Someone was calling Twilight's name. It didn't matter though. None of it mattered. She'd long since phased it all out.

"Twilight?"

The obscured shapes in her blurred vision, didn't matter. The mud, the muck and the cold didn't matter.

"Twilight."

None of those things existed. All that existed was the soft warmth against her body. Warmth she was all too aware was fading away.

"Twilight, please,” Applejack repeated, whose voice sounded as if it were miles away. "You'll catch yer' dea—" She paused before backpedaling, "You'll catch a mite a' cold, lyin' here in the rain."

Twilight only continued to nuzzle the form next to her, like a newborn foal.

Suddenly, she felt a comforting warmth across her cheek and withers as Applejack hugged her tightly. "Yeh've done all you could for him, sugarcube," her strong voice told Twilight, before faltering. "Ain't nothing gonna hurt him now. He's back with his family. He's back with you."

Twilight Sparkle felt the cold for the first time that night, but only because Applejack was so much warmer. She hugged back fiercely, tears spilling fresh and hot again. Twilight's affection for Applejack only increased at the sight of tears in her own gleaming green eyes.

After a short while, Twilight took notice of her surroundings. She hadn't noticed they'd been joined by medical ponies, but apart from testing the young dragon's absent pulse, they were only on-hand to make post-mortem notes. A unicorn stallion walked up to them, excusing himself before lifting Spike's slight form off of the ground. Twilight's reaction was not unexpected.

"Wh-where are they taking him? What are they doing?!" Twilight shot to her hooves, barely able to keep still. Applejack stepped in front of the her as the body was lowered into a white bag and sealed in by a zipper.

"I expect it'll be the,” Applejack said, unable to meet Twilight’s gaze. “The morgue."

Applejack began watching Twilight unblinkingly out the corner of her eye. It was worse than the freak-out she had expected: instead, Twilight sagged, head hanging near to the floor.

"Please,” Twilight murmured, “don't take him away from me."

Her sobs were silent, but she shuddered at each one. Finally, once Spike had been carted away, Twilight was wide-awake.

"He's gone,” she said. “Spike’s... dead."

All were spared the burden of a response as they heard the great cracking and smashing that signified the final collapse of the east wing of the library roof, far too weakened to support its own weight despite cooling down into coals. Sparks took off into the night sky like a swarm of fireflies.

It had been a slow walk to Applejack's orchard home. Twilight lacked the desire to do much of anything, but neither of her friends left her side until they were safely indoors. Applejack sent Twilight upstairs for a warm bath and set aside her guest room, before stopping Fluttershy as she was halfway out the door.

"Twilight's got no home now, but I reckon it ain't safe for y'all neither Fluttershy," she said gravely.

"Pardon?"

"Whatever can do-in an iron-hide, fire breathin', diamond-downin' dragon, burn a library down, then up n' vanish with only one witness...” Applejack leered over her shoulder at the night. “Let's just say I don't feel good about you, alone, in your cottage, a stone's throw away from the EverFree Forest. You'd best bunk here t'night."

Fluttershy seemed to understand perfectly, but her body-language implied a desperate desire to leave. "Oh no! What about my animal friends? Oh, I'd feel just awful if any of them got hurt!"

Applejack moved between Fluttershy and the door, only keeping a hoof against her chest as she tried walking out. "Settle down now, would ya'? I strongly doubt anything wants to hurt them critters."

Fluttershy palpably relaxed. She'd at least stopped walking.

"I asked Twilight as much as she'd bear to say, and from what she told me, the thing that did this to Spike was there for her."

Fluttershy registered polite confusion. "But why would anypony want to hurt Twilight? She didn't do anything."

"Yeah!" Burst a rough female voice from the other side of the room. "Who's fixing to hurt our gal?"

Rainbow Dash, huffing with exhaustion, flew in through a window. It was easily one of her better entrances.

"Rainbow?!" a surprised Applejack cried, ignoring the question entirely. "I thought you were still in Canterlot! How'd y'all get here so jackrabbit fast?"

"They don't call me ‘Dash’ for giggles, AJ. Rarity and Pinkie Pie are on their way too. Princess Celestia sent us a messenger-pony, and she said that Twilight rushed over here to help Spike, and that she needed our help. Kinda' impressed she made it back this fast," Dash added with the ghost of a smirk, before continuing.

"I saw what happened to the Library. The weather-ponies told me Twilight was brought here."

Applejack and Fluttershy moved further indoors as Dash looked to them with worry.

"Yes, Twilight's upstairs,” Fluttershy confirmed. “Applejack asked her about what happened, but she's really not in the mood to talk. Not after..." Fluttershy's eyes glistened with tears.

"Well, Spike was there too, wasn't he? Where is he?" Rainbow asked, looking around, as though expecting to see the young dragon napping on a sofa. Suddenly she gasped before stomping the ground, wings spreading to their full length.

"Those no-good,” Dash cried, her teeth only grinding further as she wracked her brain. “whatevers' didn't kidnap him, did they?"

"No. No they- they didn't take him," Applejack said, breathing deeply.

"Well then where is he?"

Applejack's face slackened, clearly unwilling and unprepared to relay this news. "Rainbow. Poor little Spike. they put a real hurt on him, and—"

"They hurt him?" Rainbow Dash snorted flapping her wings. It looked very likely that she might break something. "So, they put him in the HOSPITAL?"

"No, not the hospital, Dash. What I'm tryin' to tell ya' is—"

"Then where?"

"Dash,” Applejack said, “Spike's gone."

Rainbow Dash's panting slowed, her expression softening.

" ‘Gone?’ ‘Gone?’ Whadya' mean ‘gone?’ "

"Aw, Dash, why're you making me say this?” Applejack moaned, her eyes wincing shut as she shook her head. “Those things, that burned down the Library. Th-they killed him. Spike's- Spike's dead."

Rainbow Dash's previously tense, frowning face was like a deflating balloon. Even her wings sagged until they nearly touched the floor.

"N-no," her voice came out in a low crack as she stared at the floor, lowering her rump there as well. "Spike, little old Spike? Gone? M-murdered?

"Oh Twilight, that poor girl."

For a minute, none of them said a word. Finally, Fluttershy was the one to wrap a foreleg around Dash. Applejack got to her hooves and spoke, a fire in her eyes.

"Don't none of ya'll worry; we'll get whatever did this to him. Maybe we won't pay 'em back in kind, but if we have to, we'll show every whosit and whatsit in the EverFree Forest that nopony hurts our friends!"

"Now, what a thing to say! There's a time and place for your little jokes, Rainbow Dash, but this is simply tasteless!"

Rarity and Pinkie Pie arrived by morning, neither having the means to return to Ponyville as fast as Twilight or Rainbow Dash. Twilight had yet to come out of the guest room upstairs. Rainbow Dash was delegated the task of breaking the news to their last two friends. Pinkie Pie's hair fell from its bouncy tangle to a flatness they'd seen only when she felt her worst. Rarity wasn't as quick to believe.

"I wish it were as simple as all that, Rare'," said Applejack, busy preparing apple-pancakes for the group as the towering deep-red of her brother Macintosh moseyed through the kitchen, sniffing the air in interest.

"But it's the truth,” she continued. “Dash wasn't there when it happened, but I saw it for myself, along with Fluttershy."

With every word, Rarity’s denial melted like ice on hot pavement, until her very eyes were dripping. "No, it simply can't be! I refuse to believe it!" she cried dramatically, drawing a handkerchief from her saddlebag and resorting to a weak whisper. "Not Spike! Not my sweet little squire!"

"Who would do such a thing to anypony? Let alone cuddly-wuddly widdle Spikey?" Pinkie Pie sobbed, dissolving into noisy tears. Applejack frowned at this, but tried to remain silent.

Tried.

"Pinkie, I know your sad, we all are. But could ya' try tonin' it down? You're gonna wake Granny."

Rarity slammed a hoof on the table. "I'd venture a guess at those rapscallion Diamond Dogs!” she cried, nostrils flaring. “Those brutes might like nothing better than to cause us harm after besting them last time! Spike mentioned the assailants were tall?"

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, that's what Twilight said. But if it was Diamond Dogs what did it, why wouldn't Spike just say so? He's met 'em, even held his own against 'em. I don't see them managing somethin' like this neither, not without getting caught."

A pancake blackened behind her, the acrid smell of burnt batter creeping into their senses.

"Jack, y'need some help with those?" Macintosh offered, after setting the table, unprompted. "I reckon you're a mite preoccupied."

"I'm just fine," Applejack fired back. None of them had gotten much sleep, but she was always stubborn about these things.

"No you're not, look at you,” Macintosh said, pointing a hoof. “You've been up all night with this business. Let a pony who's had a good long rest mind those."

Applejack stepped away as her big brother took over. She smiled kindly as he busied himself with the batter, before a loud knocking emanated from the front door.

"Aw, what's this now? Will the surprises never end today?" Applejack asked under her breath. She opened the door unceremoniously, but ceremony might well have been called for.

"Uh.” Applejack stared. “I'll call that a 'maybe.' "

Twilight Sparkle had always heard of some ponies becoming so morose that they cried themselves to sleep. She never understood how that worked, until now. She had woken up in silence, only staring at the window where the Sun was beginning to rise, harsh yellow light striking the opposite wall near the ceiling, spilling light throughout the room behind her like iridescent paint. For a long while, she couldn't bring herself to move. As always, however, lack of bodily motion meant her brain was able to work double-time. In this situation, it wasn't such a nice thing. In every sense, she felt Spike's death would have been easily preventable, if only one or two things had happened differently.

She couldn't stand it anymore. Lying there was eating at her from within. She paced about the room a while, but this only made it worse. She'd never imagined a moment where not-thinking would help her. She had to get her feelings out, or it was going to drive her insane. Finally, she found a scroll and quill. Writing would bring her a modicum of catharsis.

'Dear Princess Celestia,' she began. 'I've learned something, but too late, concerning the magic of friendship:

Arguments come and go, but real friendships survive it all...' Suddenly, Twilight’s brow furrowed. The quill dug harder into the paper.

'But if you're selfish, and leave your friends to fend for themselves, and aren't there for them when they need it,' The scratching became feverish as breath quickened.

'and ponies aren't honest with you, and make you blind to dangers that are swarming in around you—'

The quill snapped. Twilight roared in a torment that sprouted from so many different places. Her horn shot a magical ray that incinerated the scroll before she shunted the resulting ashes out the window. She hurled the quill at the wall as well, which embedded itself in the opposite wall, in spite of the break. Twilight slumped onto the floor, shuddering from fresh sobs.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because," said a soft, older voice. "I didn't want to resign you to a life of fear."

Twilight whirled around. Celestia herself had entered the room, towering over most of the furniture designed around the typical Equestria ponies.

"I was afraid that if I told you, and there was no real danger, you might live your life in wait of an attacker that would never come. I didn't want to risk isolating you from your friends; not when you seemed so happy with them in your life."

Twilight didn't know what to say. Tears still stained her face, and her breathing was still irregular. Truth be told, Celestia had found her in a very compromising position. If there could be any consolation for her, it was that Celestia looked crestfallen to her. Vulnerable, even.

"Oh, if only I knew then what I know now Twilight.” Celestia said. “If I had heard any sooner of the number of missing ponies from villages near the forest, and made the connection. I was a fool. I never suspected that the attackers had targets beyond you. The visions never give the full story, and I should have prepared for that. I've already failed our dear friend Spike. how many other ponies are suffering for my mistakes?"

A tear streamed down her face, and Twilight's surprise overcame whatever anger remained. She'd never seen Celestia cry before.

"No. No, I left. I should never have left Spike alone. If only I'd been there, then maybe—"

"Oh, Twilight Sparkle. How can anypony know what might have been? You may well have suffered the same fate."

Celestia approached Twilight, wrapping one of her great wings around her.

"But,” Twilight sniffed, “at least I wouldn't have to lose him. At least, I wouldn't have to feel like this!" She hid her face, burying it into her mentor's wing. "It hurts, it hurts so much! I don't know what to do anymore. I'm supposed to be studying Friendship. I'm supposed to represent an Element of Friendship!"

She revealed her face again, but her eyes were firmly shut.

"And I'm responsible for my best friend in the world,” she said, her eyes opening once more, “dying." Twilight slipped into loud, shuddering sobs, hiding her face again.

"I-I just want it over,” she said, “all of it! How can I possibly go on if I have to keep feeling like this?!"

At this, Celestia sat on the floor, her winged embrace becoming firmer. "Twilight, what a thing to say!” she gasped. “What would Spike have wanted? Would he have wanted you to die alongside him? If the choice were yours, would you have taken his place?"

Twilight nodded. "I loved him. I still love him."

"And you would have left him alive,” Celestia asked, “to mourn you with the same pain you feel now? Resigned him to bear your burden?"

Twilight looked into her deep, ancient eyes, processing her argument. "No," she finally answered. "Nopony should ever have to feel like this."

"So," Celestia said slowly, "bleak though it may be, you can consider that you already suffer in your friend's place. That you must keep living, though hurt, so his pain could end. I suggest that you not pity him, only yourself, for you are the one who has suffered a loss."

Twilight sniffed again. "He had so much ahead of him. So much he could have seen or done or been! How can I say he didn't lose out when the rest of his life was robbed from him so early?"

Celestia offered the faintest smile. "But in his very few years, Spike knew real happiness, Twilight. Dragons live such isolated lives, it's rare that they ever form attachments, even in all those eons. And yet, he had you. And he got to see you one last time, safe and sound. The best of friends still forget themselves, they still quarrel, and love remains beneath it all. Spike fought for you, because he loved you, like so few of his kind ever get to feel. In the end, you both knew you cared. Many would hope to be so fortunate. But deeper still are those who would lay down their lives for the sake of another; truly they are the fiercest friends."

Twilight always felt like a foal in the presence of the Princess, but it was rarely to this extent.

"W- will this pain ever go away?" she asked.

Celestia stared into the distance, at something Twilight couldn't hope to see. "I've lived longer than a hundred pony lifetimes, and made good friends through each. It's been so long, but I still miss so many of them. Luna and I, the alicorn borne, are cursed as evenly as we are blessed. Stewards to the two great forces of the world. Servants, doomed to live so unbearably long, and outlive so many who we come to love. Even if we're afforded the joys of seeing great ponies vindicated and celebrated after their time. The pain lessens after a while, but the longing never vanishes, not if you really loved them. But in the end, what really matters is that you remember them."

Twilight had no real response, but the silence was a notable improvement.

"You must not blame yourself, Twilight. It is, alone, the fault of whomever chose the path of murder."

Celestia sighed. "And in knowing this, I fear for you Twilight."

Twilight stared at her, the slightest frown growing on her face.

"The moment I saw you run from me,” Celestia explained, “I knew you would stop at nothing. Your face said everything. Nothing I said or did would have stopped you, just as I know nothing will stop you from going after the assailants who caused Spike's death. So I'm not going to stop you."

Twilight only continued to stare. "You're not?"

"No," Celestia replied. "I realize that you have to confront it, if you're ever to put all this behind you. I've sent soldiers into the Everfree Forest, where ponies keep disappearing, but I have instructed them to provide you with whatever help you require, should they come across you."

"Princess," Twilight said, her eyes wide. "I don't know what to—"

Celestia ducked her head down, seeing Twilight eye to eye. “Just please. I beg of you, do not take the bitter path of revenge. This killer must be stopped, but please, don't blind yourself by making it personal. Don't let it pervert you into being as bad as it is. Don't become something other than the wise, brave, loyal and loving young mare I've come to call one of my dearest friends."

"I," Twilight peeped, scarcely able to find the words. "I won't, Princess. I promise."

Celestia left the Apple Residence with a brief farewell, leaving the ponies downstairs mystified. Twilight came down shortly after, a determined look on her face. Breakfast was well underway. Despite her still flattened hair, Pinkie Pie was no less enthusiastic about her portion, prompting an occasionally annoyed glare from Rarity.

"Morning everypony," she turned to the late arrivals, forcing a smile. "Thanks for coming, you guys. It means a lot. But I've got to go."

"Go?" Pinkie Pie managed, her mouth full of pancake.

"But, go where, dear?" Rarity inquired, leering further at Pinkie.

"I have to find whatever did this to Spike,” Twilight said, eyes steely. “I need to confront it, if I can ever be at peace with what's happened."

"Alright!" Rainbow Dash cried. "Count me in!"

Twilight frowned at her. "Alone!"

"Alone?!" the group cried at once, Pinkie later than the others.

"Nuh uh! Nothin' doin'!" Applejack cried, forcefully shaking her head. "We're not lettin' our friend face something like this on her own."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed.

"We'd never leave ya' hanging, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie cried.

"No!" Twilight shouted. "I have to do this myself. Nopony else is going to get hurt because of me."

"We can take care of ourselves just fine, Twilight Sparkle." Rarity smiled as she stuck her chest out. "We all represent the Elements of Harmony, do we not? Are you really saying that some cowardly rapscallion stands a chance against us together?"

Twilight groaned before glaring as fiercely as she could muster. "This isn't your fight! I'm going to face this alone, or die trying!"

"Now look here, Twi'," Applejack said. "Yer' not the only pony in this room who lost a good friend last night. We all had a spot in our hearts fer' that scaly little scamp, and we're all itchin' to help ya' find answers."

"Please," Fluttershy said, at last. Everyone turned towards her. She hadn't spoken in a long time, and her voice sounded more solid than usual. "Twilight, Spike gave his life to protect you. Would you really take that away from him?"

"I," Twilight spluttered, not having considered this line of reasoning, nor expecting to hear it from Fluttershy. "You're right,” she sighed.” But I still have to do this, with or without you."

Pinkie Pie's hair bounced quickly to its usual poofy self as she bounded over to Twilight, crushing her in a one-legged hug. "We're with ya' to the ends of Equestria! But after that I might need to check on Gummy."

"Alright!" Twilight cried, suddenly energized and overcome. "Let's go!"

She took a step towards the door before Applejack held her back. "Whoa, nelly! Where are we even goin'? You're not just plannin' on combing the whole Everfree Forest, are ya'?"

"Uh," Twilight muttered, her face reddening, for this had been exactly her first instinct. "Well then. Maybe we should have a look at the Library?"

"Good point," Rainbow Dash agreed, bringing a hoof to her chin. "They might've left some sort of clues behind."

"Well, let's get going then!” Rarity said. “We've not a moment to spare till the trail goes cold!"

And with that, they cantered out the door.

"Hey, AJ," said Pinkie Pie, who bounded along behind them. "Y'know how you make those super-licious-red-delicious pancakes, and some ponies call pancakes flapjacks?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Well, maybe you should call those pancakes APPLE-JACKS!" Pinkie cried, laughing at her own wit.

"Oh, hardy harr," Applejack groaned, as Rainbow Dash allowed herself a chuckle.

The friends made their way to the blackened remains of the Library. The wood was shiny and onyx-colored. The tree was clearly dead now, leaves incinerated, leaving it to look spooky and forbidding amongst the warm, happy buildings surrounding it. They stepped on ashes that blackened their hooves as they entered the front door.

Twilight felt a chill, remembering how deafening it had been in contrast to this eerie silence. The sun shone in from the windows, the morning light scarcely helping against the black covering every wall, preventing the warm light from bouncing and filling the structure. It was the same library, but it now looked distinctly alien. The horse bust in the center of the foyer was disfigured, and an unwelcome sight as they passed by.

"Oh no. Twilight, your home!" Pinkie Pie whimpered.

"Well." Twilight shrugged. "Home is where the heart is."

"Let's spread out," Rainbow Dash said. "Look for anything here that that wasn't here before."

"Be careful, y'all," Applejack said, as they began walking. "I reckon this trunk ain't solid as it were yesterday."

They made their way carefully through the wreckage. Now and then, golden lettering on the spine of a book glinted back at them, not quite burnt. All else was the bitter scent of smoke, and a dreary bleakness.

"Ugh!" Rarity cried, examining a hoof. "This ash is going to stain my coat!"

She then shrieked as Pinkie Pie, black as a miner save for her brilliant blue eyes, burst out from a pile of soot and debris she had been sifting through.

"No time to be a fussy-McFusserson, Rarity!” Pinkie said. “We've got clues to uncover, mysteries to solve! Leave no desk upturned, no chimney un-swept!"

Twilight gingerly ascended the steps to her room. She walked along the edges closest to the walls, wary of the weakened wood. Opening the door to her room and study, she finally felt a pang in her heart as she imagined what it had looked like before, compared to what it was now. The ceiling had collapsed, the upper-story window breaking as an entire branch had smashed inside, not stopping before it broke through the floor and embedded itself there. She closed the door. If there was anything in there, drinking in this carnage wasn't worth it.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Check this out, guys!"

Twilight made her way back as quickly as caution allowed. The others were gathered around the open doorway to the Library's basement. It was dark inside, but from what they could tell—

"The fire barely touched anything down there!" Dash reported.

Twilight edged through the door. "This door was open when you found it?" she asked. Rainbow Dash nodded in reply.

"Then whatever happened involved the basement. Spike had no reason to go down here, and I always keep this door shut. I'll get the light."

Her horn lit up like a searchlight as she ventured in, followed by the others. Indeed, while the fire had certainly spread down here, it had only gone so far. The tree's roots had been singed, but remained, casting sinister-looking shadows upon the walls as Twilight waved the light towards areas of interest. Finally, she gasped as she reached the bottom, and found a large, reflective mass on the floor. On closer inspection, it appeared to be metallic, gleaming dark grey, silver, or purest white, depending on the placement. It was big, nearly twice the size of a pony. On first glance, it was a crumpled pile of pipes, panels and wires.

"Land sakes. What in Equestria is that freaky contraption?" Applejack whispered.

Twilight took a deep breath as she stared at the thing. "Let's find out.”

Her horn's magical aura spread as she attempted to move the thing, but it barely moved before her magical grip died. Taking a moment to ponder this, she tried a second time, to even less effect.

"It's...” She leered at the object. “It’s enchanted, somehow. It's not responding to my magic!"

Rainbow Dash crept passed her. "Well, looks like it's down to some elbow-grease!" she said, grabbing a loose-end in her teeth and pulling it. The object moved with her, untangling itself and suddenly looking far more ordered from this new angle and orientation.

"It looks almost like a creature of some sort," Rarity said. "Yet it's clearly some sort of machine."

They looked on in silence. Indeed, the thing clearly had three bottom limbs that must have been legs of some kind, stubby-ends passing for hooves. An abdomen and chest were clearly defined, if slender. Two arms joined the chest, with what could only be a head sitting atop it, a glassy black mask covering it, betraying nothing in the way of facial features. Not even ears. It reminded Twilight forcibly of the mannequins of Rarity's boutique. On its right forelimb, in place of a hoof was a hand, a feature Twilight only knew from reptiles or primates.

"Spike said there were three of them," Twilight told them. "One had skin, but the other two were metallic. I didn't understand what he meant. I thought maybe they were some sort of masks or armor. But this?"

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash nodded. "This thing is like armor that moves by itself. But if it's got some spell on it making it immune to magic, then I don't get how it could do that."

"Well," Rarity huffed. "This at least leaves only two of the scoundrels to find."

"Hoo-wee," Applejack exclaimed. "Spike did a number on this one. Be proud, Twi'; he took this one with him."

Twilight surveyed the damage. She understood almost nothing about this metal puppet, but she knew the jagged puncture in its chest was unlikely to be a choice of the designer. She also noted the stump of its left arm; the one facing away from them. It seemed to have been snapped off, and she remembered the loud flashing object that Spike had accidentally sent to Celestia the night before —had it only been last night?— which she long concluded must have been some sort of weapon.

"Wait a minute," Twilight said. "That makes no sense. When Spike was fighting this thing, he clearly sent part of this thing's limb to the Princess. She was able to grab onto it just fine with magic."

Rarity shrugged. "Well, it is the Princess after all. Maybe the enchantment weakened for such a small object, or wasn't strong enough to stop her in the first place?"

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie cried, pointing. "It's got letters on its face!"

Twilight aimed her light onto the black mask, revealing what Pinkie Pie was referring to. Rather than drawn on, the harsh relief from the light showed they were molded into the shape.

"M... A..." Pinkie Pie read. "Anypony know what that's for?"

"Martial Arts?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Mechanical Advantage, the mechanical multiplier of input force?" Twilight offered.

"M-mature Audiences'?" Fluttershy squeeked.

"I'll bet it's a name," Rarity said. "In either case, two letters is hardly anything to go by."

Applejack sighed. "At least we have a better idea a' what we're up 'gainst."

"Let's get out of here," Twilight said. "I think we've learned all this can tell us without using the lab. And I don't want to be here if this place collapses on us."

All were agreed, making their way back out. Fluttershy seemed most eager to escape the darkness of this place. Before Twilight left though, she noticed some of her equipment was missing from the basement. She made a mental note of it, but couldn't imagine what use the measuring devices might be to their foes.

"So, " Twilight asked. "What do we know so far?"

The friends were gathered around a fountain in the village square. Thus far, it seemed they'd already hit a dead-end.

"Whoever they are,” Applejack said, “they've got some real fancy tools, and don't give a lick if they have to murder to get what they want."

"I- I still don't understand," Fluttershy sighed. "Monsters try to eat ponies and other animals, but they're not very smart, and it's not their fault. But whoever did all this, they had to be smart. How can somepony not know better? I've never heard of that happening before."

"Well, we know they're not ponies.” Rainbow Dash suggested. “Maybe they're some smart things that are born crazy or something? I've heard of ponies who crack and do stuff like this."

Fluttershy gasped. "No!"

Dash only nodded, wide-eyed. "Yeah! Some ponies lose it, and'll take you in the night! Poof! Without a trace! Nopony knows what happens to 'em."

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity scolded. "Stop it! You're scaring the poor girl!"

"Well, the truth can be scary, Rar'.”

"Hey! Twilight!" cried a voice from the other side of the square. They turned their heads to see a hot-pink pony with a short blond mane gallop over to them.

"Lily?" Pinkie said, which hardly surprised Twilight. She did know every pony in Ponyville after all.

Eyes like saucers, Lily —one of the town florists— stopped in front of them, unable to stand still. "Twilight, you really need to come with me!"

"Where? What's the rush?" she asked.

"To the zebra, Zecora's house!"

Murmers and frowns sprang up between them before Lily continued. "You see, I was expecting my cousin Plumeria days ago for a visit. She's from Stalliongrad, and had to take the old path through the Everfree Forest! Zecora found her staggering through the woods, babbling some nonsense. She's been unconscious for days, and Zecora found me after she woke up last night! She wants to speak to somepony who can help her; she says something took her friend on the way here and attacked her! I—"

The rant had been top-speed, each new piece of information leaving the six girls wide-eyed.

Twilight spoke first. "Why tell me this? I'm interested, but wouldn't you tell the guardponies first?"

"Well," Lily began. "I heard about what happened last night. I saw the fire myself. All kinds of rumors have been coming in that ponies have been disappearing in the forest the last few days. Some of the folks around town are saying they saw a few tall strangers run off into the woods around the time the fire started. I wondered if the ones who did this to my cousin, her friend and those other ponies had anything to do with it. I thought maybe you had a right to know first."

"That forest is full a' things that mighta' done somethin' like this, but if they're in the business of takin' ponies, well," Applejack said.

"You're right," Twilight agreed. "The ones who set the fire were after me. Me specifically."

"That's pretty deep into Ponyville for pony-nappers." Dash hovered, crossing her forelegs in contemplation. "If it's been so easy getting ponies in the forest, why come out in the open? And why Twilight?"

"Well, if rumor has truly spread about abductions in the forest, then perhaps it's gotten harder to find anypony there?" Rarity suggested.

Twilight looked back at the others, who seemed to share her attitude. It wasn't a lot, but it was a better lead than they were following. Namely none.

"Alright, Lily. Lead the way."

With that, Lily went into a gallop, the others right behind her as they took to Zecora's forest dwelling.

Even given past experience, the group felt especially wary of the dense forest as they approached the zebra's home. The gnarled branches of the tree she'd made her home would have reinforced their fears once, but now it was a perfectly welcome sight. Lily called out as they approached.

"Zecora! I brought Twilight!"

A deep voice issued from within as the door opened.

"Be quick and come in; don't linger long! In the forest, these days, much can go wrong."

They filed inside, to see Zecora waiting for them. Twilight spoke first.

"Zecora, I came as soon as I could. What's she been saying?"

Zecora's face was like stone, as she motioned towards a door and room Twilight had not entered before.

"Fits of fear and tales of doom,” Zecora said. “She waits for you, within this room."

"You should go in alone with me, Twilight," Lily suggested. "It might be better if she's not crowded."

They entered a small bedroom with a modest cot. Sitting at the foot of the bed was the red-haired unicorn, covered in scrapes and bruises. She had been rapt in a thousand-yard stare before they entered the room. She eyed Twilight, unblinkingly.

"Who are you?" Plumeria asked, tone rife with mistrust.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she replied, keeping her voice as soft as possible. ”I'm— I was the Ponyville librarian. I'm here with my friends."

Plumeria only nodded at her, before turning to Lily. "Where are the town guards? I need to speak to somepony who can help, not a librarian."

Twilight lightly recoiled at this dismissal, but bit back the hasty and counterproductive retort she was considering. Instead, Lily came to her defense.

"Twilight and her friends have done a lot for the town in the past, Plumy." Lily said, as Plumeria winced at the nickname. "They're the ones who stopped the Mare in the Moon last year."

"Plumeria," Twilight began. "We need to know about what happened to you in the forest, and where. I know your friend was taken. I had a friend 'taken' as well."

This seemed to grab her attention.

"His name is Peppermint. He never even wanted to come along."

"It's not your fault," Twilight cooed, hardly able to sympathize more with her.

"Yes it is!" she snapped. "I led us right into that cave."

"Cave?"

Plumeria shuddered. "The path skirts the mountains at some points,” she said. “There was some kind of rumbling while we were crossing it. We found a place where the path was taken out in a rockslide, and both of us fell down too. It was recent. I think the rumbling caused it. I saw something move in the rocks and went to investigate. There was a cave."

Her breathing became short and ragged as she recounted the terrors with a dead gleam in her eyes. "Pep' didn't want to go in, but he followed me anyway. There was a big metal wall with strange lights on it, and they blinked in patterns. We figured out it was some kind of test. When we got it right, the wall fell into the ground, and inside everything was made of dark metal walls, glass and lights. It was so dead and clean and unnatural!"

"And then what?" Twilightasked, feeling instantly justified in coming here. An abundance of metal and glass sounded too similar to their own findings at the Library.

Little tremors in her hooves told her horror as Plumeria continued. "And then, there was a voice. A friendly voice like a stallion coming from the walls. It welcomed us, but it sounded so wrong. Something about it sounded like it didnt understand what it was saying, I don't really know how to explain it. It congratulated us for beating the test and said we were smart and- and then the wall behind us closed. We were trapped! And- and it went quiet for so long."

"You said it welcomed you. Did it say anything about who ran it? Any names?"

"All I remember was one name.” Plumeria answered. “I didn't catch all of it. It was like 'Anvil', or something. It didn't sound like a pony's name at all."

Lily looked to Twilight, as if she would understand the name any better, but was only met with Twilight shaking her head.

"So, you were trapped. For how long?"

"Only a few minutes," Plumeria said, the answer making her audience jerk their heads up as they stared. "And then."

Plumeria recoiled and whimpered at the memory. "Th-the tiles opened up. Peppermint. He got dragged back through with them! I used my magic and forced them away, but I sprained my ankle making one let go. And then I forced the wall open behind me and ran. And that's all I know."

Plumeria curled up on the cot. Lily went to her side and rubbed her back affectionately.

"Thank you," Twilight said as kindly as she could. "Plumeria, I'm going to do everything I can to find your friend, and anypony else they might have taken."

Twilight made to step back out, before hearing Plumeria deliver one last warning.

"Please, be careful," she whispered. "Whatever they are, they're nothing like ponies. Nothing like animals. Never drop your guard."

They agreed to meet by the fountain at noon, once they were ready for the journey ahead. Twilight had already acquired the maps she needed from the Town Hall. Normally, maps were plentiful in the Library, but given the circumstances, it was the only way. Ahead of schedule, Twilight decided she'd help Rarity if she could.

Carousel Boutique was still sporting a ‘closed’ sign, but the door was unlocked. Upon entry, she heard the spin of a drill and Rarity calling out.

"I'm afraid we're still closed, dear!" Rarity said, peeking around a corner, wearing, of all things, a welder's mask. "Oh, Twilight!"

"Um," Twilight stared in surprise as Rarity lifted the mask.

"You're just in time!"

"For what?" Twilight asked.

"Well, in realizing just what we're up against, I thought we might need to give ourselves a teensy bit of an edge."

Rarity led Twilight to a table where the power-drill lay, next to a vast series of glassy horseshoes.

"Glass horseshoes?"

Rarity sputtered in indignation. "Glass?" she scoffed. "These, dear, are diamond. Hardest thing you'll find, outside of this dragon-tooth drill-bit of course. Exceptionally rare, those bits, but necessary when you work with gems as often as I do."

"They're beautiful, but how will these help us?"

"As much as I detest brutish shows of force, our nemeses evidently feel differently. Should it come to hoofticuffs, we're going to need a little more 'kick', and these should deliver precisely that. These were originally made to fill an order before we left for Canterlot, but that fell through."

"I see. But why are you drilling holes into them?" Twilight inquired, puzzled.

"To put these rubber grips into the soles." Rarity indicated a number of rubber nubs on the same table. "They're not terribly stylish, but they're practical. One wouldn't do to slip in a dangerous situation after all."

"Wow Rarity, I'm impressed!"

"Oh, only a trifle dear. Just something I could whip up in a single morning. Now, just to hide these so Spike doesn't-"

She stopped, midway through lifting the horseshoes, which clattered back onto the table. An "oh!" escaped her lips as she pressed a hoof against her face and leaned heavily into Twilight’s shoulder.

"Rarity?" Twilight asked, as Rarity sniffed delicately.

"It only just struck me. He's really gone."

Twilight led her to a nearby divan, where Rarity collapsed into the cushion, doing her best to hide her eyes.

"I- I really never knew you cared so much. I know he'd have been happy that you care," Twilight said, feeling strange as the one doing the consoling.

"You know," she continued. "When- when he was- going. When he knew he wasn't gonna make it. He tried asking me to tell you something. I interrupted him. I refused to accept it, but I know he wanted me to tell you that- that he cared a lot for you. Maybe even loved you."

"Oh," Rarity sniffed, as Twilight tried to cushion the blow.

"I'm sorry, it's probably cruel for me to say that, but I know he wanted me to say it—"

"Dear Twilight, you wonderful girl," she giggled, revealing her face and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief whose origin was a mystery to Twilight. "I knew. Of course I knew! But a lady never tells, darling. I mean. He was terribly obvious about it, though sincere."

Twilight merely stared, surprised and curious. "Well, then were you not interested, or—"

"Oh, it wasn't a matter of that, Twilight.” Rarity rose to her feet again, glancing around and levitating various items into her saddlebag. “Spike was... Well, I could see him groomed into a proper gentlecolt, one day. But as he was, so young, how would I know it wasn't mere colthood infatuation? I would have given him the chance, one day, were he a bit older and no less afflicted with that bothersome bug we call attraction."

Rarity levitated a gleaming ruby from her gem box, idly scrutinizing it.

"I am sorry though: that we can never know what might have been."

The gem merely rotated in silence a moment, before she recoiled from a number of scratches on the other side.

"Opal," she grumbled, perplexing Twilight.

"Weird, I thought it was a ruby."

"What?" Rarity asked, instantly thrown from her reverie. "Oh no no dear, my cat, Opalescence. Ooh, if this is what she does with her weekly pedicure...”

Twilight blinked. “Wait. You’re saying your cat scratched it up?”

“Yes...” Rarity said, her face expressionless.

“A ruby. A material rating a ‘nine’ on the Mohs hardness scale, just below diamond. Your cat’s keratin claws scratched that?”

Rarity shook her head. “Twilight, never underestimate the effects of a good pedi.”

Twilight only stared between her and the still-floating ruby. Rarity seemed to notice this, and stared at the stone herself a moment.

“Well, here Twilight, you're a resourceful mare."

She offered the blemished gem to Twilight, who accepted it in surprise.

"I'm sure you can find some use for it. I'd have simply thrown it out."

"Uh, thanks," Twilight said, dropping the stone into her saddlebag. "Well it's good to see something is going smoothly through all this. I'm going to see if anypony's at the fountain yet."

Rarity's magic levitated the shoes into a wooden case, before sauntering after Twilight. "I'll come with you. I'm all wrapped up here anyway."

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were all at the fountain once they arrived, much to Twilight's surprise.

"Wow, you guys are all set?"

Indeed, Pinkie Pie was the only one among them with a saddlebag, filled to the brim, no doubt, with party favors and other such bric-a-brac. Twilight might have been upset at her for not taking this seriously, but she could foresee that a ready-made diversion might exist with her contribution. Who knew: it might save their hides.

Rainbow Dash was first to respond. "I thought maybe I could take that one dress Rarity made me and use it like armor, but it's way too heavy."

Twilight blinked, as Rarity made a scandalized noise.

"Yeah. Armor tends to be that way," Twilight deadpanned.

"I thought I destroyed those abominable... THINGS!” Rarity seethed. “Where did you even— Actually, nix that; I do not want to know."

"Ah, well. Saddlebags and armor and stuff just slow me down anyway, and I'm most valuable when I'm quick on my hooves."

"I'm sorry, Twilight,” Fluttershy muttered, pawing at the ground. “I looked throughout my cottage for something useful, but... I couldn't find anything."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Twilight said. "Both of your talents are worth more than anything we could fit into a saddlebag. Now we just have to wait for—"

"Applejaaaaack!" a young girlish voice whined with a familiar twang. The five ponies turned in the direction of the sound, to see Applejack facing two fillies. The one who had been 'speaking' was an earth pony, yellow with a fluffy rose-colored mane and tail. The other —a unicorn— was white as Rarity, with a curly mane of pale pink and violet. Both gave occasional sniffs and had old tear streaks under their eyes.

"The answer is no, Apple Bloom! This could be more than just a mite dangerous, and it's no place for fillies. Besides, Big Mac and Granny'll need you around to help pick up the slack."

"It aint fair! Spike was m-mah' friend too! I wanna help get back at 'em for takin' 'im away!"

Twilight fought back against watering eyes for a moment as a sudden surge of affection for the two Crusaders overtook her.

"Rarity!" hollered the white filly, rushing over. "It's not true! It can't be true about Spike, can it?!"

"Oh Sweetie Bell, I'm sorry," Rarity said, before her sister wept fresh tears.

"No! Noooooo!" Sweetie Belle bawled, her face pressed into Rarity's chest, who didn't seem to mind that her coat was becoming filthy with tears.

"Sweetie. Shhh. Hush now, it'll be quite alright. We're going after the ones responsible, and I promise they'll not get away with it. We're hot on their trail, as it were."

Rather than comforting her, Sweetie Bell grew further concerned as she tugged on one of Rarity's front legs. "Sis' don't go!” she cried. “What if they take you away from me too?! I can't lose anypony else, I don't wanna be alone I don't wanna be alone!"

"Sweetie Bell, I promise you that I'm coming back," Rarity told her, as she performed a few customary gestures. "Cross my heart and hope to fly; stick a cupcake in my eye."

When this had little effect on the filly, Rainbow Dash stepped in. "Don't you worry kid. We'll be back with your sis', plus whoever caused all this trouble."

"Alright, everypony," Applejack said. "We best be movin' out if we wanna get to this place before dark. Apple Bloom, if I as much as suspect you're followin' us, you're gonna spend this summer de-weedin’ every inch a’ Sweet Apple Acres. You stay at home and don't go nowhere without Big Macintosh sayin' so. That goes double for after dark!"

Apple Bloom sulked, her eyes narrowing as she muttered an "Okay Applejack."

As the group made for the forest. Twilight caught up to Rarity, glancing back at the three fillies. "I had no idea Sweetie Bell was that close with Spike. I'm sorry it's hurting her too."

"Well of course,” Rarity said, her eyes widening slightly, “certainly you saw how often Spike would volunteer himself to help with the Boutique?

“He was such a sincere little star.” She smiled softly. “I didn't always have proper work for him however, so often I'd ask him to entertain Sweetie Bell. She too likes to be —er— 'helpful'. But I fear she didn't inherit our grandmother's poise as I did. Inherited her looks, but otherwise takes after our mother, bless her little heart."

"Oh, what's wrong with me?" Twilight asked of the sky.

"Twilight dear?" Rarity tilted her head slightly.

"Rarity, tell me,” Twilight said, “Is it really really wrong that I feel better knowing I'M not the only one hurting from Spike? I mean, I don't want other ponies hurt by what happened, but it's like it numbs the pain, or something. And it makes me feel really guilty that I feel that way."

"Well, if you're thinking it's some kind of 'schadenfreude', I sincerely doubt that. Probably you're just glad you're not alone.

“I remember when Grandmother Limelight passed so long ago. Oh, she was one of my dearest relatives as a filly. When we lost her, I remember feeling like I was in a world of ponies I didn't belong with, like some great bubble kept us apart. Nopony else knew or cared that my grandmother was gone. Just a snippet in the papers, written by somepony who knew her by the town she lived in, her age, and the fact that she succumbed to natural causes. It’s impossible to imagine there are still ponies playing or laughing when you feel so hurt. But my family seemed to feel the same as I, and that cramped little bubble expanded. Small comfort, yes, but knowing I wasn't alone in that longing made things bearable, until one day that little bubble burst."

"Hey, uh," Rainbow Dash began, sidling up beside them. "Hate to burst your bubble, but does anypony know where we're going?"

"Oh!" Twilight cried, levitating a map from her bag. "Right, let's see here."

The path began close to Zecora's home, but wound deeper into the heart of the forest than any of them had ventured. Not even their first expedition to the temple of The Ancient Pony Sisters had brought them here. Yet, they encountered little danger as the path wound its way towards a series of mountains jutting up within the forest's northern edge.

"Oh," Rainbow Dash grumbled. "My Diamond-Dogs are howling."

"What's a' matter, Dash?" Applejack prodded. "Those clodhoppers spend too much time cloudhoppin' these days?"

Rainbow opened her mouth to crack a reply, but an inspired "Ah!" silenced her as synapses exploded in Rarity's mind.

"Well, Rainbow Dash, perhaps those, er... 'dogs', could in fact do with some diamonds." She levitated two pairs of her specially made horseshoes as Twilight groaned.

"Okay, girls,” Twilight said, “the puns have really gotta stop."

"Hey, I'm no tenderhoof. I'm not gonna be the first and only one wearing Rarity's prescription shoes," Dash declined, holding herself high as Rarity recoiled with a dramatic gasp.

Before either could bicker, a soft squeak came from the back. "Um, actually, I think I'd like to try those shoes. If nopony minds."

Rarity's expression lit up like a light bulb as she levitated the shoes towards Fluttershy. "Why of course dear! Nice to see somepony can see past her pride and not look a gift-horse in the mouth."

Dash stared daggers as Twilight frowned, eyes turned skyward in contemplation.

"I never understood that expression. I mean, what's a 'gift-horse'? It almost sounds like somepony is giving somepony to somepony else. Wouldn't that be slavery? I don't remember slave ownership anywhere in Equestrian history."

"Oh, I know that one!" Pinkie Pie blurted. "It's about the Legend of the Stink-Mouth-Stallion! They say he comes bringing gifts to all the good little colts and fillies who keep their teeth white and minty-fresh, because all his teeth rotted away! But if you ever look at his rancid smelly gums, he'll PLUCK ALL YOUR TEETH OUT, and add them to his collection of pilfered pearly-whites! So whatever you do, you never EVER look a gift-horse in the mouth!"

They all smirked and sighed at this. Still as Pinkie Pie as usual. Though the expression could certainly have arisen from this pony-tale, provided it was as well known as Pinkie seemed to believe. Once Fluttershy had her shoes on, the others followed suit.

"Wow!" Twilight exclaimed, moving about in the glistening hoofware. "I gotta hand it to you Rarity, I wasn't expecting something hard and glassy to be this comfortable."

"Well," Rarity chuckled, tone reeking with pride, "there is a reason I have these gems on my flank, dear."

"I could do this all day!" Applejack added, testing hers out by bucking a nearby tree, numerous leaves parting from its branches, as well as a snake, which flopped onto Twilight's unsuspecting back.

"What's that?!" Twilight demanded, turning around and freezing, shivering as the serpent raised its head to meet her gaze, forked tongue tasting the air inquisitively.

"Snake! SNAKE! Help me!!" Twilight pleaded, voice reduced to a hoarse stage-whisper. Fluttershy alone approached.

"Stay perfectly still Twilight, it's just a harmless little garter snake," Fluttershy assured, extending her hoof to a spot near the snake's head. The sleek reptile backed up in response, uncertain.

"There there," she sighed. "Nopony's gonna hurt you. I'm sorry we startled you like we did. Come on."

The snake yielded to the master-charmer, coiling around her hoof and leaving Twilight to scamper away as quickly as she dared.

"That's a good boy," Fluttershy said, daintily taking wing and allowing the serpent to slither onto a high branch.

"Thank you Fluttershy! I'm so glad you're here!" Twilight gushed as the beastmaster landed.

"Boy, I'm sorry for coming apart like that, over some snake that isn't even poisonous," she giggled fakely, still shaking subtly.

"Oh, garter snakes are a little poisonous, but nowhere near enough to hurt a pony," Fluttershy said, reducing Twilight's eyes to pinpoints.

"So, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash asked as Twilight composed herself. "You're the one who's great with animals, but ya' think your charm'll work on whatever it is we're after?"

Fluttershy’s brows knitted as she considered. "Don't know! I've never even seen a living machine before, let alone calmed one down."

"But one of 'em was supposedly flesh n' bone," Applejack said. "An' if those things were just puppets, and the other one was the puppet master, we might just clear two trees with one buck."

Fluttershy beamed. "That sounds like a good idea! Oh, but... um."

"What's wrong?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Well, it doesn't always work on the really mean ones. I appeal to an animal's better nature, but sometimes the bad ones really mean to be mean."

"What about 'The Stare' though?" Twilight asked, who had experience in this field. "You brought a fire-breathing dragon to tears, and out-stared a cockatrice that was busy turning you to stone! I don't know what stands a chance against that."

"Well, The Stare just sorta' happens. And it seems to happen whenever I get really teed-off."

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Yeah, don't mess with Fluttershy when she's angry! Remember that entrance she made in the ballroom at the Gala?"

Rainbow spread her wings in a threat display, and heightened her voice in a patchy impression of Fluttershy.

"You are gonna LOVE ME!" she growled, before giggling at herself as the others joined in.

"Oh, please girls," Fluttershy said, blushing. "I was in a really dark place that night. It's not a chapter I like talking about."

"Yeah, I remember just b'fore that," Applejack added, mirthful with memory. "There was this great rumblin'-"

For a moment, Applejack might have believed her memory had turned vivid as reality, until she realized the others were experiencing the same trembling in the earth. They sat silent as flat pebbles beneath them clattered aimlessly on the ground.

"EARTHQUAKE!" Fluttershy shrieked, lying on the ground with her hooves over her head.

"Everypony, away from the trees!" Twilight shouted above the din.

As the rumbling continued a while longer, Pinkie noticed her bouncy tail spasm, independent of the ground. Voice vibrating, she sounded the alarm.

"T~w~i~t~c~h~y~~t~a~i~l, T~W~I~T~C~H~Y~~T~A~I~L!"

"Aw, cider!" Applejack cursed. "Heads-up everypony!"

Moments later, Pinkie's prophecy came to pass, as distant boulders on the mountain ahead dislodged and tumbled wildly into the forest, adding the sound of splintering wood to the cacophony. Slowly the rumbling came to a stop, the ambient forest noises loud and livid, like a beehive hit with a bat.

"Everypony okay?" Twilight asked.

"All fine here! Although my mane is a bit ruffled," Rarity said, idly pulling out a brush and hand-mirror.

"Hey, where's Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie asked.

"Up here!" Rainbow cried, hovering over the trees.

Applejack frowned up at her. "Now there's the thing ta' do: fly a dozen yards into the air durin' a twitchy-tail alert! There's a short road to an ol' fashioned concussion."

"Oh,” Rainbow cried, “and I guess your hat was gonna block a tree-branch shipped first-class to your head?"

"You leave my hat outta' this, missy!" Applejack said, pushing her stetson forward as the creases in her eyebrows deepened.

As the two bickered —Twilight playing peacemaker— Fluttershy had scarcely moved from her low point on the ground. And as such, she was the first to notice the stones before her vibrating again.

"AFTERSHOCK!" she bellowed, ending the argument in an instant as a lighter rumbling made itself known.

So positioned, Rainbow Dash was able to see dust approaching from the horizon, and determined the true culprit.

"No! STAMPEDE!"

Moments before branches snapped and splintered across the path in front of them, an entire herd of massive, black, cow-like beasts retreated from the mountainside and into the dense wood.

The girls yelped and shrieked in surprise at the towering throng, standing barely under the highest bows. Twilight knew these creatures. Walking upright on two hooves, with the torso and powerful arms of a gorilla, the minotaur paid them no notice as the last of the stragglers vanished into the forest, hoof-falls fading into the sound of the agitated forest, still alive with buzzing and the calls of animals. When it seemed they'd paid their due for surprises, the six ponies discussed.

"The entire forest sounds so...” Fluttershy considered. “Scared."

"Well it was an earthquake," Rainbow Dash said. "I don't figure that happens too often."

"Exactly," Twilight said, understanding dawning upon her as she gazed at the mountains ahead of them.

"Sugarcube?"

"Rainbow's right,” Twilight said. “Earthquakes don't happen often in this region. I know a thing or two about the geography of Equestria, and there are no real fault lines anywhere near the forest."

She paused, which drove some of them crazy.

"Twilight, dear,” Rarity chuckled, her eyes darting around the forest, “don't keep us in suspense after saying something like that."

"Plumeria mentioned a rumbling, before they came upon that cave. Said she thought it caused the rockslide."

"So, yeh' mean—" Applejack began.

"Yes. Two quakes within a few days, in a place without the means to produce earthquakes? This isn't natural. Something, is causing this."

"Those minotaur," Rainbow Dash said, sensing her own brainwave. "They looked pretty determined to get away from those mountains."

They stared in the direction of the mountains where the boulders had fallen. They were flat-topped, like mesas, with spires of rock dotting the short range, dust still floating on the wind from the boulders.

"That's got to be it,” Twilight said. “We're close. Now we just have to be careful."

Eventually, the path came up along the mountains, rising up natural cliffs that had been tamed by pony trail blazers long ago. Nearly the entire ridge went by, and they saw no evidence of the trail vanishing as Plumeria had said. That was, until Rainbow Dash called to them after taking a minute to stretch her wings and glide on the natural mountain updraft.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Rainbow shouted as she landed.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"We're here," Rainbow stated, to the blank stares of everyone. "You can't see it from the ground, but this path was rebuilt. The dirt's looser-looking. And look down at the trees."

They did, and saw what she was talking about.

"Well button my lip,” Applejack exclaimed, “those trees are covered in dirt!"

"Wait." Twilight frowned at the scene. "So they fixed a landslide?"

"One way to find out," Rainbow Dash said, as she stomped a hoof into the ground. As she hoped, it sunk far further into solid ground than it ought to have.

"Alright ladies, Dash marks the spot!"

They began excavating, —aside from Rarity, who "supervised"— and it became apparent that they were getting somewhere. A mere ten minutes and they had made a pit five feet deep. At long last, Pinkie Pie's horseshoes made a clanging sound as they struck something hard.

"Hey! I hit something!"

"Let's clear this off," Twilight suggested. They revealed a dark grey series of metallic tiles. Rather than a seamless wall, the tiles seemed independent of each other, straining against the weight of the dirt.

Rainbow grinned victoriously. "That's what happened! They couldn't bury it all, so they built this and just tossed dirt over it."

Fluttershy gawked. "In a few days?"

"Well they didn't do a great job," Twilight said. "This looks flimsy. Let's see if we can't get in."

Twilight used her magic on a tile. It resisted her attempts to lift it, actively, as though being pulled by someone on the other side. Inevitably, it yielded, revealing an underside held by a struggling metallic limb. The limb was mounted to a small machine, onto a tile ten times the size of the tile she'd forced open.

"What in tarnation?!" Applejack cried, eyeing the spectacle with fascination and fear.

Twilight frowned in thought and arcane concentration as her magic grappled with the thing. "I'd say this leg-thing, whatever it is, runs the same way that machine at the Library did. There's enough space underneath; let's go!"

They hopped under the tile into the superstructure of this living wall, the tile Twilight had been holding righting itself once she'd released it, sealing into place amongst the others. They found the entire wall was made of these tiles, as similar machines let off small amounts of orange light from bulbs. The larger tiles underneath had larger versions of the mechanical limbs, instead mounting the devices tile to tile. In the dull orange light, things seemed alien. Twilight noted that she felt less sure of herself in these surroundings, than out where the Sun and sky were visible.

"I hate to ask, but...” Rarity shuffled her hooves, glancing at them all in turn, “Now what?"

Twilight sputtered in response, before Pinkie Pie let out an "Ooh!" while gazing at one of the larger arms, and a green hoof-sized cylinder set into it like a jewel.

"Button button, who's got the button? I think Pinkie Pie does!" she cried, making to push it.

"Pinkie Pie, wait!" Rainbow Dash shouted, but too late. The large tile beneath them tipped with a hissing sound as it opened further into the structure. There was much shouting as they were effectively dumped into total darkness, hitting the cold floor in a heap after a short fall. After a moment, they heard the tile above them sink back in place with the rest of a ceiling they couldn't see. A moment more of silence, and suddenly Twilight was blinded by bright lights that came on with a deep clicking noise that echoed through the room. She rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the light, before a warm, enthusiastic and fake male voice issued from the walls.

"Hello visitors, and welcome to the 'Mandeville Arms' Research and Development 'All-In-One' Headquarters."