Twilight Sparkle drunkenly wandered around the Everfree Forest after Pinkie Pie spiked the punch and turned her birthday party into something ever horrible. For now, she could hear her friends calling her but she ignored the calls, letting her body move on its own drunken standards. Words floated around her head until she reached an unfamiliar part of the forest. She quickly and magically sobered up and quickly came to her senses.
“Where am I?” She asked herself as she tried to retrace her steps. “How am I in here? This… Where in the Everfree Forest is this place?”
She stopped and took her time to look and investigate the place only to learn that this part has no time. She looked and tried to find the center of the area to find a pedestal and eight paths pointing outward. She checked the sixth path which was colored violet and instantly felt like being watched. Twilight looked up and noticed the first and the third path, which are colored white and orange respectively, have ponies checking out the paths themselves.
“Who are you?” she called. “Name yourself!”
The pony of the white path looked at Twilight and opened her mouth just to close it again. She gulped, and then spoke.
“Name’s Crystal Spinwheel, Son of Twilight Sparkle the Harmonist!” the pony introduced. “You?”
“Twilight Sparkle, protegé of Princess Celestia,” she told them.
The ponies of the orange path looked strangely at Twilight. Twilight spotted wings which made her remember of her friends who still might’ve been looking for her.
“Rainbow Dash, do you think she’s the one?” The first pegasus asked to the second.
“Maybe not Fluttershy, since we have someone claiming to be Twilight and a colt of Twilight,” the second –Rainbow Dash?– replied.
They both turned and looked at Twilight and then to Crystal. Before the two could introduce themselves, a pony appeared on the second path which was colored red and introduced himself.
“Ladies, gentlecolt. I am Quantum Dazzle,” the red path pony said. “It seems like we are waiting for other ponies since we have the yellow, blue and black empty. I wonder if we could fill it out.”
“What is this place anyway?” Twilight asked.
Spinwheel chuckled. “It’s the Pedestal of The Eight. The eight colored and numbered paths symbolizes the eight magical crystals which can balance harmony on every world. The pedestal symbolizes about the thing that keeps everything together. The orb above the pedestal is the first world where everything was said to lay down the events.”
“Earth,” a voice called from the blue path. They all looked at the path to find Princess Luna.
“I do suppose that we are here for a reason I cannot say completely,” she told the ponies. She stared at Quantum Dazzle. “Wrenchman Dazzle, this explains your warning letter and your complete disappearance.”
“Ah. We seem to know or be related to each other,” Dazzle proclaimed. “Except for that Twilight.” He pointed at Twilight who was staring at the purple path. “She’s unique.”
“No she isn’t!”
The ponies looked up to see Pinkie Pie walking up to the yellow path. “Hey Twi, don’t go wandering off, please?”
“You spiked the punch, anyway!” Twilight defended. She blinked. “Where are we, Pinkie?”
Pinkie Pie looked around. “Hmm… eight paths, crazy pedestal in the middle, eight ponies on seven of the eight paths. Me stepping on yellow, a Luna stepping on blue—” Princess Luna looked at Pinkie in a shocked expression— “a Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stepping on orange—” The mentioned ponies stare at Pinkie— “Prince Crystal Spinwheel on white and Doctor Quantum Dazzle on red.”
She frowned as she realized who were on this situation and who would be on the seventh path, the black path. “All hail to the King,” she greeted in a monotone voice to nopony in particular. “King Sombra.”
A familiar and yet strangely unfamiliar pony showed up on the black path. He surveyed the group of ponies and looked straight at Twilight. “You’re new.”
She gulped. What was going on here?
“Which means we have a new story in the Black Book,” he finished. He went closer to the pedestal and touched the base. “Follow.”
Everypony followed including Twilight who were hesitant at first. As soon as she touched the base, everything except the ponies and the pedestal disappeared.
“Uh…” Fluttershy looked down. “Ooh! I can see my house from here.”
They all looked down except for Twilight who instead looked at her back. Before she knew it, she stopped touching the pedestal causing everything to reappear and Twilight headed on one direction. Everypony followed her until they all stopped at the Ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Twilight closed her eyes and reopened them to look downwards towards the cliffside where the cave of the Tree of Harmony was hidden. She headed towards it, despite everypony’s warnings.
As soon as she stepped at the cave, the Tree of Harmony pulsed.
Twilight woke up on her bed, panting about this particular nightmare.
“That’s the 30th time…”
Pinkie woke up and looked over Twilight’s castle.
“Please come here…”
At Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie and Twilight talked about the nightmare along with Princess Luna who seemed to be particularly liking the subject. As soon as Twilight finished, she looked at Princess Luna who pulled out a black book and levitated it over Twilight. Twilight took the book and stared at the cover. Much to her surprise, the name of the book was…
“The Black Book of Equestria?” Twilight asked. “What kind of book is this?”
Luna smiled.
“Did you think it was all just a lie?” Luna asked back. “It happened and you were drunk at that time.”
Twilight realized something. “You were there?”
“No. Pinkie was and she told me about it,” the Princess of the Night answered.
“But… why a dream…” Twilight muttered.
Pinkie grinned, then pulled out a page from her mane and placed it above the black book. The book opened and the page sticked in it causing Twilight to remember all of the events. Her eyes widened and realized something. The book.
“Protect the book!” Twilight announced as she bucked a mare who dared to touch the book. “Protect the secret! I remember everything and I remember why I told Pinks to remove it!”
“Why?” Princess Luna asked as she shot more ponies away.
“Because…
…
… I know the future and it will destroy us all.”