Standing triumphantly next to the Everfree forest was the Mage’s Tower: A colossal stone construct more akin to a palace than a true tower despite the pylon in its center reaching for the stars above. It had no walls or semblance of barricades to prevent anyone from reaching it across the grassy plains, letting all see the many decorative statues adorning the many outcrops of its black and gray body. Within one of the small towers within this acropolis was a strange mare researching strange things.
The walls of her quarters were made of brown stone save for a line of black marble bricks running through the middle. Multiple shelves of various sizes, tables, cupboards, glass displays, bags hanging from the ceiling by chains, and other paraphernalia served as decoration. All of these were overflowing with parchments ranging from brand new to withered and decayed, books, quills, and drawings from various cultures. Many red oak desks were being crushed under the weight of all these parchments stacked atop each other to the ceiling.
The only free desk was occupied by a brown mare who, seemingly, had been going through some rough times. She was shaking tremendously, something impeding her journal writing. Once she finally finished, an explosion echoed in the hallway behind her.
"I'm too late. I've gotta hurry to the basement. The golem we made together should keep the others out," she thought to herself.
The door was being hit on hard from the other side, surprising the mare with its sturdiness.
“Come on, Pandora.” The door was struck several more times.
The mare grabbed her saddle bags, stuffed them with as much important scrolls and notes she could carry, and kicked the door down, squashing those who were on the other side. Pandora was going to rush down the nearest staircase, but it had been blocked off by some strange, yellow bubbles. Instead, she chose the long way around towards the other stairway, rushing past the insanity going on within the tower in the process. Ponies were playing around with potions, causing large chunks of the tower to shatter outwards or inwards, to transform the idiots into vile creatures of twisted shapes and added parts, or solid statues altogether, or to completely change the composition of just about everything around into any possible material.
Pandora noticed some ponies wandering out of their offices whilst twisting their heads or others slamming their noggins against the walls as they tried to stave off the insanity.
“I told them they shouldn’t have tried to delve into Discord’s magic, and now look what’s happening! I have to get to the basement and wait for this to finish itself before going to--”
The mare’s thoughts spoken aloud were interrupted by green vines the size of chariots bursting through the walls and taking pieces of the tower with them further away. The massive hole left by the vines let Pandora witness that the culprit was a many-headed plant contorting and twisting around, its height nearly matching the tower’s third highest spire. Heads with yellow petals would shoot these details of their heads through the rock whilst those with blue petals spewed an unpleasant corrosive everywhere.
“The Ivamora Draygon?!” Pandora shouted aloud. “What’s it doing here?! What killed it?!” The unicorn darted through the halls and rushed down the stairs as fast as she could. “Hopefully, it won’t notice me and leave me alone.
The pony noticed that she was being ignored by almost everyone and everything in the tower, and she didn’t know whether to feel distressed or pleased about that. Her tripped through the black corridors led her to a barely noticeable engraving of a saddened pony in the brick. Panting with fatigue, the mare poked the figure’s right eye, causing the mouth to open up enough that the pony could easily go in. The mouth closed on her way down the slide, eventually landing against a gelatinous substance.
“That wasn’t there before,” she noted aloud.
Passing a few glances to the gunk, the mare stepped away, intent on finding the golem. Yet, she find herself clutching her muzzle and losing control of her legs. There was a charred body from a tower treasure hunter, their fur still fizzling from the flames. Pandora scampered backwards and slammed her back against a door that quickly opened, letting a giant stone hand snatch her up and pull her in. Struggling to get out of the hand in a panic, the mare failed to realize that it belonged to the golem itself, something it reminded her.
”Has the insanity. Addled. Your mind?” it asked in raspy and booming voice.
The mare turned her head as best as she could, sighing in relief from the sight of the creature.
“Oh. It’s you.”
The golem put her back onto the ground. ”These magics. Do not affect me. For I am neither dead. Nor alive.” It stepped to the side and presented a stone altar with an outstretched arm. ”Place the book. Future generations. Of ponies to know.” It then pointed to Pandora. ”The World of Illogic. Protects you. Today.”
“The what?”
The stone construct pushed the mare, tiny compared to it, to the altar, then slowly lumbered towards an indent in the wall and stood within it, being embraced once more by the source stone. Pandora looked to it then back at the journal she pulled from her bags. With the use of a quill and some ink, the mare added a few extra bits in her journal before finally closing it and placing it on the altar. Unfortunately, she could no longer let go of the book and discovered that it was sucking her into its confines. Try as she might, the only thing she could do was scream in response. The golem did nothing and only watched.
”Pandora,” it called out. ”Look. For Carnifex. You already know enough,” the golem wheezed.
”The Illogic doesn’t want to lose her, so I help a wee bittle nittle. Hee hoi hai ho!”
Twilight Sparkle was flipping through the pages of the journal while Spike and Rainbow Dash hung over her shoulders.
“There’s a lot of weird stuff in here. I’d need to study on my own and make cross-references with other material, but…” Twilight flipped through a few more pages. “I should be able to eventually find something about Psycho.”
The mare grunted in annoyance, prompting Rainbow to chime in.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Ah! The pages are eaten away by mold.” Twilight hung the book to the side and shook it gently, making some of the greenery float down. “This needs to be restored, too.”
Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. “Just keep looking through the book. That’s okay. As long as we know what’s in there.”
“Well,” I found an interesting part here,” Twilight said to Rainbow. The pegasus and little dragon scooched next to Twilight. “Let’s see...talking about how she found interest in historical artifacts…”
As I look upon the spell made to resurrect the dead, I decide to destroy it. It is not something that should ever be rediscovered. Some things must never be made in the first place. These spells on manipulating weather could be of interest, however. Changing sun to rain could be fun, actually.
…
I’ve discovered that our worlds interact with one another in events that I call ‘Pole Strings’. This is only a theory of course, and I need to keep working on it, but they can be messed with by using a specific type of magic...But which one? There’s hundreds of them.”
“More like thousands now…” Twilight chuckled.
Perhaps I could ask Starswirl the Bearded and O’Connor the Thoughtful in what they think?
…
As I continue my research, there is one world still connected to Equestria that hops about randomly, much to my hair-pulling annoyance. Its behavior is completely illogical and irrational. There is a pole string in front of the tower, so I will be studying it now. Hopefully I’ll learn more about it.
…
I do not know who this ‘Psycho the Psychopath’ is nor what the World of Illogic he talks about is. He seems to be trapped somewhere and is overly protective of the princesses, although his naming them ‘Tia-Tia’ and ‘Woona’ indicates some underlying connection. His naming conventions are quite...audacious and insulting, though. As the days went by, I noticed him being able to manipulate objects in the tower like a ghost and visit my fellow mages in their dreams.
…
Psycho doesn’t seem to try to harm anypony despite his shenanigans within the tower. His powers, on the other hoof, seem to be severely limited, and yet he still uses what he has to visit me most often. I don’t truly understand why.
…
'Psycho', as I have come to call him, doesn't seem to try and harm anypony despite his shenanigans throughout the tower. However, his 'powers' seem severely limited and extremely drained, yet, he only comes to me more often than the others. I wonder why.
...................
I have learned that these worlds have some sort of "timer" to them. Once you enter, you might never leave. Once you exit, you might never return. However, there have been those who get stuck in between fuse with the energies of the other worlds. I have learned of this from Starswirl, who has proven my theories by admitting that he too was once trapped like that. It may not have gifted him his incredible abilities, but it affected him in some other way.
I wonder if this 'Psychopath' met the same fate…
…
My greatest fears came to be. My colleague, Cilliscyle, thought himself clever by spearheading a project to use Discord’s leftover chaos magic. The fool dropped the vial and freed the magic. Left to its own devices, the magic multiplied the more chaos was created and engulfed the tower. I’m the only one it doesn’t seem to be affecting, but I will flee to the basement where a golem resides. A ‘sacred chamber’ to some of the more erratic ponies. My book shall be left there for future ponies.
…
I now stand near the altar sitting in this room. I don’t have much time to write anymore, as I fear that the Ivamora will cause a collapse. The golem will keep this book safe, but he said that Psycho was the one watching over me, and I don’t know why. His abilities appear very similar to Discord’s, and yet...completely different. It makes no sense. Although he doesn’t seem evil, his motives elude me. I have found no ways to stop him...
Twilight passed through the pages depicting and defining a variety of spells she was aware, but one caught her attention in particular. It was poorly grafted ink pressed hard against the page by a quill as though a foal were trying to write. Squinting, the mare managed to read the spell after several minutes of effort.
“Pandora’s Paradox? Why is it spelt in our language?” the mare wondered aloud.
Rainbow shrugged. “I dunno.” She looked over Twilight’s shoulder at the pages of the book. “Is there anything else?”
Twilight flipped the pages, only to discover that there was nothing else of significance afterwards despite the book’s size. She sighed.
“I guess not.”
Rainbow jabbed a hoof in the air, disappointment coating her face. “Drats.”
A mark had started to glow on the pages when Rainbow cursed. Twilight leaned in closer to get a better look at whatever was causing it, only for her and her friends to be blinded immediately by a blindingly bright light.
A loud scream shook the entire town of Ponyville. It was coming from Crimson. She was in the showers of her new home, and cloud was leaning against the wall while he waited with a smug look on his face.
“Did you really need to scream like that?” he asked.
“YES!”
The mare jumped out of the showers, dripping wet
Cloud chuckled. “That I am.”
The mare followed the shrewd remark by punching the stallion in the face and causing his head to bounce off the tiles of the bathroom.
“What was THAT for?!” he shouted whilst massaging his muzzle.
“I look like that annoying pink pony now!”
“Yes. Yes you do,” he replied while nodding.
Crimson gaze grit her teeth and pulled back her hoof to punch him again, but the stallion, now expecting the attacking, moved his head to the side. Cloud passed a hoof through his mane and walked away from the angry pony.
“Well,” he started. “Since you aren’t going to be going anywhere for now-” He looked over his shoulder. “I suggest we start working on your fears, and with how big this house is-” He nodded. “This should be a good place to start.”
The mare lowered her hoof and gave an accepting look. It wasn’t something she liked, but if she could fly like all the others...
Rarity was so preoccupied by her new line of dresses that she hasn’t noticed the brouhaha occurring outside her boutique. She was currently trying to decide on which ribbon to use to decorate the dress in question when she realized she had forgotten something important. It was just upstairs, and she just needed to rush there to get it.
A very quiet alarm rang whilst Psycho rose out of the ground. He was pondering upon his surroundings with intrigue and a hoof tapping his chin. Once he was fully elevated, he put his hat back onto his head and rubbed his hooves mischievously. The colorful stallion even grew a very long, very thin mustache to twirl them diabolically.
Rarity sang happily as she came back downstairs with a bundle of ribbons and a variety of colorful and textured fabric in her magic.
"HmhmhmhMOHMIGOSH!"
She dropped everything on the floor in tandem with her jaw. Her entire workplace was all ruined. Dresses had been sliced up and slapped together again with no rhyme or reason, turning them into ugly abominations to Rarity’s eyes.
“What kind of madpony would DO this?!” she screamed. The mare’s attention was brought to a nigh inaudible chuckle. “What’s going on?” she yelled. The mare paced around her workshop and looked around her mannequins. “Who made that sound?” The mare heard another sound and looked up. “What the…”
There was a stallion walking along the ceiling like a spider. “I can twist my head,” he said nonchalantly. He did so, but after two full rotations, his head fell off and bounced in front of Rarity. “Oh. My head fell off!” His voice increased in decibels with every subsequent short sentence. “I twisted it too far! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Rarity screamed and galloped downstairs to flee from her boutique. Unfortunately, Psycho was waiting for her in front of the only exit. He was wearing a trenchcoat and long hat, using the shadows and the environment to make himself look dark and brooding.
“Looks like you need...a makeover,” he spoke in a low and gravely voice.
“A what?” Rarity repeated.
Everypony outside were scared suddenly when Rarity’s Boutique exploded, releasing a massive green cloud from all of its shattered windows. Psycho fled from the scene by remaining stiff like a statue but bouncy like a balloon. He bounced off the walls and flew into the air whilst wobbling in every direction.
“EXCELSIOR!” he shouted.