//------------------------------//
// Expectations, Explanations 
// Story: Their Otherworldly Grace 
// by MonoGlyph 
//------------------------------//

[Rarity’s report continued:]
As we began to scale the stairs again, Applejack saw one more item of interest, resting surreptitiously in a forgotten corner. She ran over and grabbed it. It was a single cob of neon violet corn, of the same breed as the vile altered stalks that have afflicted the Apple family’s farm. Did Twilight feel the urge to pick one of the foreign vegetables for study? I had given up on trying to find the answers to the ridiculous pile of questions this investigation had inspired thus far. To her credit, Applejack seemed less pessimistic about our discoveries. She seemed to be recovering rather well. 
“Naow listen up, fellas. Ah’ve gone t’ see Zecora about these offendin’ corn stalks a while ago. Didn’t have much to say in the way of context, so she couldn’t tell me much in return. Ah’ll bet if’n we take all we found here to her, she’ll have a thing or two to say ‘bout Twilight.” She looked hopefully at the two guards. “Waddaya say, boys? You up for a little side trip ‘fore we send y’all on your way?”
Abel turned to his partner, who sighed heavily.
“Well a’right,” Gestalt mumbled. “Something tells me this’ll be a helluva report I’ll have to write, though.”
I spoke up.
“If it’s quite alright with you, dear, I’d like to take care of that. I am personally acquainted with the Princess you know, and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
He brightened considerably.
Unsure of what he should’ve been doing, Spike decided to tag along with us as we set off for Zecora’s hut in the Everfree Forest. Applejack and I tried our best to fill him in on what’s been going on around Ponyville of late. In return, he explained what little he knew of Twilight’s pursuits. He couldn’t offer much in the way of things we didn’t already suspect. Twilight’s affairs were kept secret, even from Spike. 
My mind drifted to the trees that surrounded us. I was reminded that the mayor saw fit to postpone the Running of the Leaves, deeming that it would be too dangerous in the current circumstances. For the uninformed, the Running of the Leaves is an annual Ponyville event, a race held in the Whitetail Wood each year. Medals are awarded to the winners. This event serves two primary purposes; to shake down the leaves of the Wood as autumn dictates, and more importantly, to bring the community closer together. I never participated personally as the scene was far too competitive and sweaty for a cultured pony like myself. Its cancelation was sad nevertheless. Many of my friends had taken part in the past.
The earth shook, as if a stampede was heading our way. We saw distant treetops bend at unseemly angles. Zecora’s dwelling was still at least two kilometers away. Something large was headed in our direction unnaturally fast. 
“Brace yourselves!” Abel called. 
“Don’t be daft,” the other guard replied. “We’d best hide an’ evaluate the situation.”
We took shelter among the protruding roots of a particularly large oak. The vibrations of the earth intensified to the point where I feared the tree would collapse on top of us. We saw the earth become disfigured around us. Something was burrowing beneath the surface at a speed rivaling that of most pegasi mid-flight. I was glad it was submerged, as I wasn’t sure if I could handle the sight of yet another one of these abominations. It let out a shrill squeal as it passed, but seemed completely unconcerned with us otherwise. I heard Gestalt grunt as the creature’s trail disappeared into the undergrowth. 
“This is liable to get really bad for your neighbors, an’ fast,” he said. 
It took me a moment to understand his meaning. My blood ran cold as the realization hit me. The monster was heading straight for the heart of Ponyville. 
“Ah don’t think we coulda done anythin’ to stop something like that,” Applejack stated. 
Her words rang hollow, as if she’d given up on the excuse halfway through. I knew why. It was the rationale behind our actions that day in the mountains. We chose to pursue a shady-looking stallion out of Ponyville and were unable to deal with the consequences. Were we really so powerless? All we ever seemed to do was run and hide. I wished we could take up the Elements of Harmony and drive back the forces that threatened us. The Elements are powerful jeweled artifacts that had served as our go-to weapon in previous times of crisis. Regrettably, they would not work in the absence of Twilight, the all-important Element of Magic, and now Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. The fight seemed hopeless. Our efforts appeared to be in vain. 
We found Zecora’s hut in a state of disarray. Something had ripped holes through the fragile walls and a plume of smoke was rising from the center of the roof. The nearby gardens of especially useful potion ingredients appeared to have been devoured. This discovery did not dilute my moody outlook. The zebra herself seemed to be mostly unharmed. She hurriedly let us inside, where we saw that her collection of solutions and remedies had likewise suffered. A number of vases lay shattered on the woven floor, their contents seeping into the soil below. 
“What in tarnation happened here?” Applejack demanded.
“Do not act surprised at least/ the woods are full of eldritch beasts,” Zecora answered. “I fear that something is amiss/ they’ve never been as numerous as this.”
“Madam,” Gestalt started. “We have reason to believe that th’ calamity that’s sweeping Equestria was instigated by one Twilight Sparkle. Y’know of her, yes? Our associate here suggested you might help us get to the bottom of this mess.”
We briefly explained our suspicions to Zecora. She looked skeptical.
“I know not of Twilight’s lies/ I saw no ill will in her eyes.”
I blinked.
“She was here?”
“At the migration of the crows/ I saw her two weeks ago/ her objective I had not forgot/ a pesticide was what she sought.”
“Two weeks ago…” I tried to remember that time. It felt like years. At last my memory stumbled onto something. I grabbed hold of it and turned it over before speaking again. 
“Ah! Fluttershy and I found some sort of ritualistic altar in this forest at around that time! The grass surrounding it was dead. There was a burnt carcass of a timber wolf in the hearth, and several runes and symbols were carved into the stone lectern. It was probably built by Twilight. Fluttershy mentioned she saw her pushing some stones into the forest. That was only a few days before a shimmering knot of bulging eyes and tentacles began to terrorize the town. I think… I think Twilight must have summoned the creature. She was able to send it away again, after all.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Spike interjected. “Why would Twilight bring these things here? It makes no sense!”
“Mebbe we should show Zecora th’ things we’d found in the library,” Applejack calmly suggested.
The guards took the items from the sack and spread them on Zecora’s table. Four blank tomes, Twilight’s notes, the light-emitting gadget, the animated fossil and the cob of altered corn. Zecora examined each item in turn with great interest. She spent a while reading through Twilight’s notes and studying the tomes. 
“If it’s the truth these notes affirm/ my suspicions are confirmed.” She squinted at the pages of the volume spread open before her. “Of these vicious beasts I know/ though I wish it were not so/ they who aim to spill our blood/ are known to us as Other Gods.”
“Other… Gods?” I repeated.
“Before they could destroy our world, they had to bid adieu/ cast back into their plane they were by the Tellurian Few/ but neither can you call a Tellurian friend/ give him the chance and your flesh he’ll rend/ should the monsters return hither/ Equestria will surely wither.”
She turned to the tubed instrument.
“O’er years my engineering knowledge weakened/ but this appears to be a beacon/ this is no coincidence I fear/ this instrument likely draws them here.”
I felt sick.
“Oh dear. Then it’s true. Twilight has… has…”
“NO,” Spike broke in again. “Twilight wouldn’t do something to… to harm us. You guys know her. How could you even suggest that she’s behind all this? She’s always had a little trouble fitting in. But she wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
I was at a loss for words. I suppose it was only to be expected that Spike would stay loyal to Twilight. She raised him, after all. I wanted to believe with him. But our experiences and findings so clearly contradicted what he said.
Zecora pushed the four black books forward and looked at me.
“To baseless accusations you should not dive/ for these books, you see, they are alive/ to her madness these tomes are seed/ and they will allow not one other to read/ you say that Twilight’s been depressed/ perhaps it’s true that she is possessed.”
I considered this.
“So if we burn the books—“
“Out of the question,” Gestalt interrupted. “Th’ Princess will decide what to do with the evidence.”
“Their ideas spread like mental cancer/ I doubt destroying the tomes is the answer.”
“I reckon that reasonin’ with her is the best chance we got,” Applejack said. “It doesn’t look like we can catch or restrain her physically.”
This didn’t seem like a particularly decisive course of action. Politely ask her to stop and pray that she obliges? She had us at her mercy, and she knew it. Only another equally competent spellpony would have any hope of catching Twilight and undoing all that’s happened. Or perhaps there was another way. Pinkie Pie once told me that the Canterlot Archives had a chronomancy wing. If we could turn back time we might be able to prevent all this from ever happening. Alas, this approach would also require a skilled practitioner of magic. This was all so frustrating. 
A shadow flickered over the burnt hole in the roof. Alarmed, we slowly opened the door and stepped outside, eyes fixed on the cloudy skies. There was a change in the atmosphere. I squinted against the light to see that a dark speck had blocked out part of the sun. 
“Are you all seeing this?”
Although small, the shape appeared to be growing, slowly but surely. If it continued unchecked, most of the sky would be obscured within a day. What was it, and why was it here? Thunder growled menacingly, coming from the clouds in the east. At odd intervals, a flash of light would pierce the gloom, and our surroundings would change for a split second. The trees transformed into great black towers pointing accusingly at the heavens. The grass turned a dull brown. The skies became a featureless gray expanse. And then everything would return to normal again. The oppressive silhouette inspired fear and awe. The realm was collapsing beneath its weight.
“We may already be too late/ the foolish mare has sealed our fate.”