It was mid afternoon in Ponyville, the atmosphere in the Golden Oak was tense to say the least, ever since Fyee and Princess Celestia's departure last night the others found it difficult to stay calm. In an attempt to alleviate the stress, they each went out on their own to under take in a favorite activity. Applejack went apple bucking, Rarity sought to design a new gown, Rainbow Dash tried out a few new flight tricks, Pinkie Pie baked a cake, Fluttershy tended to her flock, Spike was napping, and Cadence spent time with Shining Armor. Twilight, however, opted to stay behind should Fyee and Celestia return, but in truth she merely sought some much needed solitude. Pulling a book off the shelf, Twilight shuffled over to the fire place, and commenced reading.

Enraptured by her book, Twilight was unaware that the door had opened, the jingling of the tiny bell went unregistered, and the rather loud creaky floor may as well have been a pillow falling. Just as she finished chapter three the intruder made his presence known, and with a loud pop next to Twilight's ear, she yelped out in fright, flew up only to collide with the ceiling, and then fell flat on the floor. As the room spun around her, Twilight heard a cackling laughter ring in her ear; a very familiar laughter.

"Discord?" Princess Twilight said, as she slowly regained her bearings, and then looked up to lock eyes with the jolly draconequus.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but that was priceless," Discord said, still laughing his lungs out.

"Where have you been all this time?" Princess Twilight queried, rising to her feet, and then collecting her book.

"Stuck in an inescapable snow globe of Canterlot," Discord replied casually, as he conjured up a bag of lemon drops, and popped several into his mouth. "Lemon drop?"

"No thank you," Princess Twilight politely said, as she book marked her chapter then carefully levitated the book onto a nearby table, before then awarding Discord her undivided attention. "So, if that snow globe was inescapable, how did you get out?"

"Oh I didn't, or rather I couldn't, not without outside assistance," Discord replied through a mouth of lemon drops, his mouth so stuffed that many of them just popped out as he talked; much to Twilight's revulsion.

"Okay...So who assisted you?" Princess Twilight retorted, her brow adopting a puzzling expression.

"Iscariat," Discord at last said, a slight smirk crawling up his face.

"What?!" Princess Twilight exclaimed, her eyes wide open, and her mouth gawking in a manner most unladylike. "Why would he do that?"

"Because we are friends now," Discord happily boasted.

"What?!" Princess Twilight repeated, now really confused.

"It's true, he even trusted me to personally deliver this to you; When the time is right," Discord said, materializing the box in front of Twilight, and then taking the form of Iscariat as he quoted him. "Well I got bored waiting, so I say the right time is now. So here you go."

"You seriously expect me to believe that?" Princess Twilight scoffed, while staring at the box from the corner of her eye. "How do I know this isn't some trap? I've read the old lore, I know all about Iscariat's clever strategies during the Hundred Year War. Well I won't fall for it."

"An that is your choice," Discord snickered, as he walked towards the fireplace, and then proceeded to climb up the chimney.

"Where are you going?" Princess Twilight asked, as she covered her eyes from the soot Discord kicked up as he climbed.

"Home, I can't wait to see what happens next," Discord chuckled merrily. "This is turning out better than I could have hoped!"

"But you can't just leave, we could really use your power!" Princess Twilight said, as she coughed, and rubbed her watery eyes. "Discord!"

Just like that he was gone, and Twilight was left with nothing but a box, and boat load of questions. Opening a window to air out the room, Twilight lightly dusted the soot off herself then turned her attention towards the box. Apart from the sealing rune inscribed atop its lid, the box was rather plain, it was smooth all the way around, it had no latches or mechanical locks, a pair of brass hinges stuck from the back, and an iron lip wrapped around the perimeter, dividing the upper and lower sections. Hesitantly, Twilight rested a hoof upon its lid and...nothing, there was no reaction or strange sensation coming from the box. Blinking rapidly with a raised eyebrow, Twilight tossed caution to the wind, and commenced to shake the box, knock on it, enshroud it in her magical field, and even kicked it like a football, but the box would not yield.

"Why...won't...you...open?!" Princess Twilight groaned, as she applied a crowbar to the box's lid, but still it held firm. "What are you?!"

When the box failed to answer her, Twilight's hair frizzled up, her face adopted a scowl, and with one decisive kick, she sent it into the fireplace.

"If you won't open then I'll burn your casing to ash," Princess Twilight said, her horn igniting in a brilliant red hue, with an even brighter white glow from the tip.

However, just as she was about to reduce the box to kindling it simply vanished, but not for long as it re-materialized on a small table just to the left of the fireplace, and right beside it was a photo of Twilight and her friends. Completely over looking the specific location the box teleported to, Twilight instead focused on the action itself, and now really wanted to know everything about the box. Taking the box downstairs to her laboratory, Twilight took out a notebook, quills and some ink, and commenced with jotting down the materials that constituted the box. Following her initial examination, Twilight then proceeded to experiment with a few rudimentary spells, ranging from levitation to divination, and recording the effect, if any, as they arose. As time progressed Twilight had completed her list of low level spells, and none of them had any effect on the box, which was to be expected, but with a smiling grin she took out a much bigger list; full of spells she's been dying to test out.

All matter of sounds could be heard coming from the Golden Oak Library as the afternoon matured to the late afternoon, and by the time the others returned for dinner smoke was fuming out the doors and windows, and the Ponyville fire brigade was about ready to charge in.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Princess Cadence called out just as the library door swung open.

White smoke rushed out engulfing everypony in a thick haze, their eyes watered, and their throats seized up causing them to cough continuously. Fortunately for them watery eyes and a strong cough was the worst to expect, for this smoke was a benign phenomena called Spell Smoke; a white haze that accumulates after the repeated casting of high tier spells, usually tiers five and up. Spell smoke, thankfully, doesn't last long, and in less than a minute it had completely assimilated with the air, and after a quick explanation to the fire brigade, by Princess Cadence, they too immediately dispersed. Now that all was calm again, relatively speaking, Cadence lead them all into the Golden Oak, taking great care to raise a forward shield alongside Shining Armor. As they tip toed towards the basement, they could make out a pair of muffled voices, though they were unsure who the voices belonged to, and so ready themselves for a fight if need be.

Just as they slowly turned the door knob one of the voices cried out, "Look out Twilight, it's going to summon again!"

"Don't worry Spike, I'm ready this time," Princess Twilight said, as Cadence and the others came down the steps, catching her by surprise. "Stay back everypony, this thing means business!"

"Twilight just what in...Ah," Princess Cadence gasped mid-sentence as her eyes fell upon the box in the center of the room, a circle of crystal salt surrounding it. "How did you come by that?"

Cadence's question was over looked when the box's seal began to glow a dismal gray, and from it rose an even more dismal entity; a Wraith. Wraith's were corporeal spirits with the ability to use magic, as well as cast vile curses of various magnitudes, but truly their most frightening trait was their appetite for souls. Except for Cadence, no pony there had ever heard of a wraith, let alone seen on in person, it was like something out of their nightmares, a monster shrouded in darkness itself, wielding twin, bronze, khopeshes. The wraith assumed the form of a featureless earth pony, devoid of eyes, and draped in a miasma of swirling darkness, its weapons held in each hoof respectively, primed to tear them all apart. As it made ready to lung, Cadence ordered them all to hold their breath, and without question they heeded her words.

The wraith immediately lost its poise, it looked around, blind as it was, sniffing the air, and swinging its weapons like a mad man, to no avail. Growling voraciously, the wraith cleaved a table in twain, bottles and test tubes came crashing down onto the floor, glass and various chemicals littered the area, but no pony dared react to it, incurring a dreadful screech from the wraith as a result. Signaling Shining Armor with a simple nod, Cadence slowly approached the box, taking the utmost care to keep her breath held, while at the same time Shining had a barrier spell prepared should worst come to worst. This was hands down the most excruciating thirty seconds any of them had to undergo, their heart were pounding, their faces were turning blue, and the wraith was putting the fear of death in their souls. Fortunately through Cadence's quick thinking and tenacity, they all lived to tell the tale of this hellish experience, for as soon as Cadence took hold of the box she pressed down, hard, on the seal until she heard a click and an Ouch...? An Ouch?

Yes, their ears had not deceived them, the box had indeed said, "Ouch," and as soon as it had the wraith vanished, its summoning undone. After reacquainting themselves with the precious air, they all turned their attention to the box, who cried out with a feminine voice that Cadence kindly cease pressing down on her lid.

"You've been a bad girl, Nymph," Princess Cadence sternly said, her left eyebrow raised as she spoke. "Summoning a wraith is serious, and in no way is funny. Somepony could have died!"

"But the lavender one tried to burn me, twice," Nymph retorted, her voice heavy and sorrowful.

All eyes then turned to Twilight, who gazed back perplexed at just what was happening, and with a surly tone, she replied," What? How was I suppose to know she was alive? Or that she could talk for that matter?"

"Ah, be that as it may, you still took it too far," Princess Cadence said, as she slowly eased the tension on Nymph's lid, but did not remove her hoof completely. "Now say you're sorry, young lady."

"Yes ma'am," Nymph said penitently, as Cadence turned around so Nymph was facing the others. "I apologize for my rash actions, and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me."

"Of course we can," Fluttershy spoke for the others, as she stepped forward, and hugged Nymph without hesitation. "This was nothing more than a big misunderstanding."

"Such kindness, you can only be Fluttershy," Nymph replied with a happy sigh.

"Wait a minute, you know us?" Princess Twilight asked, her brow rising, and her eyes widening.

'Who doesn't know of you is a better question," Nymph replied with a chuckle, as she levitated up above their heads. "But such trivial knowledge is of little consequence, and hardly worth discussing. No, I imagine my very presence here is of greater interest to you; especially to little miss cinders."

"Tsk, look you I had no idea of knowing, and you weren't that talkative either," Princess Twilight said sharply, pointing accusingly at Nymph.

"Okay that is enough," Princess Cadence retorted, coming between the two with her fore hooves raised at both of them.

"Fine," Nymph and Twilight said, though they both knew this wouldn't be the end of it.

"Now I confess that I am interested in your purpose here, Nymph," Princess Cadence said, as she flew up to Nymph's level.

"Isn't it obvious, Iscariat believes that now is the time," Nymph replied with a hint of a chuckle in her tone.

"Time for what?" Princess Twilight asked, she too now in the air, her tone a tad tense and suspicious.

"He can't be serious," Princess Cadence said, her eyes wide open, and her head shaking.

"Would I be here if he wasn't?" Nymph retorted slyly.

"What are you two talking about?!" Princess Twilight bellowed, shifting her gaze between Nymph and Cadence.

"I can't believe this is really happening," Princess Cadence said, her tone low and heavy, and her head held down.

"Desperate times, Cadence," Nymph said, her voice neutral, and devoid of its previous confidence.

"I suppose it is," Princess Cadence mumbled out, her spirit unbelievably low. "Right, well no sense putting it off. Everypony gather around in the center of the room, please."

Descending down towards the others, Cadence had them all form a circle around Nymph, and with a heavy sigh, Cadence looked into each of their eyes an smiled. They all shared in this smile for a moment or two, before Cadence adopted a more serious expression, and with a nod of her head, signaled Nymph to proceeded. An eerie sound of a pressurized seal breaking came from Nymph, as her lid suddenly flung open, unleashing a tempest of starlight and fairy dust. Without the slightest hesitation, Cadence leaped into the swirling vortex, and found herself sucked into Nymph. Staring at one another with wide eyes, the others watched in amazement as Spike instantly jumped in next, and following that unmatched act of courage the others shook off their worries, and dived in.