Despite its spacious size, the kitchen was starting to feel crowded. Twilight had carted in almost half the supplies from the pile and dumped them onto the counter next to the stove, where she was now sorting them out. Pinkie stood in the corner, awkwardly balancing from one hoof onto the other and scratching at her ankle. Applejack was in the center of the room, still holding Apple bloom closely. The filly was weeping, though she did so silently. Fluttershy was also crying as she leaned against the wall next to them, somewhat ragged after Applejack had to nearly drag her into the kitchen.

Twilight leaned over and flicked a switch. One of the burners on the stove clicked for several seconds and then ignited in a small burst of flame. Twilight quickly leaned back and turned the switch back a few clicks, decreasing the gas flow. She dumped a small box onto the counter; a pile of scalpels spilled out.

“What exactly you got in mind, Twilight?” Applejack asked, eyeing the scalpels closely. Twilight carefully separated a single blade from the others and pushed it over the open flame.

“One last test,” Twilight said. Leaving the blade to simmer in the flame, she grabbed another box and walked to the sink. “We’re going to draw a little of everypony’s blood. Pinkie, where are the pots kept?”

“This again? Twilight, you already tried that.” Applejack watched Twilight fill a large black pot with water. “I thought I made myself clear last time. I don’t want you slicin’ me or my sister up for some lamebrain scheme.”

“This time is different, Applejack. This time, I’ve got a bigger theory developed around it.” Twilight levitated the pot onto the burner, lighting it up as well.

Twilight turned from the stove to face the others. “Let me explain. When I looked in the hallway out there a moment ago, during all the confusion, I saw what was left of Rarity–”

The group collectively winced at the name. Fluttershy choked back several more tears.

“–and I also saw her blood on the floor,” Twilight carried on. “There was a puddle of it, but part of it had pulled back. It looked like it literally pushed itself away from where the fire was. It still burned up in the heat, but, just for a moment, it had tried to escape.”

“Hey, what are you guys doing in there?” Rainbow Dash shouted from the other side of the door, her yells only somewhat muffled by the walls. “Hey! Answer me!”

Applejack glanced at the closed door but stayed still. “So what does that mean, Twilight? How can a big spot of blood just try to up an’ leave? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Because that blood, that’s still part of it.” Twilight paused and rubbed her forehead, tapping her other hoof on the ground a few times. “Look, this thing… what does it do? It starts by infecting somepony, it becomes that pony. Then, that pony goes and infects another pony, spreading itself out while still staying in that first pony. So now there’s two, right?”

“But o-only two, r-right?” Fluttershy asked, a small ounce of hope in her voice.

“I really hope so,” Twilight said, hanging her head. “But... that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Right now, it’s just the two things. They came from the same source, but now they’re two independent organisms. They have the same goals and the same biological makeup, but they’re separate. Damaging one doesn’t do anything to the other.”

“Well that goes without sayin’ at this point, Twilight,” Applejack asked. “I still don’t know what you’re gettin’ at.”

“When this thing divides, what it splits into is something new. Something entirely separate. And I don’t think it matters how big or small this new thing is. It’s still a new, separate entity. So that even means that big puddle of blood, so long as it came out of that thing… when it breaks down, it still becomes its own thing.”

Applejack’s face turned white. She pointed out the door. “You mean to say that big puddle out there, right outside the lab… that might’ve just been another piece of that thing? Right out where any one of use could’ve just gone an’ stepped in it?”

“Not out there, no. It still needs a sufficient amount of mass and cells to infect somepony,” Twilight said with her most reassuring tone. “But even if it can’t infect, it can still react. That’s what I saw in the hall. That blood tried to get away from the flames.”

“But T-Twilight, wasn’t w-what you d-did with the alcohol h-hurting the blood?” Fluttershy asked, rubbing the bandage on her shoulder. “Nothing happened there… r-r-right?”

“Fluttershy’s right, Twilight,” Applejack said, color slowly returning to her face. “I understand what you’re gettin’ at an’ all, but you already dropped stuff on our blood. I felt that burnin’ sensation somethin’ fierce. We all did. What’s this gonna prove that that didn’t?”

“Do you remember what Rainbow said?” Twilight looked at each of them. “All her ranting aside, she’s definitely right about one thing. This thing is smart. It’s very smart. And part of its intelligence lies in its self-control.”

Twilight returned to the stove to find the metal tip of the scalpel glowing red-hot. She left it in place and levitated another one up from the pile. The pot of water had reached full boil, and she dunked the new blade inside.

“Rainbow said she was with Sweetie Belle, alone in the kitchen,” Twilight said. She watched the metal instrument sink to the bottom of the pot. “No matter what you think of her story, I was in a similar situation. Scootaloo met me alone back on the first night. She tried to get me to follow her.”

“Hey, Scootaloo met you alone now?” Applejack said. “First I’ve heard of this, Twilight.”

“Nothing happened, though.” Twilight locked eyes with Applejack. “That’s my point. It’s the same point Rainbow was making. These things don’t just latch onto the closest pony, they wait. They bide their time. They study their surroundings and wait for the proper moment. And that means that they do their best to avoid detection.”

Twilight ripped open the box she’d been carrying, producing a set of fresh towels. She levitated the blade from the water and set them down on the cloth, letting it cool. “So if one sees that it’s going to get hurt, it prepares itself. It gets ready, so that I can drop some alcohol in a wound of its, and it won’t suddenly react and reveal itself.”

“But what about Sweetie Belle?” Applejack asked. “It happened to her.”

“Sweetie Belle had already been hurt,” Twilight replied. “She saw the desk coming down. She could prepare for it. The alcohol she didn’t see. Her system was caught off-guard.”

“Uh-huh.” Applejack grimaced, still eyeing Twilight suspiciously. “An’ your little magic test?”

“Back in the lab, it didn’t react to that right away either. It had to take a moment and look at me, and do… whatever it did that made my magic fail.” Twilight’s hoof rose towards her horn, but she stopped it. She levitated up a small pile of scalpels and dumped them all into the pot. “So, when I did it out in the common room to all of you, it saw it coming. It just waited.”

“Assumin’, of course, that one of us is still infected,” Applejack said. She gave her sister a small squeeze.

“Just one more…” Pinkie muttered, still staring at her ankle. Twilight glanced at her and continued.

“Right. So, here’s what we do. We take a blood sample, a fresh one, right here and now.” Twilight grabbed the clean, dry scalpel and, with a moment’s hesitation, plunged it into her leg. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, and quickly removed the blade after a cut had been made. Hovering a small petri dish over, she collected a small pool of blood as it trickled out of her.

“We take the blood,” she said, panting as she placed the dish down and pressed a washcloth against her wound, “and we shove this hot bit of metal into it. If it’s the blood of one of these things, it won’t be able to prepare for it. A puddle of blood can’t think. It can only react.”

Applejack scratched her chin as Twilight concluded her speech.

“Alright, alright, I guess I can see what you’re gettin’ at,” she said, glancing from Twilight to the blood in the dish. “An’ if we all do this, an’ it all comes up clean, where nothin’ happens to any of them… then what? Are all of us… us?”

“Well… yes,” Twilight said, lending an edge of confidence to her voice. “I mean, it makes sense doesn’t it? It’s our last option here, at least, that’s for sure.”

“An’ so what about what happened in the basement?” Applejack asked. “The message? The generator? If we all test clean, what’re we supposed to do about that?”

“We’ll deal with that when it comes to that,” Twilight said. She snuck a glance in Pinkie’s direction. “First things first.”

The pile of scalpels lifted themselves from the water and floated over to the towel. After making sure each was cool and dry, Twilight divided them up with more petri dishes and hovered them over to the other ponies.

“Here,” she said as the last ones touched down next to Applejack and Apple Bloom. “You all do yourselves. I’ll go get Rainbow Dash’s.”

Grabbing the remaining dish and scalpel, Twilight walked out the door with a look of steely resolve.

“What’s Twilight doing coming out here on her own?” Dash called as soon as the door opened. “Twilight, what are you guys doing in– hey, keep away from me with that, you hear me? Hey, hey, watch it, I said back– OW!”

Dash screamed, and the sounds of a small scuffle and the couch moving around could be heard. Applejack leaned over to Apple Bloom, the scalpel gripped tightly in her mouth. “Just hold on there, Apple Bloom. One quick little nick an’ it’ll be over.”

“Applejack, please, I… I’m scared.” Apple Bloom shivered under her sister, looking up with bloodshot eyes.

“I know, I know. I’m scared too, just hold on now…” Applejack quickly dipped the blade under her sister’s shoulder. Apple Bloom let out a small screech, but stayed still. Applejack quickly let the scalpel fall as she collected the falling blood. “There we are, all done. Good girl, Apple Bloom, that’s my sister. Just a few minutes more of this an’ we can go relax.”

The door of the kitchen suddenly popped out of place. It ripped itself from the hinges and fell backwards into the common room. Twilight stepped over it, the purple haze around the door giving way to the haze around the petri dish that floated in front of her.

“Okay, I’m all set here,” Twilight said, limping slightly on one leg. “I think we’ll all feel a bit better with that out of the way now, too.”

“I still can’t see anything out here!” Dash shouted, her voice coming through loud and clear now. “You guys tied me too far down the couch!”

“We’re almost done in here, Rainbow Dash. Just sit tight!” Applejack said. She quickly covered her sister’s ears at Dash’s rather graphic comeback.

“Well, unless we’ve got something else to go over…” Twilight looked over the others. They all stared back, not making a sound. Fluttershy and Apple Bloom stopped crying as they watched, and even Pinkie had looked up from her ankle.

“I’ll start with me.” Twilight set her dish down on the counter. The scalpel in the fire was almost white with intense heat as she levitated it out.

“Now I’ll show you what I already know,” she murmured. She dipped the searing metal tip into the small red pool. There was a small hiss as blood drops evaporated under the intense heat, and the bottom of the dish cracked as the blade touched the bottom. Other than that, there was no response. Twilight pulled out the blade and returned it to the fire.

“Okay. We’ll do Rainbow next,” she said, pushing her dish aside and pulling Dash’s over.

“We’ll do my what next?” Dash asked from the next room. The others heard her fumble around on the couch, the ropes straining under her constant pressure. “Is anypony going to tell me what’s going on in there or what?”

“In just one sec, Rainbow,” Applejack called out. She nodded at Twilight. “Let’s do it.”

Twilight pulled the blade from the flame and gently eased it into Dash’s blood sample. She stood back, ready to pull out and run at a moment’s notice.

The blood fizzled and smoked under the blade: nothing. Twilight glanced at Applejack, who just shrugged. “You’re good, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack called out.

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Dash replied, though nopony answered her.

“Fluttershy, you’re next.” Twilight turned to Fluttershy, who quivered in place. Slowly, she pushed her hoof out and shoved her dish forward. Twilight quickly snatched it up and levitated it onto the counter. Fluttershy drew back and continued to shake, though her eyes were glued to the counter.

Without another word, Twilight dipped the blade into the blood. More smoke and cracked glass, but ultimately another normal reaction. Twilight turned and smiled at Fluttershy. “You’re okay, okay? Don’t… don’t worry.”

Fluttershy gave a weak little smile, though it didn’t stick around. Her lips quivered and she slumped back down to the floor, covering her face with her hooves.

“Guys, just give me yours right now,” Twilight said to the others. “We can do them all in a row, and finish this up.”

Applejack pushed forward hers and Apple Bloom’s. Apple Bloom rubbed her sides. “Applejack, my stomach hurts.”

“Just lay down here, Apple Bloom, don’t worry. I’ll get you some water.”

While Applejack walked over to the sink, Pinkie approached Twilight with her dish.

“Uh, Twilight, I think I’ve got to show you something,” Pinkie said as she pushed the dish forward.

Twilight reflexively took a step back. “That’s close enough, Pinkie. You too, Applejack, not so close to the stove.”

“I was just gettin’ Apple Bloom a drink. Relax, Twilight,” Applejack said, filling a cup and bringing it back to Apple Bloom. “I don’t know how well this test of yours actually works, but it seems to be showin’ that we’re all in the clear.”

“We’ll see about that,” Twilight said, hovering the hot blade over Pinkie’s dish.

“No, Twilight, really,” Pinkie urged, pushing her leg forward. “This is important.”

“Hold that thought, Pinkie.” The tip came down into the blood, producing another negative reaction. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay Pinkie, what do you have to–”

“Pinkie, just what in tarnation is up with your ankle?” Applejack pointed down at Pinkie. Twilight peered at the outstretched hoof Pinkie was showing her. It was the bruise she had received earlier. It was a sickly purple in color now, and her constant scratching had bloodied up some of the surrounding skin. That, however, wasn’t the significant part.

Twilight gasped, the blade clattering down onto the flame. Pinkie’s bruise had taken a shape. Instead of some formless mass, it looked like a solid square cross, the bottom line curving right in a sharp hook.

“That’s… that looks just like…” Twilight said, her mind drawn back to that great green tube and the base it was sitting on. A sudden buzzing sensation trickled through the base of her skull. Twilight rubbed her neck and tried her best to ignore it.

“It is, Twilight. It’s the marker!” Pinkie squealed with delight. “I’ve got it, Twilight. I’ve figured it out. I know what to do.”

“Alright, Pinkie, you’re startin’ to creep me out again. What are you talkin’ about?”” Applejack asked, positioning herself in front of Apple Bloom.

“I can fix this! All of this!” Pinkie turned eagerly from Twilight to Applejack. “I can make everything back to the way it used to be, make it all better again!”

“What’s Pinkie shouting about?” Dash’s question again garnered no response.

“Pinkie, that’s great, I think,” Twilight said. She slowly edged away from Pinkie and hovered the scalpel up again. “Let’s just finish up here and we can–”

“Here doesn’t matter anymore, Twilight!” Pinkie said, reaching out to grasp Twilight. Twilight wriggled out from Pinkie’s hoof, looking nervous. Applejack stared at the hot blade as it approached her blood sample.

“Pinkie, really, just calm down for a second,” Twilight said. “I’ll listen to what you have to say. I will. Now I’m really curious about whatever it is that’s happening to you.”

Pinkie smiled brightly, her eagerness and happiness almost alien to Twilight after the past few days. Pinkie reached out another hoof. Twilight let it touch her this time. Meanwhile, the blade came down into Applejack’s blood.

The reaction was immediate. The blood leapt from the dish and flew through the air with a sudden high-pitched screech. Twilight jumped at the noise and dashed sideways, just barely dodging the flying blood. Though she only saw it for a split second, she could’ve sworn that the blood had taken the shape of a small face, complete with a screaming mouth.

Applejack’s expression didn’t change as her body started to vibrate all over. Small cracks rippled down her skin, blood and other liquids trickling out as they broke through to the surface. One of her hooves shuddered fast enough to crack the floorboards.

Apple Bloom backed up slowly. “A-Applejack? What… what’s happening?”

Fluttershy screamed. Pinkie’s smile disappeared and she screeched. She tried to run forward and smacked right into Twilight. As the back of Applejack’s legs ripped open and pushed out a new layer of bone and muscle, Apple Bloom finally cried out in panic.

“Hey, what’s going on in there?” Dash bellowed, a twinge of fear appearing in her voice. “Would somepony hurry the hay up and answer me already?”

“Apple Bloom, move! Get away from it!” Twilight fought past Pinkie, pushing herself right to the center of the room. Applejack’s head twisted itself sideways, falling forward as if it were on a hinge until it was barely hanging on. Twilight stumbled backward again as an enormous eye pushed its way out of Applejack’s neck. It stared right at Twilight, its iris as black as night.

The eye blinked, a thin membrane appearing over it. Then, a seam appeared down the middle of it, and it split open to reveal a tiny pair of jaws. Applejack roared, releasing a sound that was now only too familiar to the rest of the group. A long, ear-splitting roll of growls and screeches that bounced around the room and pierced each pony to her very core.

“Twilight, do something!” Fluttershy screeched. She scrambled along the wall towards the doorway to the common room.

A purple glow appeared around the refrigerator. It jumped into the air with a loud burst of twisting metal and snapping cables. Twilight jerked her head to the side. The fridge quickly flew up until it was positioned directly over Applejack. The glow vanished, and the enormous metal appliance plummeted straight down.

The fridge dropped fast, but Applejack was faster. The creature lurched forward, stumbling over its twisted front legs while the fridge continued through the wooden floor behind it. The sound of it smashing onto the basement floor shook the entire kitchen. Applejack hesitated on the floor. She drew her legs back together while several news ones sprouted out of her abdomen.

More screams. Twilight and Pinkie drew themselves into a corner, Twilight frantically looking around for another large object to throw at Applejack. Apple Bloom rushed forward, her eyes nearly blinded from tears. A second eye snapped open on Applejack’s shoulder and watched her run by. As Fluttershy and Apple Bloom raced out of the kitchen, Applejack stopped vibrating and crouched down.

“Hey, Fluttershy, what’s happening in there?” Dash’s voice worked to be heard over the din. “Where is everypony going? Come back here! I need to know what’s happen–”

Applejack sprang forward, propelled through the air by a massive push from newly developed back limbs. She exploded through the wall of the kitchen and landed on the couch next to Dash. The force of the impact sent the furniture sprawling backward. It rolled over along the floor, finally landing upside down a few feet back.

Muffled roars came from under the upholstery. Tentacles sprang out through the couch, new eyes appearing at the tips of each one. Dash screamed and twisted against the ropes with all her might. “Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!”

“Hey, over here!” The tentacles turned towards Twilight’s shout, catching sight of the pot just before it landed on them. It splashed down a split-second later, drenching the tentacles in boiling hot water. The creature let loose a furious screech. Half the couch disintegrated as it pushed itself up and out. Twilight gasped at what she saw; the creature before her now resembled Applejack by color only.

The creature shot forward, moving straight towards Twilight. Twilight flashed out, teleporting herself and Pinkie back into the common room. The creature continued ahead and ran headlong into the stove with enough strength to force it into the wall. Several gas lines were clipped in the process, mixing with the lit burner to cause jets of fire to appear around the creature. It roared again and rolled onto the floor, fire burning away on vast chunks of its writhing body.

Twilight wasted no time. She primed another thermite charge from the box and tossed it through the broken doorway. It ignited just behind the creature, causing its whole backside to burst into flames. It screamed again and launched new tentacles forward to latch onto the hole in the floor. Slowly, it pulled itself along the floor. Twilight watched as Applejack’s head reemerged, still hanging on by a thread as the rest of her body slid forward. Her mouth gaped, seeming to react to the smoke that filled the air.

“Twilight, it’s still moving!” Pinkie shouted. Twilight shook her head and reached for another charge when a surge of flame arose from the kitchen. A small eruption from behind the stove knocked it forward, tipping the heavy appliance down onto part of the creature. It was pinned in place now; it struggled to get free as flames spread up its body. More loud howls, each one more anguished than the last.

“We’ve got it!” Twilight shouted, the second charge still hovering in front of her. She hurried around the broken sofa to get a better view. As she flipped the charge’s switch and lobbed it into the fray, she heard the sound of splintering wood. Suddenly there was a massive crash. Half the kitchen floor gave way and sank down into the basement. The creature, still stuck in place by the stove, managed to remain on the intact part of the floor. Twilight’s charge barely missed it, instead falling down into the basement.

“Uh-oh…” Twilight braced herself. A wall of flames shot up from the basement as the charge exploded, catching onto the spilled gas on the floor and the generator above. The entire base rocked violently. Ponies tumbled to the floor and lights snapped out. Miraculously, what remained of the kitchen wall remained upright, though several large cracks appeared throughout.

The creature was entirely engulfed in flames by now. It gave a few more small squirms and a final soft gurgle, and then ceased moving. Fire spread throughout the kitchen, extending down the back hall towards the greenhouse. It started to get very hot in the common room, the orange blaze now the only source of light.

“Pinkie, grab an extinguisher, now!” Twilight rushed back to the supply pile and tore into it, searching desperately for any remaining red cylinders. Before Pinkie could join her, another cataclysmic noise shook them in place. The ceiling over the kitchen gave way, dropping down to the basement below. Part of the ceiling swung in and pushed against the kitchen wall, snuffing out the light. Twilight perked up her ears, listening as snow and wind tumbled down onto the broken half of the base. Over the din of the destruction, she thought she heard a faint clicking sound, like something tapping along wood.

“I’ve got a lamp!” Pinkie spoke up in the dark. “Hang on, I’ve got it…”

A small flame grew out of Pinkie’s arms. Twilight lit her horn, bringing some more light to the room. She looked back towards the kitchen wall, trying to hear any more sounds. All that got through now was more wind.

Twilight released a long breath. “Is… is everypony alright? Fluttershy?”

A small shriek came from the corner of the room. Twilight turned to see the pegasus curled up against the wall, her face soaked through with tears.

“Pinkie, find her a blanket or something, it’s going to get cold in here…” Twilight said. Her head turned back around the room. “Apple Bloom? Where did you go?”

Twilight faced the entrance to the temple. Apple Bloom stared back. Her knees were threatening to quiver out from under her, and she had almost as many tears running down her face as Fluttershy.

Twilight’s expression fell. “Apple Bloom, I… I…”

“S-stay away f-from me…” Apple Bloom took a step back, her voice ready to crack. “A-all of y-you… g-get back!”

“Apple Bloom, just… just wait a minute now… I…” Twilight faltered. Before she could try again, yet another loud crash of wood and metal made her jump. A thunderous roar came from behind the hall door as the ceiling collapsed. Shortly thereafter, an identical sound came from the lab. Wooden timbers banged down and metal supports crumpled. The impenetrable din bounced about for several minutes. Twilight pressed her hooves tightly over her ears.

And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the noises were gone. The atmosphere settled again. The only noise now came from the continuously rising wind outside. Twilight cautiously opened one eye, peering around the dimly-lit room. More cracks lined the walls, though none any larger than what was on the kitchen wall.

“Apple Bloom?” Twilight looked back towards the temple entrance: nothing. The filly was gone.

“I think… I think she ran away,” Pinkie said. She hugged her lantern so tight that the glass cracked. Slowly placing it on the floor, she scooped up a blanket and quickly draped it over Fluttershy.

Twilight nodded slowly. She sat on the floor, taking deep breaths. Somewhere in the basement, a metal clang sounded out, followed by a loud pop. The gentle hum of the furnace, a sound nearly forgotten now due to its omnipresence, vanished. Twilight fought the urge to shiver.

Next to her, the remains of the sofa shifted around. Dash’s voice was muffled through the ripped cushions, but still audible. She spoke calmly, her tone completely flat. “I would like. To be untied. From the couch now.”

Viewed from the air, the base would have made for a very strange sight. Already dwarfed by the great temple next to it, it was now less than a quarter of its original size. Only a gutted pile of wood and metal remained of the lab, while the snow was quickly filling in the broken bunkrooms. Over on the kitchen side, the fire had been extinguished, but the wreckage still smoldered against the freezing winds. The greenhouse was in slightly better shape, if only because it hadn’t caught fire before its walls collapsed.

The common room stood alone now, pinned on two sides by collapsed ceilings. The dim light of the room flickered out the window, becoming the only source of light for miles around. No snow fell, though the wind constantly threatened to pick up and push more clouds back overhead.

Inside, four ponies were gathered. They spread themselves out, each sticking close to one side of the room. What little furniture left intact had been pressed against the kitchen wall, plugging up the holes in an effort to keep the cold at bay. Even so, the temperature was dropping by the minute, and everypony had their scarves and jackets back on.

Twilight crouched on the floor, her back to the temple entrance. The scraps of notes she’d been able to piece together from the wreckage lay in front of her. Her hoof picked at them, but her eyes never focused on a single sentence. She just stared at some spot on the floor, lost in thought.

Pinkie was along the next wall, near what was left of the lab door. Her bookshelf had been moved away with the rest of the furniture, but she still had her books. They surrounded her entirely now, spines broken and pages folded down. Unlike her previous flurries of activity with the pages, she now sat perfectly still. Her eyes were closed, and she drew something in the air with her hoof. She muttered a constant string of rationalizations, her voice never rising to a level the others could make out.

Across from Pinkie, Fluttershy curled into a small ball against the kitchen wall. She was shaking all over. Her limbs twitched at random intervals, and her head gently rocked back and forth against the wall. “It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream,” she mumbled over and over. “It’s just a bad dream, I’m about to wake up, just a bad dream…”

Finally, there was Rainbow Dash. She paced back and forth by the door, wings flexing in and out. She looked around the room, glancing from the window to each of the other ponies to the picked-through supply pile and back to the window. Her breath was visible in front of her face, and every few minutes she would pause to rub her hooves together.

“Storm got started again pretty quick,” Dash said, breaking the silence that gripped the room. She glanced around for a reaction. “Doesn’t mean it won’t stop again, though. Just wish I could see it out there right now…”

“We’ll have to go after her.” Twilight looked up, catching Dash’s attention. “We can’t let her get too far away right now.”

Dash stopped pacing. “Forget it, Twilight. I’m not following her in there. No way. If she’s one of those things, then that’s exactly what she wants us to do.”

Twilight motioned limply to the kitchen husk. “We have a test now. We can test her quick and fast, and… and then we’ll know.”

“If she doesn’t get the drop on us or anything first! Look, Twilight, the four of us here–” Dash motioned to the remainder of the group. “–we’re clear. You proved it. We’re all safe right now. All we have to do is wait until morning and leave. You should be able to get us pretty far now, and maybe the weather will clear up again and make it easier, but even if it doesn’t we can still get back on our own.”

“And just leave her here?” Twilight rose, a fresh energy sparking inside her. “Rainbow, if she actually is one of those things, then we can’t leave her alone. What if she escapes?”

“So what? Twilight, think about it. Where’s she gonna go? She’s out here in the middle of nowhere. We just need to get back, explain what’s happening, and make sure nopony else ever comes out here. Just let her hide away in some hole here and freeze.”

“Rainbow, come on.” Twilight shook her head. “We can’t leave one alone for too long. The risk is too great. For all we know it could be trying to sprout wings right now, and even if it can never leave here, there’s no way we’d be able to keep everypony away from here. Somepony would come here eventually.”

“Besides…” Twilight lowered her voice. “What if there’s nothing wrong with her? What if Apple Bloom’s just hiding, lost and scared, in some tunnel in there? What if we’re wrong?”

Dash narrowed her eyes. “Well, then we’re wrong.”

Twilight lifted a hoof and prepared to say something, but no rebuttal formed in her mouth.

“Twilight, look what we’ve been through,” Dash said. “It’s time to go home. We can explain everything there, and then we can figure out what best to do next. That’s what we have to do right now.”

“Right, explain…” Twilight slumped back to the floor, head face falling. “I don’t… what are we supposed to say when we get home? How do we explain what happened here to everypony? How do we go tell our friends what happened to…”

Twilight trailed off. Her gaze circled the room. She stared at the barricaded lab door, the cracked and burned kitchen wall, the crumbling entrance to the bunks. Her eyes welled up with tears. “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to say to them.”

“Hey, Twilight, I…” Dash’s voice softened and her glare eased up. “Look, I’m sorry. I… I feel the same way as you. But we can’t lose our heads right now. We need… we need to keep our minds sharp. When we get home I’ll… I don’t know. I don’t wanna think about that right now. Or what I’m going to say to everypony else about what’s happened.”

“We won’t need to say anything.” Pinkie jumped up, her face ecstatic. “Everything’s gonna be alright. I’ve got it.”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, wiping her nose off. “Could you just… I mean…”

Still shaking a little, Twilight stood back up. She took a deep breath, wiped the few escaped tears from her cheeks, and looked at Pinkie. “No more vagueness, Pinkie. I want you to explain, clearly and cleanly, what you’ve been talking about, and how all this relates to what you’ve been reading in those books.”

Dash nodded. “What Twilight said, Pinkie. Because I’m still seriously confused as to what you’ve been going on about.”

The two stared at Pinkie. Fluttershy, still sniffling, brushed her mane away from her eyes to look on.

Pinkie took a deep breath and smiled. “Alright, alright, from the beginning… we’re in the Temple of Proch’No, alright? This super big place way out here in the middle of all this snow and ice. It was built for one reason: to keep that big tube of green goop locked up. Now, that goop got out and became the thing that’s been causing everything, right? But it’s not just out to gobble us up and become us. It’s got something more important to do than that, much more important. It’s got to–”

“Pinkie, stop. You’re still being confusing,” Twilight said. “Let me back up. How does this have to do with all your books?”

“Well, because everything is in them,” Pinkie responded, her tone staying matter-of-fact.

“Yes, alright, that’s fine, but how do you know this applies to us?” Dash said, staring down at Pinkie’s book pile. “Can’t it all just be some big coincidence?”

“Well, because we’re in those books, too.” Pinkie gulped and pushed her stack of paperbacks towards Twilight. “Well, not really in them, but it’s ones just like us.”

Pinkie pointed at the top book, aptly titled The Crypt. “Here, Twilight, open that one to the page I marked. You’ll find a section where a young pegasus stumbles onto that big green tube, which then cracks open and consumes her. It doesn’t turn into her, though, because like I said before, not everything is in one story. It’s all just bits and pieces. I’ve had to connect the dots.”

“And here, Rainbow, check this out.” Pinkie scooped up a different book and tossed it to Dash. “That one’s got a bit about a unicorn scientist going through her missing friend’s laboratory to figure out what she was working on, only to discover that her research had destroyed her in a back room.”

Dash flipped to a marked page and scanned a few lines before tossing the book aside. “Still probably just a coincidence,” she muttered, though a note of uncertainty entered her voice.

“There’s more, though!” Pinkie pointed to a book low in the stack. “At the bottom, there’s one that’s about a young mailcolt who finds a strange beast in his rounds with his professor friend, and the beast ends up ripping his–”

“The problem we’re having, Pinkie,” Twilight cut in, reading over the pages Pinkie directed her to, “is that it doesn’t make any kind of factual sense for what you’re saying to be true. These books were written ages ago, by somepony who was making it all up. That’s what fiction writers do. How can any of them possibly relate to what’s happening here, let alone actually have real bearing on the situation?”

“Oh, he’s always said that he sometimes bases what he writes on real things and tales he stumbles upon in his travels,” Pinkie said. She took a step towards Twilight. “But it’s more than that here. This is… this is something I can feel is right.”

“Pinkie, how you personally feel about this is one thing,” Twilight said, looking over the rest of the books that Pinkie gave her, “but it certainly isn’t enough to justify–”

Pinkie shook her head. “No, I mean I literally feel it. It’s like a buzzing in the back of my brain, and it perks up whenever I start to concentrate real hard on what I’ve learned from the books.”

Pinkie tapped the back of her head, her hoof bouncing off her thick mane. “Right here, right now. You’ve got it too, don’t you Twilight? You’ve had it, or something like it. Something in your head that you can’t place your hoof on, but that gets stronger when you listen to me.”

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, keeping silent. Dash tossed her book down and turned to Pinkie.

“Alright, Pinkie, I’m going to humor you for a bit longer,” Dash said, letting out a long sigh as she did. “But only because we can’t go anywhere right now, and it’s not like you’re going to shut up about this anyway. So, your books are telling you what’s happening. That’s great.”

Dash raised her voice slightly and gestured to the wreckage around then. “Then why in the hay didn’t you know about everything that was going to happen?”

Pinkie shrugged. “It’s not all the same. Only some of it. And I could never be sure of what until I watched it happen in front of me. And then I came back and checked, and there it was, and then I knew. But now that’s alright, because I can fix this.”

“You said that before, Pinkie.” Twilight sighed, slowly letting her hoof drop from her neck. “Let’s get back to what you were saying. There’s this thing, kept here at this temple. What was it being kept for? Who put it there? Where did it come from? Just what is it?”

“Actually, I kinda want to hear about what you said it was doing.” Dash pointed at the books. “You said it was here to do something more important?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yep yep. This first thing, it’s a bit like a… like a scout, I suppose. It comes out, it gets the lay of the land, and it learns everything it can from the ponies around it–”

“Funny way of learning,” Twilight muttered. She sniffed and held back another tear.

“–and when it’s gathered what it can, that’s when it can really get to work. That’s when it goes to free what’s beneath us.”

Dash cocked her head. “And… what is beneath us, Pinkie?”

Pinkie scratched her chin. “It’s a bit difficult to describe, since he never gives it a name. Which always did sort of bug me, since he brings it up in like half his books, or he at least refers to it somewhere, or has somepony trying to wake it up, or has some other pony dreaming about it and then going completely cuckoo because of it, which I think is silly because you can’t go crazy from just dreaming about something that’s not actually there, that would just be like getting full from thinking about a cake, and I’ve never done that except for that one time–”

“Pinkie, hey! Focus!” Dash stamped her hoof on the floor. “What’s beneath us?”

“Something very big,” Pinkie said. She hopped in a small circle, looking down at the floor the entire time. “More than that even. It’s the absolute biggest thing that there ever ever was and ever ever will be. It’s been stuck way down below for a super long time, though, since it can’t get out unless the littler thing up here lets it out. See, if you’d just look at those pages I marked in The Terror at Trotwich, it really goes into a lot more detail–”

“Whoa whoa whoa Pinkie,” Dash cut in again, causing Pinkie to roll her eyes in frustration. “There’s another one of those things, that’s even bigger?”

“That’s what I just said, didn’t I?” Pinkie let out an exasperated sigh. “You guys really need to listen more closely to what I say.”

Dash gave Pinkie a quizzical look. Her wings flapped, and Dash hovered up a few feet, still keeping her composure together. “I don’t believe that…”

Pinkie’s face suddenly darkened. Her hoof tapped quickly along the floor. “Um… you really should,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“So the thing up here has been doing what it’s been doing to get ready to awaken a bigger thing,” Twilight said. She kept her eyes closed, her mind racing behind them. “What happens when this big thing wakes up?”

“Well, it’s been asleep for as long as anypony could be asleep.” Pinkie turned to face Twilight, her smile returning. “When it gets up, it’s going to be feeling pretty hungry.”

Twilight opened her eyes. “Hungry for what, exactly?”

Pinkie grinned. She slid an open book towards Twilight. Glancing down, Twilight saw an illustration on the page; it depicted an entire planet, slowly crumbling into dust under the attack from some large, shapeless mass.

“For everything,” Pinkie said simply. “For all of Equestria and the stars beyond.”

Dash looked back and forth between Twilight, the open book, and Pinkie. “Okay Pinkie,” Dash said, still hovering in midair, “I think you can take it down a notch here. I know you like your stories and all, but that’s not the sort of thing that we need to hear right–”

“And the dreams?” Twilight said, not looking up from the illustration. “What do those dreams mean? The ones we keep having?”

“That one I’m still working on a bit,” Pinkie said, sheepishly rubbing her head. “It doesn’t quite work with what this thing’s gonna do. Although come to think of it, it might just work if… no, no, that doesn’t fit… unless…”

Pinkie furrowed her brow, brushing her hoof through her mane.

“Twilight, you’re not buying into this, are you?” Dash said, an expression of disbelief crossing her face. “Remember what I said about keeping our minds sharp?”

“Rainbow, I know all this sounds impossible, and I don’t know how much of it I believe myself,” Twilight said, finally looking up from the book. “But based on everything that’s happened so far, there’s got to be… well, something to what Pinkie is saying. I… I can feel it.”

Dash shook her head. “Twilight, this is crazy. I mean, everything that’s happened over the past few days is crazy, but this is crazier. Listen to what you’re saying! That you’re developing some kind of Pinkie sense of your own and it’s telling you that some random horror stories are a key to what’s happening right here right now?”

“No, this isn’t my Pinkie sense, Rainbow,” Pinkie said, still rubbing her mane. “That’s been on the fritz since we arrived. This is something else. Though I really would like my Pinkie senses to come back, I’m starting to miss them an awful lot.”

Fluttershy coughed loudly. The others stopped talking and turned towards her. Fluttershy wiped her eyes clear and looked back, still curled into a small ball against the wall.

“Um… Pinkie, you said that, um, the smaller t-thing needs to go w-wake the big o-one up,” she said, her tone still wavering. “So if… if Apple Bloom r-really is a… then can she do it?”

“Oh absolutely,” Pinkie said, nodding. “It would take no trouble at all for her. I mean, unless she’s not one, in which case she’d probably have all sorts of trouble trying to do it. But if she was one, yeah, piece of cake. She’s probably doing it right now, even.”

“Hold up, I see where this is heading.” Dash put a hoof in the air, then pointed towards the temple. “We’re not going back in there. End of discussion. We’re gonna wait here, either until we can leave or whenever Hawks decides to show up.”

“Rainbow Dash, whether she’s one of those things or not, we just can’t leave her in there.” Twilight straightened herself up, looking Dash right in the eye. “If she’s still herself, then we take her back. We’re all going to get out of here soon, I promise you. But we’re going to do it together.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “And if she’s not still herself… then we finish this thing off. Once and for all. We have to do that, no matter what. That thing can’t be allowed to still be around after we leave here.”

“You’re forgetting the best part!” Pinkie hopped up and down, a massive grin on her face. “It’s not even about getting to Apple Bloom anymore, we just need to find where that thing would go on its own and we can clear everything up! Make it all go back to the way it used to be!”

“Pinkie, now what are you…” Dash started, then stopped when she saw Pinkie’s ankle. “Pinkie, what is going on with your hoof there?”

The bruise on Pinkie’s ankle was even more apparent now. The shape of the hooked cross was a dark black against her pink skin, its features coming into a sharp focus.

“Rainbow Dash, silly, that’s the other marker.” Pinkie giggled. “We already introduced that back in the kitchen. Where were you?”

“I was a little busy. You tend to miss things when you’re tied to a couch.” Dash shot a quick glare at Twilight.

“Pinkie, what do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, looking at the bruise. “How can you turn everything back?

“Oh, it’s easy!” Pinkie hopped around. “It’s like a… um… like a failsafe for ponies like us. Put in long ago to give us a last-ditch shot at stopping what’s to come. It’s like this: I use this marker and the other marker to find the entrance to get down below. I figure out my way down there, until I eventually come to the emergence chamber, and then I just seal it up. Even easier than pie, which is good, since I don’t think I have any pie crusts left up here.”

“That doesn’t quite answer my question, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “You get down to… to wherever you said you needed to go. And then you seal whatever big thing is trying to come up. How does that fix everything?”

“Because it’s more than just a seal. It’s almost like a big drain,” Pinkie said, making a twirling motion with her hoof. “It sucks up all that’s left of the smaller thing, all it touched, all that it affected. It takes it all away, and changes everything back.”

“What, like… like a time travel spell?” Twilight’s eyes lit up. “But if that was the case, whatever we’d have gone back to change would’ve already happened! But since we’re still here, that can’t be what happened.”

“Don’t worry Twilight,” Pinkie said, winking. “There’s more than one way to look at time.”

“What the hay is she talking about, Twilight?” Dash asked.

Twilight rubbed her forehead. “Well, there were a few books on the subject in Starswirl’s library. I just haven’t had a chance to read them yet, not after what happened the last time I tried one of those spells. So, I guess… maybe?”

Pinkie giggled again. “You’re still thinking too small, Twilight. This is more than some time travel spell. This is something much, much more.”

Pinkie smacked her hooves together, causing Twilight and Fluttershy to flinch. “But!” Pinkie said, her voice gaining an edge. “There’s one thing I need before I can leave. Once I go past the point of the markers, that’s where things get a little maze-y. I gotta get me a map. Now The Terror at Trotwich said that I was supposed to find it right before my very eyes… what did it mean by that…”

Pinkie stroked her chin and paced the room, her eyes glued to the floor. Dash flapped over next to Twilight and whispered into her ear. “See, Twilight, this is what I mean. This is not how we should be acting right now.”

“Rainbow, I want to agree with you, but as crazy as Pinkie sounds...” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck again. The feeling had returned to the base of her skull, and it was bouncing around her head louder than ever before. She gritted her teeth, tapping her hoof on the floor.

“Um, guys?” Fluttershy wandered over to join the other two. “S-so, um, are we g-gonna go get Apple B-Bloom? Because I, um, really th-think that we, uh, we should go do that.”

Dash’s jaw dropped slightly. “Has nopony been listening to– actually, what are you doing talking about this, Fluttershy? Don’t tell me you’re not afraid or anything right now.”

“Oh, no, I… I am. V-very much s-so. But, um…” Fluttershy wiped her nose off. Her cheeks were still stained with tears, and her eyes practically scarlet from all the crying she’d been doing. “I’m t-trying very hard right now. W-we’ve just… we’ve just g-got to find her. I know we do.”

“Fluttershy, you don’t want to go in there,” Dash said pointedly. “That’s a big, scary pile of rocks, and there’s a pretty decent chance that there’s a filly in there that’s ready to rip you to shreds. You want to stay here.”

“We still don’t know what condition she’s in!” Twilight hissed. She leaned in closer. “We can prove if she isn’t, and we can act cautiously, but we still have to consider that she’s still her!”

“Both of her friends and her sister, Twilight!” Dash shot back. “The odds don’t get any more stacked than that. She’s one, we’re staying, end of story.”

“A-ha!” Pinkie’s shout made the others jump. They turned to find Pinkie staring down at her books spread over the floor. Her grin was ear to ear, her eyes lit with excitement. “I’ve got it!”

Before the others could say anything, Pinkie scrambled down and gathered all the books in front of her. Stacking them in front of her, she started to systematically rip the front off of each book. A small pile of the illustrated covers and dust jackets accumulated in front of her.

“Pinkie, what are you doing now?” Twilight asked, instinctively wincing at each rip and tear.

“Can somepony grab me one of those big maps?” Pinkie asked without looking up. With a final flourish, she tore off the final cover. Leaning to the floor, she arranged the paper pieces in front of her, pushing them around and next to each other in a variety of shapes. “And a quill! Somepony check around for that, there’s got to be one around here somewhere.”

Nopony moved. Pinkie continued to shuffle the covers, studying each one closely. Dash took a few flaps back from Pinkie and cast a nervous look towards Twilight. Twilight just shrugged.

“There, all done!” Pinkie stood up triumphantly. She looked around the room. “Did you guys find the map and quill? No, wait, I’ve got it.”

Pinkie hopped over to the wall, digging through the barricade for the buried maps. Behind her, Twilight stepped over to look at what was assembled on the floor.

“Pinkie, what is this?” Twilight stared down at the mess. A collage of screaming ponies, alien and mystical looking creatures, abandoned houses, lantern beams, and hackneyed titles stared back at her. Pinkie had pushed the covers, some two dozen in all, into a kind of semi-circle along the floor. “What are you so excited about? There’s nothing here.”

Pinkie popped up, a large map shoved under her arm. “Ah, but look again,” she said, winking. She bent back down, rustling around in search of a quill.

Twilight focused harder. She brushed past the terrified expressions on the featured ponies, and started to take in the background details. Small claw marks, bright yellow eyes glowing in the dark, slimy tentacles reaching out from the shadows. None of it seemed out of the ordinary. Just more genre-appropriate illustrations that Twilight was getting very sick of looking at.

Then Twilight noticed it. A solid red line running through every cover. It made different twists and turns on each one, some curving around while others stuck to straight angles. Twilight bent down, her nose practically touching the paper now. Twilight recognized this cover; Pinkie had shown it to her shortly after the accident with the tube. A small symbol lay before her, one that was the same shade of red as the line it was just under. It was the hooked cross, identical to what was now blazing on Pinkie’s ankle.

Twilight stood back up and took a second look at the whole layout. The lines had all been connected, end to end. They formed a long, continuous circuit, with several intersections and divergences inside. “It almost looks like…” Twilight stated, studying the sight closely.

“Yup yup!” Pinkie hopped back over, a quill between her teeth and the large roll still under her arm. “It’s a map!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Pinkie threw the roll down and started to copy the lines down. The quill danced around the paper as her head whipped around, replicating the red path with surprisingly minute precision. In all of thirty seconds, she was done.

“Alright!” Pinkie clapped her hooves together and rolled her new map up. “Everypony ready? Because it’s time to go!”

“Alright, are you guys actually going to go in there?” Dash asked. She landed on the floor and pointed an exasperated hoof towards the temple. “In there. Where there’s probably something big and nasty waiting to meet you.”

Twilight stepped forward. A look of firm resolve crossed her face, and her eyes met Dash’s. “Rainbow Dash, this is the last thing we have to do. I know it, you know it. Whatever shape Apple Bloom is in, we need to find her. I know it’s hard, after all that’s happened… but we need to get her. Either to bring her home to safety, or to finish this once and for all.”

Twilight turned away from Dash and walked towards the supply pile. “We’re going in there. I just need to get some things ready first, to be ready for whatever we find in there.” Twilight bent over, retrieving a few small boxes and loading them into a nearby saddle bag.

Dash looked over at Pinkie and Fluttershy. “You guys feel the same way? Are you gonna go in with Twilight. I mean, Pinkie, I know you do, since you’re all over… whatever it is you’re all about right now.”

“Seriously, guys, can we go?” Pinkie inched towards the temple entrance. “Time’s a-wastin’!”

“But Fluttershy, you too? You sure you want to go out there with them?”

Fluttershy rubbed her hooves softly as she looked at the floor. She let out a small whimper, and looked up at Dash. “I… I am. Rainbow… Twilight’s right. We have to do this. Just one last thing. And then we can all go home.”

Another gust of wind rocked the walls. Wood creaked all over, and Fluttershy shivered. “Bes-sides,” she said, glancing out the window. “I think it’ll be a little, um, quieter in there.”

“We all know what we need to do.” Twilight finished loading her bag and made for the door. She turned back to look at Dash. “Last chance before you’re left behind, Rainbow Dash.”

Pinkie paused next to Twilight. “Are you sure you want to stay here by yourself, Rainbow? You’ll miss all the fun!”

“Guys, my mind is made up.” Dash sat back onto the floor and crossed her hooves. “You want to go get lost and… whatevered in there, that’s fine. Me, I’m staying right here, where it’s safe. And there’s nothing you can say to change my mind.”

“Come on, Rainbow Dash, you’re falling behind!” Pinkie shouted back. The group hurried along through the wide passage of the temple, their hooves sounding off on the cold stone floor. Pinkie was at the head of the line, with Twilight and Fluttershy creeping along next her. Rainbow Dash was a few steps behind them all. She moved deliberately, softly cradling her saddle bag with her wings.

“I’m going as fast as I want to go right now, alright? Lay off.” Dash’s head was in constant motion, looking all around the passageway for any sign of trouble or danger. A distant crack made her head whip around, though she didn’t stop moving. Her wings pulled her bag in a little closer.

“We’re just happy to have you along, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said without looking back. “And also for volunteering to carry the bag.”

“I’m just here to keep you guys safe,” Dash said, a touch of pride in her voice. “No reason to have you all doing anything extra stupid without supervision, after all.”

“But Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said, turning around to hop along backwards while looking at Dash, “You’re usually the one to do something like that. And I thought you wanted to stay behind anyway because of all the scary stuff in here, but then you realized that you’d be staying behind alone and then the storm brought in that other big gust of wind that almost made the window crack and you–”

“Say Pinkie, where you’d say we were going again?” Dash said quickly, avoiding her friend’s gaze.

Pinkie smiled and turned back around. “We’re almost there! Just gotta get to where I need to be to get this marker going.”

“And, uh, where is that, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, but Pinkie ignored her.

The ponies walked on. There was a new darkness within the temple now. Half of the lanterns along the way had blown out, and it was just as cold as it had been inside the broken base. Each pony was dressed in the remainder of the jackets and scarves, though shivering was still present in most of them. The exception was Pinkie, who wasn’t wearing anything as she hopped merrily along.

The passageway twisted ahead of them. Twilight glanced down side corridors and walkways as they trotted by. Most were pitch black and felt even colder. A lantern levitated in front of Twilight, though it didn’t do her much help beyond the central passage.

“Apple Bloom!” Twilight shouted out, her voice echoing down the hall. “Apple Bloom! Are you out there?”

“Hey, keep it down!” Dash snapped. She flew up to Twilight and jabbed her in the side. “We don’t need to announce ourselves right now!”

“I think she’d be able to hear us anyway,” Twilight snapped back. She called out again. “Apple Bloom! We just want to help you!”

“Yeah, she’ll believe that,” Dash said. She pulled her bag around to glance inside, releasing a long exhale as she stared at the pile of thermite charges nestled within.

“Nearly there, guys!” Pinkie shouted. She hopped forward. A heavy set of doors appeared ahead, which Pinkie wasted no time in pushing open.

Twilight’s eyes widened. She recognized the intersection beyond the doors as the one at the opening of the temple. It was even colder here, with flakes of snow fluttering around in the air. In front of her, Fluttershy walked through the door and shrieked. She immediately skittered back, almost running right into Twilight.

“Come on Fluttershy, just keep going forward,” Twilight said, gently pushing Fluttershy on the back. The pegasus walked forward slowly, her knees ready to buckle. “That’s it, keep walking. Just stare straight ahead.”

The group walked on through the double doors. Twilight snuck a quick glance towards the front doors of the temple, and immediately regretted it.

There was a mountain of snow at the doors, blocking the entrance completely. Most of the flames had been snuffed out along the hall, but the ones right at the front still managed to fight the odds and stay lit. The remnants of the struggle there were more visible now, looking somewhat worse for wear under the whirling wind and snow. Light glinted off a withered claw on the ground. Twilight immediately snapped her head back forward. She sniffed, fighting the tear that wanted to break free down her cheek.

Dash stopped and stared at the intersection. Her expression stayed blank, but her breathing quickened. “Anytime soon, Pinkie?” she called out, quickly moving forward when she saw the others had already gone.

“You guys know the way now!” Pinkie responded. She moved a little faster now, hopping along in a steady stream of bounces. She rounded a corner and suddenly pushed her hooves down hard. She slid to a stop just as the others rounded the corner behind her.

The great metal doors to the tube chamber lay before them. They stood slightly ajar, open just wide enough for somepony to slip through. Pinkie turned back and smiled. “All set everypony?”

“Here?” Twilight said, looking from the doors to Pinkie. “We came back here? Pinkie, you could’ve at least said something.”

Pinkie tilted her head. “Wasn’t it obvious? I mean, the other marker is here. Where else would I go?”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but Dash’s hoof shot forward, interrupting her.

“Hey, look!” Dash shouted. A light red ribbon was caught on one of the door handles, snagged on a sharp piece of metal. It hung limply down, occasionally flickering from some faint breeze.

The ponies stared at it.

“Why would she come here?” Twilight asked. “I mean, out of everywhere to go in this place… why here?”

“Sh-should we call out for her?” Fluttershy asked. She peered around, trying to look inside the chamber. She was met only with darkness, as not a speck of light appeared past the doors.

“Come on, girls!” Pinkie said, brushing past the ribbon. “Gotta keep moving! I’m pretty sure this will work, but we’ve gotta go in if we want to try it.”

“Pinkie, wait a second!” Dash shouted, but Pinkie was already gone. Dash turned to look at Twilight. “She’s got her mind set, doesn’t she?”

Twilight shrugged, and took a step forward. Dash put her hoof out, blocking her.

“Whoa, whoa. First things first, Twilight,” Dash said, looking at the darkness. “Any chance of a little light in there?”

Twilight nodded. She dropped the lantern at Fluttershy’s side and stepped up to the door. A bright glow appeared on her horn, shooting inside the room. There was a flash, and then a dim glow of light appeared in the room.

“Shall we?” Twilight stepped in. Fluttershy scooped up the lantern and, with a quick glance towards Dash, followed her inside. Dash squirmed outside for a moment. She took a long look behind her, searching in the faint light of the hallway for any kind of movement. She took a deep breath, let loose a long exhale, and walked into the chamber.

Even after Twilight’s spell, there wasn’t much light. Over half the candles refused to ignite, and the ones that did go up were fainter than before. Fluttershy and Twilight stood in the center of the room, just past the fallen tube. The tube hadn’t moved an inch. It still rested peacefully on the floor, gathering dust.

“Apple Bloom?” Twilight said aloud, quieter than before. There was no response, and she looked carefully around the room.

“Is she here?” Dash asked as she walked up to join the others. “I don’t see anypony.”

“Where else could she have gone?” Fluttershy said. “Maybe she left after coming in?”

“Why leave her ribbon behind?” Twilight asked. She peered into the darker corners of the room, but saw no signs of life.

“I don’t think she’s too concerned with her hair right now,” Dash said. She turned and noticed Pinkie hopping up the ladder on the tube base. “Hey Pinkie, where are you going now?”

Pinkie didn’t say anything as she scurried to the top of the base. She stared down, holding her hoof in the air. Despite the faint light, her bruise was as visible as ever. “Okie-dokie-lokie, you guys ready for this?”

“Ready for what, Pinkie?” Twilight took a small step back.

Pinkie stood up. The carving of the hooked cross was directly below her now. She grinned and brought her hoof down, pressing her bruise into the carving.

The entire temple seemed to jolt. Candles were knocked down as the walls and floors trembled. Pinkie was bucked off the base as it rattled around under her. She came tumbling down to the floor, rolling to a stop in front of the others.

“Pinkie!” Twilight knelt down, putting a shaking hoof out onto Pinkie’s stomach. “Are you alright?”

“I’m good, I’m good!” Pinkie assured her. She tried to climb up, but the shaking floor made it difficult. Fluttershy cried out and reached out to grab onto Dash, who tried to protest but ended up just grabbing back. The two pegasi held each other tightly while the sound of falling stone clattered around them.

Suddenly, the entire tube base fell backward. It collapsed onto the ground, like it was shoved up by great force. A staircase was revealed, leading deep down into the ground. Behind the group, the large metal doors swung shut. They clasped together, a loud CLICK sounding out. As they did so, the temple stopped rumbling. Its former state of silence returned just as abruptly as it had left.

“Hey, what gives?” Dash shouted. She wriggled out from Fluttershy’s grip and hurried to the doors. She grabbed them and tried to pull them open, but they wouldn’t budge. She pulled a charge from her bag, though hesitated as she examined the thickness of the doors.

“How is it, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight called out. Fluttershy whimpered next to her, having shifted places after Dash left.

“I don’t think just one of these is going to do it,” Dash said. She reached into her bag to pull a few more out.

“Pinkie, wait!” Fluttershy called out. Twilight and Dash turned to see Pinkie’s tail disappear down the stairs. “Pinkie!”

Dash flapped over, hovering above the stairs. She looked down, but couldn’t see anything past what little light remained the chamber. She looked back at Twilight, slight confusion in her eyes. “Well? Now what?”

Twilight slowly shrugged and took a step forward. “We’ve come this far, and we can’t lose Pinkie too. We’ve just got to follow her.”

Dash stared back, but said nothing. Slowly, she flapped down to the floor. The group, with Fluttershy shaking at the center and Twilight and Dash supporting her on either side, stepped onto the stairs and descended into the darkness.