The first thing Twilight realized was that, somehow, it was possible to stumble while standing up. Judging from the squeaks grunts around her, that was also the first thing everyone else discovered.
The second thing, however, managed to throw her even more off balance then she already was. Given the confused comments of her friends, the darkness was just as unnerving to them as it was to her.
She had enough presence of mind to light her horn--and, thankfully, Rarity apparently did too--which led to the third revelation--that they were standing in a small chamber composed entirely of black... things.
Snakes jumped to her mind and, thankfully, were quickly discarded--the stuff had neither scales nor any visible eyes. They could be some giant form of worm, she supposed, but somehow the substance under her hooves felt too solid for that. Maybe they were some other kind of bug...?
"What the hay are all these vines?!"
Twilight blinked, looking over to Applejack. "These are vines?"
"Yeah. Thick ones, mind. Probably real old." The orange mare bit her lip. "And ifn' they're old enough, it don't bode well for Ponyville."
Fluttershy nodded, looking around. "It might not even be here anymore..."
The group fell silent, eyeing the black vines that wrapped around the chamber in somber, horrified awe.
Rarity took a slow, steadying breath. "Well... we always knew things would be very different. Best not to walk in with assumptions, right? We figure out what's going on and go from there."
"...Right. This chamber is about as big as the main library atrium." Twilight paused. "In fact, it might actually be the main library atrium--can we tear the vines off and see if there are shelves behind them?!"
Rainbow Dash saluted. "On it!" She reached into her saddlebags, pulling out a crowbar, and hooked it into one of the walls.
"I'm more worried about our air supply," Pinkie pointed out. "I mean, I did pack oxygen tanks, but in this chamber we've got maybe three hours--assuming there's no air flow."
"These are plants," Spike pointed out.
"Doesn't necessarily mean they'll make air." She bit her lip. "Spike, can you not flame until we're out?"
"We may need him to burn through some of these vines," Twilight pointed out. "But yeah, the air thing's important... we may need those tanks at some point."
Spike chuckled. "Don't worry, I can keep it to myself till it's needed."
"HnnnnnnnnnnGRA!" With a wet snapping sound, Rainbow wrenched a vine in half. "Got--OH GEEZE, THAT SMELL! Ew, disgusting! What is in these things?!"
Twilight levitated a few vials out of her saddlebags, scooping up some of the byzantium substance dripping from the broken stem. "We can figure that out later. Can you see a shelf behind there?"
"Yeah. No books, though. Not even any crumbly paper. Just a bunch of cobwebs and dead bugs."
"Right. Somebody must have taken the books. Means this place was evacuated...." She shrugged. "Probably a big thing, if they took the time to clear out the library. So... maybe all of Ponyville got out before..."
She trailed into silence.
"...We don't have enough information," she finally admitted. "We need to get out and take a lay of the land." Corking the vials and putting them back into her saddlebags, she stared at the broken vine. "Okay, so if that's a shelf, the front door should be somewhere along this wall..."
Pinkie Pie zipped to the vines, tapping them with her hooves before moving on. "Thick. Thick. Thick. Thick. Th--no." She paused, putting her ear against the wall and tapping again. "Applejack, come here, do you hear that?"
Applejack trotted over, putting her ear to the wall and tapping it. "...Yeah. Good news, bad news girls." She turned. "We found the door, but... there's vines on tha other side as well, from tha sound of it."
Rarity blinked. "Earth pony thing?"
"Eeeyup, pretty much." She pushed off the vines. "And they're real thick, too. Not likely to be any hollow chambers or anything."
"Sounds like we'll need a blowtorch," Spike commented.
"Thank you ever so much for volunteering, darling." Rarity fluttered her eyelashes at him.
"I'd..." Twilight sighed. "I don't want to destroy the door. Emotional connection, you know. But... it's probably rotted anyway..."
Spike put a claw on her back. "I know, Twi. I don't... I don't like it either."
"Well, should be easy to check." Rainbow took a tight grip of her crowbar and zipped between the two earth ponies, slamming the bent metal into thick vine. "Hrrrrrrg!"
Applejack quirked a brow. "Need some help there, sugarcube?"
"Nope! I, hnnf, I got it!" With a final grunt, the pegasus tore the vine away from its mount. "Hah! Yeah, beat that! Ha!"
"There are still a bunch o' vines, Dash."
"Yeah, but now we can see the wood of the door!"
Pinkie nodded, peeking through the gap. "That's true! And--oh. Oh my gosh. Ohmygosh, girls! IT'S NOT ROTTED AT ALL!"
"What?!" Twilight galloped over, almost tripping on the vines, and looked. "Oh. Oh wow. I... wow... Spike! Spike you've got to see this!"
"Give me room," Spike reminded her as he sidled up. "I'm a big dragon now. Well, bigger. I take up a lot of space."
Twilight stepped aside, nudging Pinkie out of the way. "Look, see? The boards are still there!"
Spike stared at the faded red wood for a long moment.
Then, suddenly, he surged forward, claws gripping the vines and tearing them off rapidly.
"Whoa." Rainbow glanced from the scene to her crowbar. "Why'd I even bring this?"
Pinkie shrugged. "We can't have Spike do everything."
The vines were torn away in record time, leaving the door visible to everyone. It sagged on its hinges a bit, and the handle had been crumpled to a barely present streak of black iron, but it was still clearly that very same door that Twilight Sparkle had opened so long ago, when she first arrived in Ponyville.
"...Can you open it?"
Fluttershy's words were all but whispered, yet in the silence they reverberated without opposition.
Twilight nodded. "Yeah. I think I can."
Her horn lit up, magic wrapping around the mangled handle; with a quiet grunt of effort, she slowly swung the door into the room, hinges protesting every minute. The vines on the ground were slowly shoved back, their crinkling forms giving way to show the scarred, ashen wood that had once been the library's floor.
"...Well Ah'll be." Applejack took off her hat and held it to her chest. "Tha candle's still there."
The ponies all stared at the faded, just barely recognizable image on the front of the door.
After a moment, Rarity cleared her throat. "Well. This is... all very emotional. And nostalgic. But... as much as I do want to indulge in a memoryfest, and I really truly do, we should see about getting out of here, yes?"
Twilight shook her head, breaking out of her stunned silence. "Right." She turned to look out the door, took in the black vines that all but filled the passageway, and sighed. "Spike?"
"On it. Half-right angle upward, right?"
"Thirty degrees, actually. Less slope."
"Right." Spike tapped the vines. "Living wood, or near enough... don't want anything else getting burned..." He nodded at the ponies. "No peeking. Don't want to hurt your eyes."
"Got it. The kitchen door should be somewhere over... there. I don't know if the vines made that a chamber, but if it's anything like this room--"
"Let me check." Applejack walked over to the indicated wall, tapped it twice, nodded, and spun around. With a powerful kick, the black wood shattered inward. "Kitchen's open."
"Ooo! I wonder if the stove still works!" Pinkie bounded in. "I can bake us some flatbread while we wait!"
Rainbow Dash hovered over, landing when she realized there wasn't enough room to fly in. "Flatbread?"
"It's been a thousand years, Dash. I don't think there's enough sugar for cookies."
"Right. Hey, could one of you unicorns come in and light this place up?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Everypony in the kitchen! Spike, you'll be okay out here, won't you?"
"I'm a big strong dragon, Twi. I'll be able to handle the dark."
"You know we're just... right over there. If you need us."
"Twilight." Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder. "It will be fine."
"I... I'm just worried, I guess." Twilight bit her lip, looking around. "I thought there would be ponies around, or at least some ruins. I didn't expect... this. Any of this."
Fluttershy sighed. "I don't think any of us expected this. But... well... it is what it is."
"Seriously guys, dark room here. Not that I'm afraid of the dark or anything," Rainbow assured them, "but you know, I'd really like to not bump into vines."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright, we're coming. Spike, you think you'll be done in ten minutes?"
"Ten. Hm..." Spike pushed against the vines. "Hard to tell. I'll check in with you then, or if I see light before then."
"That's... that's a good idea." Twilight paused in the kitchen doorway. "If you hear anything--voices, or creatures moving around, you come right back and tell us, okay? We should face anything we find together--"
"Twilight." Spike smiled. "I'll be fine. I can brush my own teeth and everything."
The purple unicorn chuckled awkwardly. "I know, I know, I just... you know. Be careful, alright?"
"I will. I promise."
"He's only going to be burning through a few vines of suspicious coloration that have enveloped the entire building and blocked out all outside light sources and whose inner substances smell worse than a rotting skunk," Pinkie pointed out casually.
Twilight snorted. "Yes. He's only going to be doing that." She stepped into the kitchen, put a semi-translucent forcefield over the doorway, and nodded to the dragon as he turned to start at his task. "And now, we wait."
For a moment or two, the only sound was the roar of fire and the crackling of burning vines.
"...Soooooo." Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. "Now that we're here and all... I mean... what do you think is out there?"
Applejack snorted. "Nothin' we'd recognize, Ah reckon."
"No no no, yeah, I got that, but is it like... roving bands of ponies worshiping ancient technology, or some grim kingdom ruled by an insane Celestia, or maybe it's after the end and everyone's a mutant, or... what?"
"Idle speculation won't help us," Twilight pointed out.
"But it'll pass the time," Pinkie pointed out. "Ooo! What if we've become figures of legend?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't think I would like that. I'm not really all that... legendary. They'd probably expect me to be some sort of monster-fighting lady of war...."