//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: A Quaint and Curious Volume 
// Story: The Stars, the Seal, and the Kraken 
// by CLAVDIVS CAESAR 
//------------------------------//

Twilight's daisy and oat sandwich and side of hay fries were receiving far less attention than the page of note paper in front of her. As she tried to use what they'd learned about the kraken to work out a revised spell formula to protect their minds against its influence, she only remembered to take a bite whenever Trixie poked her in the ribs. It was difficult work; she understood the theoretical framework for what she was working with, but had never before needed to apply it to a practical spell. Still, she was nearly finished; just one more check on the equations, and...

"There!" she announced proudly. "Next time we face the kraken, this spell will protect us even better, and with less effort. I told you I just needed a few more minutes."

"Twilight," said Trixie flatly, "the rest of us finished eating over an hour ago."

Twilight blinked, glanced at the clock on the wall, and looked back, grinning sheepishly. As she opened her mouth to speak, her stomach rumbled like a mildly annoyed bear, so she gave up on conversation and assaulted her lunch.

Trixie leaned on a hoof, watching the purple prodigy as she ate. Blinking rapidly as she realized she was staring, she tried to casually adjust her position to something less blatant, but as she turned she saw Applejack's knowing smirk and realized that she'd been caught. Blushing furiously, she tried desperately to hide her face behind the brim of her hat. But rather than razz her about it, the farmer just rolled her eyes and turned back to listen to Rainbow Dash's descriptions of the latest stunts she'd been working on.

When the conversation reached a lull, Pinkie slumped over the table and huffed. "I'm bored. Anyone else bored? Because I am."

"Ah'm surprised you didn't bring a stack of games with you," said Applejack.

"I did, but they're all in Celestia's room. I don't want to bother her just yet..." She sighed deeply. "No, that's not true. I really really do want to bother her and try to cheer her up, but even I know she needs time to grieve." Her tone suggested that she was trying to convince herself more than anything. "If she wants to be alone, then..."

As the silence and somber tension started to grow, Trixie took the initiative towards clearing it away. "I've got an idea," she said, removing her hat. Holding it upside down and waving a hoof over it, she levitated out a pack of playing cards.

"Oh, are you gonna show us some card tricks?" asked Twilight.

"Well, I was actually about to suggest a game of hearts... But if anyone's interested, sure." Looking around to see their reactions, her showmare smirk started to creep onto her face. "Alright, somepony shuffle these for me," she said as she slid the deck along the table, but Applejack quickly intercepted. Trixie watched, visibly impressed, as she shuffled the deck with the speed and skill of a professional dealer and pushed the deck back to her across the table. "There ya go," she said, grinning.

"Aaalright then," said Trixie, donning her hat again. Fanning out the deck in the air in front of her, she cocked an eyebrow at the farmpony and her crooked smile grew. "Seems the gauntlet has been thrown down. Pick a card, pardner."

Applejack smiled back, eyes narrowed, sensing that the "trick" had now become a duel of wits. Looking over the array of cards, she skipped her first instinct, and then her second, and followed her third, plucking the card with her teeth and carefully angling it downwards to keep it out of view.

Trixie swept the cards back into a single stack and set them on the table, the glow of her magic disappearing. "Now look at your card, remember it, and show it to the others. Once you've done so, put it back in the deck," she instructed, turning away and closing her eyes.

"'Kay, that's done."

Trixie turned back and, using only her hooves, cut the deck, shuffled overhoof once, and drew a card from the top. "So tell me, Applejack... is this your card?" she asked, presenting it to her on an upturned hoof.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow at the stage magician. "Nope."

Trixie's smile vanished as she looked around, seeing nothing but politely shaking heads. "What the hay?" she muttered, and started flicking cards off the deck face down, again without magic. She whispered to herself quietly as she did so, becoming louder as she reached the end. "Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty, fifty-one... Hmph. There's a card missing." She looked quickly inside her hat before putting it back on her head, and looked all around and under the table from her seat.

"An' how exactly would a missin' card mess up yer trick? It woulda been missin' from the get go."

Trixie sat back up, her expression deeply confused. "Would you mind looking under your hat, AJ?"

"Ooo-kay..." She lifted her hat from her head and looked inside. "But I don' see how it coulda-- Well Ah'll be." She turned her hat over, letting the card fall face-up on the table, the jack of spades. Every other pony gawked at it in silence.

The look on Trixie's face could only be called 'triumphant'. "Is that your card?"

Applejack looked back and forth between the card and Trixie's enormous grin. "All right, Ah'm impressed."

Twilight grinned and raised a forehoof towards Trixie. "Nice," she said as the showmare completed the high-hoof.

"Ya know, Trix, if you'd opened with something like this instead o' that hooey about beating an ursa major, maybe we wouldn'a started off on the wrong hoof like we did."

"Aaand there it is," Trixie sighed, facehoofing briefly. "I know you're the Element of Honesty," she said, voice dripping with snark, "but you do know the difference between deception and performance, right?"

"Ah beg yer pardon?!"

"Trixie!" Twilight hissed in surprise. "I know this is a sore subject for you, but these are my friends." She reached a hoof towards hers. "Just... try to be civil? Please?"

Trixie turned to face her, intent on explaining exactly why she had every right to be angry, but with one look into those pleading, indigo eyes, the bile in her throat vanished. "Alright... As long as they do." Turning back to the farmpony, she continued, her tone even. "What I meant was, stage magic is a performance. It's theatre. You don't go a play and criticize the actors for pretending to be who they're not, do you?"

"No, 'course not. But they're bein' up front 'bout what they're doin' on the playbill, listin' the actors' real names an' such. You weren't pretendin' to be nopony but you."

Trixie suppressed an irate whicker, forcing herself to take a deep breath. "It's still just a stage persona. Magicians often perform under their real names, or a variation on them; it's just part of the act, pretending to be a version of yourself with unusual powers. The Great and Powerful Trixie, sorceress extraordinaire, may have vanquished the mighty ursa major; but Beatrix Friganza Lulamoon, graduate of the Manehattan High School for the Performing Arts, hasn't vanquished anything bigger than the cockroach infestation of her first rathole apartment. I honestly never expected anypony to confuse the two."

"Ah think I get what yer sayin', but Ah'm afraid don't get why. Why not just be you, and show us what you can do? Ya don't see the Wonderbolts doin' this sorta thing."

Trixie shrugged. "It's just part of the genre, I suppose. When you go to see a stunt flyer, you're there to see what they can actually do. But stage magic is built on a foundation of willing deception: The audience plays along, and for an hour or two they get to believe in something extraordinary. It's part of the fun. Outlandish and obviously fictional claims on the part of your persona are part of that. I just used the ursa major story for the mystique, the same way my mom, when she was in character, claimed to have studied dark and forbidden arts at the Scholomance."

Applejack cocked an eyebrow. "The scholo-what now?"

"The Scholomance. It's a mythical school of magic supposedly run by Nightmare Moon, hidden somewhere in the Everfree Forest. According to legend, she only admitted ten students at a time, and as 'tuition', she'd keep one of them for herself, forcing them to do evil in her name. Part of the Mysterious Midnight's story was that she'd earned her cutie mark -- a star inside a crescent moon -- by outwitting Nightmare Moon and escaping after having been chosen. Ever read Count Fetlock?" Seeing Applejack shake her head, she continued. "Well, they left it out of the film, but in the original novel, most of his powers were gained from attending the Scholomance, rather than from just being a vampire."

Applejack let Trixie's explanations sink in for a minute, and a look of embarrassment crept onto her face. "So. Ah guess that means when we were givin' you a hard time about claimin' to be so great an' powerful..."

"You were essentially heckling me, yes. That's why I got so ticked off about it. Not to mention it's how I make my living; the bits I collected passing the hat around after the show bought my dinner that night."

"Hold on a sec," said Rainbow Dash. "Didn't you invite ponies in the audience to challenge you?"

"Well, okay, granted... but that was after the three of you," she said, pointing to Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity in turn, "had already gotten the ball rolling. I was trying to shut down the heckling, and it usually works. That time, I suppose it backfired a bit, and if I'd known my audience better -- which as a performer, I should have -- I'd have known it would. Humiliating three local heroes probably cost me some bits that day. So I guess I should take at least some responsibility for what happened after that." She sighed and slumped into her seat. "Since we're taking an inventory of my mistakes, though, there was one more which I'll cop to: That pair of colts."

"Snips and Snails?" asked Twilight.

Trixie nodded. "Children usually love my show, and I'll be honest, I love 'em too. I still remember one unicorn filly that was there for the Ponyville show, little blonde-maned cutie; I did that trick I used on you, AJ, and she grinned like it was the coolest thing ever. But foals don't always know the difference between fantasy and reality as well as adults. I shouldn't have stayed in character around them after the show; it put ideas in their heads, and I should have known better. So... That one's on me, I suppose."

"I hope I can speak for the rest of us," said Rarity, "when I say 'apology accepted', and offer one in return." Looking around, she saw the others nodding in agreement. "I have one question, though: If The Great and Powerful Trixie is a fictional character, why did you introduce yourself as such when we came to your room?"

"Honestly?" replied Trixie, looking like she'd just bitten a lemon. "I was hoping, with the exception of Twilight of course, that you'd remember how much you disliked me and leave me alone."

A loud gigglesnort from Pinkie broke the tension before it could truly build up, and the giggles quickly spread to the others.

"So..." asked Twilight. "Hearts?"

"Alright," answered Trixie, shuffling the deck. "I should warn you, though, in high school they called me 'Trixie Shoot-the-Moon..."




Princess Luna nodded at the guards by the entrance to the high-security wing of the hospital, and trotted towards the cafeteria. While internally debating whether she should get her sister something simple like daisies or if she'd be in the mood for tulips, she heard familiar voices ahead.

"Aw, I got stuck with all the hearts again. And the black mare."

"Is she doing this on purpose? I honestly can't tell."

"It's best not to ask. You'd have an easier time getting a straight answer out of-- Princess Luna!"

"Really? Everything I've read about her says she's actually very forthrigh-- Oh!" Trixie yelped in surprise as she followed Twilight's gaze and saw the moon princess standing in the doorway. "Um. Your Highness."

Luna stepped towards them, smiling gently. "Please, save the protocol for court. I am just glad to see you all again."

Rainbow Dash grinned casually at her. "Afternoon. You're up kinda early, aren't you?"

"I often sleep while the moon does, rather than strictly during the day. And I have just raised a rather nice waxing gibbous one, if I am permitted to boast," she replied, sounding almost embarrased. She turned towards the newest member of the group of friends. "Miss Trixie. It pleases me to see you again."

Trixie fought the urge to bow, but not knowing what else to do with her hooves, she found herself fidgeting with her cape. "It's, uh, nice to see you, too. Your voice seems to have recovered." Beneath a warmth and kindness akin to Celestia's, Trixie was surprised to hear a more youthful, almost vulnerable quality to it. More than anything, it suggested to her that the younger princess was perhaps in need of a hug, but she didn't think that offering one would be a good idea.

Twilight stepped forward, pawing the floor nervously. "Princess... Have you spoken to Celestia yet?"

Luna shook her head. "I was just on my way there, I was told she was awake. I am surprised to see you all here, however."

"About that... Before we left, she said some things that, well, have me worried about her..."




With Twilight's words fresh in her ears, Luna opened the door to her sister's room. Celestia looked up blearily, her bloodshot eyes widening a moment later as she recognized her visitor. "Lulu?"

Luna rushed to her sister's bedsite to embrace her. "Tia..." She held her close for a few moments, sniffling quietly, before pulling back. "I hear you are recovering swiftly."

"After battling Nidhogg, I was fine after only a few months of rest. With these recent advances in medicine, I should be out of here in a matter of weeks." She smirked slightly, adding, "And the doc says I didn't brain my damage."

"It is good to hear you jest again..." Luna's expression turned dark. "But Twilight spoke to me of the pain you bear. She is worried about you, sister."

Celestia sank deeper in her pillow. "After a screw-up like that, all Equestria should be worried about me..."

"Tia, no! That is not what I meant at all! She is worried not for any failure on your part, but for the blame you lay upon yourself." Luna reached forward to stroke her sister's still-limp mane. "When she blamed herself for your injuries, and Danforth's death, her guilt consumed her. With the help of her friend Trixie, she was able to absolve herself, but even so she is still haunted by a shadow of that guilt."

Fresh tears began to form in Celestia's rose-colored eyes. "Sh-She doesn't deserve that..."

"No," said Luna sternly. "And neither do you."

"I allowed myself to be distracted in battle, if I hadn't --"

"Then you would not be my sister! What exactly was the cause of your 'failure'? Compassion. You dared to care more for the wellbeing of your subjects, of your friends, than that of yourself. While under tremendous pressure and denied a chance to think clearly, your first instinct was to act out of love. How could you be the ruler Equestria needs and deserves, and not do so?"

Celestia shut her eyes tight as her tears began to fall.

"If you must lay blame, lay it where it belongs: On the kraken. It is that beast that injured you, and killed brave Danforth. Do not allow it to convince you that you must change for the worse, that you must become harder or colder to do your duty. That is the first step down a dark path."

The sisters were quiet for a long moment before Celestia spoke again. "He was a good pony."

"He was. When others were unsure how to act around me after my return, he was... kind." Luna was quiet for a moment before wiping away tears of her own. "I would like nothing more than to stay by your side and keep you company, sister... but duty calls."

"I understand." Celestia smiled weakly. "Take good care of them for me."

Luna bent down to kiss her sister on the cheek. "I will."

On her way back, Luna struggled to regain her composure, wiping her eyes and magically drying the fur around them. Sending a guard to retrieve their bags, she returned to the seven anxious mares waiting for her in the cafeteria

"Twilight Sparkle, please gather together all your notes and what research materials you brought with you. The rest of you, bring whatever you feel you need, but travelling supplies and the Elements may be left behind for now. Trixie, if there is anything you would like to retrieve from your room at the theatre, we may collect it en route. We have much to do."

Trixie looked around nervously as the others eagerly sprung into action. "Uh, where exactly are we going?"

Luna smiled as she led the way. "It is time I showed you to the Laundry."




In downtown Canterlot, the Bearers of the Elements, The Great and Powerful Trixie, and a perfectly ordinary blue pegasus mare walked into the entrance of Canterlot Laundry Services.

"Welcome, ladies," greeted the middle-aged stallion behind the counter. "What can I do for you?"

The blue pegasus stepped forward, smiling. "Good afternoon. We have an appointment with the business manager."

"Alrighty, then, head on back, ma'am," he replied, lifting up the hinged portion of the counter to all them through. "He'll be waiting downstairs."

"Thank you." The pegasus led the others through the cleaning facilities and towards a back hallway, and finally into a large freight elevator. Once Twilight had pulled the door shut behind them, the blue pegasus shimmered with a magical aura, growing in height and sprouting a horn from her head. Her disguise abandoned, Princess Luna pressed a hoof against a maintenance panel below the elevator buttons and twisted it clockwise. It receded and flipped around, revealing a glass panel with a glowing image of a hoofprint. As she again pressed her hoof against it, a line of green light scanned up and down her hoof before the entire panel turned green. With a soft beep, the panel receded and turned around once more, again appearing to be an ordinary maintenance panel as the elevator began to descend.

With each step of their clandestine journey, Rainbow Dash's grin had grown larger. Twilight had a bad feeling about it, but did her best to ignore it.

Finally the elevator came to a stop, and the door sprung open. Outside was a modestly sized office, the walls lined with maps, bulletin boards, diagrams, photos, fact sheets, and countless written notes, and a steel fire door in the far corner. Sitting behind a desk covered in similar materials and reading an old and battered-looking book was a unicorn stallion that Twilight found maddeningly familiar.

"Luna! You're back, excellent! And you've brought company." The stallion rose from his seat and stepped out from behind to greet them, and as his cutie mark came into view, wheels spun rapidly in Twilight's brain and pieces began snapping into place.

"Everypony," Luna began, I would like to introduce you to--"

Twilight's eyes shot wide open as she pointed an accusing hoof at the familiar pony. "You!"




Twilight Sparkle cantered cheerfully through the park nestled within the campus of Canterlot University. Having the day off from working in the campus library and no other pressing responsibilities that afternoon, she intended to indulge in two of her favorite vices: A bright sunny day, and a good book. Heading for one of her favorite reading spots under a small tree near the pond, she found it already occupied by an off-white unicorn stallion with a forest-green mane and an unusual cutie mark: A minoan letter Delta in bright emerald green. Twilight watched him for a moment as he read the aged-looking book laid out on the grass before him and briefly adjusting his glasses, wondering if he'd mind the interruption.

"Hello there," she said, trotting up towards him. "You don't mind sharing the tree with somepony, do you?"

"Hm?" He looked up for a moment, not really paying much attention, and returned to his book. "Oh no, go right ahead. Don't mind at all."

Twilight settled down on the grass and lifted a paperback copy of Daring Do and the Shrine of the Silver Monkey out of her saddlebags, and slowly began to lose herself in the story.

"Yo, Delt!" The abrupt bellow from across the park broke her from her literary trance. A burly earth pony with a soccer ball cutie mark was hollering in the direction of the stallion next to her. "Kegger at Cask Strength's place! He said to grab you to help set up since you owe him for rolfing on the rug last time."

"Sure thing, bro," the unicorn said as he stood, about to run off with his friend, but then he turned to Twilight. "Hey, you work in the library, right?"

"Yes, but --"

"You mind taking this back for me?" he asked, pointing briefly at his book lying open on the grass, but galloped off without waiting for an answer.

"You're supposed to return books --"

"Thanks!" he yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared over the hill with his friend.

"-- yourself." Twilight glowered at the spot where she'd last seen him, but her efforts to hate him to death proved ineffectual. Probably got that cutie mark for being a fraternity pledge, she thought bitterly. Turning towards his abandoned book, an image of what appeared to be Princess Celestia in a centuries-old style caught her eye. The mare was clearly an alicorn, tall with a slender build, and like many classical depictions of the princess showed her with a mane and tail of solid pink rather than her blend of pastel shades. Not only that, but standing across from her was another alicorn of similar build, but with a dark blue coat and lighter blue mane. Her anger at the long-gone pony forgotten, the contents of his book had intrigued her; slipping the Daring Do novel back into her bag, she began to read.

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land...




The off-white stallion with the green letter Delta on his flank stared awkwardly at the furious purple mare. "Um, yes? Last I checked, I was still me."

Twilight stared at him for several seconds, her eyes showing a bizarre combination of shocked realization and stark disbelief, her mouth contorting into a range of shapes as every profanity she knew tried to escape through it at once but continually tripped over each other. Eventually they all teamed up to produce a single strangled scream of frustration, before she lowered her pointing hoof and hung her head in defeat.

Luna looked at the stallion with one raised eyebrow. "Did you not wear a disguise?"

He shrugged. "Didn't see the point. Figured she'd have the clearance to know who I was soon enough, not that we'd ever meet again before that."

Trixie stepped gingerly beside Twilight. "What did this guy do to you, Twi? Stand you up for homecoming? Wreck your parents' carriage?" She paused a moment, shuddering. "Write in a book?"

 After taking a moment to regain her breath, she replied, "Later. Just... Don't ever, ever, ever play chess against Princess Celestia. Or poker. Or tic-tac-toe. You'd be lucky to even realize you were losing."

A rather un-princess-like snort escaped Luna's snout before she stifled her laughter, but she couldn't hide the smile. "I will have to tell her you said that." She paused to clear her throat. "As I was saying, everypony, I would like to introduce you to Delta Green, one of our top covert agents. He is in charge of coordinating intelligence regarding preternatural threats to national security."

Rainbow Dash emitted a high-pitched squeak that likely caused several dogs above ground to start barking. Applejack gave her a sidelong look. "You need oilin' there, Dash?"

"Before we go any further," said Delta, "there's the niggling little detail of security clearance. Technically you shouldn't even get to see this room without it."

Luna nodded. "I understand. By my authority as the Younger Diarch of Equestria, I hereby grant emergency security clearance to these seven ponies, Level Black with special Case Nightmare authorization, effective retroactively to the time of our arrival at the archive." A wicked smile appeared on her lips. "Send my sister the paperwork. She needs something to keep her busy."

Delta Green chuckled as he lifted a clipboard and pen with his magic, quickly jotting down what she'd said and noting the time. After signing it, he passed it to Luna to sign as well, and then to the others. "Full names, printed, and signatures please." Once they'd all done so ("'Miriam'? Ah thought it was 'Danger'." "Shut it."), he took the clipboard back to his desk, rummaged around in a drawer for a moment, then stamped an official-looking seal onto the improvised document. "Fillies and, er, more fillies, welcome to the Nightmare Files."

"Oh buck yes!" shouted Rainbow Dash, launching into a loop above everypony's heads. "Pay up, AJ!" She did a short victory dance in the air as Applejack fished a hoofful of bits out of her bag and passed them to her.

"What the hay was that about?" asked Twilight.

"'Fore we left Ponyville," Applejack explained, "RD bet me five bits that we'd be shown the Nightmare Files before this was through. Ah bet against it on account o' you sayin' they were an urban legend and usually knowin' what yer talkin' 'bout."

"You can blame us for that," said Delta. "We arranged to have the Files appear as a crackpot conspiracy theory, so any actual leaks that mentioned them would be discredited by association."

Twilight sighed. "See what I mean? Chessmaster."

While Applejack and Twilight hung their saddlebags on the coat hook and Trixie hung her hat and cape, the princess turned towards Delta. "have you found anything new since our last meeting?" she asked.

He levitated the old book from his desk towards him, idly flipping through it. "Nothing useful. I've been over Unaussprechlichen Colten with a fine comb; it backs up what we already knew about the Valusians, aside from thinking they were extinct, but doesn't cover any new ground. And it had an explanation about the nature of the elder seal, but it's bunk."

"What did it say?"

"That the central diagonal represented the plane of the ecliptic, and the branching lines marked the positions of various planets, thereby marking the time of the return of the Old Ones. Which almost makes sense, except that the author was a rubbish astronomer: The alignment he describes has happened twice just in the time since the book's publication. Plus he wrote that the seal was placed on their tombs as a reminder to wait until the appointed time, and as such would lose its power once that time had come. We already know that's not true."

"I see. And what of the Ponype Scripture?"

"Nada. It's little more than a guide for the laity, nothing really esoteric."

"The Sandown Shards?"

"You didn't hear? They're a forgery. Lab work proved it, oh, six months back, I think."

"Blast."

Delta Green looked at the princess silently for several seconds. "We're out of options, Luna. We need it."

"Necessity alone cannot conjure a thing into our possession, Delta."

The stallion locked his jaw shut for a moment to contain his frustration. "Of course not, Your Highness," he said, his tone conveying little respect for the title.

Twilight stepped towards him, glowering, but as she was about to take him to task for his disrespect, Applejack hastily pulled her back. "Pardon mah interruption, but what exactly is 'it'?"

As Luna looked away nervously, Delta took a deep breath and spoke. "The Necroneighmicon. Written over a thousand years ago by a pony known only as The Mad Arabian, it's considered the authoritative book on the kraken and its blessedly few worshippers."

"Wait, it's real?" asked Twilight with surprise. "Admittedly I'm new to this field, but I thought Clopcraft invented the Necroneighmicon as a device for his stories."

"You were meant to," Delta said with a smile, but it vanished as he continued. "However, all he was ever able to get his hands on was one of the extremely abridged -- or rather, redacted -- editions of recent centuries. The original is supposed to be a treasure trove of occult lore."

"So where is it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Delta shot another dark look towards Luna before turning towards Rainbow. "We don't know. The last known location of a complete copy was searched ages ago; they found nothing. The only later references we have are to incomplete editions or unsuccessful attempts to find the original."

"We do not even know for certain that it contains the information we need," said Luna. "Or that such information cannot be found elsewhere."

"We don't know that it doesn't, either," countered Delta, "or that it can."

"Well," sad Twilight, "we may not have much to go on, but we have seven pairs of fresh eyes to look at the problem. I assume that's why you brought us here?" she asked Luna, who answered with a nod. "So, what's the most recent lead you have?"

Delta walked back to his desk with a shrug and rifled through the chaotic mess of papers. Finding the page he needed, he levitated it towards Twilight. "Here ya go. Most recent hit on the title was just a few years ago. An ethnobotanist from the University of Buckswana submitted a request to both Canterlot University and the office of Princess Celestia herself -- this was shortly before Luna's return -- requesting permission to study it. Her sources had led her to believe we had a copy, but we wrote back informing her that she was mistaken."

Twilight held the paper in front of her as she scanned it, and her eyes abruptly grew wide. "Oh, no way," she said with a giggle. "I don't believe it." She lowered the paper and looked around at her friends with a grin. "This 'ethnobotanist' was Zecora!"

"What?!" shouted the other five Element Bearers in unison.

"You know her?" asked Delta.

"She lives right outside Ponyville!" said Twilight. "I talk to her all the time! She's the one the Valusian was looking for!"

Delta gawked at her. "The buck what?"

"This has to mean something. Zecora is the most recent individual known to have been looking for the Necroneighmicon, and it wouldn't have been mere idle curiosity, not if she wrote to the princess. She had to have had a reason. The Valusians must know that she was after it; they may even think she has it, or knows where it is. And they must know that it contains information that can be used against the kraken, which is like some kind of god to them. They've been relying on secrecy to protect them for as long as Equestria has been around, they wouldn't risk exposing themselves now unless it was extremely important!"

Delta rubbed his chin as he soaked in what Twilight was telling him. "Okay. That is interesting. Really interesting. But it doesn't prove that she actually knows anything that could help us."

"Not by itself, but something else that's been bugging me suddenly makes a lot more sense. When the kraken came to Ponyville, I made a point to make sure all of my friends were safe. But Zecora just slipped my mind completely. I haven't known her as long as the others, but she's not just a casual acquaintance. I was horrified when I realized I'd forgotten about her. No one else brought her up the whole night, either."

"Well, it was a rather stressful situation, I wouldn't blame you for that."

"There's more. When the Valusian attacked Ditzy Doo, it was asking her about Zecora. But she couldn't even remember who she was."

"Again, stressful situation, and if she wasn't as close a friend..."

"It was before she even knew anything was wrong! And she's the primary mail carrier for the entire town! She knows everypony, and her memory is almost as sharp as Pinkie's! Zecora exchanges letters with friends back in Zebrica all the time, she's in the post office at least once a week picking up the latest and sending replies, and she always stays to chat. That Ditzy wouldn't know who she was is just... inconceivable!"

Delta cocked an eyebrow at Twilight. "Where are you going with this?"

"When Fluttershy went to check on Zecora the next morning, she'd put herself in some kind of magical sleep and surrounded her hut with this strange powder. She knew the kraken was coming, and took steps to protect herself: Not just from the kraken itself, but from its agents. Fluttershy was able to find her home and cross the lines of powder without any problem, so whatever spell she cast doesn't protect against us. But in the presence of the kraken, and a Valusian acting as its agent, we completely forgot that she even existed. She knew that someone would come looking for her, she may have even known it would be Valusians. I don't know why she didn't warn us, maybe there just wasn't time, but somehow she was able to work a protective spell that would not only keep her enemies from finding her, but made it impossible for anypony to lead them to her!"

Everypony in the room stared at Twilight, eyes wide, absorbing what she'd just explained. After a long silence, Luna spoke first. "The powder of Ibn-Gazelle."

"Are you sure?" asked Delta.

"It has to be. The powder is said to be the greatest defense against the kraken and those who act in its name short of the elder seal itself. It is supposed cloak one from their perception, and to even act as a conduit for other magics, allowing a canny sorcerer to craft precisely the defense one needs. It's alleged properties seemed so outlandish, I had thought it a mere legend...."

Twilight opened her saddlebags and retrieved the pouch left for her by Zecora. "It's not. Zecora left it for me before going to sleep. She'd hoped I would never need it, but realized that I might." She set the pouch down on the desk and turned back towards Delta. "We're on to something here. Zecora wouldn't just leave us hanging. She would've given us some kind of clue to point us in the right direction; we must not have recognized it for what it is yet."

"Unless she just doesn't know any more than what we've covered."

Twilight shook her head. "I doubt it. Maybe she had to be subtle so the Valusians wouldn't pick up on it, but it's there. She learned how to use the powder of Ibn-Gazelle from somewhere. Somehow she got her hooves on a large quantity; she may have even made it herself, which means she found a recipe somewhere. We know this information is somewhere to be found. We just have to figure out where."

Delta looked at her strangely determined face for a long moment, before barking out a short laugh. "Fresh eyes, eh?" he said to Luna with a smile. "Alright." He turned towards the heavy steel door in the back corner of the office and opened it wide, revealing a storeroom filled with shelves and file cabinets. "Let's compare notes, shall we?"