faint wisp of magic as he went. Some preternatural instinct drove my muscles into action, moving Falathiel behind me and laying her diagonally across my back. An instant later, I felt something impact against her, and I staggered forward a step from the force of the blow.

I whipped around in time to see a horn composed of pure magical energy form on the stallion's head. Before I had a chance to react, he fired a bolt of magic, eerily similar to the one Shining Armor had fired at me in what had felt like a lifetime ago, striking my armor's breastplate and sending me sprawling heavily onto my back. I rolled with the impact, coming back to my feet in a single, fluid motion, summoning my shield even before I felt my feet come into contact with the relatively soft, grass-covered soil.

I barely had time to react as the shadow-bones had lunged at me while I was still airborne. The only thing I could think to do was bring my shield between the stallion and myself; I intended to try to bash him in the face with the sturdy metal, but I had the feeling he would teleport again.

He proved me right when he suddenly disappeared from in front of me like he had before. I was ready though, and lashed out behind me with a vicious kick to his chest. The instant my armored boot made contact with the blackened bone, searing pain shot up through my foot and into the rest of my leg. By the time I had put my foot down, my entire leg had gone completely numb, and the only reason I even knew it was still there was the fact that I didn't fall over when I stood on both legs.

"Do not touch them! Their Death Magic can affect you even through your armor."

I stomped my foot, trying to get some semblance of feeling back into it. "Yeah, I noticed…" Quickhoof shouted, and I looked up from my deadened leg in time to catch another magical bolt straight to my armored visor.

I groaned as I picked myself up from the ground. "Man… I really need to start paying more attention…" I rolled to the side on a hunch, and the stallion went flying past me as he tried to tackle me again.

I noticed a rock sitting next to me as I watched him go past, and I used my levitation spell to wrench it out of the ground, hurling it towards the stallion even as he turned around. Just as I had a moment ago, he turned around just in time to catch the dirt-covered stone right in the face, though he didn't have the luxury of armor, or even flesh, to protect his skull from the impact.

His head snapped back as the rock caught him in the snout, which made a dry crunching sound as it broke. The stallion growled and lunged at me again, and it became obvious that I was getting to him. I grabbed Falathiel with my magic and hurled her at him next, hoping to take him out before he got to me.

He must have predicted the move however, making a valiant effort to twist mid-air and avoid the attack, but he couldn't avoid the deadly blade entirely, and bellowed as it bit into the bone of his foreleg. As he landed heavily on the ground, the bone of his foreleg, which had been nearly severed by Falathiel's blade, snapped in half and sent both him and his now-severed leg tumbling to the ground.

I got to my feet, levitated Falathiel back to me, and pointed her tip at him, much as I had his companion. "I will give you one chance… yield."

The stallion roared and lashed out, trying to slap Falathiel out of the way with his remaining hoof, but he was too slow, and I thrust the blade forward, driving the sentient sword's blade deep into his fleshy heart.

The skeletal stallion's eye sockets narrowed in defiance and he reached up with his remaining hoof, grabbing onto Falathiel's blade and pulled, further impaling himself on it. His scowl deepened until it was a full-blown snarl, and he pulled his good hoof back, looking like he was going to punch me.

I never gave him the chance though; I quickly withdrew Falathiel from his chest, cleaving several rib bones along the way, and spun with the momentum, keeping it going and using it to send my bladed companion singing through the air and sailing through the bone of the stallion's neck, severing his head and sending it tumbling from his body. The shadow-bones dissipated into a magical fog before his body even hit the dirt, flowing up into the air and towards the remaining shadow-bones, the one that had spoken in a mare's voice.

I looked on as her head swiveled around, seemingly searching this ancient battleground for something. It wasn't long before she took a single step in our direction, then another, then another…

I waited as she approached, head hanging low, her body language speaking of utter defeat. Quickhoof was speaking frantically, probably asking why I wasn't attacking her, but I had no way to convey to him that I wanted to see what would happen, foolish as that prospect was.

The shadow-bones mare stopped a mere five meters away, and flopped her bony flank down onto the grass. She looked up and into my eyes, and I didn't need to be able to see to know the begging look she was giving me. "I… I have a request… I know that after all that's happened that I have no right, but if you grant me this boon, I'll help you on your quest."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "What could you possibly want from me, aside from my death, and what do you mean 'you'll help me'?"

"I can tell you where to find a book filled with ancient human lore, as well as a book filled with spells only one of your blood can cast. As for my request… I want you to kill me…" I started to question her, but a small sob escaped her, cutting me off dead in my tracks. "Please… I have been here for so very long, and even if I managed to best you, now that the others are gone… I would remain here… alone… So please, free me from this Hell!"

I was taken aback; I honestly didn't know what to think of what she had said, or even if I could truly trust her or not. "How do I know you won't try to attack me, or that these books you mentioned are what you say, or even that they exist at all…?"

She hung her head. "Those are valid questions, and I know that I don't deserve your trust, or have a way to prove to you that I'm telling the truth…" Another sob escaped her.

"I believe she is telling the truth…"

I sighed and lowered Falathiel to my side. "Alright… I can't say I trust you… but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you're telling the truth. Though I have to ask; if you're so miserable, why haven't you just ended your own life, or say, slept during all this time?"

The shadow-bones shook her skeletal head. "It doesn't work like that…" She looked around at the area, and I followed her gaze, noting several of the bony corpses strewn about the area. "We were once members of the squad of pony warriors that fought the humans and griffins that lived here… you know, it's funny; it's been so long, I don't even remember what we were fighting for anymore… I don't know what happened after I… died… but I do know that the humans used some foul magic to reanimate several fallen warriors to guard the temple…"

I knelt down in front of her. "You were one of the warriors they brought back?"

She nodded. "Yes. Their magic… it forced our souls back into our bodies. And when we became aware, they started casting other magics on us… including spells that prevented us from ending our own existences… and forcing us to remain conscious and aware at all times."

I stood back up. "That… that's horrible." I couldn't help but think of Mitta as I took in this mare's plight. "Ok, if we're going to do this, let's get it done so that you can finally be at peace."

The ancient warrior mare stood back up. "Alright. Show me the map you have." I took out the map, as well as the remains of the inkwell of magic-laced ink and a quill and handed them to her. She dipped the quill in the ink and started marking a room on the map. "The first book is in this room, the outpost's library… and the second is over here, in the commander's quarters. You'll know the first because it's the only leather-bound book in the entire library, though it doesn't have any writing on the cover. That's the book of lore. The other book is bound with black… pony fur… and should be right out in the open. Now… please, end this nightmare…"

I took the map and writing supplies back from her and handed them to Quickhoof, who was still eying the mare warily, for safe-keeping. I gripped Falathiel's hilt tightly and pointed at the tortured mare's heart, which seemed to be the source of the magic that sustained her. She nodded and took a step forward, the tip of Falathiel's blade pressing lightly against the beating heart. "Before we do this… I have a request of my own… I want to know your name."

"My name is… was… Spring Leaf…"

I nodded. "I truly hope you find the peace you deserve, Spring Leaf…" Without another moment of hesitation, I thrust forward, driving Falathiel into Spring Leaf's heart.

Her bony jaw worked itself into a smile, and she looked up into my eyes even as her body dissolved into mist. "Thank you…" And then she was gone.

I slumped to the ground, both mentally and physically drained. I couldn't help but wonder what this place was, and why it had been so important that ponies were willing to fight and die to claim it from the ancient humans. Spring Leaf also flitted into my mind; who had she been in life, besides a soldier, why did her voice sound normal at the very end, and how was she able to overcome the spells that her tormentors no doubt put on her to fight and kill intruders?

"It is likely that your words to her had an impact on her mind, strengthening her resolve until she received the power of her fallen comrade, giving her the strength to act on that resolution."

I looked down to Falathiel. "Yeah, that seems… wait… you can read my mind?" It was only a half-question; I'd formed a hunch that she could read my mind at the very least when she first spoke to me and introduced herself.

"I can indeed, so you have no need to speak to me aloud. I can also understand any spoken language, though I can only communicate with you, and only telepathically."

I dismissed my armor and got a little more comfortable, watching as Quickhoof did the same, the two of us enjoying the sunlight streaming through the open canopy and ceiling of the vast room. I let out a huge sigh and started looking around for Falathiel's sheath. "So, now that all that's all over, why not tell me a bit more about yourself. I imagine you already know just about everything there is to know about me."

Falathiel floated up into the air, and I watched as her sheath floated up as well, away from its resting place against a tree and back to cover her deadly blade again. "You are half-right; I do know many things about you, though hardly everything. I prefer to watch the actions of my potential bearers and allow them to speak for themselves in that manner rather than intrude upon their most private sanctuary." She floated back down, resting her hilt against my shoulder. "I was forged by a race far more ancient than even humans, long before they or my creators departed this land, with the purpose of defending the innocent from any threat… and that is why I chose you as my bearer; not for the fact that you are human, but for the many selfless acts I have seen you perform to further that very goal. And yes, I also know of your sacrifice; that's what drew me to you in the first place."

I drew in a sharp breath at the mention of my own death. It had been some time since that had happened, but the physical and emotional pains had yet to fully leave my mind. Luna had been right; I would never forget those last moments I spent on Earth.

I heaved out the breath I had taken in, stood up, and walked towards the flower, summoning my armor again; it was time to be done with this place…