//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 – Minutes to Zero // Story: Ponies in the Attic // by Digodragon //------------------------------// The farmhouse front door drove off the silence with its loud creaking sound. Applejack helped a weakened Zecora limp into the living room and onto the couch. AJ placed the candle-hat on the coffee table and then sat down beside her friend. The candlelight cast slow, waving shadows off the living room furniture. For a long moment the two sat there in silence, stunned from their perilous adventure. Tick, tick, tick, tick… The grandfather clock read four minutes after one in the morning. The night was silent, save for a few faint cricket chirps outside. AJ fought the urge to fall asleep. She slowly sat up and stretched. “I need some coffee,” she remarked. “Would you like something, Zecora? Coffee? Tea?” “A cup of tea would be alright,” the shaken zebra replied. “It’ll help me forget what I saw tonight.” Heavy hoof steps thumped down the stairs from the second floor. The orange pony and zebra turned and saw both Bramley and Cara descending the staircase. AJ’s father had a furled brow as the candlelight gave his face an ominous dark shadow. “What’s goin’ on down here?” Bramley asked angrily. “You two practicin’ witchcraft?” He pointed at the candles on the low table. “N-No, we… that is,” AJ stuttered. She took in a deep breath. “Look, I need to tell you folks somethin’ important. It’ll sound mighty peculiar, but please listen to me. There’s a spirit leadin’ me on some kind of quest.” AJ pulled out the old album and turned to the pages of notes in the back. Bramley slapped the book out of her hooves before she could utter another word. “Don’t you bring that voodoo magic into my house!” he shouted. “Pa, it ain’t voodoo!” AJ pleaded, “You have to listen to me! There is something dangerous out there-” “There’s somethin’ dangerous in here!” Bramley interrupted. “Me!” Zecora braved a few words of her own. “Mister Apple, please listen to us,” she said. “There is a force outside causing quite a fuss.” “We think Starswirl had made some kind of mistake in the past,” Applejack added. “This bad weather might be connected to it, but we need to fix the mistake before whatever it is out there comes and attacks us here at home.” “Sweetie, be reasonable,” Cara said worriedly to her daughter. “You know such old magic is dangerous. Don’t risk your life to find Spell Driver.” She gasped, but was unable to catch the words that escaped her lips. Applejack’s eyes went wide as she pointed at her mother. “You know…” she whispered. “What the hay is going on?” Apple Bloom asked as she appeared at the top of the stairs. Bramley seized AJ by the shoulder. “Nothin’! All you kids get back to bed!” he shouted angrily. “And as for you, Zenora or whatever your name is, don’t overstay your welcome by puttin’ such magical nonsense in my daughter’s head!” He yanked AJ upstairs forcefully. “Wait, you know somethin’!” AJ argued as she fought her father’s grip. “Tell me what you know!” She was unable to oppose her dad’s strength. Pain shot through her injured shoulder and her legs began to buckle. Cara covered her face and stifled a sob as Bramley corralled everyone back into their rooms. The father threw AJ into her own bedroom and slammed the door shut. Applejack threw herself at the door and fought to get out, but the door was shut tight. “Listen to me!” AJ cried out as she banged on the door with her hooves. “Somethin’ evil is lurkin’ out there and we have to stop it! It’s killin’ my mind! Don’t make the mistake of just ignorin’ the evidence!” Applejack ran out of breath, but she tried to speak without air. All that came out was a soft wheeze. “Don’t… make the mistake…” she whispered between gasps. “Please…” Tears streaked down her cheeks in droves. She slowly sat down and leaned against her bedroom door. Salty drops fell against the wooden floor with soft patters. Should Applejack give up? No, it was out of the question. Her mother said Spell Driver by name and that was only possible if the album really did belong to her parents. They had to know something about the shadows that came out of the woods. Did her parents also know they were supposed to be dead? Was AJ’s quest ultimately going to condemn her parents? The orange pony shivered with fear. Tick, tick, tick, tick… Applejack sat alone in the dark room. The only sound was of her small windup clock on the nightstand. She stared listlessly at the floor for ideas, but nothing came to her. The pain in her wounds prevented clear thoughts in her mind. AJ wondered if this was purgatory. Something in her saddlebag shifted noisily. She took off the bag and opened the flap. Inside was Zecora’s bottle of medicine, but AJ didn’t remember putting it there. However, now that she had the bottle, an idea came to the orange pony. She could heal her wounds and then be strong enough to escape through the bedroom window. AJ trotted over to her dresser and searched for a pair of socks and a clothespin. She jammed the clothespin over her nose and then tore off the bandages around her bite wound. AJ pulled the cork off the medicine jar with her teeth and spat it out. She wadded the socks into a ball, stuffed them into her mouth, and braced herself against the bed. AJ poured the milky substance all over her wounds. Intense searing pain chewed through her flesh as the liquid sizzled on her injuries. She bit into the socks hard and concentrated on tuning out the pain. The medicine bubbled and hissed intensely as if she had poured acid on herself. Applejack’s lungs seized up and she collapsed on the floor. The pain tore the consciousness from her body and she passed out. ~ ~ ~ The smell of burned hair filled AJ’s nostrils. She slowly opened her eyes and found that she was not within her room, but at the base of an old ivy-covered tower. Her muscles ached when she sat up, but that pain was trivial compared to the welts and burn marks that now covered her body. Applejack scanned her surroundings. The ruins of a great castle stretched out in all directions. Her memory found this place familiar, and it wasn’t long before she realized that this was the old Castle of the Sisters deep within the Everfree Forest. She was here once before, nearly two years ago, on the day Nightmare Moon returned. Why was Applejack here now? Her siblings rushed over from behind a broken wall. They were both covered in bruises and bandaged cuts as if they had recently fought some timberwolves. AJ received a hug from her little sister so tightly that she had to push back just to breathe. “Applejack, are you alright?!” Bloom asked worriedly. “That was a nasty fall!” Big Mac sighed. “You should of held onto the hammer, sis,” he said. AJ noticed her brother held a large gilded hammer on his back. There were strange runes carved into the handle and head piece. She couldn’t read them, but she guessed that the symbols were magical in nature. Something about the hammer seemed familiar to her, as if it was from a dream she had. “What were we doin’?” AJ asked weakly. Apple Bloom wiped a tear from her eyes. “W-We got the hammer, just like you said we would,” the little filly stated, “But… mom and dad, they…” Bloom choked up and was unable to speak further. “They didn’t make it out,” Big Mac continued. “I reckon that shadow got them.” AJ looked back up at the tower. The sky rumbled with thunder as the first drops of rain came down. Her parents were here too? Were they killed by the evil force that stalked her over the past few days? She began to feel that the world was playing a cruel game with her. “D-Do you both know what’s going on?” AJ asked as she wiped away some tears. “I mean, that there's a strange force stalking us and that...?" She stumbled for words to complete her question. Bloom gave her sister a hug. “It's okay Applejack, we know," she said. "I saw part of the story when I went into the grandfather clock with you. Then there was the proof back in the clearing... we all saw that.” Bloom weakly sniffled. Applejack touched the scar on her cheek. The grandfather clock was the door of time! That was the answer to the voice’s riddle. Now she knew where the key went to, but how to get back to the house? She was deep in the Everfree Forest and time was running out. Her parents were lost again and... Wait, AJ wasn’t running out of time. Her little sister had already entered the clock with her, which meant that right now she had skipped ahead in time. AJ came to the realization that she must have been skipping through time whenever she fell asleep or passed out. She experienced the past few days out of order. That’s why events made no sense! Pinkie Pie had nothing on this level of weirdness. AJ lay on her back against the forest floor. She closed her eyes and emptied her mind. If she was somehow able to control the skipping, she could return to her room just after her father locked her inside. Maybe she could even change events around and stop her parents from coming here. “What are you doing?” Big Mac asked. “I need to rest a sec,” AJ responded. “Just watch over me for a spell.” She tried to get comfortable despite the pinch of rocks against her back. Applejack focused on her room. She remembered the intense pain of the medicine upon her wounds, the cold wooden floor against her body. She tuned out the world around her and embraced the serene darkness. She drifted to sleep as the thought of her room became a blur. ~ ~ ~ The bed made a loud thud as Applejack’s legs kicked against it with a startle. Her lungs inhaled the foul stench of the medicine in her nostrils and the bitter scent of the socks in her mouth. She coughed the socks out violently as she gasped for breath. AJ found herself on the floor of her bedroom. She had not expected to pass out from the pain of the medicine, but because she did, she had gained insight on what the Door of Time was and that her parents were in danger. AJ first had to escape her room and get to the grandfather clock downstairs. The orange pony fumbled for the medicine jar’s cork. She found it nearby and plugged what little was left of the awful smelling liquid. Beside the jar sat the doll Smarty Pants. AJ picked up the doll gently and held it close. “I reckon you know a lot about what’s goin’ on, don’t you?” AJ asked the doll. “Tell me, can events be changed? Do you know what’ll happen to us at the end of all this?” “We will be freed,” a small voice whispered. Applejack apprehensively squeezed the doll in her hooves. “What do you mean by that?” she inquired. “We’ll be freed? Freed from what?” “From the flow,” the voice responded. “Your parents are trapped within the flow, just as I have been before them, and just as you are now. I wish I could explain, but my knowledge of his magic is limited. Please, use the key and unlock the door of time.” “Then what?” AJ asked. “What am I goin’ to find inside that clock?” “Find the handle,” the voice gasped. “The handle? What handle?” Applejack demanded. “Darn it, give me some details!” AJ’s hooves trembled as she waited for a reply, but the voice was gone. She put the doll down and pondered its words. Freed from the flow? Was this the same flow mentioned in Starswirl’s torn letter? She hated that there were more questions than answers. Dong! Dong! The grandfather clock downstairs struck two. Applejack lifted her head as a thought came to light. Apple Bloom had inserted the extra gears and the third clock hand that AJ found last Thursday night. Friday morning was the first time AJ saw her parents alive again. The old grandfather was possibly the cause of the change in history, but was it solely because they had fixed the clock? If so, did that mean the clock was broken on purpose? AJ stopped thinking about questions as a headache came over her. She needed to get out of the room and reach the grandfather clock quickly. She could fit through the bedroom window, and with many of her wounds healed, she felt confident that she could climb outside to Zecora’s room. A gentle breeze flowed into the room as AJ opened her window. She tightened the saddle bag around her waist and ensured that she had the key, the medicine bottle, and Smarty Pants with her. The air outside was cold and moist. AJ couldn’t see the clouds in the black sky above, but she felt that it would rain at a moment’s notice. She carefully inched her way out onto the roof. The wind blew her mane around her face, but sight was of little use in the darkness. She felt her way across the slanted roof to the next window. This was her brother’s window and AJ heard him snore softly inside. The wind picked up and the sound of tumbling leaves met AJ’s ears. AJ looked down and saw tiny dark shapes gathered together into a miniature tornado. The funnel of debris began to rise taller from the ground. AJ hastened her crawl and reached the next window. She tapped on the glass to awaken Zecora inside. The funnel of dark leaves reached up and tugged on the orange pony’s tail. AJ kicked at the air, but found nothing solid to hit. She rapped on the glass harder and hoped the zebra heard her. A second rush of air met the first and scattered the leaves about. AJ held on as the opposing winds buffeted her around. The window lifted open and the orange pony darted inside. She slammed the window closed on the twisting wind. Leaves rustled against the glass for several seconds before it died down. AJ collapsed on the bedroom floor. Zecora stood over her with a lit candle in her hoof. “You gave me such a fright, AJ,” the zebra said softly. “Why are you outside my window anyway?” Applejack shook the leaves out of her tail. “My door was stuck,” she responded flatly. “Look, the doll talked to me again. It wants me to enter the grandfather clock and find some kind of handle.” “A handle attached to a pot or a door?” Zecora asked. “Or did it not tell you what it was for?” “Definitely the latter,” AJ stated. “The voice went silent on me before givin’ me any details. I-I reckon my parents are goin' to be in danger soon. I have to get through this Door of Time and then figure out how to save them from those shadows.” The zebra nodded. “Then let us not waste a moment more,” she said. “We’ll check out the clock and see what’s behind its door.” Applejack took in a deep breath and led the way out into the dark hall. Zecora expertly balanced the candle on her head as she followed closely. The two walked quietly past AJ’s room. A chair had been jammed under the door knob. They reached the stairs unopposed and slowly descended down into the living room. The candles on the coffee table were still lit, but there was no sign of the photo album. AJ assumed that her father had taken it after he ordered everyone back to bed. It did not matter, the grandfather clock was here and that was the current goal. Zecora gently placed her candle down on the table and watched AJ approach the clock. The pendulum slowly swung back and forth as if there was nothing unusual about this clock. The gears rotated smoothly and continued to tick as time was kept. Everything was there, except Applejack found no apparent keyhole to place the small key. The glass door to the pendulum had no lock, nor did she find any apparent hole on the clock’s wooden backside. A key without a keyhole was as useless as barking at a knot. “You got any ideas, Zecora?” AJ whispered. “No, I don’t see where this key fits,” the zebra responded as she approached. “This puzzle requires some very sharp wits.” Applejack yawned. “Thinking ain’t exactly my strong suit right now.” She stared at the key and thought of where else a keyhole might be found on the clock. No ideas came to her mind, but she heard soft hoof steps approach from the stairs. The two friends turned around and met eyes with Apple Bloom. The little filly had a disappointed frown upon her face. “What are you two doing down here?” Bloom asked them quietly. “I’d ask you the same thing,” AJ countered softly. “Zecora and I are doing something important. Now go on back to bed before pa catches you down here.” “No,” Apple Bloom stated defiantly. The little filly stood her ground. “You’ve been acting nuttier than a squirrel’s nest lately. Now you got Zecora in on it and you both got cuts and bruises like you been wrestling gators all evening. I want to know what’s really going on with you.” Applejack sighed with frustration. She remembered that her little sister went with her into the clock, but that didn't mean there wasn't danger lurking inside. “You ain’t goin’ to believe me if I told you the truth,” AJ warned. “Try me,” the little filly said daringly. “Alright, remember when we added those extra gears to this clock?” AJ asked. “Well, apparently this ain’t no ordinary clock. It changed history for every pony in town except me. I don’t know why, but instead I’m findin’ myself jumpin’ around through time.” Apple Bloom looked completely confused. “You haven’t disappeared anywhere that I reckon.” “Well, I’m travelin’ in my head,” AJ explained, “If that makes any sense. The reason I kept thinkin’ our parents were dead was because they are. They died when we were all just little foals. Somehow that day got undone. I don’t know how, but since then the weather has been actin’ peculiar, there’s shadows tryin’ to harm us, and Smarty Pants started tellin’ me what to do so I can fix things.” “No, you can’t be serious,” Bloom said. “That story is just a bucket of lies!” “Nothin’ about the past few days has felt real,” AJ stated. “However, we have to make things right before they get worse. You saw that timberwolf appear out of the ground at the market, right? What about that book I showed pa that he slapped out of my hooves? Did you see the strange scribbles in it?” “Well that… b-but,” the little filly stuttered. It appeared that Bloom began to see the holes in her own memory as well. “What about ma and pa? They’re real and they’ve been here our whole lives. How can you be sure it’s not just your memory that’s changed?” AJ held up the small key in her hoof. “I'm not sure. However, help me find where this key goes, and we’ll find out the truth together.” She looked deep into her little sister’s eyes with hope that Bloom would trust her. AJ watched as the filly put a hoof on her own, the key firmly between them. “Okay, together,” Apple Bloom said softly. The little filly picked up the key and studied it for a minute. She paced around the clock until it appeared that an idea struck her. She motioned to her big sister. “Hey, this is a wind-up key. Lift me up, sis,” Bloom said. Applejack walked over and lifted her little sister onto her back. “A wind-up key?” she muttered. “Huh, why didn’t I think of that?” The filly opened the glass door and placed the square bow-end of the key over the square nut that winded up the clock's springs. She gave it a few turns until the pendulum stopped in mid-swing and the panel behind it clicked loose. Apple Bloom slid the panel to the side like a door. Behind it was a staircase winding down into a dark room. “No way…” the little filly whispered. She looked behind the clock to ensure that this wasn’t just a trick. The clock’s backing was unchanged. This staircase was real and it defied the physical space inside the wooden case. Apple Bloom had never seen magic like this before. “Alright, I reckon we now go down and find ourselves a handle,” AJ stated. She turned to Zecora who nodded in agreement. Her sister was unresponsive however. AJ put a hoof on her shoulder. “AB, you still wanting to go with us?” “Yeah,” Bloom finally said, still mesmerized by the impossible passage. “I ain’t leaving your side.” The three descended the staircase to a small room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of layers of interconnected metal gears. Opposite the staircase was an iron door with light peeking underneath the crack. They made their way up to the door quietly. The door was unlocked, so AJ slowly turned the handle and opened it. Light poured out onto their faces. Before them was a grand bedroom with all the flair of royalty. The bed was covered in fine purple silks and the floor was a polished white marble. Above them was a silver chandelier that glowed with a magical yellow light. The walls were decorated with hundreds of clocks that varied in design and displayed time. A gilded clock in the likeness of a tree hung over the bed. What stood out eerily was that none of the clocks made any noise at all even though they were moving. Not one time piece clicked, ticked, or cuckooed a sound. Applejack approached the regal bed cautiously. The quilted blanket partly concealed the skeleton of a stallion. The red and purple robe over its body and the small golden crown upon its head was a sign that this body was a king or prince at one time. It lay peacefully upon the bed, but the sight of the bleached white bones gave AJ a chill. “Where are we?” Apple Bloom asked. She looked at her reflection in one of the clocks and saw an older version of herself. The reflection was tall and strong with her mane done up in a bun. “You mean besides inside our pa’s clock?” AJ responded. “Not a clue.” This room had no other doors in or out. She looked at the different clocks around the walls. One reflected herself as a filly of Bloom’s age. Another as a more mature mare that cradled a baby pegasus. AJ turned to Zecora. “Well, anythin’ around here that looks like a handle?” Zecora peered into the reflection of a large oval clock. She suddenly darted away as if something had frightened her. The zebra recomposed herself and shook her head. “There are no handles that I can find,” she said softly, “But don’t let these reflections distract your mind.” “Hey, maybe this means something,” Apple Bloom said as she pointed to the clock above the bed. “This is the only clock here that isn’t moving.” Applejack took a second look and indeed, this tree-styled clock had wound down. She carefully reached up and turned the small key. Once the spring was rewound, the clock began to move, but this one made an audible ticking noise. Tick, tick… Several apparitions drifted out from the clock and formed a scene above the bed. A young cream-colored prince walked along the bank of a river and met up with a beautiful unicorn fairy with dazzling translucent wings. The two embraced and danced together along the riverbank. The clock ticked louder as its pendulum sped up. The scene changed and now the prince stood before a large throne. It was a wedding, and the fairy walked down the center aisle with a tiara that proclaimed her a princess. The two appeared to be married and dozens of ghostly spectators cheered mutely around the happy couple. “I reckon that might be Prince Horos from the letter,” Applejack whispered to Zecora. The zebra nodded as the clock’s ticking continued to intensify in volume and speed. The ghostly images changed to a third scene where the prince appeared ill and he lay upon the same bed as the one the skeleton rested on. The fairy sobbed quietly by his side as caretakers murmured without sound. A wizened gray stallion with bells upon his pointed hat appeared by the bed. He produced a small square plate of glass from his blue robes. The caretakers stepped away and the gray stallion cut the prince’s leg with the glass’ razor edge. One drop of blood was shed, and the prince slowly sat up as his health improved. “Hey,” AJ said with a surprised tone. “I think I know what this story is tryin’ to tell us!” The clock abruptly stopped with a loud ‘Crack!’ The pendulum snapped off and clattered loudly onto the floor. Apple Bloom jumped up in fright from the noise as the apparitions disappeared like a blown out candle. Applejack picked up the pendulum from the floor. It wasn’t a straight rod or a hanging weight like all the other pendulums here. This had tapered curves and a molded grip. It appeared to be a handle for a large tool. In fact, it looked quite familiar to her. AJ saw runes carved along the handle. These letters began to glow and align themselves for her to read the object’s given name aloud. Spell Driver. “Gang, I think this is it,” AJ said with wonderment. “This is the handle we’re looking for.” “Okay,” Apple Bloom slowly responded, “But what were you saying about that ghostly show above the bed?” “Well, did you see how the prince was cut with that glass?” AJ responded. “I was cut by the glass from the grandfather clock. What if it’s the same glass plate?” “A sound theory, but what does the cut do?” Zecora asked. “The prince was ill, but there was nothing wrong with you.” Applejack touched the scar on her cheek. “I… don’t know,” she answered sadly. “Maybe that’s why I’m experiencing things out of order?” Her head began to ache from thoughts on how to explain what was happening. She looked down at the skeleton on the bed. Against her better judgment, AJ slowly pulled the bed sheet off. However, there was nothing unusual underneath, only the lower half of the skeleton. She wasn’t sure what she expected to find. “I reckon we should just go,” Applejack muttered. “Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Bloom agreed. The trio turned for the door. The quilted sheet slowly rose up and folded its corners into spindly legs. The blanket’s center tore open like a mouth and blood stains began to ooze from the tear. It skittered over to Applejack and tried to grab her. Apple Bloom shrieked with fright. Zecora yanked AJ away from the blanket monster and the three galloped to the door. It was locked tight. “Consarn it!” Applejack cursed. “Why is everythin’ got to be tryin’ to kill us?!” As the fabric creature drew near, she swung the handle like a bat. “Get back, you cotton-knitted sweater!” she yelled out. Zecora threw herself at the door, but the iron exit held fast. She backed up to try again, but Apple Bloom stopped her. “I got a better way!” the filly shouted. She grabbed one of the clocks on the wall and smashed it against the floor. Bloom removed the clock hands and used them as picks against the door’s lock. “Wonderful idea and it inspired me too,” Zecora said. “I’ll help your sister and leave the lock to you.” The zebra grabbed another clock off the wall and smashed it on the ground. She carefully picked up a large shard of glass from the pieces and hurried back to Applejack. AJ came down with the handle and hit it hard. The fabric creature easily absorbed the blow and jumped at the orange pony. AJ kicked the creature, but it was like hitting a towel that hung over a clothesline. It wrapped around her neck and began to squeeze tightly. “Let…” AJ wheezed, “Go… ” She dropped the handle and pulled hard on the blanket monster to breathe. Each gasp of air was a labored fight. Zecora galloped up to AJ’s side, but hesitated to use the glass to stab the creature. “Hit it already!” AJ shouted as she wrestled for air. Zecora held the glass shard in her fore-hooves nervously. “I may miss and cut you too,” she said. “I want my blow to strike it true.” With teeth bared, Applejack bit into the creature and pulled on the fabric. Strands began to snap and tear in her mouth. The monster loosened its grip and AJ pushed it at leg's length. Zecora darted in and struck the creature with the shard, cutting a long gash into its body. AJ yanked the creature off her neck. It lashed and flailed to grab AJ again. Zecora reached through the gash she made and pulled hard on the creature. AJ held on and yanked in the other direction. The fabric began to tear as the creature shrieked like a bat. The two friends rend the monster in two and it ceased flailing. They tossed the two halves away and stepped back. The iron door’s lock clicked and Apple Bloom opened it up. “I got it!” she shouted happily. “Maybe I’ll get a cutie mark as a locksmith?” she pondered aloud. “Come on, let’s skedaddle!” AJ said hastily as she grabbed the handle off the floor. Apple Bloom threw the door open and the three ran down the hallway to the stairs. The walls groaned and the gears began to turn in place. As the teeth meshed the hallway began to stretch out like a machine unfolding itself. The stairs began to recede away from them at the far end of the growing hall. They galloped faster to keep up with the stretching hallway. Behind them, the torn halves of the fabric creature began to crawl through the doorway like giant worms. The pieces pursued them relentlessly down the elongating passage. “We’re not going to make it!” Apple Bloom cried as the stairs continued to move away from them. “I had about enough of these shenanigans!” AJ snarled angrily. She held the handle firmly and rammed it in between two large gears in the wall. The machine came to a jarring stop as metal ground against metal. Gears popped off the walls violently, followed by shattering metal teeth. Zecora got struck in the shoulder with the flying shrapnel and she tumbled to the floor. Thick black oil began to ooze out from between the teeth of the machine around them. The hall stopped growing and Apple Bloom made it to the stairs first. She quickly climbed up to the wooden door of the grandfather clock, but found it shut tight. “Sis, the door closed on us!” Bloom yelled out as she pushed hard against it. Zecora ignorned her wound and scrambled up the stairs. She helped push against the door, but it still would not budge. The two halves of the monster approached AJ menacingly. The orange pony pulled the handle out and swung it at the monstrosities behind her. The pieces tumbled backwards, but easily rose up. Applejack raced up the stairs with the handle and threw herself at the door. The wooden exit splintered, but still held on. The three banged loudly on the door for help. “Can anyone hear us?!” Bloom screamed. “Ma! Pa! Help!!” The wormy halves reached the stairs, but the wooden door finally opened. A pair of strong yellow-green hooves reached in and yanked all three friends out of the strange world and back into AJ’s living room. AJ, Zecora, and Bloom tumbled onto the familiar wooden floor as Cara slammed the clock’s secret door closed. She turned the key counter-clockwise and the pendulum swung back into working order. Bramley stood over the three troublemakers with an angry glare. “They frown upon the belt nowadays,” the father said, “But I can still ground you lot until next spring.” “But pa!” Apple Bloom pleaded as she jumped to her hooves. “Don’t you see that Applejack might be right about something weird going on? There’s a bedroom in your clock with a monster in it!” “I know there’s a monster in it!” Bramley snapped. “That’s why I didn’t want you kids messin’ around with old magic. You all could have been killed in there!” AJ and Zecora sat up slowly as they glanced at each other. The orange pony held out the handle to her father while the zebra applied pressure to the cut on her shoulder. “Here, I reckon this is what you’ve been lookin’ for,” Applejack said with a teary frown. Bramley lifted the handle up as Cara walked closer to get a good look. The parents were in awe of the object in the same way Bloom was of the clock’s magical passageway. “The handle to Spell Driver,” the father muttered softly. Cara put a hoof on her husband’s shoulder. “Honey, we could retrieve the other piece now,” she said in a happier tone. “We could end the nightmares once and for all.” Apple Bloom looked around with a confused expression. “Wait, you mean my sister has been right all along?” Cara looked down sadly at her daughter, but didn’t respond. Big McIntosh and Granny Smith wandered in from upstairs. AJ was surprised to see her granny here. She rubbed her tired eyes to ensure this was not a hallucination. “Granny?” AJ asked. “What are you doing back here so soon?” “Well, your father wrote me about you having a mental breakdown,” Granny Smith explained. “I came home early to help you straighten things out.” “What is going on here anyway?” Big Mac questioned the room. “Why is every pony talking about AJ going nuts, nightmares, and all sorts of weird things lately?” All eyes turned to the Apple parents. The two ponies glanced at the handle for a moment before they responded. “I’ll go boil a pot of water,” Cara stated. “I think we owe everyone an explanation over some tea.” “Muziki na masikio yangu!” Zecora cheerfully stated as she got up. “I would love a cup of relaxing tea, before another creature comes to attack me.” “Wait, attack you?” Big Mac asked. “What have you all been tangling with?” Applejack limped behind Cara and Zecora into the kitchen. “Gardenin’ and laundry,” she responded sarcastically to her brother.