It was roughly a week after the castle appeared for Twilight to reign as the Princess of Friendship. She woke up, only to find all of her friends standing by her bed.
"Uh, girls? What's going on? Is there something wrong?" the lavender princess asked.
"Yeah Twilight, somethin' did go wrong and that was you," Applejack said.
"Me? What about me?"
"Darling, we have been patient with your antics towards Shin-" Rarity started but was harshly interrupted.
"Don't say that name in front of me! He always win on everything! And when I did win something, what did he do?! Calling me a cheater and all that such! It's just too much for me! Argh!" Twilight shouted, furiously scratching her head with her fingernails until her mane became even more disheveled than before.
The change in attitude caused everypony, even Applejack, to step back in shock and horror. She never acted like this towards her friends! They can sense her distress and it was really huge. Seeing her like this is causing Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to tear up before walking up to Twilight and hugged her tightly.
"Oh Twilight, don't be like this. We know that. Please don't do this to yourself," the shy pegasus said.
"Yeah, Flutters is right! You and your brother can't stay like this forever! You two are like the greatest siblings ever!" the party pony assured.
" I wanted to believe that, but it's just too much for me. I really wish Shining and I just get along like any other sibling in Equestria," Twilight admitted.
"Which is why Ah told Spike yesterday to sent a letter to the Crystal Empire to ask yer brother ta come over," the cowgirl said.
"You did what?!"
"Twi, this is fer your own good, okay? Now, do you want to talk or not?"
At first, Twilight hesitated. Sure, she wanted to make amends with her brother, but at the same time, she really didn't want to be in the same room as him. However, she finally relented as she said the four words that brought a smile to her friends' faces.
"When will he arrive?"
Shortly after breakfast, Shining Armor finally arrived at the castle. After that, he, Twilight, Spike and all of her friends gathered at the library so that the two siblings can talk.
"So, how was your day at the Crystal Empire, Shining?" Twilight asked.
"Eh, going well, I suppose. Possibly even better than you," Shining answered.
"Really Shining? I just got this castle a week ago after my friends and I defeated Tirek all by ourselves! And I didn't even need your help at all!"
"So what? Just because you have a place of your own now, that doesn't mean I can't monitor you anymore! I'm still your brother, for Celestia sake!"
"Oh yeah? Well, what about when you keep calling me a cheater every time I finally won at something?"
"That's because you are a cheater!"
"Ugh, I'm not a cheater, for crying out loud! You're just jealous that I won and you lost!"
"I am not jealous!"
Meanwhile, at the sidelines, Rainbow and Applejack have a small conversation of their own.
"You know, AJ, this is an even worse argument than any of ours combined," Rainbow whispered.
"Ya know, you're probably right on that account. Mah sister and Ah did fight, but not at this magnitude," Applejack agreed.
"Yeah Shining, you are jealous!"
"I am not!"
"Yes, you are! In fact, you just can't stand to look my face anymore, huh Shining?"
SLAP
The slapping sound on hand to cheek resonated within the library. The sound was so loud it caught everypony off guard as Twilight was lying on the ground with her hand on her burning cheek after Shining slapped her.
"You know what, you're right. I really can't stand you anymore," Shining darkly said.
With tears on her eyes, Twilight got up from where she was lying and took off flying out of the room, sobbing her heart out with no more words left to be said.
"Twilight, wait!" That sound came from her assistant Spike, who was seen running from the room to catch up to the crying princess.
Her other friends just looked at the older sibling in disbelief before Fluttershy said in a tone that shocked everypony still present.
"Really Shining? Is that how you treat your own little sister?! Is it?! My brother may be the same, but at least he had a heart not to break mine like what you did to Twilight!"
Fluttershy then flown out of the library, possibly wanting to help Spike to search for the princess.
"Low blow, dude. Low blow," Rainbow commented, still quite shocked about the event that had just transpired.
"Twilight? Spike? Where are you?"
Fluttershy was still searching for the two when suddenly, she found Spike knocking on a door, presumably because Twilight was inside.
"Fluttershy, thank Celestia! I really need your help here! Twilight didn't want to come out of this room. Maybe you can talk to her?"
"Um, I'll try," was all the shy pegasus said before walking up to the room, which was actually one of the storage rooms that was in the castle.
Fluttershy knocked on the door and said, "Twilight, are you in here? It's me, Fluttershy. Can I talk with you, please?"
No response.
"Twilight, please. You're scaring me right now. Please come out."
Still nothing.
"It's okay. Shining is still at the library. He didn't follow me or anything."
A click sounded from the other side of the door. Then, a voice.
"You can come in."
Fluttershy and Spike glanced at each other before the mare opened the door to reveal Twilight to be in a sobbing mess on the floor. Seeing her like this is tearing her up on the inside, because she always looked up to Twilight whenever she was feeling down. Now, it feels like the other way around entirely.
"Oh Twilight..." was all the pegasus said before hugging the princess.
"He... he n-never hit me before..." Twilight sobbed.
"Shh, it's okay Twilight. I'm here. I'm here."
After that, no more words were being said as Fluttershy hugged the distressed and sobbing princess in the comfort of her arms.
Fluttershy saw something glinting on one of the shelves. It was one of the lower ones too. But she stayed silent until she was sure that Twilight stopped crying. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long when Twilight rubbed her eyes before sitting upright.
"Thanks, Fluttershy. I really needed some comfort."
"Don't mention it. I'm happy to help. Also, I saw something earlier on one of the shelves," Fluttershy said, pointing to the shelf that she mentioned.
"Really? What is it?" Twilight said. She then looked at the shelf, stopping to look at a rectangular shaped box that looked small enough to contain a board game.
The two then walked towards the box, with Twilight pulling it out with her right hand to reveal a space-like boxed board game with the words "Zathura: Adventure is Waiting" at the front. Twilight and Flutershy looked at it in awe and confusion at the same time as to how this board game appeared out of nowhere since the castle appeared from the very same chest that grew from the Tree of Harmony.
"Twilight, what is this thing?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know, Fluttershy. I never saw this thing before. But from the looks of it, this looks like a board game of sorts," Twilight deduced.
"Well, should we take it to the other girls?"
"I think we should. Come on, let's go. The others must be waiting for us."
Twilight and Fluttershy finally made it back to the library after the event that has occurred earlier. Shining, as usual, was still sitting by the window with his arms folded. With the board game in hand, Twilight said, "You're mean, you know that Shiny?"
"Well, it wouldn't have been if you didn't intimidate me like that," Shining said, not even looking at his sister.
With a roll of her eyes, the lavender princess walked towards her brother and decided to show him the board game. "Hey Shining, look at what I found earlier!"
The Crystal Empire prince glanced briefly at the game and just said," Looks dumb and old."
The comment earned a gasp from Twilight's friends as they too saw the board game that Twilight brought in earlier. Still, she said, "Don't say that! This doesn't look old at all! I found this as if it was still new. Will you please look at it with me?"
Sighing, he relented. "Fine, but if it's not interesting, I'm leaving. Got it?"
"Yes, yes. Now come on!"
"Uh, Twilight, can I take a nap for a while?" the young dragon said, yawning.
"Sure thing, Spike. Go ahead."
"Sweet, thanks Twilight!" Spike said before leaving to take a well deserved nap.
By this point, Twilight, Shining and the rest of Twilight's friends have gathered around the box. Using her magic, Twilight lifted the lid of the box, unaware that the lid contained instructions, to reveal a futuristic looking board game that left everypony in awe.
"Woah. Twilight, what is that thang?" Applejack asked.
"To be honest, I have no idea," Twilight admitted.
The board game looked really modern and sleek. At the bottom right corner of the board, there were two ships colored red and blue that was fixed on the board. And at the top left corner, there was a sphere with a capitalized Z plastered in the middle.
For the controls, they saw a key that said "Zathura" at the handle that can only be turned clockwise. There was also a button that read "Go" and when pushed, the dial in the middle will show the players the number of spaces on which they can move that ranges from one to ten but the pieces will move automatically without the help of the players, on which there were only two.
The ponies present have no idea on how to make of the game. After a long silence, Twilight said, "So, who wants to play?"
The others seemed really afraid to raise their hands. But, Shining wasn't and he raised his hand at about the same time as Twilight did. The two looked at each other before the alicorn said, "Huh, fine. Guess it's just you and me then, Shining."
"Guess so. Well, go ahead then. You go first," her brother said.
Twilight just shrugged before looking at the key. For her, it was a bit intimidating but after a while, she sucked all of her fears and turned the key clockwise. A few turns later, a "click" sound was heard, prompting Twilight to now look at the red button, which was now bulging out of the game. Without hesitation, she pushed the button, causing the dial to spin before landing at the number five.
The second the dial stopped, one of the pieces - the red ship - moved ahead from the starting position and stopped at the fifth spot from the start. Not long after, a card suddenly popped out from its slot, startling Twilight and the others present.
"Woah, that scared the living daylights out of me," Rainbow said.
"Ya don't have ta say that again," Applejack agreed.
"Oh, a card! What's it say? What's it say?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically.
Rolling her eyes, Twilight picked up the card and read the contents of the card out loud. "It says, 'Meteor Shower: Take Evasive Action.'"
"Um, Twilight, what does that mean exactly?" Fluttershy asked.
"I think it means to avoid something."
"Well, what are we supposed to be avoiding?" Shining said.
"I don't know! All it says to take an evasive-" FWOOSH "-action."
While the princess talked, a streak of light came from above and hit the card that Twilight was still holding, creating a hole in the middle of the card. This prompted everypony to look down at the hole that was on the floor before looking at the ceiling to notice another hole coming from the same direction.
"Why do Ah get the feelin' that it's not gonna be a good thing?" the cowgirl said.
The others seemed to have the same feeling before they all feel that the castle is shaking rapidly. Looking up again, they can hear that the ceiling is trying to hold on to something heavy. Then, another streak, but bigger than the first one hit the ground beside them. Like the first one, it made a hole on the ground.
Another streak hit one of the book shelves, causing several burnt books to fall down.
Then, Twilight's head clicked as she realized that the card was real and shouted, "Guys, run! It's a meteor shower! And don't fly as well. They might burn your wings!"
The others need no more encouragement as they all ran like mad ponies around the library, trying to avoid being hit by the meteors.
Meanwhile, on another room, Spike was still sleeping soundly, unaware of the event that was currently happening at the library.
Back at the library, Twilight, Shining and the rest of the Mane Six ran all over the place in a futile attempt to avoid the falling meteors. Books flown out of the shelves, furniture overturned, it was absolute chaos in the library.
Then, Shining saw that the fireplace was almost big enough to fit seven ponies if they squeezed themselves just enough to fit. He shouted, "Everypony, head to the fireplace! It's safer down there!"
Again, no more words were being said as they all ran towards the fireplace and squeezed inside, just in time for them to see that the library is decimated and rained down by possibly hundreds more of those meteors, regardless of size.
Finally, after five intense minutes, the meteor shower finally died down, making them all breathe sighs of relief. That was short lived, however, as a huge meteor crashed into one of the corners of the library with a deafening boom.
Seconds later, after checking that the coast is clear, all seven ponies crawled out of the fireplace to check the meteor that crashed. The meteor was still burning since it has traveled far from space.
"You know what, girls? I think I'm beginning to regret playing the game now," Twilight admitted.
"Uh, guys? You might wanna take a look at this."
The voice belonged to Rainbow, who was standing at the door that led to the hallway. When they arrived, Rainbow stepped aside for the others to see. There, they saw something strange. The meteor shower seemed to only hit the library, but not the other rooms of the castle. If that was the case, Spike was probably safe somewhere else.
To confirm the theory, Twilight asked her friends, even Shining, to check all of the other rooms while she checked the area by the front door. Moments later, everypony else came back with the same story; all the other rooms are still intact.
"Well, that was a crazy first ten minutes of playing the game, right guys?" the princess asked.
"Yeah, that was super duper fun. Can we do that again?" Pinkie asked.
"Ah don't think that might happen again, sugarcube," Applejack answered.
"Um, girls? What happened to Ponyville?" Fluttershy asked. The others turned to look at the shy pegasus, who was looking outside from a window.
"Why, whatever do you mean, Fluttershy?" Rarity said.
"Well, it's too complicated. Twilight, I think you should look for yourself."
Shrugging, Twilight went on to unlock the front door and peeked outside.
"Twily, wait!" Shining warned. However, that warning came a fraction of a second too late as his sister had already opened the door.
Twilight's face was showing signs of amazement and confusion. "Guys, check it out!"
Twilight's friends and Shining walked towards the front door, where the lavender princess stepped aside to allow everypony to see. Their eyes soon went wide in shock as they no longer saw the calm surroundings of the outskirts of Ponyville. Instead, all they saw was a bluish planet and deep space that seemed endless.
"Okay, what in the hay is goin' on here?" the cowgirl asked in disbelief.
"I honestly have no idea, AJ. When I opened the door, this is all what I see," the alicorn said.
Then, Shining bravely walked forward as the stairs were still there as if it was attached to the castle. He then looked down to see a void of space underneath him. However, after he grossly spit outside, he can clearly see that the globs of liquid was floating aimlessly towards the nameless planet. That did not go unnoticed by his sister and her friends as they realized that they only get oxygen and gravity while they were inside the castle.
With a scared look on their faces, they stepped back inside with Shining closing the door, or rather slamming it closed.
"Okay, not gonna lie, that was creepy as Tartarus," he mentioned.
"Yeah, what should we do now, Twilight? How are we gonna get back to Equestria if we and the castle have been accidentally sent to space?" the speedster nervously said.
The princess thought about it for a moment before an idea clicked into her head.
"I know! Maybe Princess Celestia can help! I can send her a letter with Spike's help and hopefully, she can figure out something that can help us get back home!"
"Well what are we waitin' for? Let's go get Spike, get that letter sent and hopefully it gets to the princess sooner or later," the cowgirl said.
Twilight nodded before leading her friends and Shining towards Spike's room, with high hopes that they can get some answers real soon.