Ditzy Doo, the local mailmare, trotted happily down the streets of Ponyville going about her daily mail route, humming happily to herself as the summer sun warmed her back. Finally reaching the house of the next pony on her list, Twilight Sparkle, she trotted up to the massive tree house and rapped on the door a few times. As she waited for the door to be answered she fished around in her bags for Twilight's package and set it on the ground. Hearing the door open, she looked up and came nose to nose with Twilight's dragon assistant, Spike.

After a few moments of staring, Ditzy's eyes slowly began to drift in separate directions. Unsure of which one to follow, Spike finally blinked and shook his head, prompting a giggle from the grey pegasus.

"I win!" she chirped happily.

"Yeah, but you cheated." Spike protested. "I bet I could win if I could do that with my eyes."

"But you caaaaan't!" Ditzy replied in a singsong voice. She then grabbed a clipboard out of her bag and held it before Spike. "Fign here flease!"

Spike grumbled and obeyed, scribbling his name on the slip. Ditzy returned the clipboard to her bag and thanked Spike.

"So where's Twilight? " she asked. "I've already been by Rarity's and Fluttershy's and they're not home either. They all out having another adventure?"

Spike shrugged in response. "Probably, I've got no idea. Nopony tells me anything." he admitted. "Though I can't say I mind, I finally got to sleep in for once."

"Alright, I guess I'll catch her tomorrow then, assuming they manage to save the world, that is. See ya later, Spike!" she said, waving to the baby dragon.

Not too long after she left Twilight's library, her thoughts were interrupted by a rather loud rumbling from her stomach. Ditzy glanced down at the offending body part, then up at the sun.

"Oh look, it's noon!" she said to herself, delighted. "Time for my lunch break! I think I'll go see if Pinkie’s around."

 Set on her course of action, she began to head down the street towards Sugarcube Corner to get herself a tasty snack and pay a visit to Ponyville's premier party mare.

"Pinkie Pieeeeee!" she called out as she trotted through the door.

To her surprise, it was Mr. Cake who appeared behind the register.

"Hello there, Ditzy!" he greeted her. "What can I get for you today?"

"A blueberry muffin please." she said, beaming at the thought of the delicious snack.

"Alrighty then." he said. He disappeared into the kitchen for a few moments and shortly returned with a brown paper bag.

"Two bits, please." he said, passing it to her across the counter.

Ditzy fished two bits out of her saddlebag and gratefully tossed them onto the counter.

"Hey Mr. Cake, where's Pinkie today? Doesn't she usually work Tuesdays?" she asked, grabbing her bag.

"Yeah, but she took the day off today. She's off doing something with her friends." he explained.

"Oh alright, well tell her I said hi." Ditzy said, making her way out of the store.

She traveled down the streets towards the park, taking in the scenery on this most beautiful of days. The Weather Patrol had scheduled a sunny day, but had really outdone themselves with this one.

Arriving at the park in short order, she found herself an unoccupied bench and sat down to have her muffin. As she munched happily on the delectable snack she sat back and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

"I sure hope whatever those guys are doing is fun," she sighed to herself as she stretched out on the bench. "They're missing one heck of a day."

"Remind me again why we're out here with you instead of enjoying the nicest day of the year?" Rainbow Dash loudly complained as she and her friends trudged through the perpetual twilight of the Everfree Forest.

"Because the last time I tried to travel through here alone a cockatrice turned me to stone." Twilight Sparkle replied.

"Well then why didn't you just bring Fluttershy? She's the one with The Stare, after all."

"Don't tell me you're afraid, Rainbow." Twilight teased.

"Me? Afraid?" Rainbow exclaimed, puffing out her chest. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

 "Well then you're free to go on back to Ponyville if you really want to." Twilight offered.

Rainbow drew a breath, but instead of a boastful retort, it emerged as an undignified squeak as her reply was cut off by the howling of distant timber wolves.

"Well I would, but you know, somepony's gotta make sure you guys are alright. Heh heh." she said, glancing around nervously.

"Iff'n ya say so, Rainbow," Applejack chuckled.

 "Oh don't worry, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie said, merrily hopping along with the group. "This is gonna be so super fun, Twilight always takes us on the best adventures!"

"Speaking of which, you've never actually properly informed us of the details of this little sojourn into the forest, dear." Rarity remarked.

"Really?" Twilight asked. "I could've sworn I'd told you."

"Nope." Rainbow Dash confirmed. "Not a thing."

"Then why'd you guys follow me into the Everfree if you didn't know why we were going?" she asked.

"Well yer our friend, Twilight. And it sounded like it was mighty important to ya, 'n you know we'd follow ya anywhere in Equestria." Applejack replied, bringing a smile to Twilight's face.

  "Thanks girls, you're the best." she said.

"Well how about you thank us by telling us why we're here." Rainbow persisted.

"Oh, right." Twilight said, blushing a little. "Well back when I was in Canterlot, I read about this tower deep in the Everfree Forest. It's supposed to be some kind of ancient library, though nopony really knows for sure. The princess would never say anything to me about it other than that it's dangerous and that it’s no place for little fillies and all that."

"Well considerin' where we're goin' ta find it ah can't help but agree." Applejack said.

"Well descriptions are all well and good, darling, but what exactly is the name of this place?" Rarity asked.

"Oh it took me ages to get the princess to tell me its name." Twilight said. "I could never find it in any of the books I read, but the princess called it Ravenspire. But that's really the only thing I got out of... her..." Twilight trailed off as she realized her friends were no longer next to her. Turning around she saw they had all stopped and were staring at her in something akin to disbelief.

"What?" she asked.

"D-d-did you s-say R-ravenspire?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Um, yes?"

"Uh, Twi', why in the hay would you wanna go lookin' fer a place like that?" Applejack asked.

"Why? What's wrong? Have you heard of this place before?" she asked.

"Darling, that place is something of a local legend in Ponyville and the subject of more than a few ghost stories." Rarity explained.

"Ghost stories? Really?" Twilight asked skeptically, an eyebrow quirked.

"W-well yeah, after all, i-it's h-h-haunted!" Fluttershy stammered.

"Oh please, haunted?" Twilight scoffed. "Is that all this is about? You should know there's no such thing as ghosts."

"You don't know that, Twilight!" Rainbow said, uncharacteristically nervous.

"You too, Rainbow?" Twilight asked, shocked. "You're the last pony I'd expect to buy into this."

"Hey, I'm just sayin'. You're smart 'n all, but even you don't know everything." she said.

Twilight just shook her head in disbelief.

"Come on, really? Ghosts? What about you, Pinkie? What about all that stuff about 'giggle at the ghostie?'"

"Weeeeellllllll" Pinkie said, with an exaggerated eye roll. "That stuff's good for helping when you're scared, but I don't think actual ghosts like being laughed at very much, it probably hurts their feelings!"

Twilight could only stare in response.

"But it's yer call, Twi'. If ya wanna go through with this then we'll be right behind ya." Applejack said.

"I really do." Twilight insisted, much to the ponies' dismay. "And I promise nothing bad will happen because there's no such thing as ghosts. They're completely illogical anyways."

"If you say so, darling." Rarity responded.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight said solemnly, going through all the associated motions.

"Good enough for me!" Pinkie chirped, hopping over to Twilight.

"Oh dear, whatever have we gotten ourselves into now?" Rarity sighed as the group continued on.

"Anypony else feel like this is all going to end up with us having to save the world again? Like we always seem to be doing?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Ah get that feeling every time ah get outta bed, sugar cube." Applejack deadpanned.

The rest of the journey was made in silence, unless one were to count the various squeaks and yelps emitted by Fluttershy as she jumped at every shadow or rustling of leaves. Eventually, after traversing what felt like the whole forest, the ponies began to notice a lessening in the oppressive, almost claustrophobic foliage of the forest.

"Hey, anypony else notice that the forest looks like it’s getting thinner?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well now that you mention it I guess it does." Twilight agreed, looking around.

"Well I can't say I mind." Rarity added. "All those horrible branches and leaves were doing no favors for my mane!"

Applejack rolled her eyes at the proper unicorn's words. "Always thinkin' 'bout yer looks." Rarity huffed and pretended not to hear her.

"Oh dear, it even looks like the dirt is getting less healthy." Fluttershy remarked. Looking at the ground, the others noticed that she was right, the rich black loam of the forest was beginning to give way to loose, orange, almost sandy dirt that Pinkie Pie's excited hopping kicked up into dust clouds with ease.

"What could be causing this?" Twilight wondered aloud.

"My bits are on that." Rainbow said, pointing ahead.

The group emerged from the last few trees and broke into a expansive clearing where a menacing, black tower loomed. The clearing around the tower was completely devoid of any aspects of the forest that surrounded it. The ground was fallow and dead for seemingly a mile in circumference around the tower and only a few desiccated husks of long dead trees existed to break up the monotony of the sight.

"Jeez, it's almost like the forest wants nothing to do with this place." Rainbow commented.

"Yeah, and when ya consider the forest we're all in that's really sayin' somethin'." Applejack agreed.

"Well we found it, that sure was fun girls! We'll have to do it again sometime, but I think I hear Angel Bunny calling me. Coming, Angel!" Fluttershy frantically stammered out. Her escape was cut short, however, by Rainbow Dash chomping down on her tail.

"Oh no ya don't!" Rainbow muttered around Fluttershy's tail.

"B-b-b-but-!" the yellow pegasus squeaked.

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat." Rainbow said, dragging the hapless pegasus along. "If Twilight says there's nothing to worry about then there's nothing to worry about."

Fluttershy could do nothing more than whimper in fear as Rainbow Dash dragged her before the imposing tower with the others.

"So how d'ya s'pose we get in?" Applejack wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure." Twilight admitted. "It's completely smooth the whole way up, it doesn't look like there's any entrances or anything."

"Does this mean we can go now?" Fluttershy begged.

"Don't worry, Twi'." Rainbow said, pointedly ignoring Fluttershy. "I'm sure we'll fig- wait a second, where'd Pinkie Pie go?"

The ponies looked around, frantically, discovering that the pink earth pony had mysteriously vanished.

"Hey guys!" Pinkie's voice rang out in the distance. "Come check out what I found!"

        “Ah’d give anything to know how she does that.” Applejack commented as the group began their trek to the far side of the tower where Pinkie’s voice emanated from. “If ah could move like that mare ah reckon ah could finish Applebuck Season in less than a day.”

                As they rounded the tower to see Pinkie’s discovery Twilight felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment as she saw what it was.

"It's a door." Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

"I do suppose we should have tried walking around the tower first before concluding that it was impregnable." Rarity commented.

        “Ya don’t say.” Applejack quipped.

        “So Twi, you think you can get this thing open?” Rainbow asked.

        Twilight hummed thoughtfully to herself for a second. “I suppose I could try an unlocking spell.” she suggested. “But I’m not sure what it would do, this place could have some kind of old enchantments protecting it.”

        “Well what’s the worst that could happen?” Rainow asked.

        The ponies stared at her.

        “What?” she asked.

        “Ah’m beginnin’ ta suspect ya might just like temptin’ fate, Rainbow.” Applejack observed.

        “Eh,” Rainbow sighed with a nonchalant shrug.

        “Alright girls, stand back,” Twilight announced. “I have no idea how well this might turn out so prepare yourselves for anything!”

        She shut her eyes tight in concentration, calling the magic to her and gathering it in her horn in preparation for her great casting. Steadily the light grew brighter and her friends began to back away in apprehension, wary of whatever potential problems might arise from Twilight’s chosen course of action. The light grew so bright around her horn that it looked almost like she wore a miniature star upon her head in its place.

Finally, then, Twilight decided that she had gathered adequate power for her spell and prepared to unleash the magic upon the obsidian tower’s great door. Though before so much as a single spark issued from her horn a thunderous rumbling came upon them all not unlike the roar of a thunderclap. In her surprise Twilight’s concentration was shattered and the magic gathered at her horn dissipated back into the air, the form of the spell sundered along with her thought.

        All present noted that, seemingly of their own accord, the gates of the tower were sliding open inward as though in invitation. Words escaped them at the sight, and none so much as Twilight who could scarcely believe what she was seeing. Ever one quick to give voice to her own thoughts, naturally it was Rainbow who broke the silence first in her characteristically eloquent way.

        “Huh. Well that’s not ominous or anything.”

        “Second.” Applejack agreed.

        Twilight looked around at her friends uncertainly for a few moments, trying in vain to make sense of what had just happened, and all the while more than slightly miffed at the unneeded trouble she’d gone to in the casting of her spell.

        “Well...” she began hesitantly. “I guess we go in then.”

        “Y’all heard the mare, let’s go ‘n get this business over with.” Applejack said. “Sooner we’re done here the sooner I c’n get back ta buckin’ apples.”

        Twilight, absolutely giddy with excitement, followed along with no further prompting.

        “Oh I can hardly wait!” she exclaimed. “Who knows what we might uncover in here, what kind of knowledge could have been lost to the ages, never to be relearned until now?”

        “Do you think that perhaps those things might be better left forgotten?” Fluttershy offered. “We wouldn’t want to upset anyone would we?”

        “Don’t worry, Fluttershy, this place has been abandoned for centuries. Whoever built it is long gone, I’m sure.” Twilight tried to console her friend.

        “Any chance we could get a little light, Twi? It’s a mite dark in here.” Applejack asked as the group crossed the threshold of the tower.

        “Of course, one illumination spell coming u-”

        Once again, before Twilight could so much as summon a flicker of light torches blazed to life all about them banishing the darkness and lighting their way.

        “Huh...” was Twilight’s intelligent response.

        “Alright, I guess I’m gonna be the one to say it then. This place isn’t abandoned.” Rainbow said.

        “Hmm, I suppose that’s a possibility.” Twilight admitted. “I mean we have proof that immortals really exist; the princesses being an example of that. So I suppose it’s conceivable that there is somepony here. But on the other hoof it’s entirely possible that it’s as abandoned as it looks. Either way this is the perfect opportunity to get some answers. Personally I’d prefer it if there was somepony here, then I could get firsthoof answers to my questions!”

        “Well, considering the doors did that really ominous opening-on-their-own thing and then all these torches just lit themselves, I’d say it’s safe to say we’re expected.” Rainbow observed.

        “Or the doors are enchanted to open for anypony looking to get in. I mean they’d have to be enchanted anyways, there’s no way anypony’s budging doors that big. And the torches could be enchanted as well, a place this big with no apertures for sunlight to enter would require considerable lighting.” Twilight reasoned.

        “Not to put your intelligence to question, dear, but what if we’re releasing an ancient, long forgotten evil into Equestria?” Rarity asked.

        “Silly, then we do something about it of course!” Pinkie responded as though it were obvious. “We always think of something when something bad happens! And if we don’t things usually just solve themselves anyways.”

        “Pinkie’s got a point.” Rainbow agreed. “Seems like everything really just takes care of itself eventually. And I know that there’s something horribly wrong with that reasoning, but I can’t really argue with it.”

        “It may also have something to do with the fact that there’s no use wasting your breath trying to contradict her.” Rarity pointed out.

        “Oh yeah, that too.”

        Conversation momentarily exhausted, the ponies returned to silence, content to simply observe the long forgotten sights of the ancient tower they now found themselves in. The more they walked the more Twilight’s assertions that it was abandoned seemed to be true, though there was light the tower looked as though it hadn’t seen the presence of life in centuries.

Where they walked now resembled massive, decrepit foyer, replete with great soaring columns and decorated with great hanging chandeliers, most of which had long since crashed to the ground and still lay where they had shattered. A great number, though, still hung about their chains and the glittering sapphires that decorated them shone as brightly as they must have the day they were cut, catching the torchlight and scatting it about the hall in a spectacle of color.

A thick coating of dust covered nearly everything and any furnishings made of wood was splintered and decayed. Cobwebs occupied every crevice and corner, and a few small fires flashed up as large clusters were incinerated by torches slower to ignite than the others.

        The group traveled along a path laid out by a great, mostly decayed carpet colored in the likeness of the starlit night sky, the color of which, if not its integrity, having not diminished in the slightest over time.

        “This place looks a lot bigger than it did from the outside.” Rainbow observed.

        “Ah reckon ya might be right, Rainbow.” Applejack agreed. “Didn’t look ta be more than a hundred yards across when we saw it, no bigger’n a hoofball field. Feels like it goes on fer miles now, though.”

        Rarity, for her part, made no comment, occupied as she was ogling the veritable treasure trove of precious gems the chandeliers presented.

        “Man, I bet you could throw the biggest parties in here!” Pinkie Pie commented, once again displaying her one track thought process.

        Fluttershy made no comment, content to lag behind at the rear of the group, shivering with fear and constantly looking about for anything that might be cause for alarm.

        “That can’t be possible, though.” Twilight argued. “Only the most powerful magic users can do something like that, and even then never something on such a scale as this tower.”

        “Well what was it you said, darling? “Forgotten, never to be relearned?” What if whoever built this place had that ability and then it was forgotten over the years?”

        “If that’s true then this could be the most significant discovery in recent history. Imagine how ponies could benefit from such knowledge if we could find it!” Twilight exclaimed.

        “Ah don’t exactly see how somethin’ like that could help. Seems like a fancy trick but ah don’t really-”

        “Applejack, imagine being able to just up and move all of Sweet Apple Acres into your barn in the winter so you could keep growing all year round.” Twilight said.

        “Now that don’t make a lick of sense.”

        “AJ, it’s magic.” Rainbow said. “What magic does make sense? Sounds like with this Fluttershy could even house every critter in the White Tail Woods.”

        “Really?” the pegasus piped up. “Oh, that would be wonderful!”

        “Oh, and I’ve been thinking about making an addition onto my shop so I’d have more room to work. Oh that would be simply delightful!

        “And I could turn my bedroom into an entire training course the size of Cloudsdale!” Rainbow exclaimed.

        Suddenly Pinkie was upon Rainbow, a hoof around her shoulders and her free hoof held out to the distance, a far off, almost blissful look in her eyes. “Parties. Parties everywhere. As far as the eye can see.”

        “And that’s only the beginning!” Twilight extolled. “Imagine what other secrets we might find in here?”

        “Now hang on girls, if all that’s true why would the princess tell Twilight this place was dangerous?” Applejack argued.

        “That was when I was little, I’m sure it’s plenty safe now that I’m older.” Twilight reasoned.

        “Yeah, come on AJ, have a little faith.” Rainbow said. “Twilight’s the most talented magic user in all of Equestria, what could possibly happen that Twilight can’t handle?”

        “Now ya see? There ya go again with that whole “What could go wrong?” thing. It’s like yer just askin’ fer somethin’ ta happen.” Applejack remarked.

        “Well at least then something exciting would happen. Most interesting thing so far is doors that open themselves. OoOoOo, spooky.” Rainbow replied.

        Soon the group came near to a great wall sectioning off the center of the tower from the great foyer. A great, gilded set of doors, tarnished by the passage of time, marked the entrance to the innermost halls.

        “How about you try casting a spell to open it, Twi? This tower seems to like being a killjoy for you.” Rainbow suggested.

        “Yeah it does, doesn’t it?” Twilight grumbled. She began to gather magic to her horn, but as with every instance so far the instant the thought of casting a spell crossed her mind the doors before them slid open revealing the tower’s central hall, torches blazing to life all along the walls.

The inner halls of the tower were just as vast as the room they left, confirming any suspicions they’d had about the size of the tower’s interior. Converging at the very center of the room were three obsidian stairways leading into the upper levels of the tower. Seeing nothing in any other direction worth investigating, the six proceeded to make their way over.

“Where d’ya reckon these lead?” Applejack asked, giving voice to the question on all their minds. “Any of them books ya read on this place say anythin’ about directions?”

“Nothing.” Twilight replied. “I think our best shot would be to just try each of them and see where they go.”

“So which one do we take first?” Rainbow asked.

“Well there’s six of us and three staircases, so if we split up into groups of two we should be able to cover more ground.” Twilight decided.

“Nope.” Rainbow said bluntly. “Not on your life. You don’t split the party, Twilight! That’s like, the first rule of adventuring! And especially not in a big, dark, creepy, long forgotten wizard’s tower!”

“We don’t know a wizard lives here.” Twilight pointed out. “We don’t know anypony lives here.”

“Everything we’ve seen so far suggests it’s a wizard’s tower. And I doubt we’re lucky enough for whoever lived here to have been a mortal. Plus it’s basic logic, wizards live in towers. Duh.”

“Now that’s just a stereotype, not all wizards live in towers. The princesses live in a palace and they’re the most magically gifted beings in the world.” Twilight argued.

“We’ve visited them plenty of times, Luna lives in the Astronomy Tower and Celestia’s bedroom is way up in a tower I can’t remember the name of. Check and mate.”

“I don’t live in a tower, I live in a tree. And remember Trixie? She lived in a caravan wagon.”

“Well Trixie was a fraud and doesn’t count, and then you’re a crazy hedge wizard.”

Twilight sputtered in indignity. “I am not a hedge wizard! Do you even know what a hedge wizard is?”

“A wizard that likes nature, right?”

“That’s not what a hedge wizard is at all! It’s a derogatory term meaning a wizard of low skill, self taught, and generally works with herbs as opposed to real magic.”

“Oh, so Zecora’s a hedge wizard!”

“Rainbow!”

“What?”

“Stop saying hedge wizard!”

“Why?”

“Because it’s racist!”

“Racist against who?”

“Against wizards!”

“Wizards aren’t a race. Plus Rarity uses magic and I don’t see her getting all upset.”

“I can honestly say I’ve never heard the term in all my life.” Rarity added.

“Ugh! Why are we even talking about this?” Twilight demanded.

“Because you want to split the party in a wizard’s tower. Which is a bad idea.” Rainbow reminded her.

By this point Twilight was reasonably sure that she couldn’t frown any deeper.

“Ya know, ah reckon Rainbow’s just scared.” Applejack drawled.

Rainbow zipped over to Applejack, thrusting her face into Applejack’s, their noses nearly touching. “You wanna say that again?”

“Ah said yer scared. If ya were really as brave as ya say you’d have no problem goin’ off inta this here tower with jus’ one other pony. Or maybe yer worried if we split the group ah’ll be faster in findin’ somethin’ fer Twilight ta study before ya.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the orange earth pony. “That sounds like a challenge.”

Applejack grinned as Rainbow took the bait. “So ya can understand me! Ah was worried yer wit wasn’t quite as fast as yer flyin’.”

“That’s it! No way I’m gonna sit here and take this from the slowest pony in Ponyville, you’re on!” Rainbow yelled, shooting up the nearest staircase.

As soon as she was gone Applejack turned and shot a wink at Twilight. “Yer welcome.” she said before shooting off after Rainbow.

Twilight sighed with relief. “Well now that that’s out of the way that only leaves-”

“I call Rarity!” Pinkie yelled, immediately grabbing hold of the surprised fashionista and dragging her off up the second set of stairs, Rarity’s indignant shouts trailing their passage.

“Pinkie! Let go of me this instant! I can walk just fine on my own and you’remessingupmymane!”

“Well that was easy!” Twilight remarked. “I guess that just leaves you and me Flutter... shy? Where’d you go, Fluttershy?”

The timid yellow pegasus poked her head out from behind a pile of debris that was once a table. “O-Over here.” she called quietly.

“Well come on, Fluttershy, we’re not gonna find anything just lying around, we have to get moving! Oh this is so exciting!” she rambled as she began trotting up the last stairway.

“I-If you say so, T-Twilight...” Fluttershy all but whimpered as she followed after.

        On and on the pair traveled, up stairways and through halls, and down yet more stairs and somehow emerging a floor higher than when they’d descended. They traveled for what felt like hours with no end in sight, and never once coming across anything even remotely resembling a library, but never once did the fire of Twilight’s optimism fade, but rather grew stronger and brighter with each failed discovery as surely this could only mean that the best was yet to come.

And so they walked, Fluttershy never once straying more than a step behind Twilight and jumping at just about every shadow cast by the flickering torchlight.

        Twilight for her part took no notice of her companion’s troubles, her own mind focused on scouring the various halls and rooms for anything that looked interesting. Eventually, though it wasn’t for a significant length of time, and as much as she doubted Twilight would like them, Fluttershy found her courage and finally decided to give voice to her thoughts.

“Um, Twilight?” the timid pegasus asked speaking barely louder than a whisper.

Unsurprisingly Twilight didn’t hear, and instead only continued scouring the various corridors and adjoining rooms at a speed that would have made Rainbow proud.

“Twilight?” she tried again, daring to go so far as to increase the volume of her voice a few decibels. Once again it was to no avail.

“I’m sure we’re getting close now, Fluttershy!” Twilight announced for what was likely the tenth time, still unheeding of Fluttershy’s attempts to gain her attention.

“Twilight.” Fluttershy called again, this time using what one might consider to be a normal speaking voice.

“It’s probably just down this next corridor!” a preoccupied Twilight reassured her, though Fluttershy remained unsure of what “it” even was. She wondered if Twilight herself even knew what it was she searched for.

This was starting to get bad, Fluttershy would have to resort to desperate measures. The thought terrified her beyond belief. FLuttershy took a deep breath.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, a minor gale kicking up from the force of her exclamation.

        Twilight blinked. “Yes Fluttershy?” she asked from where she lay, propped upside down against a wall from Fluttershy’s shout.

        “Oh dear, I’m sorry Twilight!” Fluttershy apologized. “But I don’t think there’s anything here. We’ve been in here for hours and we haven’t found anything.”

        “There has to be something here though!” she argued.

        “But Twilight, you said it yourself, all the enchantments here could just be really old.” Fluttershy argued. “It really could just be an abandoned old tower.”

        Twilight was silent a moment, then, the fight seemingly gone out of her, she slumped to her haunches, face downcast and eyes to the floor. “You’re probably right, Fluttershy. I don’t even know what I was hoping to find here.”

        “Well you did find out that it really is bigger on the inside. Can’t you do something with that?” Fluttershy offered.

        “Oh of course.” Twilight confirmed. “Discovering this kind of magic will probably be what I’m known for in the magical community for the rest of my life, it’ll probably revolutionize magic.”

        “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Fluttershy observed.

        “It’s hard to describe. It’s like...” Twilight paused for a moment, trying to find the words to properly express herself. “It may take a while, but I’ll be able to analyze this magic and replicate it some day, but at the same time that’s all I’m doing; duplicating another’s work. I suppose I was hoping to find knowledge here, and then use that to make my own discoveries. I’d rather be known for my own work than rediscovering somepony else’s.”

        “I can understand that, Twilight.” Fluttershy consoled her. “But there may not be anything here to be discovered aside from that. I think for now we should head back and find the others, and then you can tell the princess all about what you’ve found, and then maybe you can even come back another time.”

        “That’s probably for the best.” Twilight agreed. “We found the place, we’ve verified its value, I suppose that’s really the best we could have done, after all this isn’t much of an expedition. Now let’s head back and...”

        “What’s wrong Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

        Twilight looked back and forth along the corridor they now found themselves in. “Do you remember which direction we came from?”

        “I thought you were keeping track.”

        “... Oh dear.”

        “Twilight?”

        “Yes Fluttershy?”

        “Are we lost?”

        “That may very well be the case, I’m afraid.” Twilight confirmed, looking around and trying to remember the path they’d taken. “But it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle, I suppose I can just teleport us out if we really need”

        “C-could we take the faster solution please? It’s s-scary in here.” Fluttershy pleaded.

        “Well, the compressed spatiality in this tower might throw it off a little, but I suppose if I aim to overshoot our destination by a bit it should even out.” Twilight reasoned, magic gathering about her horn. “Alright, hold on Fluttershy, here we go!”

        With a brilliant flash of discharging magic the two ponies vanished from the dim, torch lit halls of the tower. They flashed into existence with a pop upon their reappearance not even a moment after their departure.

        “Oh wow, is it dark out already?” Twilight wondered aloud. “I guess we were in there a lot longer than I thought.”

        “T-Twilight? A l-little light p-please?” Fluttershy squeaked.

        “Oh, of course! Sorry Fluttershy.” Twilight said, preparing an illumination spell. Before she could cast it the surrounding area was bathed in light as hundreds of torches blazed to life.

        “Oh no,” Twilight groaned.

        “We’re still in the tower? How? I thought you teleported us out.” Fluttershy asked in confusion.

        “I must have misjudged the distance.” Twilight reasoned, thinking to herself. “There must have been more compressed spatiality than I’d accounted for. Oh well, I won’t make that mistake again, get ready Fluttershy.”

        The timid pegasus only nodded her assent and Twilight began casting her spell. Once again the pair disappeared in a burst of magic, once again reappearing in total darkness which was promptly banished by the igniting of a hundred torches.

        “Alright, alright, clearly a little more compressed space in this tower than I thought. No matter, I’ll just teleport us a little further this time.” Twilight decided, lighting up her horn before Fluttershy could say a word. Again they vanished, and once again they reappeared in the dark corridors of the tower.

        “How is this possible?!” Twilight demanded of nobody in particular. “That last teleport should have sent us back to Ponyville! There’s no way we should still be in this tower, at the very least we should be outside.”

Twilight’s horn lit up as she prepared, only to stop as she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

“Do you think that’s really the best idea?” Fluttershy asked. “What if this place really is that much bigger than you thought? More teleporting could just get us even more lost.”

Twilight sighed in utter exasperation. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. This is just looking more and more like a bad idea every second. Sorry I dragged you girls along with me.” she said hanging her head.

“We would have come along with you anyways, don’t worry too much over it. Just... I suppose you could, um, think things through a little more next time, I suppose.” Fluttershy finished meekly.

Twilight let out a single laugh. “I suppose I should, shouldn’t I? But that begs the question, if we can’t teleport then how do we even get out of here?”

Seemingly in response to her question the torches along the corridor blazed to life, though only in the direction they were facing, those behind them staying dark.

The two ponies shared an apprehensive glance.

“Well, I suppose we don’t really have much choice, do we?” Twilight remarked as the two began following the torches.

They followed the torches for some time, at each intersection of hallways torches would blaze to life in one direction or another and they’d follow them, each torch extinguishing as they passed. Deeper and deeper into the maze of decrepit corridors they followed the torches, following them to some unknown destination.

After an unknowable amount of time the pair had followed the lights seemingly to their end, having arrived at a grand set of obsidian double doors easily five meters tall. These doors alone among the entirety of the tower looked to be untouched by the weathering of time, intricately gilded and inlaid with dozens of of glittering sapphires. While impressive, Twilight was long beyond caring, only wishing to find an exit and meet up with her friends.

“I’m not gonna cast a spell.” she said addressing the door. “I know you’re just gonna swing open the moment I do.”

In response to her words the great doors began to rumble and slide inwards.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Twilight huffed.

        Any further comments died in her throat as she saw what lay just beyond the threshold of that door, though. Light spilled from the interior, many times brighter than the feeble torch light, and blinded them momentarily, but what their eyes beheld after that moment made the both of them pause. They took a few hesitant steps forward into the vast room beyond, gaping at the sight of the room before them in awe, and none more so than Twilight.

        The room they now stood in could be nothing other than a library, but such a simple word hardly felt fitting when trying to describe the sheer volume of knowledge collected there. It ranged for seemingly countless miles in every direction and lit by what appeared to be miniature stars hanging suspended every fifty or so meters, the walls themselves extended upwards for easily a hundred meters with every inch being occupied by books. Even the ceiling high above them was covered in books, curiously enough it was also pockmarked by doors. Meanwhile the floor was occupied by a veritable maze of bookcases, each no less than three meters tall.

        When enough sense had returned to Twilight and she was able to process emotion again one particular one made itself known: excitement. But not just excited, ecstatic, jubilant, approaching near Pinkie Pie levels of joy. Here was exactly what she had hoped to find and more! A receptacle of unfathomable amounts of knowledge lost to the ages for who knew how long! She noticed something out of place though, what looked like small telephone booths dotted the library at odd intervals.

        “Huh, I wonder what these are.” Twilight wondered aloud.

        Trotting over to one and opening the door she came to behold an entirely separate, though markedly smaller, library all contained within the tiny booth, and even more similar booths within this one, each one likely a home to its own self contained library.

        Twilight slowly closed the door, her mind slowly coming to grips with the sheer immensity of the library she found herself in. Compressed spatialities within compressed spatialities, and yet more within those, who knew how long it went on for. The volume of knowledge contained in this one room was truly staggering to Twilight. With no other idea as how to proceed she trotted over to the nearest bookcase and began scanning titles.

        “I don’t recognise any of these titles.” Twilight said as she perused the books. She pulled one down at random and opened it, quickly scanning its contents. “This is incredible! This talks about magic the likes of which I’ve never imagined!”

        “Um, th-that’s r-really great Twilight, b-but-”

        “It talks about something called the Warp, a parallel universe. This is amazing!” she continued. She would have continued had she not caught sight of Fluttershy out of the corner of her eye, backed up against the bookcase and quivering in terror. Not that the latter was very out of the ordinary.

        “T-Twilight?” she tried again.

        Pushing her excitement down, Twilight’s rational mind took over.

        “There’s a big scary monster guarding the library and it’s standing right behind me, isn’t it?”

        “I wouldn’t say “monster” exactly, though I have been called that over the years. I do rather like the sound of ”guardian” though, so let’s go with that one shall we?” a voice behind her said. Well at least she got the placement then.

        Twilight whirled around expecting the worst and ready for a fight. What she found herself facing left her rather speechless and confused.

        Before them stood a large bipedal raven bedecked in white robes adorned with brilliant golden ornaments with feathers of a deep midnight blue-black. He was almost cadaverously thin and appeared hunched and wizened, standing with the aid of the great crystal staff he held in one claw.

        “Oh calm down, I’m not going to hurt you.” the raven said with a dismissive wave as he noticed her tense bearing. He then leaned down to eye level with her, squinting as he did so. “Now let’s have a look at you, which one are... ah! Twilight Sparkle, prompt as usual it seems. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of your friends.”

        “You know my name? How?” Twilight asked.

        The raven chuckled lightly. “I know much more than just your name, Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville, personal student of Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia, and Element of Magic. I also know of your five companions.”

        “This is sounding suspiciously like a conversation I’ve had before.” Twilight remarked warily.

        “Would you happen to be referring to your first meeting with Discord?” he asked.

        “H-How did you know about Discord?” Fluttershy timidly asked.

        “We play poker in between his banishments.” the raven answered casually. "He's not very good, you know, terrible poker face. And he always cheats. Fortunately I cheat better."

        Before Twilight could make a reply her attention was stolen by a noise, that being of a familiar high pitched shrieking. She glanced upwards just in time to see Rarity drop through one of the doors in the ceiling, her hooves wrapped around Pinkie Pie as she held on for dear life. Pinkie actually seemed to be having fun though.

        Terrified for the safety of her friends, Twilight reacted with the first thing that came to mind and conjured a mattress beneath them. She sighed with relief as the pair hit the mattress, but then gasped as the springs inside launched the two off into the maze of books.

        “Wheeeeeee!” Pinkie cheered as they went sailing through the air. Needless to say, Rarity’s sentiments did not match her own.

There was an audible crash as they struck something, then yet another crash as a bookshelf toppled over.

        She heard a rasping sigh and turned to see the raven shaking his head in exasperation.

        “Kids these days, no respect for library etiquette.” he grumbled. “And they’re late, I deplore tardiness. Now all that leaves is-”

        Before he could finish his sentence the door to one of the booth banged open and out tumbled Rainbow Dash and Applejack who were seemingly in the middle of a heated argument.

        “You cheated!” Rainbow accused her.

        “Did not!” Applejack asserted.

        “Did too!”

        “Did not!”

        And still the two kept tumbling, finally coming to a stop when they struck a bookcase which toppled over to crash into another bookcase, setting off a domino effect throughout the library.

        Twilight cast a nervous glance at the raven. Regardless of how she felt about his apparent affiliation with Discord, she still felt mildly embarrassed of the havoc she and her friends had caused in his library.

        “Sorry.” she muttered sheepishly.

        “This is going to take the Scribes weeks to sort out,” he sighed. “But no matter, at least everyone’s here now.”

        “Ugh, my head.” Rainbow muttered dizzily as she disentangled herself from Applejack. “Where the hay are we?”

        “Looks like a library.” Applejack observed.

        “Girls!” Twilight called to them. “Are you two alright?”

        “Oh hey, it’s Twilight!” Rainbow exclaimed as she took notice of the unicorn. “Yeah, we’re fine. Applejack just won’t admit that I found the books first.”

        “That’s ‘cause ya didn’t!”

        “My victory aside, who’s the feather head? Is he the final boss or something?” Rainbow asked.

        “Would ya jus’ stop thinkin’ about that game fer five minutes?” Applejack asked, exasperation filling her voice.

        “I think perhaps introductions should wait until the other two-”

        “Twilight! Twilight, Twilight, Twilight!” came an excited yell.

        “Pinkie, let go of me this instant! You’ve done nothing but drag me about this insufferable tower and you’restillruiningmymane!”

        Pinkie rushed up to the group as excited as ever, Rarity still in tow. As soon as the hyperactive mare drew near she released her hold on Rarity and thrust a book into Twilight’s face.

        “I found you a book! Did I win?” she asked.

        “Sorry Pinks, but I actually won.” Rainbow said.

        “Mah flank ya did!”

        “Oh dear, please, there’s no need to argue.” Fluttershy attempted to interject.

        “Who cares about books? Look what happend to my mane!”

        “I care about books...”

        Amidst of the chaos the elderly raven simply conjured up an armchair and sat down to watch the spectacle unfold, content to see it play out as it would.

        “This is the best idea I’ve had in a thousand years, I think.” he remarked as he watched them bicker.

        “Wait, no, stop it!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed. She then turned to address the raven that the others seemed to be ignoring. “We’re not here to argue, we’re here to find out what your relation is to Discord!”

        “I thought you were here to advance your studies by rediscovering knowledge lost to your kind for unknowable ages.” he replied.

        “Sounds about right.” Rainbow piped up.

        “Well now how’d he know that? We only jus’ found out about this ourselves when Twilight told us earlier.” Applejack questioned.

        The raven shrugged. “There is very little that occurs upon this world of which I am not aware.”

        “So are you like a wizard or something?” Rainbow asked.

        “I prefer the term “sorcerer,” but yes, that works as well I suppose.” he replied.

        “And this is your tower?”

        “It most certainly is.”

        “Hah! Told you Twilight!” she gloated.

        Twilight groaned. “Just because one wizard lives in a tower doesn’t mean they all do!”

        “Well of course wizards live in towers, it’s tradition! The taller your tower the better a wizard you are. Stereotypes exist for a reason, you know.” he explained.

        “Enough about wizards and towers! How do you know Discord? Are you a villain too?” she demanded.

        “Ah, I do suppose introductions are in order,” he said, sighing as he rose the plush armchair which promptly vanished. “My name, as it is known among the stars, is Anon’kerlath’nirnaeth.”

        The ponies just stared at him.

        “So...” Rainbow ventured. “Do we just call you Anon or...”

        “Oh my, no,” he chuckled. “Celestia has taken to calling me Fate Weaver for the sake of simplicity. And before you ask, no, I am not that Fateweaver. He’s old, crazy, and has two heads.”

        “So now you know the princess as well?” Twilight asked skeptically.

        “Oh of course. She, Luna, and I are rather well acquainted.” he explained. “She speaks very highly of you, you know.”

        “Alright, pretending I buy that for a second that still doesn’t answer my other question. Are you a villain or not?” she bluntly asked.

        Here the raven sighed deeply with a shake of his head. “You know, I could launch into a whole lecture all about the ambiguity and relativity of the concepts of good and evil, but we both know you won’t really listen, so stuck in your ways are you. So by the depressingly limited black and white terms of how you understand and perceive these concepts; yes, I am a villain of the most profound variety.”

        “Oh cool, so he is the end boss!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “I wonder what we’ll get when we beat him.”

        “Well, assuming you can, and believe you me that’s giving you quite a lot, you’d probably be disappointed with how little I have here.”

        “You don’t have any treasure here or anything?”

        “Well it could be said that this tower is a treasure trove of knowledge.” he offered, indicating the books around them.

        “Ugh, that’s lame.” she whined. “No +2 Greatsword of Ogre Slaying or anything?”

        “Well I suppose if you really want-”

        Twilight had had just about enough by this point and her frustration was finally coming to a head.

“That’s enough!” she declared, stomping a hoof down for emphasis. “I’ve had enough of this. Girls, we’re leaving and we’re going straight to Celestia. She has to know about this.”

“I think I may be able to save you some time with that.” Fate Weaver quipped. “She should be arriving in about...” here he pulld back a sleeve of his robe to reveal no fewer than nine separate timepieces all ticking away. “Three, two, one...”

His statement was succeeded by a brilliant burst of light emanating from directly behind him so bright that the ponies were all forced to avert their eyes. When they returned their gazes there was a shimmering blue sheet of energy behind Fate Weaver where there had once been empty space.

He turned to face the portal in time for a figure familiar to the ponies to step out, a content and knowing smile set upon his features.

“Weaver?” Princess Celestia queried hurriedly. “The Scribes just arrived with your message and I came as quickly as I could. What’s this “urgent business” you needed to...”

She trailed off as her eyes fell upon the ponies arrayed before her that by all rights should never have been there, each wearing an expression of shock and disbelief that she was sure she mirrored.

Apparently trying very hard to suppress his excitement, Fate Weaver threw his hands into the air in mock surprise.

“Oh dear me, what incredibly poor timing on my part! I seem to have slipped up and revealed what is quite possibly the darkest secret in Equestrian history, whatever shall we do?”

Pinkie was already wearing a party hat.