The door, broad and brilliant orange, was an imposing barrier, but Tarnish knew that it would open for him. It had no keyholes, no visible locks, nor did it need them. This was a door locked by destiny, bound by purpose, and before it even opened, Tarnish knew that there would be only stone on the other side—at least for others.

For him, the door would open, and a room would be revealed. A room outside of this reality, a room just off of this realm. A room connected to, but not part of, Skyreach. Tarnish had the most peculiar sensation that he had stood here in this spot at some point, long, long ago. He was certain of this, and he knew what lay beyond the door.

“Beyond the door, we will find the book for Project Eternity,” Tarnish said, and his voice sounded strange in his own ears. “We must recover the book for Twilight, but we are not to even try to look inside. To do so will invite disaster.”

“Tarnish, you’re freaking me out, ya know that?” Rainbow Dash looked up at the tall stallion and took a step away, her hooves shuffling over the stone.

“I have memory of this place.” Tarnish looked around him at the walls, at the door, the floor, and the ceiling.

“Is this some weird druid thing?” Daring asked, and even before she finished her sentence, Vinyl began nodding, though she did so with some hesitation.

Strange thoughts bubbled through Tarnish’s mind, and knowledge of things to come. Twilight wouldn’t be able to read the book, not yet, the locks on its pages would require a sorcerer to undo. Project Eternity was key to Grogar’s ultimate destruction and the preservation of life. Staring at the door ahead, he also knew that this was one door of many to this room, this place, this interdimensional storage closet. There were other doors, mirrors, and even magical pools that could bring one to this place.

Lifting a hoof, Tarnish placed it upon the door, and with a gentle nudge, he pushed the door open.

Beyond was a room that could only be described as a library, but all of the shelves were empty. Racks for scrolls stood bare, and the dust of epochs covered everything. In the middle of the room was a centaur statue, and in his hands he held both the sun and moon. His face was thoughtful, as if he was contemplating the celestial bodies that he held, and faint light could be seen shining from both. The sun glowed gold and the moon shone silver.

Tarnish crossed the threshhold, and his companions followed.

Along the walls, other doorways were visible, the suggestion of doorways, they were fuzzy, indistinct, not quite real. Tarnish began looking around, his mind recollecting this place, as he had stood in this room once before. Near the fireplace, there was a short but comfortable looking chair, a low table, and on the table was a collection of items. A pipe, a tamper for the pipe, and a pair of spectacles.

All of which belonged to a gnome known as the Moochick.

“This place makes me feel funny,” Rainbow whispered to her companions.

“How does this place even exist?” Daring Do trotted over to the short chair and began to examine it. “How does this even exist? How long has this chair sat here?”

An answer sprang up in Tarnish’s mind, and he found himself saying it without understanding the words coming out of his mouth. “Chronos made this place and Eternity bridged the worlds that connect here. They had help from the centaurs. They went back in time, before the Black Star, before the disaster, and this room was created outside of time.”

Striding through the room, Tarnish went over to the centaur statue and came to a halt beside it. He studied the sun and the moon—he could feel the magic they radiated—and he tried to make sense of the strange knowledge in his head. Something about this place was invigorating, it restored him, he knew that he and his companions would be safe here.

“In this room, hope was born. In this place, the Rainbow of Light was given the power to shine upon evil.” Tarnish paused for a time, looking about, and then he added, “In this room, we can rest for a time. We’ll be safe here, but once we leave with the book, we’ll not be able to return.”

“Where is the book?” Daring asked.

“Over there,” Tarnish replied, pointing with his hoof at the fireplace mantle.

On the mantle there was a book and an hourglass. The book seemed plain, there appeared to be nothing special about it, but the hourglass was quite peculiar. The sands within traveled up and down, falling and rising, always moving and shifting from one end to the other. Looking at the hourglass was headache inducing, and Tarnish was careful not to stare at it.

“The Moochick told me stories in this room…”

“Tarnish, you’re talking crazy.” Rainbow Dash, who looked worried, took a few steps closer to Tarnish, but then stopped. “Are you feeling okay? I mean, just a little while ago, your nose was bleeding and you passed out.”

“I’m fine,” Tarnish replied, and in all honesty, he could not recall ever feeling better than he did right now. The pain in his head was gone, but his thoughts, they were peculiar, and maybe not his own. For whatever reason, he felt no need to panic about it.

“Well, if we are safe here, I say we take some time to rest. We have our outerwear and that’ll have to do for a bed. We have food.” Daring eyed the fireplace and then her eye traveled around the room. “Tarnish, are you positive that we are safe?”

“Yes.” Tarnish’s voice held no trace of doubt. “We are not in Equestria. We are not in Skyreach.”

Vinyl, who was now sitting on the floor, scribbled words out on her slate, then held it up for Tarnish to see. What is the book?

Reaching into his memories, Tarnish found an answer. “It is a door, like the one we passed through to reach this place. It leads to a realm known as the Elsewhen. That is all I know, I’m sorry, and I don’t even understand how I know that.”

“No, I suppose you don’t.” Daring Do, looking both suspicious and curious, stared up at Tarnish. “I’ve heard the name Elsewhen referenced once before. It was on ancient cuneiform glyphs on a wall, in a tomb where I found the Sapphire Sceptre… a rod of powerful weather control. I couldn’t read them, but Princess Celestia could. She was quite baffled by the whole thing, and she didn’t know what it referenced. She said that Reneigh Haycart was obsessed with going into books and was trying to find some lost, ancient door that led to Elsewhen.”

“If Twilight was here, she’d be geeking out.” Rainbow, looking a little forlorn, let out a sigh and shook her head. “I miss her. I miss talking to her. I know it sounds funny… but I could talk to her about eggheaded stuff and not feel ashamed. Pegasus ponies put so much emphasis on athletics.”

“That is true.” Daring Do sat down and took a load off. She wiggled a bit, getting comfortable, and then she reached up to rub the healing wound on her neck. “My parents… they were upset when they found out that I didn’t want to join the guard, or fly in derbies, or do the usual pegasus pony stuff that pegasus ponies do. They were disappointed when I left to attend university.”

“Which is funny, because had I known how demanding the Wonderbolts would be, I would have stayed in school. I wouldn’t be a Wonderbolt without Twilight. I goofed by dropping out.” Rainbow Dash held out a wing, stretching it, opening it and closing it so she could flex the joint. “Now, I do this as a hobby… I guess it is a hobby. Can one do archeology and adventuring as a hobby?”

Daring nodded at Rainbow’s question.

“I do this as a hobby and not having a proper education really messes me up sometimes.” Rainbow grinned, a grin that brought sunshine to the room, and her head bobbed up and down. “There are times when I am not a smart pony.”

“Yep.” Tarnish grinned as well. “If you were a smart pony, you’d realise that we’re not in Skyreach, and you could fly here, but the room is a little small.”

To excited to reply, Rainbow flapped her wings, frantic, and with a cry, she rose from the floor.

The room wasn’t entirely empty. While her companions slept, Vinyl crept through the room, going from shelf to shelf, scroll rack to scroll rack, and she searched every single inch of the tiny library. She peered into scroll holes, searched through the shelves, looking both high and low. Her curiousity and persistence was rewarded with two books, both forgotten by time, left here when this tiny library had been abandoned.

Two books that should be rotted away by now, no more than dust, but time did not seem to pass here. Vinyl could not read the lettering, not without the artifact spectacles, but with the glasses, both of the books gave up their names.

Castle Midnight: A Compendium was the first, and it was bound in some kind of leather, thick, a bit rough, and it had yellowed pages. The second book was titled, Engineering Equines: Perfection for Ponies. Inside the second book, Vinyl found pictures, drawings, diagrams of ponies from a long, long time ago, and goodness, they were a special type of ugly.

Perhaps the kindest thing the centaurs had ever done was improving how the common pony looked. Vinyl shuddered as she flipped through the pages, seeing how ponies were, and looking at detailed anatomical charts that showed in great detail how ponies were now. The ponies of long ago were practically troglodytes; fat, big boned, with flat, horrid faces, Vinyl could hardly bear to look.

Ponies had become sleeker, smaller, more slender, and in Vinyl’s opinion, more beautiful. Octavia, Vinyl felt, was the absolute pinnacle of pony perfection, and she longed to bury her muzzle between Octavia’s perfect, fuzzy thighs, thighs that had the most inviting, wonderful jiggle-wiggle.

It was something that she shared with Tarnish, an enthusiasm for earth ponies, an appreciation of their form. It was something they talked about, a topic of discussion when Octavia and Maud weren’t listening. It was something they shared in common, an interest that brought them together. It was, and Vinyl wasn’t ashamed to admit this, part of the foundations of their relationship, maybe even a cornerstone.

Even with Vinyl’s vigilance, a yawn escaped, and she looked over the pile of sleeping equines, longing to join them. With a second yawn, she closed her book, and then she tucked both of her newfound treasures away, hiding them, securing them in her saddlebags. Smiling to herself, she got up from where she was sitting, went over, and laid down beside Tarnish. She curled up, snuggled up a little closer, and was able to rest her head upon his long neck.

It wasn’t long before slumber claimed her.

Author's Notes:

The G1 ponies were hideous. There, I said it. Hate me if you must!