"Spiiiike!" Twilight called to her assistant with an annoyed tone. "Spike, I need your help!"
"What is it, Twilight?" he answered, jogging down the steps of the library.
"I can't get the front door open," she stated, motioning to the library door with her horn. "I think it's jammed, but for some reason my spells won't unjam it."
"Your spells won't work?" Spike asked, confused.
Twilight nodded. "My spells react as though it isn't jammed, and analytical spells don't return anything. Help me see if I can force it open."
Spike ran over and helped her push fruitlessly for several moments before the two gave up. He then ran to the nearby window.
"I don't see anything holding it shut from the outside," he said.
Twilight sighed. "Then it looks like we're climbing out through-"
"Wait..." Spike interrupted, which was unusual. "What's that?"
Twilight trotted over to where he was and followed his gaze out the window, just in front of the door. There was a visible shimmer, and... a crack? It seemed to hang in midair, and a small light shone through the three-inch-long distortion.
"What is that?" Spike asked.
"I don't know..." Twilight answered. "Maybe a failed teleportation spell of some kind? But who would...?"
The light pulsed out of the crack, causing it to widen. It then happened several more times before stopping, the light now much brighter and the crack a few feet long vertically.
"That can't be good," Twilight said with a hint of panic in her voice. "Spike, head out and find Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. We'll need their help to keep people away from here while I figure out what this is."
Spike quickly saluted before opening the window and slipping out, running in the direction opposite the anomaly. When she was sure he was safe, Twilight squeezed out the window herself and concentrated, attempting to discern if the crack had any magical properties. A few seconds later, she felt an odd power wash over her from it.
"That's strange," she said, opening her eyes and looking at the crack. "It doesn't have any sort of magical signature I've ever seen. Is it actually a-"
She was interrupted as the crack pulsed again, the light intensifying to the point where she had to shield her eyes. When the light died down again, it was over seven feet in length and several inches wide. The light began to envelop the air next to the crack, moving out like a mist.
"Uh-oh."
Twilight gathered concentration and readied a magical counterspell to try and dispel the growing anomaly, but before she could do anything the light suddenly ceased. She held the spell ready, staring at what remained.
Rather than a crack, what remained was more of a hole, beyond which was a branching hallway lined with doors. Standing in the doorway was a creature unlike any she had ever seen: around two feet taller than an average pony, which made it six feet tall, and bipedal. Two arms and legs, similar to a dragon's anatomy but without the tail or wings. It wore a white suit and top hat, paired with pointed brown shoes and white gloves. Its head and face were a deep purple with flat moving shapes for facial features: yellow triangles for eyes and a jagged red line for a mouth, having no visible nose or ears. The creature didn't seem to notice her as it stepped through the hole and began to look around excitedly.
"Who... are you?" Twilight asked it as it took a deep breath and finally noticed her. It seemed stunned by her presence, staring a few seconds before answering.
"Erm...... one moment," it said in a vaguely male-sounding voice before quickly turning away and looking down at something hidden. A few seconds later, he raised its hand and made a frustrated noise before glancing back at her over its shoulder.
".......I..." he said, turning back to her, "...am the Story Teller."
"...the Story Teller?" Twilight asked.
"Indeed! I, um..." he answered, scratching its head and looking around. "...where am I?"
"Ponyville," Twilight said warily. "What are you?"
He looked at her, startled once more before turning around again. He was fiddling with something that only seemed to be in his hand when he was turned away.
"What are you doing?" Twilight asked while moving around him to see. In his hand was a small, flat pane of light with words on it that she couldn't make out. The Story Teller looked at her, not bothering to turn away now that she had seen his task.
"...nothing," he said, closing his fingers on the pane and making it disappear. "I....... am not supposed to be here," he continued, looking around at some ponies that had stopped to stare. "Is there somewhere I can go to be alone for a while?"
Twilight motioned to the door. "You can stay here in the library for a while if you explain yourself," she said. His eyes lit up.
"I would be more than happy to!" he said excitedly.
"...if you can get the door open," Twilight said. "It's stuck."
He looked at the door and then back to the portal he had entered through. He then waved its hand and the hole in midair disappeared without a trace. "Problem solved," he said, opening the door without any trouble. "Sorry, erm, my portals do that to nearby doorways... for reasons best discussed later."
Without another word, he walked into the library and Twilight followed him, happy to get him out of view of everypony else.
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After Twilight closed the door behind her, she turned to see the creature spinning around, looking at the books with wonder.
"Oh it's been SO long since I've been in a library!" he said dreamily. "So, so very long..."
"Where did you come from?" Twilight asked.
He stopped spinning and looked at her. "I hail from a place long lost to anyone, born in a time longer than many memories can reach and most don't care of at all in the first place."
"And exactly where and how long ago was that?"
He hesitated, not having expected her to delve further than what he'd told her.
"...erm... you see, it's not likely you would believe me on my age," he stated, "and the location I came from no longer exists in such a fashion that explaining it would take some time and might shake some of the fundamental things you know."
Twilight looked at him sarcastically.
"Well you'd better get to explaining some things," she said. "Why are you here?"
"Now that," he said, moving to a nearby table, "is something I am far more willing to discuss!"
He spun around once, now holding something in each hand as his front came back into view. In his left hand was what looked like a shield with small gems of various colors embedded into the rim. In his right was what looked like a small, elegantly-carved wooden box. He set them both down on the table and looked at them with what Twilight guessed to be either affection or wonder.
"What are those?" she asked.
"These, my dear friend, are what I'm here for," he said, his tone of voice confirming his expression to be of awe. "A Shield of Wonder and a Deck of Many Things. I've brought each of these in from another world, to test here!"
Twilight felt uneasy about the objects. "Test them here...?"
"Yes!" he said, snapping out of his infatuation with the objects. "I can travel between different worlds, you see. The one I went to revolved around many tales of adventure! These two objects are powerful artifacts from that world, each with a variety of unknown effects that trigger under certain conditions."
A small red flag went up in Twilight's head, mostly triggered by the words "artifacts" and "unknown effects". She slowly backed away from the table, her eyes on the Story Teller.
"What do you mean by 'unknown effects'?" she asked cautiously.
"I don't know what they do, entirely," he said nonchalantly. "I know their effects are randomly chosen from a variety of set ones when activated, but I don't know what they all are. That's what I intend to find out!"
"How are they activated?"
"Well..." he said, picking up the shield. "The Shield of Wonder is activated whenever it is struck by a weapon. And the Deck of Many Things," he continued, taking the top off the box to reveal a deck of cards within, "is activated whenever one declares that they will draw a card from it!"
Twilight relaxed a little bit. At least they probably wouldn't be going off randomly.
"And how to you intend to test them?" she asked.
"Why, by having people draw from the deck and hit the shield, of course," he responded happily. "Preferably starting as soon as possible!"
"Are you crazy!?" Twilight yelled. "They could be dangerous!"
"So?"
Twilight stared at him incredulously. "......you're going to endanger random ponies just so you can see what they do?"
"Well if things get dangerous, I'm sure I can undo some of the damage," he replied, setting the objects down. "Care to draw from the deck?"
Twilight backed up. These artifacts were too dangerous to leave in the care of someone so naive about the possible danger they posed. He put the objects down and took a step towards her.
"Come now, I'm sure it won't be that horrible. I have seen a thing or two they're capable of..." he said, "so I know that the deck can do several good things as well!"
Twilight shook her head, levitating the objects away from him while his back was turned. He didn't notice the glow around her horn. "No, it's too big of a risk."
"Come ooon," he said childishly. "Just draw one! When someone activates it, they can never activate it again! Draw one card, get it over with!"
"Why don't you test it yourself and draw from it then?" she asked, floating the artifacts up the stairs and out of the room.
"......I hadn't thought of that. EXCELLENT IDEA!" he yelled, his eyes widening. He spun around and the box with the Deck of Many Things in it was suddenly in his hands. Twilight's eyes widened as her magical aura disappeared from around where it had been previously.
The Story Teller straightened up, raised a finger, and stated formally: "I declare that I shall draw one card from this Deck of Many Things!"
Twilight felt a weak wave of magic emanate from the deck as the Story Teller reached into the box and drew a card from the top of the deck. He held it aloft, staring at the image on it before turning it to Twilight with a smile so that she could see. The card held the image of a Throne and a subtitle indicating it.
"I appear to have gotten lucky," the Story Teller said. "Throne... I can feel its effects. Erm, is there an open field nearby?"
"...why?" Twilight asked cautiously.
"The card has granted me a keep, and I highly recommend you get me out of range of other structures within the hour, at which point it will place itself wherever I am."
"WHAT!?"
The Story Teller began to repeat himself but Twilight interrupted, running past him and grabbing onto his shirt with her mouth and dragging him out the door, finding him lighter than he appeared. After a few moments of stumbling along, he wrenched his shirt free and ran alongside her.
"Where are we going?" he asked
"As far away from Ponyville as possible!" Twilight answered.
A few moments later, they reached the fields next to Ponyville. "Here?" he asked, slowing down.
"No!"
Twilight grabbed the front of his shirt with her magic, prompting him to catch up and continue running. A few moments later, Ponyville was decently distant.
"Here looks nice!"
"NO!"
Again, the two kept running. After a while longer, they reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. Twilight stopped and looked to the left and right, not knowing where to go next; she hadn't thought her path through very well, just having wanted to get him away from Ponyville as fast as possible.
"Here." he said, satisfied while pointing a short ways down the edge of the forest.
"No! What are you-"
Twilight was interrupted as a tremendous rumbling came from the ground beneath them. While Twilight struggled to remain standing, the Story Teller stood calmly and balanced, staring at the spot he had pointed to. A few seconds later there was a cartoonish pop sound and... a castle. Next to the Everfree forest and centered at where he had pointed was a large castle, not nearly as big as the one in Canterlot but definitely big enough to be visible from Ponyville.
"....what..." Twilight said as she regained her balance, staring at the structure.
"See?" the Story Teller said. "Now, imagine if someone else were to draw the same card!"
Twilight's eyes widened with panic at the idea. "No. No, nopony else is going to draw from that deck!" she stated. "Hand it over."
"Why?" he asked, pouting holding the box aside. "It didn't hurt anything."
"DIDN'T HURT ANYTHING!?" Twilight yelled. "THERE'S A CASTLE NEXT TO PONYVILLE NOW!"
"And what's wrong with that?"
"You can't just... go around putting castles everywhere!"
"Why not?"
"Because.... because you can't!"
"Well fine," he said, turning towards the castle and beginning to make his way towards it. "I'll be in my wonderful new keep, you're welcome to come in if you want." Twilight stared at him, dumbfounded as he walked away. Another voice began to reach her ears.
"Twilight! Twilight!"
She turned to the winded baby dragon approaching from the direction of Ponyville. He stopped to catch his breath for a second as he reached her.
"Saw you... running... and the... thing... and then... there was... a castle... and... then I... got here..." he said between heavy breaths. He took one last deep one before resuming normal speech.
"What's going on, Twilight!?"
"We've got a problem," she answered, watching as the Story Teller went through the front door of his spontaneous castle.