The stairway went down farther than Twilight thought. It seemed like she and Pinkamena had been climbing down them for hours with no end in sight. The descent was made even slower than it should have been because Twilight had to juggle keeping Fluttershy from falling off her back, and taking care not to fall down herself. There was no light in the stairway, meaning that Twilight had to awkwardly locate each step with a hoof before she could move down. This wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the fact that whoever built the stairs thought that it would be funny to build the steps with an uneven amount of space between them. Sometimes there would be five inches between two steps, then three inches between the next. Twilight had to bend her neck back at various degrees to keep Fluttershy from sliding off. The largest distance between two steps was about sixteen inches; on that one, Twilight thought she was going to snap her neck in two.

Pinkamena offered to help carry Fluttershy at point, but Twilight wouldn’t allow it. Twilight believed Pinkamena when she said that she would hurt Fluttershy, but Twilight didn’t want to risk tempting her by having her have contact with Fluttershy for a long period of time. Instead, Twilight proposed that Pinkamena walk down a little further down the stairs from Twilight, so that if Fluttershy did fall she would be able to catch her.

“Be careful,” Pinkamena said suddenly after what felt like hours of silence, “The stairs get a little slippery up ahead.”

When Twilight reached the section of the stairs Pinkamena was talking about, there was indeed something coating the steps that made them feel slightly off, but Twilight didn’t think that slippery was the right word. Gross would’ve been a better fit.

As they progressed further downward, the air began to smell like a shoe smith’s workshop. Twilight tried to identify the metal she smelled and came to the conclusion that it was either copper or iron. As they went on, the smell intensified until it was almost unbearable. Twilight had to suppress the urge to hold her nostrils to keep the stench out.

A few more minutes later of walking into the stinking miasma, Pinkamena called out, “I think I’ve found the edge of the stairway! I’m gonna see if I can find a light.”

By the time Twilight got to where Pinakmena was, she had just found a light switch and was just turning it on. A single light bulb lit up a small portion of the stairway. When Twilight saw the substance that coated the stairs, she had to fight of the urge to vomit. The stairs were coated in a dark red material that had caked onto the metal. In some places, Twilight could see small giblets of flesh that were scatted at random among the mess, some of them still had bits of bone still attached to them.

“Whoa,” Pinkamena said, “What happened here?”

Twilight didn’t have a response, the fact that she had been unknowingly walking in the blood of some other pony, possibly multiple ponies, had made her mind go blank.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Pinkamena asked, waving a hoof in front of Twilight’s face.

Twilight blinked, “Yes… I’m fine. Just startled is all.”

“We should probably keep moving. I don’t want Fluttershy to wake up and see…this.”

Twilight agreed. She turned around to get a better idea of where they should go next. There weren’t many options, the stairway led directly to a single door that didn’t even have a doorknob.

Twilight pushed against the door (which was mercifully blood free) and accidentally knocked it off its hinges.

Twilight was hit by the smell of rancid meat. Beyond the door was the scene of a massacre. Disfigured corpses were scattered throughout the entire room. Some were lying on the floor with their bodies crushed like over ripe grapes, their guts spilled out like salsa that had gone stale. The rest of the corpses were either attached to the walls with bones or hanging from the ceiling by intestines.

Whoever did this evidently had an artistic side, however twisted. The corpses were posed in various positions that reminded Twilight of post modern art. The corpses on the floor were all laid out so that they made little stars. The ones nailed to the walls were posed so that they resembled an intricate design when viewed all at once. The bodies suspended from the ceiling resembled birds flying through a bloody sky.

Many of the bodies had begun decomposing, fungi had formed on the eyes of a few, others had large patches of greenish brown mold visible were the ponies’ fur had flaked off. The flesh on many of the ponies’ faces had receded, making the corpses look like they were smiling.

“Sleipnir was a research facility, right?” Pinkamena asked.

“What?” Twilight replied, having forgotten what she was doing, “Yeah, Dread said that Sleipnir was something like a research facility. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that doesn’t look like any kind of science lab I’ve ever seen.” Pinkamena replied, gesturing toward something on the far side of the room.

Twilight looked at where Pinkamena was pointing towards, and saw what looked like some sort of altar. On it was a single book which had been opened to a random page. Twilight was reminded of a dictionary; she used to have one on display like that back at the library.

“Maybe this section of Sleipnir studied magic?” Twilight suggested, “I doubt that the entire facility was dedicated to the study of biology.”

“That doesn’t explain why every pony in here is dead.” Pinkamena said.

Twilight was about to suggest that perhaps one of the spells they were experimenting with backfired, but then realized that no spell could’ve caused bodies to become nailed to the walls or hung from the ceiling. At least, Twilight hoped that there wasn’t a spell that could backfire like that.

“Maybe if I look at that book we can find out what they were doing here.” Twilight suggested.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea…” Pinkamena said, “I mean if the stairway was too graphic for Fluttershy then this…” Pinkamena gestured to the carnage, “It just doesn’t make sense for us to stay here longer than we have to. Besides, it smells.”

Twilight wasn’t listening; she had already begun walking through the mess towards the book. If she was right, then that book contained new spells for her to learn, possibly spells that could help them get back to Dread and Dr. Layne. Hay, she might even find a way out of Sleipnir entirely. If she could find something like that in a book, then it would be worth spending a few minutes in a stinking mess of rotten meat.

“Twilight? Twilight!” Pinkamena called, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to read a book!” Twilight said happily.

“What if Fluttershy wakes up while we’re…”

“She’s not gonna wake up.” Twilight called back, “Dr. Layne gave her a pill that should keep her out for a long time.”

“He did WHAT?” Pinkamena asked, outraged.

“It’s fine, Fluttershy said it was okay. Just sit back while I skim. There’s plenty of food around if you get hungry.”

“Plenty of food… Are you saying that I should… How sick do you think I am?”

Twilight had finally reached the far end of the room. The first thing that she noticed was that there was considerably less blood as she got closer to the altar. The altar itself was rather basic; it looked like a fancy table that was carved out of a single block of wood, and then coated with varnish. The only thing about it that made it an alter were little runes that were carved onto its sides.

The book on the other side of the coin; was ornately decorated. Twilight closed the book to get a look at the title, and found that whoever had bound the book did so with an almost supernatural amount of care. The book was bound in a material that was somewhere between leather and ivory. Carved onto the material were little designs, not unlike the one made by the corpses. There was very little written on the covers; no description, no author, not even publication date. All that was written on the cover was a single word that was engraved on the front; NEWT.

Carefully, Twilight placed a hoof on the front cover and opened the book to its first page. The text was written in runes that Twilight didn’t recognize. Under normal circumstances if Twilight found a tome in a language that she didn’t understand, then she would set the book aside until she either found a translated copy or a method of translating it herself. Not this time though; this time Twilight wanted to continue reading, even if she didn’t understand what she was reading about. There was something about the way runes were printed that made Twilight feel as though she was looking at an art piece rather than some mysterious spell book.

But it was much more than that. Twilight wasn’t sure how to explain it, but the book just felt right. Looking over that first page, taking in every symbol, it just felt wonderful. But that was only logical wasn’t it? A wonderful book gave its reader a wonderful feeling, whether they could read it or not was irrelevant.

This book… This book that Twilight found amidst a horrid mass of carnage… Now Twilight understood why they died, why their bodies were posed into such twisted works of art. It was this book; they wanted this book. They tried to share it, to worship it as a group but it wasn’t enough. They all wanted the book for themselves… Twilight couldn’t really blame them.

Twilight laid a hoof on the page, caressed the paper like she would a lover, and gingerly turned the page. These next pages were even more marvelous than the first. Light seemed to stem off the runes so that whoever gazed upon them would never have to fear the evils that lurked in the shadows. Twilight smiled. This book, this fantastic book protected its servants as a mother would her foals.

Twilight was preparing herself to turn the book to its next page, when she heard the sound of children playing. Twilight stopped to listen to the foals’ laughter. It was a good sound, one that reminded Twilight her home.

After listening to the children for about a minute, Twilight realized that she recognized the voices. They belonged to foals named Bunsen, Page Turner, and Summerfree. At first, Twilight wasn’t sure how she knew this, but after careful consideration she realized that these were the names she had given her children. How she could forget something like that, Twilight had no idea, but she was thankful that the book had been as kind as to remind her.

Twilight turned to the next page. As soon as she looked at the symbols on this next page, the air seemed became thick and heavy. Breathing felt like Twilight was trying to inhale pudding. Twilight’s vision became blurry, and the sound of her children laughing became distorted and muffled.

Twilight did not like this sound. She wanted to hear her children laughing clearly, not a distorted version of them. ‘Why had the book taken her to this awful place, doesn’t it love me?’ she thought to herself.

She had to turn the page. That would set everything right. She would hear her children’s laughter once more and be happy again. All she had to do was turn the page…

“STOP READING IT!” a muffled voice screamed at her from somewhere far away.

Twilight turned angrily to whoever was evil enough to distract her from the book. As soon as she turned away from it however, the sounds stopped and the air went back to normal. Twilight stood there dazed for about for a moment when a brown blur zoomed past her and the sound of a heavy book being shut echoed throughout the room.

“Wha-What happened?” Twilight asked.

A brown earth pony stallion in a ratty suit walked out in front of her.

“Are you alright?” the earth pony asked, looking into Twilight’s eyes as though he was trying to past them, “You didn’t read too much did you?”

“No, I’m… I’m fine.” Twilight answered, still confused as to what was going on, “What do you mean by read too much?”

Before the earth pony had a chance to answer, he was attacked by a great pink blur.

Pinkamena grabbed onto the stallion’s throat and began to choke him.

“IF YOU LAY A HOOF ON EITHER ONE OF THEM, I WILL EAT YOUR SPLEEN!” Pinkamena snarled into the stallion’s face.

“Wha-What?” The earth pony choked.

“PINKIE PIE!” Twilight shouted, “What are you doing?”

Without letting go of the earth pony’s throat, Pinkamena answered, “This guy shows up out of nowhere and starts screaming and running at you guys. I don’t know who the buck he, but I’ve got a hunch that up until a little while ago he was upstairs in a tiny cell. If was trying to hurt either of you so help me…”

“No.” The stallion choked. The fur around his face was starting to turn blue, “Not. Inmate. Won’t… Hurt.”

“Let him go, you’re killing him!” Twilight said.

Pinkamena released the earth pony and climbed off his back. She moved about three feet back and glared at the stallion with her muscles tensed.

The earth pony gasped for air. When he had caught his breath he said, “I just want to help. I don’t want to hurt any pony.”

“Why are you here?” Pinkamena growled.

“To stop her,” The earth pony pointed at Twilight, “from reading that.” He pointed the book.

“Why?” Twilight asked, “What’s wrong with it.”

“That book is evil. It’s done horrible things. Just look around you.” The earth pony gestured to the many dead bodies that littered the room.

Twilight looked at the carnage and thought about how she felt while reading the book. How could such a good book do this? The book was wonderful, it would never…

“It was never supposed to be like this.” The earth pony said wistfully. “Something went wrong… With time I think… I need to get back…” The earth pony fell silent.

“Back to where exactly?” Twilight asked, taking her mind off the book.

“I think… I think I might remember if I start heading back there.” The earth pony said, “I’m sorry but I’ve hit my head recently and I’m having trouble remembering things.

‘Join the club.’ Twilight thought to herself.

“If you’d like, you can come with me, as my companions.”

Twilight shrugged, “If you know a out of this mess, I’ll go.”

“Wait a minute, Twi.” Pinkamena said, “We don’t even know who this guy is, yet alone if we can trust him. How do we know that he isn’t planning on killing us the moment we let our guards down?”

Twilight was ashamed that she hadn’t thought of this, “That’s a good point. How do we know we can trust you Mr… whatever your name is.”

The stallion thought for a moment, “I suppose you can’t. But I promise that I’m not going to hurt either of you. I always keep my promises.”

Seeing Pinkamena’s skeptical look, the earth pony added, “There are also two of you and only one of me. If I attack either of you, the other can take me down.”

Twilight and Pinkamena looked at each other. Pinkamena seemed happy with this logic, and Twilight didn’t mind having a fourth pony along. They agreed.

“Good, there’s a door that’s covered up by a corpse. If we go through it and follow the hallway, we should reach… something.”

“We still don’t know your name.” Pinkamena pointed out.

“Right… Let’s see… I think my name was…” the earth pony thought for a moment, “I think my name was doctor…”

“Doctor whom?” Twilight asked.

The earth pony stood in deep concentration for another moment.

“I think it’s… I think my name is Doctor Whooves.”

Author's Notes:

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