It was noon when the group finally reached their destination, though it would be hard to guess that from the amount of light in the sky. Hawks had been right when he said they needed to move fast: a thick, dark cloud had moved in over the whole of the area as they approached, bringing with it frequent gusts of wind. The snow, still falling lightly, threatened to open up and hammer down on them at any moment.

When viewed up close, the buildings in the distance turned out to be the remnants of an ancient village. A collection of small stone huts dotted the landscape. Some looked like they were once big enough to hold multiple families, while others were nothing more than a single room. It was difficult to say much about them for sure, as they were quite worn. Collapsed walls and roofs abounded, and the weather was quickly consuming what was left. Before long, most would be completely invisible under the snow.

The main exception was the building at the center of town. It was so unlike every other building around that it would be easy to believe it had been placed there by mistake by some unseen hoof eons ago. An imposing creation, it stood at least three stories tall and was made of a thick limestone very different from the materials of the surrounding huts. Its walls sloped toward a jagged roof to give it the look of a deformed pyramid. Small spires shot up from each corner, each capped by a tall, slim spike.

Its most noteworthy feature, however, was its color: a solid shade of jet black. Even against the dimming sky it stood out as a dark spot, one unwilling to let any light appear on it at all. Shadows around it blended in with its color seamlessly, making it hard to tell exactly where the walls ended and the ground began in some places. The exception was a set of double doors that stood interred at the base of the front wall, their dull brown color holding firm against the darkness that surrounded them.

The daunting sight drew different responses from the girls as the carriage slowed to a halt in front of the structure and they all departed.

Twilight shivered involuntarily. Rarity gave a small gasp. Fluttershy managed to get out a small “eep” before shrinking back into the carriage. While Rainbow Dash went to work trying to coax her back out, Pinkie gave the place a knowing look.

“It looks familiar… but I’m not sure from where. Hmmm…” She scratched her head thoughtfully.

“Not exactly the homiest lookin’ place,” Applejack said.

“A different shade certainly wouldn’t hurt, though I fear the whole thing is a lost cause,” Rarity said, her initial shock giving way to disdain. “Such a distasteful cross of styles with no real thought put into their blending together. It’s just a grand pile of broken stone thrown together that’s trying much too hard to scare ponies away.”

“Well, it’s not doing too bad a job of that,” Spike said, trying to help Dash convince Fluttershy it was alright to come out.

“It’s a little nicer on the inside,” Hawks said reassuringly. He did a quick round of the carriage to check for damages from the trip. Behind him, the pull team unhooked themselves to take a short rest break.

Twilight walked over to the base of the closest wall to give it a closer look. The walls seemed to be covered in a grand series of intricate carvings, all weathered down by the constant exposure. The fading light against the black walls only made it more difficult to see what the images were.

“What are these supposed to be?” she asked Hawks.

Hawks glanced over and shrugged. “Askin’ the wrong pony, miss. I never much cared to hear the specifics of this place, so I never asked the doctor. I’m sure she’s got some idea as to their meaning, though.”

Twilight gave the building a hard look and shivered again. If it was a temple, then she could scarcely imagine what sort of things ponies would worship inside it. Its ghastly appearance was not one that drew images of a happy place of gathering, nor did its extremely isolated location help its grim outlook.

Still, we’re here, Twilight thought to herself. No point in fretting now. I’ve got to think positively about this.

She glanced over at Rarity. She was carefully floating each of her bags out of the carriage. Fluttershy assisted with the unloading as well, still a bit shaken but otherwise undaunted. All the girls looked just fine, as did Hawks and his team, who didn’t look the least bit put out by the temple. Twilight glanced back and forced a smile out, the looming structure now slightly less intimidating. She giggled a bit, like Pinkie once taught her, and followed Hawks as he approached the large doors. Around them, the wind became more persistent.

“Will you and your team be staying long?” she asked him, shivering.

“We won’t be staying at all,” Hawks swiftly replied. Over by the carriage, his team finished their break and began unloading the rest of the luggage and the supply crate. “Like I said earlier, we need to get back - by sundown, as a matter of fact - so we can meet another incoming train. We’ve got a lot of border towns to visit in the next few days, make sure they're prepared for the season. We don’t leave soon, we’ll be stuck out in the road tonight with a storm bearing down. That’s one place I don’t wanna be.”

“So you’re just going to leave without meeting Copper and introducing us?” Twilight asked as she watched the pull team unload. They moved fast. Two of them hoisted the large trunk onto their backs and practically bowled Fluttershy over as they headed for the doors.

“No, no. There’s still time for some hellos, just no time for the how do ya dos.” He smiled at her. “Relax. Dr. Star will help you get situated once we leave. This is her turf anyway, not mine.”

Twilight and Hawks trotted up to the main doors. The others followed them, bags in tow. A small outcropping jutted out above them in some halfhearted attempt to shield the entrance from the weather. Several enormous icicles had developed there, one of them nearly reaching the top of the doors themselves. They were thick enough to be securely in place, though their sharp tips still gave some cause for nervousness as they walked underneath.

Teeth guarding the entrance to the beast’s gaping maw. The thought appeared out of nowhere. Twilight shook her head, again reminding herself that that was not the right kind of attitude at the moment.

The whole group crowded into the small entryway that lay just beyond the double doors. It was a wide corridor, one that had a second set of equally massive doors a few meters away. The sound of stomping boots and shaking coats filled the air as they all tried to dislodge the built-up snow and take in the warmth. Bags and suitcases floated around the top, passed from pony to pony in an attempt to find room for them.

“Ahhh, now that’s more like it,” Applejack said as she stepped inside.

“It was getting rather ghastly out there,” Rarity agreed, moving in alongside.

“Dr. Star!” Hawks shouted out as he threw open the second set of doors. His voice carried down another hallway, this one considerably longer. “Dr. Star! It’s us. Got your supplies and a little something extra.”

He paused. No response from ahead could be heard over the din of the group behind him, which was slowly filtering through the second doors. He shouted out her name again, the call echoing throughout the temple.

“Must be in her base ‘round back,” he muttered. He turned to his team. “Guys, leave the bags there and go get set outside.”

The pull team gently deposited whatever luggage they had and turned back out the door. They pulled their coats tight as they did, for the snow was getting thicker. They only needed to walk a few steps before they practically vanished in a flurry of white. Flakes of snow found their way through the doors, though most were held back by the warm air inside.

Hawks continued down the hall as the girls started to gather their things. “I’ll go see if I can find–”

“Hey, what’s that?” Spike pointed to a piece of paper pinned up on the wall next to the door. Twilight walked over to look at it.

“It’s a note for you, Hawks,” she said. She started to read aloud: “Dear Hawks. Going to be at the Bell Camp site today. Please leave the supplies in the usual spot and I’ll see you when I get back. Signed, Copper.”

“Lemme see that.” Hawks hurried over to eyeball the note. He read it quietly to himself, sighing when he finished.

“Is something the matter?” Rarity asked.

“What did she mean by the Bell Camp site?” Twilight asked, taking a look at the note herself. It looked hastily put together, with the writing sloppily applied and the paper crumpled onto the wall when it was tacked on.

Hawks sighed again. “Ah, there’s a few places scattered nearby that she’s been looking at lately. Couple of those smaller ruins we passed outside, that sort of thing. I just don’t like her going out there when somepony’s not here with her. I told her as much last I was here.” He muttered the last sentence under his breath.

“We can always go out and try to find her,” Rainbow Dash suggested, though she glanced somewhat wearily to the weather outside as she did.

“I don’t even know which site that is. She’s got a map in her base somewhere, I think…” Hawks trailed off as he stared at the note.

“Is she gonna be alright then?” Applejack asked. “It sure doesn’t seem safe out there right now.”

Hawks thought for a moment before answering. “Yeah... yeah, she’ll be okay. She’s a capable girl who’s done this before, and she’s got little camps set up out there she can bunker down in. It’s just that I don’t like what’s out there, at those places. It’s–”

Hawks’ train of thought was interrupted when a member of the pull team came back inside to tell him to hurry along. He murmured a quick reply, gave one last look at the note, and shook his head. “Never mind. She’ll be fine, probably turn up tonight or tomorrow morning. Now then, as I was telling Miss Sparkle earlier, I need to get going. Got a lot of work to do back at the station and not a lot of time to get there.”

“You’re leaving already?” Dash asked. “What about Copper? What are we supposed to do here by ourselves?”

“Are you sure she’ll be alright?” Fluttershy asked.

“She’ll be fine,” Hawks replied in a tone that made Fluttershy shrink back. “And don’t worry miss, you lot will be perfectly alright here. Follow the gas lines along the wall there and you’ll get to Dr. Star’s base. She’s got a few extra bunk rooms set up over there where you can get situated.”

At that, Hawks joined the pull team member in heading out the door. The girls followed him, bracing themselves against the rising wind as they stepped back outside. Hawks hurried back to the carriage to grab his bag.

“You’re not taking that with you?” Rarity motioned to the carriage. “It seems a shame to just leave it out like this. It did get us here ever so gently.”

“No miss, it’ll just slow us down. Besides, it’ll keep in the elements just fine; she’s built to last.” Hawks grinned and kicked one of the wheels. “Now, none of you fret. This place is built solid. Sorta wish the places I have to go now built ‘em like this, would make my job over the next few days a lot easier. Anyway, you all sit tight; Dr. Star will show up soon. I’ll be back along as soon as I can, which should be in a few days. No matter what, we’ll be taking you out of here when the week’s up, so there’s no time for anything to go wrong anyway.”

“Don’t forget about me!” Spike said eagerly. “One puff, and the Princess herself is on the scene.”

“Handy to keep around, he is,” Hawks said. Spike smiled and then frowned, unsure if that was a compliment or not. Another one of Hawks’ crew shouted at him to hurry along. He waved them off and continued. “Look, we gotta go, right now. You all have a good week. Be nice to the doctor when she shows up and she’ll be glad to have you all around.”

“Thank you very much for your help, Hawks. It was a pleasure meeting you.” Twilight said, and the others joined in giving out thanks. Hawks simply nodded, smiled one last time, and went to join his team. In a flash, they were off, hurrying back down the road just as another batch of snow started to fall. It wasn’t long before their yellow coats could barely be seen in the distance, and then they were gone, vanishing into the white horizon.

The girls all stood silently in the snow. Around them, the world moved at its own pace.

“Uh, can we mosey on in? My tail’s startin’ to freeze on me,” Applejack said, and they all turned back to the doors. When everypony had gone through, Dash quickly pushed them shut; the snow was coming down thick enough by now to penetrate within. Shaking off the powder, everypony gathered up their scattered luggage.

“What do we do now?” Fluttershy asked as she scooped up her duffel bag.

Twilight shrugged. “We do what Hawks said, I guess. We drop our stuff off in Copper’s base, settle in, and wait for her to show back up. Which, hopefully, will happen soon.”

“Ugh, this thing is heavy. What sort of supplies did Copper order?” Dash asked. She had somehow found herself in charge of pushing in the large trunk.

“Dash, I don’t think those are her supplies,” Applejack said. She pointed at the large wooden crate standing untended by the doors, "HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE" stamped across the side in big bold letters.

“Oh.” Dash looked back and forth between the two containers. “In that case, why am I the one pushing one of Rarity’s things in? And did you really need to pack this much stuff?”

“What makes you think this gaudy thing belongs to me?” Rarity stared disapprovingly at it. “Besides, I managed to stay economical when packing for this trip, thank you very much.”

“This set of matching luggage certainly fits that description,” Twilight said. A set of a dozen or so bags stood stacked up in Spike’s claws. He grunted an indecipherable reply as he slowly wobbled along, trying his best not to topple over; that his coat was still on only added to his precarious balancing act.

“Thank you, Twilight,” Rarity said, missing the sarcasm. “I didn’t think it necessary to bring anything other than the small set for a short vacation out here.”

“Well then who the hay does this thing– whoa!” Dash was cut off as one last quick shove caused the trunk to sway and tip over on its edge. The top immediately sprang off and three small shapes tumbled out onto the floor. Recovering quickly, one hopped up to survey the surroundings.

“Heeeellllllooooo Manehattan Beach!” Sweetie Belle yelled. A breezy tropical shirt adorned her back while dark sunglasses covered her eyes. As she looked around expectantly, there was a rush of activity. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, identically dressed in beachfront attire, righted themselves and stood up behind Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle’s smile faltered as she noticed the cold stone walls. “Wow, this is one ugly hotel.”

“Maybe we’re in the basement,” Scootaloo said as she glanced around, not letting the low visibility of the glasses deter her.

“Would explain why it’s kinda cold right now,” Apple Bloom chimed in.

“Why would they drop the bags off in a basement?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Who cares about that?” Scootaloo said, her voice ringing with excitement. “The point is we’re here! All set for a week of fun in the sun and cutie mark crusading!”

The three fillies cheered. Stunned, the rest of the group stared in silence. After a few moments of the newcomers chatting amongst themselves, Applejack finally spoke up.

“Apple Bloom! What in tarnation are you doin’ here?” she practically shouted. The fillies jumped and spun around. They had been completely oblivious to the crowd behind them.

“Oh! Uh, hi Applejack, we were just, uh–” Apple Bloom started to reply before Rarity cut her off.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity stared at her younger sister. “What do you girls think you’re doing here?”

There was a brief pause as everypony attempted to collect themselves: the siblings awkwardly looking at each other, while Scootaloo shifted between the two, not sure where to look. Then, all at once, everypony started to speak.

“We just wanted to take the week off too–”

“–supposed to be stayin’ with Granny Smith this week, an’ now she’s gonna be worried sick–”

“–always have to stay home, we should get a vacation too–”

“–believe you would do something like this. And are those my backup sunglasses? Those are for emergencies only–”

“–just tagged along, it was all Apple Bloom’s idea–”

“–was not! You’re the one who said we should –”

“–don’t know what you were thinking coming out here like this–”

“–can take care of ourselves just fine! We won’t get in your way or nothing–”

“Spike, careful with that luggage! Twilight, can you please help him, I’ll be over as soon as I figure this–”

“–an’ after all I do this past week I come out here an’ find that you three have snuck along, what am I supposed–”

“Stoooooop!” Pinkie’s shout brought silence. Everypony turned to look at her. She stood back by the double doors, eyes facing straight ahead. “Everypony be quiet one sec, I think I figured it out.”

She held her hooves up, as if attempting to size up the structure’s interior, and slowly moved forward. Spike, his tower of luggage helpfully freed up by Twilight levitating the bags down, got next to her to try to share her point of view. Pinkie stared down the hall, her gaze fixated on some imaginary point the others couldn’t see. The group shuffled uncomfortably for a moment, but before one of them could speak up Pinkie broke the silence.

“Nope, nevermind. I thought I had it. Guess I gotta poke around a bit more first. Carry on you guys!” She smiled and bounced down the hallway, pausing briefly to say hello to the Cutie Mark Crusaders as she passed them by. She hit the end of the hall, turned the corner and vanished from sight.

“Hey Pinkie, where ya going?” Dash shouted after her. “What does she think she’s doing?”

“Never mind her right now.” Applejack brought her focus back to her sister. “Apple Bloom, I want to know right now: What do you think you an’ your friends are doin’ out here?”

“Well, it’s like we said...” Apple Bloom spoke nervously. She glanced at her friends before carrying on. “We never get to go on vacation with you guys. We’d been working really hard, too, so we thought it would be alright if we came along.”

“But we knew you’d say no!” Sweetie Belle cut in. “So we decided to just, you know, come along. Once we were here and showed you we could keep to ourselves and not bother you, we thought you’d be alright with it.”

“Wait, so you guys have been in this box the whole time?” Dash gave the trunk a small kick. A few pillows and some blankets tumbled out, along with a half dozen apple cores. She peeked her head inside to see if there was anything else.

“Where’d you even get it?” Twilight asked. She looked closely at it, though couldn’t find any identification marks.

“We found it at the station,” Sweetie Belle said innocently. “It was just sitting there all empty and nopony was using it, so we just borrowed it.”

“And we weren’t in there the whole time,” Scootaloo added. “We came out at night in the train. I had to get an extra blanket anyway.”

Scootaloo pointed to a small, light blue comforter that had drifted out with the other supplies.

“Oh, um, that’s mine,” Fluttershy said. “But you can keep it if you want.”

“So anyway, now we’re here,” Apple Bloom finished, somewhat more confident now. “And since we’re here, you might as well let us stay. We promise not to do anything bad or get in the way! Right girls?”

“Promise!” The three clustered together and spoke in unison. They smiled as big as they could and looked hopefully up at the others.

Applejack sighed. “Rainbow Dash, can you go catch up to Hawks?”

“No problem!” Dash fluttered over to the double doors. She struggled as she tried to pull them open; they seemed to be harder to open from the inside than from the out. Applejack turned back to the fillies.

“Girls, I’m sorry, but no. You are not supposed’a be here this week, an’ you need to go home,” she said with firm conviction.

Rarity nodded her head as large frowns broke out on the younger one’s faces. “Applejack is right. It wasn’t right of you three to sneak out here like this, and that you made it this far at all is just–”

The loud howl of the wind drowned out the rest of Rarity’s sentence as the doors suddenly burst open. A small mountain of snow that had been building against the door collapsed inside, while the strong gusts propelled Dash against a nearby wall. The girls scrambled to keep the weather from getting too far indoors. Applejack ran over and slammed against the side of the doors in an effort to close them while Fluttershy and Spike hurried over to make sure Dash was alright. Twilight and Rarity, horns glowing, strained as they tried to help Applejack close the entrance.

Slowly but surely, the thick wooden doors began to swing shut against the mounting snow. As they drew closer together, Twilight looked outside to see if she could make anything out. The outline of the carriage was barely visible, and up in the sky dark clouds were swirling about. Other than that, it was a solid blanket of pulsating white, mixing around in the air and accompanied by the shrieks of the wind. Dash, shaking off her fall, hopped up and joined Applejack against the hard wood. Within a few moments, the doors connected and clicked shut. Silence gripped the hall, save for the heavy breathing of the ponies.

It was Scootaloo who spoke first. “Why is it snowing at the beach?”

“Yeah, and why do you guys have your coats on?” Sweetie Belle added.

Rarity just looked at her, though Twilight spoke up before she could say anything. “I don’t think you should go out there, Rainbow Dash. If it’s gotten that bad this fast, there’s no telling how much worse it could get. I think the girls are here to stay for now.”

Applejack sighed. “Alright girls, come over here. I think me an’ Rarity are gonna have to explain some things.”

While the fillies gathered next to Applejack and Rarity, the others moved down the hall.

“I think we can leave them for a bit,” Twilight said.

“Yeah,” Spike agreed, “right now we should probably find Pinkie. Where’d she hop off to, anyway?”

“I can’t believe how harsh it is outside,” Dash said. “It was just fine a minute ago.”

“I hope Hawks and his team are alright,” Fluttershy said. “They said they didn’t want to be caught in the middle of all this. And Copper’s stuck out there as well…”

“I’m sure they’re all just fine,” Twilight replied. “They’re used to this sort of weather. If they didn’t think they could handle it, they would’ve stayed put.”

The group continued down the hall. It was a wide corridor, leading down from the doors about twenty meters before hitting a T-intersection at the end. Small, crudely installed lamps lined the stone walls at even intervals. Coming from each of them was a small gas line, which fed into a larger tube on the ground; no doubt the one Hawks had referred to. A few random boxes were strewn about, all empty, along with several large, metal containers. Twilight briefly inspected one of them. She found it to be a large drum of lamp oil.

“Kinda dull in here,” Dash said as she looked around.

“Dull is better than scary,” Fluttershy responded.

“Plus we did just get in here,” Twilight said. “There’s bound to be more interesting sights later on.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Not that they’ll necessarily be scary sights, either,” Twilight hastily added.

Hitting the end of the corridor revealed two sets of doors on either side. The gas tube snaked along the floor and through a hole in the wall next to the door on the right. The girls turned to continue on in that direction.

“Hey guys! Come look at what I just found!” Pinkie spontaneously appeared, bursting through the doors behind them with enough energy to cause Fluttershy to jump and hide behind Spike.

Pinkie didn’t notice as she kept talking. “It’s super cool and super weird. Come and see!”

She bounded down the hall. The others collectively shrugged and hurried after her, attempting to keep pace. The new hall looked much the same as the old one: thick stone walls, occasional lamp installed along the wall, and piles of random debris along the floor. Here and there, a door was set in the wall, these ones much smaller than the double doors previously encountered. They kept going, the hallway curving in front of them as they made a wide turn. The ceiling rose with the turn until it reached twice as high as it once was.

“Pinkie, where are we going?” Twilight asked. Pinkie just laughed and kept hopping forward. Twilight rolled her eyes but kept pace.

The hall finally ended in another set of doors stretching all the way to the top of the new ceiling height, complete with massive iron handles to match. Without pausing, Pinkie quickly gave one of the handles a quick tug. The door effortlessly swung open, with barely a creak coming from the old hinges. Practically shoving the group inside, Pinkie spun in a dramatic flourish and shouted “Ta da!”

The chamber was enormous. The ceiling stretched high, likely as high as the overall temple, and the walls extended out in every direction. Hundreds, even thousands of candles covered the chamber’s corners, on everything from tall sticks to small collections on various tables. Their combined light was more than enough to blanket the room in a bright glow. This was reflected on the walls, giving them a dull yellow appearance.

The centerpiece of the room drew everypony’s attention, however: A single glass cylinder, three meters high and on top of a pillar half that height. A rusted bronze cap was tightly bound to the top, extending up another half meter. The cylinder’s contents appeared to be a mass of glowing, bright green liquid. It swirled around behind the glass, seeming to change directions without provocation. One moment it was spinning counterclockwise, the next clockwise, and then it looked to be going both directions at once. No candle light reflected on it, the liquid’s color proving too overpowering.

“What’d I tell you guys?” Pinkie said. “Isn’t this neat? I came in here and saw all the color swirling this way and that way and up way and out way and I was like ‘No way!’ and so I just had to come and show you! I bet it looks even cooler when the lights go out…”

“What the hay is it? Some big bottle of slime?” Dash flew up to get a closer look. She knocked on the glass, immediately withdrawing her hoof upon contact. “Whoa! It’s freezing! It’s even colder than it is outside.”

“Is it just me, or is this entire room colder than it is outside?” Spike said, shivering and regretting having taken his coat off when he put Rarity’s bags down back in the entryway. “You’d think a place with all these candles would be able to stay a little warmer.”

“Cold-shmold, Spike,” Dash teased. “It’s fine in here. You’re just cold-blooded is all.”

“Am not!” Spike retorted. “Am I, Twilight?”

“I guess this is something Copper’s been taking a close look at.” Twilight examined the area around the cylinder. Piled up between the antique lighting sources were stacks of more modern scientific equipment. Various machines and sensors flanked the path to the cylinder, along with a few printers and scanners. Twilight recognized some of the equipment as being similar to what she had in her basement lab, while others she could only guess at their purpose.

“Seems like she was trying to do more than look,” Spike said. He picked up a small drill that was lying next to the base. Other tools were scattered nearby: everything from hammers and chisels to saws and drills, and even a few blow torches. “A lot of these look really worn down. Guess she really wanted to get this thing open.”

Dash circled around and found a large ladder leaning against the rear of the cylinder, going all the way from the floor to the top. She peered down at the battered but still intact cap. “Don’t think she managed much. Still not sure what this thing’s supposed to be.”

“All I know is, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.” Twilight stared up at the cylinder. The constant motion of the liquid kept drawing her eye. She couldn’t help but stare at it, slowly getting lost in the flowing rhythm. Her vision began to blur while a small pounding sprang up in her head: one that got louder and louder with each passing second. She struggled to look away, but found herself unable to move as the pounding increased to the point of becoming unbearable–

“Hey Fluttershy, what’re you doing back there?” Pinkie’s comment drew Twilight back to reality. She shook her head and quickly turned away, bringing her attention back to the chamber’s entrance. Fluttershy’s head peeked around the side of the door as she nervously looked around.

“Oh, um, I’m fine back here,” she said after a moment. “I don’t really like the looks of this place.”

“Ah, come on Fluttershy, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Pinkie chirped. “It’s just a jumbo sized glowstick, see?”

Pinkie scooted over to the base and knocked on a particularly ornate piece of iron installed there. A clicking noise sounded out, and a sudden gust of freezing cold air burst out from vents around the room. In an instant, every candle was snuffed out. The only light now came from the cylinder, which glowed even brighter than before. The swirls and bubbles of the liquid displayed strange shadows along the walls, ones in constant motion. They almost looked like little creatures, green and black fanged beasts that roamed the chamber perimeter.

Fluttershy screamed and ran down the hall, the sudden assault by shadowy monsters proving too much for her. Spike let out a similar reaction, though more from the massive temperature drop brought in with the gust, and followed suit.

“What’s their deal?” Pinkie asked, watching them flee.

“Yeah,” Dash said. “You were right, Pinkie. I think it looks pretty cool like this.” She flew over to chase some shadows around.

As Pinkie went to join in the chase, Twilight shook her head again. She eyed the shadows nervously. Something about them was very unsettling to her, even as Dash’s laughter tried to break through to lighten the mood. The shapes that kept forming and reforming seemed to be looking at her, even when they didn’t have anything to do it with. The pounding in her head started coming back. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Her horn glowed and emitted a bright flash that expanded to the four corners of the room. In an instant the candles relit and everything was back to the way it was.

“Come on guys,” Twilight said, ignoring the disappointed moans, “we’d better catch up to the others. We’ve still got to find out where we’ll be staying and get unpacked.”

The three of them made for the door. Twilight didn’t even glance back in the room as she shut the door, which once again moved with very little effort and sound.

Copper’s base of operations wasn’t in the temple itself, but rather a more temporary structure built right next to it. It pushed up against the black exterior, connecting to the inside via a large hole in the wall. Vents in the light blue walls pumped in a steady flow of warm air to combat any of the deep freeze that leaked in from outside.

“Ahh, now this is how I like spending a vacation,” Spike said as he hopped onto the couch. He stretched and let out a contented sigh. Part of the group, after depositing their bags, was gathered in a kind of break room at the center of the base. Two couches, some tables, chairs, and shelves of assorted books made for a very inviting atmosphere for the newcomers. Various doors were located in each wall, heading off to other parts of the base where the others were taking a look around.

“What happened to wanting to play in the snow?” Twilight asked as she browsed the literary selection. Mostly beat-up science texts she had read ages ago and battered novels. Nothing really appealed to her at the moment, though she made a mental note to take a closer look later in the week and see if anything really seemed worthwhile.

“That was back when outside was a place worth playing in,” Spike said, still lying on the couch and trying not to look out the window. The view provided by the thick panes was not a pretty one as it continued to get grayer and windier outside. Occasionally a strong gust pressed against it and the thick door installed next to it, though it was locked and bolted securely against flying open and revealing the outside. At the very least, the snow had stopped falling. “It’s nicer inside. Especially over here in Copper’s digs.”

“Yes, I prefer the lighting in here,” Fluttershy commented. She was seated on the other couch, looking quite content after shaking off the fright from earlier. She heard a hall door open and glanced over at Rarity as she trotted in. “Hi, Rarity. Did you find a place for the fillies?”

“Listen for yourself,” Rarity replied as she flopped down next to Fluttershy.

Back down the hall, shouts of “I called the top bunk” and “Nuh-uh, I called it!” echoed about.

Rarity sighed. “At least Pinkie was good enough to let them stay with her. I get the feeling I’m going to need some serious beauty sleep before the week is out.”

“You can’t sleep yet, Rarity,” Pinkie said, bounding in from a door on the opposing wall. Applejack walked close behind her carrying a small bag of carrots. “We still have to plan Copper’s Welcome Back party! Lemme just grab my banner bag…”

“Pinkie, we don’t even know when Copper will be back–” Twilight started, but Pinkie had already disappeared through the door leading to the rooms.

“Come on, Twilight, you know better than to try an’ put a damper on Pinkie’s enthusiasm,” Applejack said. She strolled up to one of the tables and laid her bag of carrots down. “Here guys, everypony try one of these. They sure are tasty.”

Fluttershy and Rarity huddled around the table. “Mmm, these are good,” Fluttershy said as she bit into one. “Where’d you find them?”

“This girl’s got it made. There’s a little greenhouse back past the kitchen,” Applejack said. “Got carrots, cabbages, even a few tomatoes. They looked like they could use a little waterin’, but other than that they’re doin’ real fine.”

“I wouldn’t think you could grow things like that up here,” Rarity said.

“Takes a little effort and the right equipment to keep them goin', sure. But if you’ve got that, you can grow that stuff plum near anywhere. I’m glad she is, too. Sure beats the dull stock in the kitchen.” Applejack quickly glanced back at the door. “Never in my entire life have I seen so much oatmeal an’ peanut butter gathered in one place.”

“Hopefully there are still enough supplies for Pinkie to make her cupcakes,” Fluttershy said, taking another carrot to give to Spike.

“I hope so too,” Rarity concurred. “A little celebration here would definitely pick me up. There’s nothing like a good, classy affair to give me some energy back and put me in the proper state of mind for introducing myself to somepony new.”

“A bit of class for one of Pinkie’s parties? You’re gonna have your work cut out for you there.” Applejack started to chuckle when a knock in the back of the room drew her attention. “Uh, Rainbow Dash, what are you up to?”

Dash was fiddling with the handle to the door on the back wall. “Trying to get this door open,” she said without looking up. “I can hear something in there.”

“Rainbow Dash, if a door is locked, then we shouldn’t be trying to open it,” Twilight said disapprovingly. “Why don’t you come help me check on the generator that’s supposed to be in the basement?”

“It’s not locked! It’s just jammed,” Dash responded. “And I’ll get down there in a bit. We know it’s working, the heat’s on. Besides, why would she lock a door if she’s the only one around? I just gotta see if I can get it unwedged here…”

“I can help!” The ponies turned to see Scootaloo emerging from the hall, her friends right behind her. She quickly ran towards the door but tripped on a snag on the carpet. Sailing through the air, she smacked flank-first into the door just as Dash stepped out of the way. With a loud crack, the door popped all the way open, swinging wide on its squeaky hinges.

Scootaloo grinned awkwardly in a heap on the floor. “Oops. Uh… got it open.”

“Scootaloo! Are you okay?" Twilight hurried over, the rest of the group close behind. “Are you okay?”

“Is the door okay?” Dash asked dryly.

“We’re both fine.” Scootaloo picked herself up and looked around the room. Several tables were gathered in its center, while each wall was lined with counters and desks. Every available inch of space on them was covered in an assortment of boxes, beakers, vials, microscopes, petri dishes, and a veritable ocean of paper. It was stacked up everywhere, some in small towers that threatened to collapse at any minute. A small alarm clock was half-buried in the mess next to a long section of table covered in a large cloth. It was ringing loudly. Dash flapped in to shut it off, causing several papers to shift around as she did.

“Told ya I heard something,” she boasted. She paused and sniffed. “Bleh, it stinks in here.”

“Looks like Copper’s work lab,” Twilight announced as they took it all in. “We should probably get out of here, we don’t want to mess–”

“Wow, cool, look at this!” Sweetie Belle rushed over to one of the tables. A small refrigerator was set prominently on it. Sweetie Belle pushed the door open, revealing a set of sealed test tubes set up inside. Each contained a small sample of glowing green liquid. “What’s this stuff?”

She reached out her hoof, but Rarity stopped her before she got in close. “Sweetie Belle! Remember that discussion we had about not disrupting things while you were here? Or what Twilight just said about not messing with the things in here?”

“Aww, I was just looking. Hey, what do you have over there Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle wriggled past her sister’s grip and scurried under the table. She met with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom on the other side of the lab, next to another closed door.

“It looks like a set of snow shoes,” Apple Bloom said. She had found a small pile of heavy winter gear pushed against the wall. She rummaged around and produced an ice axe. “And check out this hook thing!”

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouted out, running over to prevent the young filly from handling the sharp object. “You know better than to touch something like that.”

“Come on sis, I handle the hatchet on the farm all the time,” Apple Bloom whined. Before Applejack could respond, the three had run off again, finding another interesting and fragile thing to play with.

“Girls, come on, leave that stuff alone,” Twilight said firmly. “We shouldn’t be in here at all. We don’t want to– Spike!”

The dragon had grabbed a mass of papers and was beginning to organize them into neat little piles on the desktop.

“Uh, sorry Twilight,” he said sheepishly. “Force of habit.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and joined Applejack and Rarity in trying to contain the younger ones as they ran about the lab.

“Girls!” Fluttershy’s call brought the three fillies to attention in front of her.

“Yes Fluttershy?” they said in union.

“Girls, don’t you think it’s time you went and finished setting up your room?” Fluttershy said sweetly.

“Okay Fluttershy!” they responded happily, and quickly dashed out the lab door. The older girls let out a collective sigh of relief.

“I’m still not sure how you manage to do that, Fluttershy,” Rarity said, “but thank you.”

“Wasn’t this week supposed to be relaxin’?” Applejack said. “I’m already feelin’ like I could use a vacation from this vacation.”

“There has been a bit more excitement than I was expecting.” Twilight smiled and turned to Spike. “Any response from the Princess for that letter we sent?”

Spike shrugged. “Nothing yet, Twi. I don’t know why she’s taking so long. You’d think she’d have something to say about Copper not being here.”

“I don’t understand why she doesn’t just teleport out here,” Dash said. “That seems like it’d solve a lot of problems.”

“Even the Princess can’t teleport that far,” Twilight replied. “I can barely make it across town without feeling a little woozy. Princess Celestia is powerful, but there are still limits. She’s probably just busy with her other duties. It’s why she sent us out here to begin with, remember?”

“Hopefully she passed the message along about your sisters,” Spike said to Applejack and Rarity.

“Thank you very much for that, Spike,” Rarity smiled at him. “And I do hope you’re right. I imagine Granny Smith is ever so concerned. Right Applejack?”

“Knowin’ Granny Smith, she probably helped encourage them to come out.” Applejack grimaced and shrugged. “Oh well, they’re here. Gonna have to keep close watch on them, though, make sure they don’t get into too much mischief. Bein’ around Pinkie Pie certainly won’t help matters.”

Applejack turned to leave and nearly ran face-first into Pinkie.

“Hey guys! Whatcha doin’ in here? Are there cool things in here too?” she asked, peeking around Applejack.

“Uhh…” Applejack stammered.

“Just a lot of papers and knick-knacks,” Rarity said, quickly swooping in to pull Pinkie back into the main room. “Nothing you’d be interested in. Though tell me dear, have you got your banner ready for the party?”

“I sure do!” Pinkie held the large sash up with pride. “At first I was worried I’d just packed my "Nice To Meet You!" ones, but I still had a "Welcome Back!" tucked underneath a couple "How About That Weather!" ones, so with a few alterations from you we can totally make it work. Now while you do that I’ll start to get the streamers set up here–”

“Hey Pinkie, you got any jobs that can keep the fillies occupied for a spell?” Applejack asked.

“I dunno, Applejack. I could probably think of something, but I’d have to find them first,” Pinkie replied nonchalantly. Applejack and Rarity stared at her.

“Uh, didn’t they just go back to your room?” Rarity asked after a pause.

“Oh no,” Pinkie said. “I just saw them head into the temple. Said something about wanting to take a quick look around and that they’d be back in a jiffy.”

The two older siblings shared a sigh.

“Well, that didn’t take long,” Applejack said. She looked at Rarity. “Come on. Let’s go track them down before they end up somewhere else they don’t belong.”

“Yes, of course,” Rarity said. “I’m sorry, Pinkie, I’ll have to help you when I get back. Hopefully it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie,” Pinkie said happily. With that, the three ponies bowed out of the room and split off to their respective destinations.

“Hey, look over here,” Fluttershy said, approaching one of the less cluttered desks. “I think this is her.”

A small photo sat in a tipped-over frame. Fluttershy leaned in for a closer look. It depicted a small group gathered in front of the temple entrance at a time when the weather wasn’t quite so ferocious. Front and center was a chipper young unicorn waving at the camera. Hawks stood directly behind her, a big grin on his face. His rugged looks directly mirrored her dull orange color, freckles, and oval spectacles. A collection of other stallions made up the rest of the group, all looking equally full of mirth. Twilight recognized some as being part of the pull team, while others she had never seen before.

“She looks very sweet.” Fluttershy passed the frame over for Twilight to see.

“I’m sure she is. Just wish she would show up so we could find out for ourselves.” Twilight heard some shuffling of papers. “Spike, what did I say about reorganizing things in here? For all we know, Copper has a system for everything.”

“I’m just trying to keep things the way they were,” Spike defended. “Rainbow Dash keeps blowing things around when her wings flap.”

“Oops, sorry.” Dash lowered herself down next to the cloth-covered tables. A slight noise caught her attention. “Now what is it…?”

With some dramatic flair, she whipped the cloth off.

“Aaaawwwwww!” Fluttershy’s reaction was swift. She zipped over to the newly revealed row of glass containers, nearly knocking Dash over. Each contained a few small mice, all huddled into clusters. “What a bunch of cuties!”

“What are they, rats?” Dash asked once she straightened herself out.

“No, they’re mice,” Fluttershy said. She started looking for a way to open the tanks. Small silver padlocks gleamed in the light over each one. “Oh my...”

“What’s Copper doing with a bunch of lab mice in a place like this?” Twilight wondered aloud.

Fluttershy ignored Twilight as she carefully inspected the tanks. “Aww, they look hungry. How do they get their food in there?”

“Looks like there’s a little chute there.” Spike pointed to the rear of the tank. “And that tube must be water and that one… actually, I don’t know what that one’s for.”

“Don’t worry babies, I’ll get you something nice to eat.” Fluttershy smiled and dashed out towards the kitchen.

Looking around another wall, Dash pulled off another cloth. “Hey, there’s some more over here. Only these have… tomatoes?”

“What?” Twilight exclaimed. The new tanks were nearly identical to the ones with mice, save for the fact that each contained a single vegetable instead. A tube ran up from each one, leading up to a small flask hanging overhead. More of the green liquid was inside, though this batch wasn’t glowing.

“It looks like she’s testing the effects of the liquid,” Twilight concluded. She looked back over at the fridge containing the sealed test tubes. “Seems she was able to get that cap off after all, or at least siphon small portions of the liquid out.”

She moved closer to the table and shifted through the papers. She quickly skimmed the notes, trying her best to decipher the scratchy and disorganized writing. Brushing more papers aside revealed a large, black notebook. She immediately flipped it open.

“Uh, Twilight? Weren’t we not supposed to touch anything?” Spike asked, his attention going from the mice to Twilight to the liquid and back.

“Not now, Spike. Whatever Copper was doing up here had something to do with this liquid, and I’m trying to figure out what.” Twilight continued to look through the notebook. After scanning several more pages, she stopped. “Listen to this: ‘The cap has proved to be a major obstacle. Efforts in removing it entirely have proved futile. It takes an excessive amount of work to drill even a small hole through the bronze, and they immediately reseal before I have a chance to take more than miniscule samples–’”

“Yeah yeah, Twilight, we can figure that part out on our own,” Dash said impatiently. “Get to the good stuff.”

“Hold on, her writing isn’t the easiest to read.” Twilight strained at the pages, flipping through several more. Spike grabbed a small lantern from under a table and lit it up, holding it close to Twilight. “Thank you, Spike. Let me see… ‘The effects of small doses are slow acting, but still highly volatile when exposed to the open air and an acceptable host. The reaction increases when more liquid is together. I have elected to divide my samples and house them in separate containers in addition to my usual methods for preventing contamination. I will cease my efforts on opening the main container, for fear of what such a large volume could do if unleashed. In addition, I have been forced to abandon and terminate several test subjects due to an inability to safely collect them. Remaining test supplies are starting to run out, as well as my stockpile of…’ I can’t make out what she says after that. I’d have to read through this more thoroughly to see what she means.”

“Or, better yet, just wait and ask her yourself,” Spike said. He shut the notebook and pushed it down the desk away from Twilight. “Come on, Twi, this isn’t one of your projects, its somepony else’s. Let her deal with it.”

“I guess you’re right, Spike.” Twilight sighed and turned towards the door. “Still, I do think I’ll ask her for details when she gets back. I’d really like to know what’s going on here.”

“I’d settle for knowing what that smell is,” Dash added as she walked out next to them. “Am I the only one who can smell it?”

“I’ve been doing my best to ignore it,” Spike responded. He took one last look inside before shutting the door. “It’s definitely rank. Anyway, Twilight, we do know one thing. We know that it’s probably a good thing that big container is still shut. I don’t know what Copper was talking about in her notes, but even I could tell from the start it’s not something to open up.”

“We can totally open that.” Scootaloo stared up at the green cylinder with a look of strong determination.

“Scootaloo, look at that thing. What makes you think we can get it open?” Sweetie Belle huddled apprehensively behind Scootaloo, with Apple Bloom not far behind. “Better yet, what makes you think we even should?”

“Just look at all these tools. It’s obvious somepony’s been trying to get into it.” Kicking a broken drill aside, Scootaloo circled the base of the cylinder. “Now’s our chance to do something helpful.”

“But Rarity told us not to get in the way,” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

“Technically, she only told you that,” Scootaloo replied, grinning.

“She also told you she was going to the beach for her vacation,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“That’s what she said!” Sweetie Belle retorted. “At least, that's where she’d gone for the last few years…”

“Come on, Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Scootaloo interrupted, “look at the opportunity we’ve got here. We tried everything in Ponyville, and as soon as we get somewhere new, we get something like this. Maybe that’s the problem we’ve been having: the thing that’s our special talent wasn’t close to home.”

“What’s so special about opening a giant bottle of jelly?” Apple Bloom asked, eyeing the cylinder suspiciously. Scootaloo thought for a moment.

“Cutie Mark Crusader locksmith!” she shouted with glee. “Don’t you see? It’s not what’s inside that counts, it’s getting to it at all. Remember how I got that door open for Rainbow Dash earlier?”

“I’m not sure that counted as locksmithing,” Sweetie Belle said with a snicker.

“Hey, I opened it using my head.”

“More like using your–”

“No, Scootaloo’s right.” Apple Bloom moved past Sweetie Belle. “We’ve done just near everything we can do back in Ponyville. We’ve gotta try everything we can here if we ever want to get our cutie marks.”

“Right!” Scootaloo smiled and scaled the ladder behind the cylinder. “Now, how can we go about unlocking this thing?”

Metal clanged, and the remaining drills whirred. Attempts were made to light one of the torches, but it seemed to be broken. Frustrated cries rose up, sometimes even louder than the banging of the hammers.

“Hmm, what else…” Apple Bloom looked carefully at the cap. Not even a dent had been made. “Scootaloo, maybe we could try that saw again.”

Scootaloo, up on top of the ladder, shook her head. “I can’t get a grip on it. We really need to see if we can get one of those torches lit. Sweetie Belle, can you try it with the candle again?”

“I tried that already. I keep telling you, it’s broken,” Sweetie Belle snapped.

“Hang on, hang on, let me try something here with–” Scootaloo stopped abruptly as she heard a sound emitting from out in the hall.

“Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!” The ring of Applejack’s voice was unmistakable. “Girls, where are you? Time to come back to the rest of us!”

“Aww, man.” Apple Bloom dropped the chisel she’d been carrying and headed for the door. “Come on guys, my sister’s callin’.”

“But we’ve barely even started on this thing!” Scootaloo protested.

“I think if this was our special talent, we would’ve gotten into it by now,” Sweetie Belle said. She moved with Apple Bloom out of the room. “Don’t worry Scootaloo, there’s lots of other stuff in this place we haven’t tried yet. We’ll find something up here that’ll get our cutie marks, I’m sure of it.”

“Awww, but guys–” Scootaloo started, only to be interrupted by Rarity’s calls joining in with Applejack’s. They both sounded closer now, with faint hoofsteps becoming audible. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle once more encouraged Scootaloo to move along and darted out the door.

“It’s always something,” Scootaloo muttered to herself. She hopped down the ladder and stood on the base of the cylinder. The substance inside continued its swirling unabated. Scootaloo stared at it for a moment and sighed.

“Stupid giant bottle of green… gunk… stuff. Can’t you just open up? Ugh…” Without thinking, Scootaloo headbutted the glass. She was prepared to sigh again, but the cold rush of contact with the glass caught her off guard and she fell back off the base. She landed awkwardly, taking an extra second or three to right herself again.

“Whoa, what was up with that?” She shivered. The cold seemed to have gone straight through her entire body. She turned to exit the room, now eager to get back to the others and warm up.

Behind her, the liquid stopped moving. It simply hung there, completely frozen. Black spots appeared near the top, two of them separating out. The spots seemed to be tracking Scootaloo as she walked towards the door. Slowly, the liquid moved again, this time not at random. It collectively drew back within the cylinder, pushing itself against the rear of the glass. A small pocket of air appeared along the front, going the entire vertical length of the cylinder. Up ahead, the door to the chamber swung shut.

“Hey, what gives?” Scootaloo shouted. “Guys, I’m still in here! Guys?”

The liquid surged forward. It slammed into the glass with untold force. A cracking noise sounded out and Scootaloo turned, her eyes widening. The entire cylinder was tipping over, right in her direction. The cracking at the base continued as glass separated from metal and old stone seals cracked and crumbled. She quickly rolled out of the way, avoiding being squashed by mere inches as it fell down the floor with a massive crash. Before she could react, a metallic screech filled the room. The cap quivered and flew off, sailing across the room and slamming into an opposing wall.

Out flowed the liquid. It came like a wave, washing over the entire pathway leading to the door. Scootaloo watched, frozen in place next to the fallen cylinder. She gasped as the liquid did something very unusual: it turned. The liquid gathered itself into a long, tube-shaped mass and rotated on the floor. It rose straight up, part of it hovering in the air like a massive serpent ready to strike. It turned and pointed down, directly at Scootaloo.

She tried to scream. The noise formed itself in her throat. She opened her mouth to release it only to have it forcefully shoved back by the liquid. It flew down her throat first, then the stream widened to mask her entire body. It formed around her into a tight ball that drove itself right through her skin. The ball moved, taking itself and Scootaloo around to the other side of the base. It kept flowing into her, continuing to squeeze through every possible drop until there wasn’t any left.

“There you girls are,” Rarity said, relieved. “I’ve been looking all over for you. This place is enormous. I don’t want you running off like that again.”

“We’re sorry Rarity,” Sweetie Belle said as she and Apple Bloom came down the hall. “We were just looking around.”

“There’ll be time for that later in the week, once we’ve got Copper here as a guide." Applejack looked at the fillies carefully. “Now what have you girls been gettin’ up to?”

“Nothing!” Sweetie Belle answered immediately.

“Nothin’s ever nothin’,” Applejack said. She looked back and forth down the hall. “And where’d Scootaloo get off to?”

“Wasn’t she with you?” Rarity asked, also looking around.

“She is, she’s right behind–” A massive crash echoed down the hall, drowning out Apple Bloom’s response. The four ponies gasped and ran towards the noise. They reached the chamber doors and Applejack pulled one open as fast as she could manage. Another collective gasp emerged when they saw the damage. The toppled cylinder lay quietly on the rug, the cap embedded into the wall next to them.

“Now what in tarnation is goin’ on in here?” Applejack looked around the room. “Scootaloo! Scootaloo, are you in here?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m over here.” From behind the now-vacant base, Scootaloo emerged. She looked a little sweaty as she moved swiftly to join the others. “I didn’t do this! I don’t know what happened, I was just–”

“Scootaloo, hush,” Applejack snapped. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t know what’s up with this place, but we need to get the others here to see this. We’re going back to the base, right now.”

She looked Scootaloo right in the eye. Scootaloo simply nodded and walked towards the door.

“Hey, Scootaloo, what happened here?” Sweetie Belle loudly whispered.

“I’ll tell ya later,” Scootaloo replied. The four ponies quickly made for the exit, all but one of them turning to take one last look before they left. Somewhere inside the chamber, a drop of liquid hitting the floor sounded off. Then, silence. Nothing but the quiet flicker of flames burning on the candles.