Teahouses of Saddle Arabia

by Amber Spark

Transit: Unknown Location

“You’re sure you don’t mind, Twi?” Sunset grinned, but she still shifted awkwardly from hoof to hoof. “I mean, you’re stuck here and I get to go!”

Twilight waved a hoof at her, smiling and blushing just a little. “I’m fine, Sunny. This is no big deal to me. Huge parties and crowds aren’t my thing. Do the words ‘Whitewater Fun Zone’ mean anything to you?”

Sunset burst into laughter, joined moments later by Twilight herself. It had long become an old joke, even if it was mostly at Twilight’s expense. Still, that had been one of the best days of her life.

“Still, this is the Summer Sun Celebration!” Sunset protested, pasting her ears back against her head.

“Yes, and I’ve been to one or two. I do live in Canterlot, you know.”

“Yeah, but this one’s special! The thousandth anniversary? It’s a big deal. Even the Princess is looking a little nervous.”

That brought Twilight up short. “Why… why would Princess Celestia be nervous?”

Sunset flopped down on her haunches in the middle of Twilight’s living room and shrugged. “I have no idea. Just to guess, she’s probably not incredibly fond of the day she had to banish another alicorn.”

“I thought she banished her sister.” Twilight’s ears flickered as she tried to recall the most common version of the tale, in addition to the oldest. “Or was it her aunt?”

“Well, I’m not about to ask her,” Sunset laughed again. It had changed so much over the last few years. Once, it had a hard edge to it. Now, it was comfortable and warm. Just like Sunset herself. “That would be the most awkward conversation ever.”

Sunset rubbed her hoof into the carpet, then glanced up at Twilight with an impish grin. “Twi, come on!”

“No!” Twilight chuckled.

Sunset leapt to her hooves and put her forehooves around Twilight. “Please! Skip out on the RCA section of the event. Find somepony else to do it. You’re Head Archivist, for pony’s sake! For once in your life, play hookie and have some fun!”

“Next year, I promise,” Twilight said even as Sunset put on her best puppy-dog eyes.

“You’re sure?” Sunset stretched the last word until her voice broke. “Really sure?”

“Yes, you silly filly!” Twilight shoved her marefriend back, but still gave her a kiss on the nose. “Now, you need to get going. You promised Princess Celestia you’d study Predictions and Prophecies on the train ride to Ponyville. Assuming the girls let you focus.”

“You have to take me out once I get back!” Sunset said as she trotted toward the door, her tail swishing suggestively.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Where?”

“Fresh Air.”

“Again?”

“Best bell pepper risotto in the city!”

“Fine, but you have to cast the cloudwalking spells!”

Sunset reached the door and looked back, grinning. “I always do, Twi. I always do. Have fun!”

With that, she was out the door. Despite herself, Twilight walked to the front door and watched her go. She’d been sorely tempted, truth be told. But, she had responsibilities Celestia herself had asked her to handle here in Canterlot. It had been the first time Celestia had actively separated the two of them since they’d started dating, but they were each better suited to their assigned tasks.

Even still, she’d been tempted.

She leaned against the doorframe and smiled an idiot grin, nibbling at her bangs as warm fuzzies filled her to the brim. She hadn’t told Sunset yet, but she suspected already knew. Maybe on their date after the Celebration. That’s when she’d say it.

That’s when she would finally say ‘I love you.’

Sunset slowly opened her eyes and groaned. She blinked a few times. Then a few more times. Only then did she realize it was her brain that was barely working, not her eyes.

Eventually, her vision cleared to reveal a wall lit by odd, flickering pink and yellow light. She was lying on her side, her face against an odd pumice-like stone. She took a deep breath, but she ended up gasping, as if she’d just run a marathon. As she slowly came back to something approaching awareness, she found out her body had some serious issues, namely with bruising along her stomach, a nasty friction burn on her right forehoof and a swelling bump on the back of her head.

Nope. Not a marathon. This reminds me of combat training with Celestia.

With all that, she decided it would be a good idea to sit up slowly. Even then, it still felt like a group of buffalo were stampeding around in her head.

Where am I?

Her mind was a jumble. There had been that lunatic Desert Winds, A.K. Yearling, something about a torch, Twilight looking at her fondly, and… they were being attacked?

Wait… They? Someone was with me?

The last few seconds of memory came back in a flash.

Twilight.

Her head whipped around searching for her friend… only to find her passed out against the opposite wall not five feet from her. She was completely still, save for the slight rise and fall of her chest.

Sunset held a hoof to her chest and glanced down at her little adventurer’s jacket. Memories were coming back, piece by piece, things… that didn’t make sense. Things that had never happened. Sunset trying to convince Twilight to go to the Summer Sun Celebration. The one-thousand-year-anniversary one. But that was years away…

And Twilight… looking at Sunset as she walked away, feeling nothing but happiness and warmth.

Wouldn’t it be nice if she thought about me that way? Sunset thought idly.

Oddly enough, her angry little pony didn’t have anything to say on the matter. Maybe it was still waking up. She didn’t know. She didn’t really care either.

She was too worried about what Twilight might have seen.

I hope she didn’t have another one of those nightmares.

She pulled out a canteen from her bags and took a long drink. Only then did she finally get to her shaky hooves.

“Twilight?” she called quietly, but the mare didn’t stir. A quick anatomy spell revealed a few cuts, scrapes and bruises, but nothing worse than Sunset had suffered.

Since Twilight seemed to be okay, she took a proper look around.

They were in a long winding corridor of some kind. An odd blue glow filled the air, enough to see the contours of the passage, but little else. Some distance further down the corridor, the walls seemed to change into something else, with odd shapes and protrusions. When she looked closer at her immediate area, all she saw were stone walls, stone floor, stone ceiling and another stone—

“What in Equestria?” Sunset muttered as she stepped toward the other wall.

Only it wasn’t a wall. It was a bookshelf.

Lifting the torch, Sunset peered at the titles. They weren’t quite Equestrian, but they were close enough to make out the words—at least, most of them were. Mentally translating the titles, she began to read them aloud to herself.

“The Friendship Diaries, The End of the Day: The End of the Discordian Era, The History of the Changeling Integration into Equestrian Society, Lost Time, Into the Dark…” Sunset shook her head and frowned. “Some of these others though… I’ve never seen some of these languages. Where… where even are we?”

“Huh?” Twilight cried as she jolted awake. “What!? That’s not right! I would never do that! I don’t feel anything towar—”

Twilight blinked a few times before her eyes found Sunset. The panic seemed to subside and she took a deep breath, only to wince as she held her side. “Ow. What…”

“You might have a slightly bruised rib,” Sunset knelt down beside the other mare and offered the canteen. “Some cuts, scapes and other bruises. I guess we should have taken Pathseeker up on those healing potions after all.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked after taking a long gulp. “Where are we?”

“As for what happened?” Sunset glanced back and forth down the corridor. “I don’t know. We were attacked by the Highguard while in the bubble. I heard Winds say something about—”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Something about not adding magic to the spell. And then…”

Sunset glanced to the side, frowning.

Twilight closed her eyes. “I panicked, didn’t I?”

“You poured magic into the bubble when it flickered, yeah. That’s pretty much the last thing I remember.”

“I’m such an idiot!” Twilight cried, slamming her hoof against the stone. “Why would I do that?”

You know this is the second time her screwups have left you stranded in a strange, alien place, the thing in her head whispered, apparently now fully awake. Why do you want her again? Leave her.

While Sunset’s mask over her frustration and anger of how tonight had gone had cracked, it hadn’t cracked that badly.

“What about the second question?” Twilight asked as she reached out a hoof. Sunset helped her to her hooves, though Twilight’s eyes seemed to spin in her head for a moment. “W-where are we?”

Sunset levitated the torch high above their heads to try and see a little more, but it only revealed more of the same. The stone corridor, the wall of odd books and the blue glow. Further down, the shadows of something slightly different.

“I don’t have a clue,” Sunset confessed.

Twilight gasped… then gasped again. Then she started shaking slightly.

Oh, come on! I mean… I get it, but enough already!

“Twilight!” Sunset shouted, her voice echoing strangely down the corridor. “I need you to hold it together! I know how hard it is, so just focus on me, okay?”

Twilight’s eyes slowly slid from the grey floor to Sunset’s face. Only when their eyes met did Twilight’s breathing slow. It still wasn’t normal, but it was better than the full-blown panic attack she had been moments away from.

Sunset looked up at the torch and remembered something Yearling had said. “Twilight, I need you to hold this, either with a hoof or with your magic. And I want you to focus on Canterlot, okay? That’s all I need you to do.”

“Sunset, you do realize this is my fau—”

“No.” Sunset silenced her with a hoof against her muzzle. “In the end, it’s mine. I’m the one who started this. The original blame lies with me.”

Pretty lies for your crush. How adorable. She’s never going to feel anything for you. Stop trying so hard!

“But that’s—”

“Twilight!” Sunset snapped, then took another deep breath. “This isn’t the time for blame. Yearling warned us about this place. I wish I’d gotten a better answer out of her, but… I think if we keep walking long enough, we’ll find Canterlot.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, only a flicker of hope in her voice. “Sunset, we are truly lost this time. I’ve never even heard of anything like this before. And everything feels… strange.”

“I know,” Sunset admitted. “But we’re going to get unlost, one way or another. For now, let’s just explore a little, see what this place is. If we need to change plans… we change plans.”

Twilight slowly nodded. “It’s a better plan than mine. All I have is curl in a corner and hide.”

“We’ll call that Plan B.”

While Sunset led the way, the corridor was wide enough for them to walk mostly side-by-side. Twilight obviously wanted Sunset to stay in front, while she continued to handle the torch. Sunset didn’t mind.

You’re so angry you can’t even look at her. And now, you’re lost in a place completely alien. Yearling warned you not to feel despair or fear. Didn’t Pathseeker say something about that? Wonder what will happen when whatever lives here feels that anger?

Sunset bit her tongue to prevent herself from screaming in frustration. Nothing had gone right today. Everything had gone straight to Tartarus. For the love of Celestia, they couldn’t even find the book! All they had was a loose lead that there was one in Canterlot from a less-than-reliable source.

“What are these?” Twilight mumbled behind her.

Sunset glanced back to see Twilight inspecting the wall. She’d already pulled down a massive tome easily the thickness of Sunset’s hoof.

“Sunset do you…”

“No, never seen anything like it.”

“I can almost read it…” Twilight whispered. “Yeah, it’s just… almost Equestrian. Like a parallel development of our linguistic and grammatical structure…”

“Twilight?”

“Hm?” She looked up from the text.

Sunset pointed down the alien hallway.

“Right, sorry!” Twilight blushed and shoved the book back in place. “I’ve… sort of got a weak spot for… you know…”

“No, really?” Sunset deadpanned as she started moving again. They were approaching the transition to the next section.

“What is all that?” Twilight stepped forward to walk evenly with Sunset and held the torch high.

Sunset caught the glint of metal and cocked her head as she tried to figure out what she was seeing.

“It’s… a machine?”

It was a machine. Sunset had never been a big science fiction fan, but having Moon Dancer as a best friend required certain sacrifices. Such as being familiar with almost every major science fiction franchise in print. She’d even read one or two. And from that alone, she knew she was looking at something that could very well be… a robot.

It was a cylinder nearly as tall as Sunset, with a series of spindly arms reaching out from the side. From the base, Sunset would have guessed it should have floated or had some sort of other, missing mechanism to move around. The entire thing was constructed of burnished brass and steel with an impressive level of care.

Still, whatever it had been, it was inert now. Nearly half an inch of dust coated every surface on the strange object.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Twilight whispered, looking closely with the pink and yellow torch.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Sunset whispered as she instinctually ignited her light spell. A small sun appeared over her horn. A moment’s concentration made the light swell, washing over the new chamber in a wave of something akin to sunlight.

Beyond the robot lay an immense sprawling room of steel and glass. And it was filled with books, every one the exact same size. The walls were curved inward, but the smooth and clean lines of the place made it feel sleek rather than cramped, like the inside of an airships gas envelope. In the very center of the floor lay the skeleton of a steel sphere set in some sort of base in the shape of a four-pointed star.

“I can feel latent magic here…” Sunset mumbled as she approached the sphere. “Intense magic…”

“Magic…” Twilight said behind her. “Sunset, that’s it! Magic!”

“Huh?”

Twilight rushed up to her, looking positively giddy. It was almost frightening how quickly she had switched moods. She bounced up and down as her eyes darted between the strange library-like room and Sunset.

“Sunset, we traveled to Jeddahoof by leyline, right?”

“I think that’s been pretty well established,” Sunset said with a cocked eyebrow. “What’s your point?”

“Just hold on. I’m working toward something!” Twilight snapped as her eyes darted around the chamber. She closed her eyes and summoned a book from the wall. “And Pathseeker told us about how Linking Chambers used leylines?”

“Still with you so far.”

Twilight opened the book. There was no text inside, only intensely detailed technical diagrams fused with formulae for several advanced spells that Sunset couldn’t begin to comprehend. Twilight made a little squealing noise.

“And what did he say were the origin point of ponies—and most races—connecting to leylines?”

“Libraries.” Sunset blinked as it finally slotted into place. “It can’t be.”

“The bubble was the same type as before!” Twilight said, her voice urgent and excited. “Even A.K. Yearling said that the combination of the book, the metal torch and the storm would turn that spot into a miniature Linking Chamber. Well, last time we fell short and appeared in a bookstore, because—of course—books are still magic. What if…”

“Twilight, you can’t be serious.” Sunset shook her head, unable to accept the idea Twilight was working toward. It was too crazy. “That’s insane.”

“Think about it!” Twilight insisted, spinning around the room. “Pathseeker told us that something had come out of the Griffonstone Linking Chamber! If it came out… it had to come out from somewhere!”

“You seriously expect me to believe we’re actually inside a leyline?” Sunset demanded, her tail twitching in annoyance. “What? In some sort of ley-space?”

“That’s a good name for it in the short-term,” Twilight said, tapping a hoof on her chin and looking thoughtful. “Oh my goodness, I’m so going to write a paper on this! Though… it could already be known. Probably only to Head Archivists. I’ll have to check with Ink Method. I mean, he can’t secure the information if I already have it, right? But even then… think of the ponies who may have walked these halls! Starswirl the Bearded, Clover the Clever, Dream Weaver… I don’t believe this… but it fits! We’re inside a leyline! A space that doesn’t even truly exist in our world! It’s like… a pocket dimension, maybe with similarities to what scholars have taken to calling ‘Limbo’ and—”

“Okay, genius,” Sunset snapped, forcing Twilight to focus again. “If you’re right, then what’s with all of this?”

She waved her hooves around, trying to encompass the entire chamber of alien books, strange technology and advanced architecture.

“I think… I think we’re inside the echoes of bookstores and libraries,” Twilight whispered in glee. “Don’t you see? Over the centuries, our civilization grows up on these leylines. All the while, the magic of the books slowly leaks into the leylines, creating a sort of mirror image. And since there are all these horror stories about traveling leylines or everypony travels from point to point, despite my earlier desire, it’s very likely that no one’s actually seen this ‘ley-space’—” She actually did air quotes with her hooves. “—in who knows how long? ”

“I have no idea if anything you said is anywhere close to being true, Twilight.” Sunset sat down and folded her hooves. “Sounds like a bunch of guesswork and conjecture.”

“It’s a perfectly reasonable hypothesis!” Twilight insisted with a stomp of her hoof. It rang dully across the burnished metallic floor.

“Then why does this book,” Sunset grabbed the book Twilight had pulled from the shelf and shook it at her, “show spellwork formulae and engineering schematics centuries—if not millennia—ahead of Equestria’s current development? Answer that one, Miss Assistant Lead Archivist!”

“I…” Twilight hesitated, her ears drooping. “Okay, I’m not sure about that one. Maybe leylines are cross-dimensional? If you believe in the Wavelength Theorem of Multiverse Branching, of course.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and glared at Twilight. “Even after all we’ve been through tonight? That’s a stretch.”

“Okay… yes, it’s a stretch.” Twilight fiddled with her bangs and sighed. “Look, I don’t know. But it would tell us one very important thing: why A.K. Yearling wanted me to stay focused on Canterlot. We naturally guide magic with our minds through spells when we aren’t using exterior foci like runes or spell diagrams! If we’re in a leyline, maybe the torch acts as some sort of… rudder? Or like an ancient diviner's rod? The kind some ponies used to find water?”

Sunset sighed and looked around, spying three doorways out of the enormous chamber. She rubbed her eyes and wished she knew a spell for headaches. Twilight had to be crazy to be making all those connections, but Sunset didn’t have any better explanation. But the idea that they were inside something that didn’t actually exist as a physical thing?

In reality, it came down to a simple truth. It wasn’t worth fighting about.

“Okay, fine!” she snapped, gritting her teeth and climbing to her hooves. “Let’s go with your hypothesis. In reality, it doesn’t change anything. If what Yearling said was right, our only chance to get out of this insane place is that hunk of metal and you. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather do that sooner rather than later.”

“Why?” Twilight shook her head as if she had just announced her intent to walk to the moon. “Think of all we could learn here, Sunset!”

Sunset facehoofed. “Did you forget the part where there are monsters supposedly living here?”

That killed Twilight’s enthusiasm in an instant. She cringed, her ears flattened, and even her mane and tail drooped.

Sunset groaned and rubbed her face. “Look, I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m… just really worn out, okay?”

“No, you’re… you’re right.” Twilight glanced around at the shadows of the room, her earlier enthusiasm snuffed out like a candle. “No, we should… definitely get out of here if the griffons needed to drop an entire building on whatever came out of their Linking Chamber.”

While Sunset didn’t especially like the way she’d forced the issue, they did need to stay focused. Yearling had seemed pretty insistent about that. She’d been insistent on a lot of things. Like her staying focused. Like not thinking about how she wanted to comfort Twilight right now. Or just how she felt about Moon Dancer and Twilight being together. Or—

I wonder if the monsters will actually attack you or just see you as one of their own…

“Let’s… let’s get moving,” Sunset said, her heart hammering in her chest. “What does the magic torch of scrolls say?”

Twilight looked at the torch and focused for a moment. “Nothing. It’s a decorative torch. Okay, yes, with glowy parts. But… I’m feeling something… that way?”

She pointed at a side passage far tighter than the one they had left.

“It’s not like we’re going to get any less lost.” Sunset nodded and trotted toward the doorway. She stopped at the doorway and without turning, said, “Twilight. Let’s go.”

She knew what she’d see. Twilight looking longingly at all the books, maybe with a dramatic sigh. She didn’t need to see it with her eyes. She could see it perfectly in her head. Somehow, that made it just a little bit worse.

They walked the next few passageways and chambers in relative silence. The first chamber had been a broken husk of a room with shattered columns, a half-collapsed ceiling and a massive layer of dust everywhere. The only bookshelf was a small one containing books in Old Ponyish in a back corner. Twilight had stared at them but moved on without any prompting from Sunset.

The second chamber—after an annoyingly tight corridor—was in far better condition. At first, Sunset wasn’t really sure what she was seeing. As the pieces came together in her mind, she saw it was as if somepony had built an entire bookstore out of colored glass. Everything, from the floor to the shelves to the walls, was different kinds of glass. Every surface was a single continuous sheet. Even the books themselves had been made out of glass. Both of them had been unable to resist the temptation to sneak a peek at a few books, but they proved impossible to read, having only undecipherable geometric patterns inside.

In the third chamber, Sunset finally put a hoof on what she’d been feeling since they’d entered this… leyspace, if that’s what it really was. The chamber was a constantly shifting array of bookshelves, all linked up like some sort of vertical carousel on an invisible clockwork device. One wall of bookshelves would slot into place for about two minutes before there was a soft chime and the entire bookshelf would raise into the air, only to be replaced by a different one a moment later. Still, Sunset didn’t say anything until they were in the next passage.

“Do you hear it?” Sunset asked quietly.

“Hear what?” Twilight asked listlessly. “I just hear our hoofsteps and whatever’s in the rooms.”

“Voices,” Sunset murmured, her ears pricking as she caught a few mumbled words again.

Twilight shrugged. “You’re likely hearing the echoes of bookstores, libraries or large private collections connecting to the different fragments of leyspace.”

They stepped into another chamber. This one seemed to be a massive tower that stretched into infinity above them. A large spiral staircase ran all the way up, a bookshelf lined up perfectly with the stairs. Some sort of glowing orbs wandered around above them, providing light in random places. The ground floor had a large assortment of plush-looking couches and chairs. It actually looked rather cozy, even if it gave Sunset a vague sense of vertigo when she looked up

“Twilight, I said I’m sorry for snapping at you,” Sunset said with a frustrated sigh.

“Oh, that’s… that’s fine, Sunset.” Twilight mumbled as she plodded along, barely looking at her surroundings as she walked through the chamber. “You were right. Need to stay focused on Canterlot and getting home. But… I need to know something. Maybe this isn’t the best place, but… when does this end?”

“When does what end?” Sunset glanced at three more exits and then back to Twilight. “What are you talking about?”

“This search for that dumb book I suggested.”

Sunset froze and gaped at Twilight. But Twilight looked completely serious, if somewhat downcast. But still, that… what she just heard. It wasn’t possible. Twilight had never called a book ‘dumb’ in the entire time she’d known her. While that might not have been as long as she liked, she did know her well enough to know… that kind of question wasn’t Twilight.

“Twilight?” Ice seemed to spread over her heart as she stared at her friend. “What do you mean?”

Twilight finally stopped and turned to face her. Sunset swallowed as she finally really saw Twilight’s state. She hadn’t been paying attention before, partly out of rush and partly out of annoyance. That had been a horrible mistake for a friend to make.

Her face and chest sported a few cuts and bruises, though nothing serious. Her khaki expeditionary jacket had been torn in at least six places, though her saddlebags were intact. Her mane was a wreck—how had she not noticed that—and her coat was smudged with dirt and sand. There were even a few chips in the frames of her glasses.

Sunset took it all in. Then she all but forgot it when she saw the look in Twilight’s eye. If there had been stars in Twilight’s eyes earlier, they were little more than dying embers now.

“I mean…” Twilight gave a humorless laugh. “This… this has gotten a little insane, right? I mean, I didn’t really register it until now because we’ve been in wild exotic locations, meeting legendary authors who seem to know more about leyspace than every book in the Canterlot Cosmo, and insane maybe-ponies who can turn into dragons on a whim.”

“Twilight, you’re starting to scare me…” Sunset said slowly, but Twilight didn’t seem to notice.

“I mean, I didn’t know the Linking Chamber would actually teleport us to Jeddahoof. I didn’t think it would! But… I still got us stuck here. I got us stranded in Saddle Arabia and now we’re going through leyspace—which, according to everything I had ever read, wasn’t even a theory until today—to undo my mistake.” She shook her head wildly, her voice slowly gaining an edge. “No. This needs to stop. Assuming we make it out of here into anywhere close to Equestria… to be blunt, you need to get Celestia a different gift.”

She nodded to herself and met Sunset’s eyes.

“Wait, what?” Sunset blinked at the sudden reversal. “Why are you making demands of me? You’re the one who suggested the book in the first place!”

“You looked miserable and furious at the same time!” Twilight snapped back. “What was I supposed to do? I’m fairly sure a friend is supposed to try and help at a time like that.”

“Yeah, and… you did!”

“Then why do you keep forgetting to bring up the book until the last minute, Sunset?”

Sunset froze, then looked pointedly. “I’ve been a little preoccupied.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed. But not just about our circumstances. No, I think it’s more than that.” Twilight took a few steps forward, stopping inches from Sunset’s muzzle. “Did you talk to Basil about me?”

Sunset felt like she was going to get whiplash from the way Twilight kept switching topics on her.

“Well, did you?” she demanded, her ears up and eyes a little too intense.

“Which way, Twilight?” Sunset snapped, nodding toward the torch.

“Answer the question.”

“Not unless we’re walking.”

Twilight tried to glare Sunset down. But Sunset had been personally trained by the Princess of the Sun for years. Even Twilight couldn’t break through that wall of willpower. At least, not with a glare.

Oh, but there’s plenty of other things she could do, isn’t there? Should I show you a few?

Sunset gritted her teeth as thoughts and little fantasies she always buried as deep as they could go slammed into her brain. All involving Twilight. All involving her. All involving them.

You bitch, Sunset snarled at the monster in her head.

Cliche as it may be, takes one to know one, Sunny dearest. It laughed and retreated.

“Fine!” Twilight closed her eyes and pointed toward the left passage. “That way. Now talk!”

Sunset didn’t say a word as she left the library tower chamber behind and passed into a long winding passage of glowing amethyst crystal. Even this had small bookshelves lining the walls, though Sunset couldn’t care less at the moment.

“Sunset!” Twilight snapped, her voice echoing through the corridor. “Did Basil and you talk about me?”

“You don’t want an answer to that question, Twilight,” Sunset growled as she strode forward. “Push too hard and you’ll hear things you don’t want to hear. Things that aren’t good for you to hear.”

“What, I’m not strong enough to take it?” Twilight hissed as she trotted beside her, torch leading the way as they turned a corner.

“I don’t actually know if you are.” Sunset’s ears flattened against her head. She could feel her tail twitching like an angry cat’s. “You didn’t need to come. You didn’t need to go through any of this. You could have said no in the Wayfinder. You could have said no in Winds' shop. Pathseeker told us there were other ways! Airships! Boats! The Embassy!”

“And why didn’t you take them? Why should I take them if you don’t?”

The two mares stormed through another chamber, this one feeling like a classic old bookstore with piles of books everywhere, crammed and bowing shelves and a slightly musty smell. There was only one way through, so they both continued without more than a second glance.

“Because gifts are important to me!” Sunset bellowed, shattering the silence of the little slice of a bookstore as deeper memories crashed into her mind. “When I was growing up, all I ever got were stupid generic gifts from both of my parents. Stuff for any filly or mare. A hairbrush. A bow. A dress. They were all really expensive—like my parents would buy anything less—but it was never about me! About what I care about! So, when I got out of that house, I made a point to always give gifts that matter to the ponies who are important to me. Gifts that show them that I know them! I care about them! I want them in my life! And that’s what I need to give Celestia!”

They passed into another passage, this one little more than a mineshaft, complete with wooden support beams and a small track running through the center. This time, there weren’t any books in sight.

“So that’s it?” Twilight demanded. “You’re willing to risk our lives because you want to make sure Celestia gets something special?”

Sunset froze and swallowed hard, the words hitting her like a Manehattan carriage. Had she actually been too pushy? Had she… had she forced Twilight to come? Not physically, but… through… other means? Just by being Sunset Shimmer?

Of course you did. That’s the sort of power you have over ponies. You should be grat—

No. No, that’s not what happened. No.

“You agreed to this, Twilight,” Sunset said softly, staring straight ahead. “You could have said no. You didn’t. I should throw that question back at you. Is this more dangerous than I intended? Yes. But I want to get home. And I had hoped that stupid thing you’re levitating would do it. I was wrong.”

“You’re not answering the question I’m ask—”

“If you know a way to go back, please, go back. Retrace our steps to the place we started from. If you change your focus, I’m sure that thing will guide you right back to Jeddahoof. Contact the Equestrian Embassy and they’ll get you home. As for me? I’m going forward, even if I have to wander without that thing.”

Sunset started walking forward again, her chest tight, her head aching and her body moving like a bad marionette.

Twilight was at her side less than ten seconds later. “You never answered my question about Basil.”

Dammit. She’s like a baby dragon with a gemstone! You can’t get her to let go! The tightness in her chest intensified. It nearly threatened to overtake her and drag her down into a panic attack, but she visualized the chaos inside of her and pushed it down. It wasn’t her best technique, but it would work in the short-term. She hoped.

“Don’t ask, please,” Sunset whispered.

Twilight ignored the plea, never breaking stride with her. “And let’s not forget those long looks you keep having with everypony. Pathseeker. Yearling, even Desert Winds. I think the reason you never had one with Lost Page is because she never had a chance to look you in the eye!”

“Twilight, don’t do this,” Sunset begged, wishing she could curl into a ball and just hide. Her angry little pony laughed hysterically while throwing both memory and fantasy. One after another, on and on...

They passed into another chamber. Sunset was vaguely aware of a cave around them. She ignored it as they turned right.

“What’s going on, Sunset?” Twilight screamed, shoving Sunset in the side in a surprising show of force. “I’m supposed to be your friend!”

The shove did little to her physically, since Sunset was taller and better built than Twilight due to their particular occupations. Mentally, however, that single shove shattered the wall she had tried so desperately to shore up.

“Yeah, you are!” Sunset bellowed through the next crystal-lined passage. She didn’t look at her. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. “I think it would be better if you actually did go back, Twilight. If we can find a way back. I’ll go on alone. I’ll even walk you back! You don’t want to be around me. I’m just going to get burned probably doing something stupid and you’ll get burned, too. Is that what you want to hear? Is that good enough for you?”

“Agh!” Twilight let out an inarticulate growl. “Don’t you get it? I’m not leaving! I’m not leaving you! I’ve been right here, at your side, for the entire time. I told you, I started this! If I can’t get you to stop, I’ll at least help you finish!”

“A few minutes ago you wanted to know where this ended!”

“Yeah, then I saw what this is doing to you. I changed my mind.” Twilight huffed, waving the torch back and forth between crystal protrusions. “And I realized you’re really… really… a wreck right now. You need someone watching over you!”

Sunset almost laughed at the absurdity of the statement, considering Twilight’s current state. She would have… if Twilight hadn’t been almost certainly right. That made it so much worse.

“Why are you being so stupidly noble about this?” Sunset demanded, her panic leaking through the last remains of the shattered dam. “Take a hint, Sparkle! You’re better off without me!”

“Not going to happen!”

The rest of the dam inside Sunset cracked. Some distant part of her mind analyzed the stress of the situation, the threat of having to reveal something to Twilight, the madness of the night or any one of a dozen other things. It didn’t matter, because when the panic took hold, Sunset did the only thing she could think of.

She ran.

She bolted down the passage, dodging crystal pillars with ease. Her light spell—the miniature sun—still bobbed over her head, illuminating her path. Her hoofsteps pounded on the crystal as she desperately tried to put Twilight behind her. She had the torch. She’d be fine. She’d be perfectly fine. Better than with her.

Twilight called out her name, but Sunset clamped her ears shut to her friend’s cry. She was just another friend she didn’t deserve and would never deserve. Twilight was too good of a mare to get dragged down with the likes of Sunset. She’d hoped she could keep their friendship safe from her evil little demon, but that wasn’t going to happen. If something romantic would destroy Twilight… then friendship wouldn’t be any better.

She should have known better than to let herself get involved in any way with Twilight Sparkle.

She burst out into another chamber built of floating discs and pillars of books, the walls appearing as projections of star patterns. She spared it all only one glance before she galloped toward the next doorway.

Then something slammed into her from behind, knocking her from her hooves and sending her skidding across the floor into a wall.

Twilight fared a little better as she tripped and stumbled, barely avoiding a faceplant as she screeched to a stop before Sunset.

“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight spat, gasping for breath from her sprint. “You aren’t leaving me.”

“It’s better...” Sunset began, her chest heaving with the effort of breathing. The panic had faded, at least for the moment, leaving everything else laying there, raw and naked inside of her. “It’s better this—”

“You aren’t leaving me!” Twilight screamed, slamming both forehooves into the soft floor as her eyes began to glisten. “Not again!”

She’s not allowed to be the weepy one now! Not after pushing so hard!

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Sunset shot back. “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re not leaving me like you did the day you set me up with Moon Dancer!” Twilight shouted.

The words echoed far longer than they should have.

Sunset met Twilight’s eyes. To her shock, there was real pain in those violet eyes. To her horror, the only thing Sunset felt on seeing that pain was rage.

She climbed to her hooves and shoved herself in Twilight’s face, the dam holding back all the frustration and anger shattering in an instant.

“I helped you that day,” Sunset snarled, the tiny sun above her flickering in the chaos of her emotions. “You know it, I know it. And I also know you’re happy with Moon Dancer.”

“I am!” Twilight snapped back. Unfamiliar books on the discs around them twitched and spasmed, as if an unseen wind flowed down through the room. “Dating Moon Dancer is the most fun I’ve had in years!”

“So, then why are you even bringing this up?” The light from Sunset’s little sun shifted to violet, then teal and then back to golden sunlight. “It makes no sense! If I abandoned’ you and you’re so very happy, why are you acting like you regret what happened?”

“Because I know what you talked about with Basil, Sunset!” Twilight screamed.

Oh Harmony, no. Anything but that. Not that. She can’t know. She can’t know!

“I’m not stupid! I’m… I’m not! I know I’m oblivious a lot and that I miss things… social stuff. But, I’m not blind. All those looks… I saw the expressions. They were ones of sympathy. And they always happened after looking at me!” Twilight stomped her hooves onto the carpet of glittering stars and glowing nebulae. “Why? What are those eyes telling you? Because I don’t know! I can guess but I can’t be sure and I need to be sure!”

“They warned me that this very thing might happen!” Sunset’s defenses were ground to dust, anything left held together only by wishful thinking and wind. “About emotions overwhelming me! About me saying stupid things! About me maybe wishing things had been different or that I had been good enough for you!”

“Good… what do you mean ‘good enough for you’?” Twilight looked utterly lost. She rubbed her eyes. Sunset ignored the fact that Twilight’s hoof came away damp. “What…”

Sunset’s shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Don’t play games with me, Twilight. We both know that there’s still something between us. I’m sure you feel it. Maybe it’s a leftover effect of that spell back at the RCA… but after this long? I don’t think so. Not anymore. You know what I’m talking about.”

Twilight didn’t meet her gaze, which was answer enough for Sunset.

“The worst thing is, I didn’t get any advice.” Sunset sniffed slightly. “Most of the time, the only thing I got was pity.”

Once upon a time, that pity would have enraged her. Made her lash out. If somepony had been so condescending to offer her pity, it would have made her do stupid things.

I’m still doing stupid things, Sunset thought ruefully. Nothing’s really changed, except for the kind of stupid.

Sunset shifted upright and leaned her head against the strange velvet-black constellation wall. It took a moment for her to catch her breath, look up and finally meet Twilight’s eyes… but found herself unable to speak. She couldn’t. Not… not after admitting the truth.

Or as close to the truth as she could get.

Coward.

“I…” Twilight looked utterly lost. Lost in every way, from knowing what to say to knowing her own mind.

It lasted for at least a minute—or maybe an hour—before Twilight finally dropped to her haunches and let out a choked sob.

“What am I supposed to do here, Sunset? We both made our decisions! We both knew…”

“I know.” Sunset stared at the slowly-churning starscape in the carpet. “I’m… I’m just… I don’t know how to handle this either, Twilight. I have memories that aren’t mine in my head. You say things about stuff that’s happened to you—stuff that I was never there for and have never heard before—and I know about it! It’s like… you’re actually living in my head. Or… the past you was. It comes and goes, but… it’s there. You’re there.”

“You’re not the only one, Sunset,” Twilight whispered, her voice barely carrying through the books, discs and stars. “I get the same thing. I… I remember all your friends. All our friends. When… when I talk to them… when I hear the stories…”

Sunset watched as Twilight pulled off her glasses and floated them in the air beside the still-burning torch. The glasses were streaked with tears.

“I remember how you met Coco and Rara… I remember how you felt when you all saved Trixie. I remember the taste of the tea you had with Cheerilee. I remember the smell of the doughnuts you ate when you played O&O with… with… Minuette, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine. And…” Twilight choked. Her tears splashed against a large crimson nebula. “I… I remember what Moon Dancer did for you. She saved you Sunset. And you know how badly you needed to be saved. I… I remember your fights from both sides, Sunset! Mine and yours! The whole week, except the last day! I remember me… me being so terrified of you and… and I remember Moon Dancer…”

Great wracking sobs overcame Twilight and her words just faded away.

Sunset didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t against hugging. She’d hugged Twilight back in the market. But… after so many close calls tonight alone, could Sunset trust herself not to do something stupid?

Could she trust Twilight not to do something stupid?

“Do you know what’s it’s like?” Twilight whispered as she stared as a solar system slid beneath her hooves. “To… to see the filly you once had a thing for… save the mare who scared you half to death? Why… why… why do you think I’m so drawn to her, Sunset? Why’d you think it finally happened now of all times?”

“I… I don’t know…” Sunset said, but she doubted Twilight could hear her. “I really don’t—”

“Because I got her back as a friend through you, dammit!” Twilight spat.

Despite everything, Sunset blinked. She didn’t think she’d ever heard Twilight swear before. But that was nothing compared to the fury in her eyes as Twilight looked up. Fury at herself, fury at the world, fury at everything. And probably more than enough for Sunset herself.

“I got to see her grow into the pony she became. A beautiful, confident, snarky, sassy pony who loves what she does, is loyal to her friends no matter the cost and… celebrates the friendships and relationships I could have had if I hadn’t been such a… such a bucking coward!”

“Twilight… I…”

Twilight got to her hooves and started pacing back and forth, her eyes focused on something only she could see. Her body shook with rage, fury, anguish and probably a dozen other emotions boiling within her.

That was when Sunset realized that Twilight might have bottled up her emotions even more than Sunset herself had.

“I never asked for any of this!” Twilight wailed. Books shivered as her horn flared with power. Both the torch and her glasses burned with brilliant raspberry light for a moment, though Twilight seemed not to notice. “I was perfectly happy in my life without you coming in and ruining everything! But… you had to! You just had to!”

“Okay, wait a second!” Sunset protested, getting back to her hooves as her hackles rose to meet Twilight’s rage. “I never asked for this, either! It’s not like Celestia sent me to meet with you! I refuse to—”

“Are you sure?” Twilight interrupted, her voice running right over Sunset’s. “Who knows? She’s Princess Celestia, Sunset! She’s lived over a thousand years! I even remember you telling her that she was ‘the living embodiment of wisdom from previous generations.’” Twilight’s voice cracked. “And I wasn’t even there for that conversation!”

“Twilight, you need to—”

“I could easily see that this was all part of some grand scheme on the Princess’s part to help you… with whatever she’s actually teaching you! She wants something from you, Sunset!”

“I’m not stupid!” Sunset shot back. “I know she—”

“And I’m probably just a piece of that puzzle. Maybe I’m meant to just be a poor reflection of you! Scare you into what could have been! Maybe that’s why I got that dragon’s egg, because she wanted to make sure I always felt second-best!”

“Twilight, the Princess Celestia I know, the one you know would never do that!”

Twilight whirled and stared at Sunset with wild eyes, mad enough to make Sunset take a few steps back. Without her realizing it, one of the discs had moved to rest on the floor nearby. A hoofstep caused a single book to fall out and land right between Sunset’s forehooves. She glanced down. The title was The Fall of Canterlot: The Beginning of the Final War. She frowned at the book, glanced at the disc and refocused on Twilight.

“Actually, I don’t know that!” Twilight snapped, throwing her hooves into the air. “I don’t know that at all! And neither do you! She could be playing us all like puppets and we would never know it! That’s it! I’m just part of some grand test. The latest in a long series of challenges of the great and majestic Sunset Shimmer! I’m just another piece on the board.” A manic gleam burned in her eyes and it sent a shiver down Sunset’s spine. “You saw how she acted when we first met! How she kept looking at me! I keep thinking about those moments over and over! She knows something about me, Sunset! Something she’s not telling us! That Spire project? It’s… it’s harmonic antenna! I’ve seen the design before… though I can’t remember where and I’ve wracked my brain ever since we first prototyped that stupid thing! And yes, in case you’re wondering, I know the reason it’s not working now is because I’m dating Moon Dancer! I’m surprised Celestia didn’t try to intervene there, too!”

“But… that…” Trying to get in a word edgewise felt like trying to swim up a waterfall.

“I never should have agreed to any of this… the only reason I… I… the only reason I’m with Moon Dancer… did you know… did you know that sometimes, we talk as if I’m you?” Twilight laughed. It was an ugly sound, bitterness and something close to madness in equal measure. “I’m just another version of you, Sunset! I’m nothing more than a copy, a fraud. She’s never really been interested in you—though she’s thought about it—wanna know the real reason she wasn’t? The real reason she didn’t ever decide to try to see if the two of you could be more than friends? Because you reminded her of me! She couldn’t handle it! I’m second-best again!”

Twilight suddenly stopped and whirled to buck one of the pillars of books on another settled bookcase disc. Books scattered throughout the strange star-lined chamber. A moment later, the discs all whirred as they fled up beyond their reach. Twilight didn’t even spare them a second glance as books rained from the sky.

Sunset caught a few titles, her mind capturing covers like a camera’s flashbulb as she watched her friend completely self-destruct.

The Canterlot Hive. Discord’s Vengeance. The Thousand Year Reign of the Centaur God-King. The Heroes of Harmony. A Basket in the Golden Oaks Library: An Autobiography by Spike. Profit and Loss. Radiant Hope’s Last Stand.

Her own anger and frustration with Twilight melted into some tank deep in her mind as she finally realized that Twilight had been as much a wreck as she had.

She’d just hidden it better.

Then she registered the dozen or so books floating in Twilight’s raspberry magic. With a scream, she flung out a hoof and they exploded from her like missiles. Sunset narrowly missed taking one in the chest. With a loud pop, Twilight’s glasses and the torch fell to the ground. Everything seemed to go still for a bit after that loud thunk of the torch hitting the carpet. Some whirring came from above. The rustle of pages echoed through the silent chamber. The drip of water came from somewhere far away.

Sunset’s eyes fell on the torch as both the yellow and pink flames began to dim. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Finally, Twilight collapsed into a heap on the floor.

“I don’t…” she sobbed quietly. “I can’t do it anymore, Sunset. Everything in the whole world revolves around you. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have any friends. If it wasn’t for you, Moon Dancer would have never spoken to me again. If it wasn’t for you, I’d never have met Princess Celestia. Everything is about you… I’m just… some… some… second-rate copy. A pathetic excuse for a unicorn… the charity case…”

Twilight mumbled some more, but Sunset couldn’t make out her words. Instead, Sunset plopped down and stared at the crying mare, too stunned to do anything but reel at Twilight’s words.

How long has she repressed all of this? Sunset wondered. How long had she fought to keep this down? How long has she been keeping these secrets? Moon Dancer didn’t ever ask me because I reminded her too much of Twilight? She’s actually been reliving the memories of my friends and me? How… what did that spell do to her?

Sunset hadn’t had anything as severe as this… so why was it hitting Twilight so hard?

Twilight sniffled four times before it came to Sunset in a flash.

Because… she’s been alone, Sunset realized. Her eyes went wide. This is Harmony magic. It’s all about connections. And Twilight’s being overwhelmed by the connections! That’s why the spell has far stronger aftereffects on her! I grew up with these connections naturally, but Twilight… they were all practically forc—

A horrific screech froze her thoughts in ice.

Then came the whispers, floating through the air like the buzz of enormous mosquitos. They were not the whispers she had heard before. Each whisper seemed to suck some of the light from her heart—and from her light spell.

The room began to dim. Even the bookshelf-discs seemed to huddle together in fear above their heads.

Twilight whimpered, then she stirred from her stupor, looking around, her eyes wide in terror. “What… what was that?”

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, only for another echoing screech to sweep through the seemingly-endless alien hallways.

This screech came from a different direction.

“Oh Harmony…” Sunset whispered. “Whatever it is… there’s more than one…”

Distant galloping hooves echoed from every entrance, steadily growing stronger with each passing second. Sunset’s heart beat in time as he eyes darted to the four entrances to the space-library.

“Celestia…” Twilight sobbed, curling into a ball. “The monsters found us… We’re… we’re going to die here…”

Sunset gaped as Twilight’s colors seemed to bleed away, creating strange patterns of black, gray and white against her coat.

Okay, what in Tartarus is this insanity? Nope! Nope! Nope!

It was enough to finally snap Sunset out of her shock. “Like Tartarus we’re dying here!”

Twilight looked up at her, her eyes bloodshot and wet with tears. “What… what are you going to do?”

Sunset grabbed Twilight’s glasses and shoved them onto her face. A second later, she threw the torch at the prone librarian.

Midair, both the top and bottom flames reignited, brighter than ever.

Twilight caught it in a field of levitation and stared at it. Instantly, her coat regained its normal lavender hue.

“What are we going to do,” Sunset corrected as she got up, marched over and hauled Twilight to her hooves. “You aren’t going to give up me that easily, Twilight.”

“Sunset…” Twilight bit her quivering lip. “I… I’m no combat mage. And… you don’t need me. I’ll just slow you down.”

“Shut it, Twilight.” Sunset glared at her. “I need you just as much as I need any of my best friends. Just as much as Minuette or Moon Dancer or any of the others. I don’t care what some magic spell put in our heads. I don’t care what that’s making us do or feel or think.”

“But… don’t you realize… we’re lost! How are we supposed to get out of here?”

Another screech ripped through the aisle, closer now. It sounded different… like it was coming from another throat.

“I know we’re lost. We’re not going to stay that way.” Sunset glanced at the starry walls and floor, trying to keep an eye on all four entrances at once. “Try and stay behind me.”

“Sunset… about what… what just happened. What I said…”

Another scream, tinged with glee and madness.

Sunset put her hoof to Twilight’s muzzle, silencing her. “You aren’t second-best. Or a copy. Or any of it. Twilight, I’m pretty damn sure Moon Dancer loves you. She has for years. Yes, you might know Moon Dancer better now because you got stuck with some of my memories, but that’s the pony she was always meant to be.” Sunset smiled even as another screech made her blood turn cold. Even through that, she felt fire in her chest. “And that pony cared about you long before I ever came around.”

Twilight sniffled again and nodded slightly, gratitude shining in her eyes.

“We don’t have time to talk about all the other stuff,” Sunset said. She also didn’t want to talk about it. But she’d do it. Later. “But I do promise you one thing.”

Sunset lowered her hoof and backed away from one of the doors as she caught a flicker of movement.

“What’s that?”

“I’m getting you out of here,” Sunset growled. A teal shield flashed into existence around them. “Because if I don’t, Moon Dancer will kill me.”

Twilight laughed, though it was really more of a choking snort.

Sunset grinned back at her, raised her head and overcharged her light spell.

A blast of light erupted around them, like a brand new star being born in this strange interstellar library. Even under such intense light, the starscapes remained perfectly intact. Save for the section around the entrance they were both facing.

That part continued to darken.

Sunset slowly slid to the side, constantly checking behind her and to the other doorways. The passage in front of them was a large hexagonal tube, books lining every surface save for the floor. Sunset couldn’t tell how the ones in the ceiling stayed up. And she didn’t much care at the moment. Orbs of greenish light dotted the corridor every two yards or so. Some distance down the passage, it took a sharp turn to the right.

Something was slowly sucking the light from the corner.

A.K. Yearling’s parting words came back to Sunset in that moment.

For your own sake, stay out of the shadows!

“Oh, Harmony,” Sunset whispered, trying to keep her knees from shaking.

Twilight trembled beside her.

Something slipped out from behind the corner and another set of green lights were consumed. It just stood there—if it was actually standing—and watched them, as if curious. Two grayish eyes peered out from the whirling shadows. Even from this distance, she could feel the thing start to drain the illumination from Sunset’s small sun. Its billowing body swirled and shifted, wrapping around the book beside it and leaving only dead-looking black tomes in its wake. Sunset tried to make out more of the creature, but it was impossible. She wasn’t even sure if there was any more to the creature. She wasn’t sure if it was casting the shadow or if it was the shadow.

It looked like it had escaped from Tartarus itself.

For all Sunset knew, maybe it had.

The mere sight of it almost locked Sunset’s bones in ice. Almost.

“Sunset?” Twilight whimpered.

The thing’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Yeah?”

The shadows shifted forward.

“Should we run?”

Another set of orbs were consumed.

“Yeah.”

They both turned tail and bolted.

Another deafening screech sounded behind them as they fled the monster. An answering screech sounded, then another, then another. Dozens. Hundreds. Coming from every direction. The sounds echoed strangely off the bookshelves and passageways. As they ran, the floor beneath their hooves shifted from carpet to wood to stone to dirt. The bookshelves continued to change with every skidding turn, becoming marble, metal, living bark and black carapace. The books changed, too, becoming massive grimoires filled with ancient magics, small paperback romances, thick historical texts and thin volumes of literary criticism.

Sunset didn’t have a clue why most of the sections they passed had signs in Equestrian. She didn’t care much, either.

Neither of them paid any real attention to the chambers any longer. They had more pressing matters.

They were in the middle of a section about treehouses—while apparently inside a library inside an actual tree—when the first of the shadow things struck.

Sunset had only the briefest hint of movement to warn her. It was enough to get her shield up in time, but it wasn’t enough for her to actually do anything but get slammed into the bookshelf. Twilight shrieked as she fell backward. Sunset crashed to the floor, books raining down on top of her and her assailant.

“By Celestia!” Twilight screamed. “Sunset, watch out!”

Sunset looked up and time seemed to stop. The thing hissing at her looked like some sort of corrupted half-quarry eel. It had a massive maw of crooked fangs with two enormous mandibles lined with even more fangs. It’s lower body looked like nothing more than a hideous snake, but it had strange featherless wings on both sides, each tipped with glistening claws.

And the entire thing seemed to be made of gnarled, twisting shadows.

It roared and snapped down at her. Sunset grunted as her shield took the brunt of the attack. Even though the magic, it felt like being hit in the skull with a hammer. Sunset groaned and flung a book at the monster with her hooves. The book soared through her shield and bopped it right on the snout.

The great glowing red eyes crossed for a moment before it let out a bellow that nearly deafened her. The clawed wing-things crashed down in rapid slashing strokes as it tried to rip through her shield. And Sunset knew that under this much strain, it wouldn’t be long before it did just that. She was already overcharging her shield as it was. Worse, she couldn’t cast anything while keeping the shield up! If she used anything less than her full concentration, her shield would shatter under the next blow.

“Hey! Over here, you overgrown garden hose!”

A massive encyclopedia bounced off the thing’s head. It hissed and turned to face its new assailant.

Overgrown garden hose? Did Twilight really just…

Sunset’s head turned slowly to stare at Twilight. She looked terrified and furious in equal measure. The thing roared surged forward to attack the librarian with inequine speed. Sunset’s heart stopped as the thing tried to chomp down on Twilight in a single bite, only to hiss when it rebounded off a raspberry shield of light.

Twilight panted heavily inside the bubble, yet still managed to give Sunset a manic grin. “I guess those lessons my brother taught me weren’t a waste after—ah!”

The shadow thing struck again and again, roaring in frustration as it tried to tear into Twilight’s shield as it had done to Sunset’s. But Sunset knew Twilight was no battlemage. Twilight might have the magical power to keep a shield strong, but she didn’t have the training to hold out for long.

“I’m really sick of this night,” Sunset muttered. Then she dropped her shield and climbed to her hooves. “Sorry about this, Twilight!”

Twilight’s eyes locked with hers. Then, she went white.

As if sensing the sudden buildup of magic, the creature turned to look at Sunset.

It got a face full of sunfire.

It screamed and howled and bellowed as half of the shadow-thing’s face dissolved as if the sun itself had punched it. Sunset unleashed another bolt of pure sunfire through the thing’s chest. It let out a final screech before exploding into dust. When the dust cleared, a few books behind the spot where the creature had been were on fire.

“Couldn’t you have done that without damaging the books?” Twilight asked weakly.

“I said I was sorry!”

“Well, that’s no—gah!”

Sunset yanked Twilight into motion again as something new surged out of another intersection. It tried to pounce on Twilight but overshot, a massive hulking bull-like thing with too many legs and too many fangs. By the time it let out another screech, Sunset and Twilight had already galloped through the next passage.

“Tell me we’re at least following that torch!” Sunset panted as they skidded around another corner filled with small crystalline instruments and songbooks. “And tell me that we’re close!”

They took another right and Twilight blanched. “Maybe to the first, how should I know about the second!”

Sunset could feel the creatures as the began to home in on their position. It was only a matter of time before they were cut off and surrounded. This wasn’t a place for ponies. This was a place for monsters, and they had every advantage.

“Can’t you do something else with that thing?” Sunset cried as they darted through a forest of tall mushrooms, each stalk lined with books. “Yearling told you to control it! It even worked on book magic… I think!”

“I don’t even really know how it works!” Twilight shouted over the howls of the monsters at their hooves.

Sunset didn’t look back. “Well, I’m open to ideas! I’ve only ever done combat training! I’ve never been in an actual fight!”

“You trained with Celestia, that has to count for something!”

“Yeah, and she kicked my tail from one end of the training field to the other every single time!”

Twilight seemed to shake the torch in her magic. The magic field shifted and changed, as if she were running her hooves along it, looking for some sort of button or trigger.

“I can’t sense anything!” Twilight screamed.

Something leapt out in the encroaching shadows as they entered a wider corridor of books, at least three yards across. Sunset speared it with sunfire and galloped on, not even bothering to look at what she had just destroyed.

“Funnel magic into it! This is leyspace. We’re surrounded by books! Maybe Narrative Causality will save us!”

“And how is a fictional theory about storybook plots going to help us?” Twilight demanded she tossed up a shield to deflect a rain of black arrows falling on them from above. “This isn’t a story!”

“Well, if this was a story, this would be a perfect time for that damn thing to summon a magic door or something!” Sunset shot back. Her legs and hooves were killing her. She hadn’t sprinted this far in ages. She would be paying for this in the morning—assuming either of them saw morning.

“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that! They said it was just a decorative torch!”

“Try anyway!”

“Fine!”

The pink and yellow flames at either end of the torch suddenly grew to ten times their normal size, sending out a blaze of light so dazzling Sunset almost ran into a tree. Some of the shadows screeched in what might have been fury at the sudden radiance. On a whim, Sunset funneled more magic into her light spell—still bouncing above her head as a miniature sun—and was rewarded with more screeches from the monsters around them. They splashed through a rocky pool of water and kept galloping.

Sunset took a look around as Twilight shook the torch in her magic, gritting her teeth and muttering under her breath. They were in some sort of cave system. Each of the bookshelves were carved out of the stone with love and care. They had to jump a fallen limestone stalagmite and rush through another icy river so cold it felt like runoff from some ancient glacier.

Shadows boiled out of a side passage and Sunset flung a wave of sunfire into the tunnel. The shadows screamed and twisted, but the sunfire gave the two unicorns enough time to pass without being pulled into the darkness.

The books in each of the bookshelves were strange circular things with odd runic lettering around the edges—and the bookshelves had been designed to hold each of them.

Strangest library ever. Sunset thought as they rushed into another limestone gallery. This one had displays made of stone, featuring books with signs in some rune-based language Sunset didn’t recognize. Something tried to take a swipe of them at above, but a split-second shield from Sunset deflected it.

Things swooped in from on high, leathery bat-like wings almost knocking them from their hooves. Dragons the size of Desert Winds’s drake form dropped from the ceiling and roared. Sunset unleashed a pair of sunfire bolts into their gaping maws, blowing their heads into dust.

Another short passage, but she could feel herself flagging. Twilight was losing speed, too. A screech from behind them forced them to gallop once more.

“What about the bag?” Twilight gasped, obviously not getting what she wanted out of the torch. “Didn’t… Desert Winds… say something… about a gift?”

“I—”

They took another turn and plunged into a massive dark crystalline library that looked far too big to be ‘lost’ in leyspace. Gargoyles leapt from the shadows. More of the snake-things rushed out from doorways. Sunset roared in terrified rage as she unleashed a shockwave of sunfire at the monsters, setting both book and monster aflame. Twilight let out a cry of protest at the fate of the books, but it was mostly drowned out by the screams of the shadow-things. She probably didn’t have enough breath to really berate Sunset properly right now, anyway.

“Nothing’s working!” Twilight cried, her voice hoarse and cracked. “Sunset, nothing’s happening! I don’t think this is anything more than a fancy light source! Can… can you teleport or something?”

“I’m not about to try teleporting in a space that doesn’t really exist!” Sunset answered as they surged forward along one of the sides of the enormous library. “Origin points matter for teleportation spells, Twilight!”

“Sorr—aah!”

Sunset skidded to a stop and spun just in time to see Twilight tumble into a black crystal bookcase so hard she actually heard the crack of bone. Twilight howled in pain, clutching her unnaturally twisted left hindleg, tears streaming down her face.

Sunset dove forward toward Twilight just as she spied the black arrows coming from the rafters high above.

A weak raspberry-colored shield flashed into existence long enough to stop the arrows, but it faded an instant later.

“Get… get out of here…” Twilight said through gritted teeth as she rocked back and forth. “You aren’t going to… to die here… because of me…”

“This isn’t how this ends, Twi,” Sunset growled as she hauled Twilight back against one of the walls to give her a better view of the oncoming enemy. “I told you, I’m not leaving without you. Moon Dancer would kill me.”

“Better… her… than these things…” Twilight grunted.

“That spell must not have given you a very good memory of just what Moon Dancer can do if you think they’re worse than her.”

Twilight snorted and winced in pain. “I can’t walk, Sunset.”

“I know,” Sunset replied.

“You can’t levitate me out and protect us both at the same time.”

“I know,” Sunset repeated.

Sunset took a moment to really gather in her surroundings. She could only see a hint of dark crystalline rafters, with pillars leading to arches. There were three entrances to this particular chamber, all of them with ornate doors that had long since rotted away into nothing, though the books remained intact. Each of the books were covered in runes Sunset didn’t know. And they were surrounded by books, for the bookcases stretched high above into the darkness. Books covered every surface, from the pillars to the walls.

But more importantly, Sunset could see the things through the doors. They had slowed their approach, as if sensing their prey could no longer run. Sunset’s eyes searched the darkness just beyond the portal opposite of them. Those two gray eyes were back and Sunset thought she saw the suggestion of a hideous smile in the swirling shadows.

“At last…” whispered something in Sunset’s mind. Twilight screamed and clutched her head, thrashing as if someone had run her through with a white-hot sword. Sunset felt the same stab, but she was used to sharing her head with a demon. “New champions… powerful ones…”

“Buck off,” Sunset snarled as shadows boiled out from the other entrances. More shadow crept down from the ceiling, as if somepony were dripping black paint down the books.

“Defiance. Passion. Good. Mighty spirits to feast upon…”

Twilight sobbed hysterically, seemingly oblivious to the world around her. A barrage of black missiles came from their right. Sunset’s shield deflected them into a bookshelf. The bookshelf promptly exploded and books rained down upon them, though none bore as much as a scorch mark.

This is my head! screamed Sunset’s angry little pony. She belongs to me!

“A second spirit? No, a second voice? A split heart, perhaps? A key, a path, a door… to unlock ours. Yes… most suitable. Most suitable…”

“Screw both of you!” Sunset shouted with a stomp of her hoof, staring down the massive horde slowly moving toward them. “This is my head and I plan on keeping it!”

Twilight screamed as if she were being burned from the inside out. Shadows swallowed more and more of the gallery of books. Sunset’s horn ignited as she reinforced her shield, pouring all of the strength into it. Then, in an act of desperation, she wove her light spell into the shield itself. Instantly, the shield became a blinding bubble of light, though Sunset could still see through it. The shadows hissed, but claws began to rake at it, talons tried to score it, spears tried to pierce it… all while two glowing gray eyes watched above a pitiless hint of a smirk in the distance.

“Don’t like the light, do you?” Sunset smirked. “Light’s never kind to shadow, is it?”

“Ah, your defiance, your seed… it shall be delicious. A wonderful replacement. A wonderful vessel.”

Sunset ignored the nattering voice and looked down at the thrashing Twilight. Sadly, this was not a time to be gentle.

“Twilight!” Sunset said, shaking her friend. “On your hooves! Now!”

“They’re in my head, Sunset! They’re in my head!” Twilight was completely hysterical. She started pounding her own skull as she could beat the voices out by sheer willpower. “Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it—”

Sunset backhoofed Twilight across the face. The sheer shock of the action seemed to shake Twilight from her terror and her eyes refocused on Sunset. She rubbed the side of her face and nodded in thanks.

“What… what happened? Did you get us out?”

Sunset shook her head grimly.

“Mmm. Yes, a bonded pair. Two keys, two locks, two paths… suitable. Not optimal. But suitable. Both have pain. Both have the seed.”

Sunset shoved the torch into Twilight’s hooves as she pulled out the lime-green bag and dug around inside of it. “Get up, Twilight.”

Despite her broken hindleg, Twilight rose to her hooves—clutching a nearby pillar for support—and took up the torch in her magic, flourishing it forward as if it were a spear just as Sunset finally found Desert Wind’s ‘free gift.’ Sunset patted Twilight on the shoulder. She didn’t need to explain why. Twilight understood why.

“You could have left,” Twilight pointed out, her voice still laced with pain.

“I know.”

“Sunset?”

“Yeah, Twi?”

“You’re an idiot.”

Sunset snorted with laughter. “You’ve been hanging around Moon Dancer too long.”

“Am I wrong?”

“Never said that.”

Sunset looked at Twilight.

Twilight looked at Sunset.

They smiled at each other, all anger or frustration gone for the moment. Within Twilight’s eyes, Sunset saw acceptance. What’s more—despite everything—Sunset saw gratitude.

The shadows crashed against the shield. Sunset grunted, pouring more energy into the spell. She didn’t dare use sunfire now. She couldn’t possibly use that while maintaining the shield at the same time. That meant it was Twilight’s turn. She was their last chance. She tossed the small box at her and Twilight caught it.

“I have no idea what it is,” Sunset replied as Twilight ripped it open. “But I think we’d better figure it out. This shield isn’t going to last forever!”

Sunset kept an eye on Twilight’s progress as she desperately fought to keep the shield up. Inside the small box was… an even smaller book. For some bizarre reason, the only thing Sunset could think of was it being a cat-sized book. And stranger still, the book was encased in a softly glowing blue orb.

“What is it?” Sunset whispered.

“It’s a… I think it’s a sort of… bound magical story, but… Sunset, this is going to…”

“Never mind what it is… can it help us—ugh!”

Something that looked vaguely like a unicorn smashed into her shield in a full gallop. Sunset screamed at the magical backlash and her shield shattered. She reeled against the bookcase, ripping up her saddlebags and jacket against a few edged.

Twilight snarled in defiance and her horn ignited in raspberry fire.

Books floated into the air and shot forward like arrows into the storm of shadows. To Sunset’s shock, the runes on the books were ablaze with soft blue light. Shadows shrieked in agony as the enchanted books ripped through the monsters. Sunset stumbled back to her hooves and unleashed a beam of pure sunfire, trying to hose down the entire lot of them. Shadows burned away, but new shadows replaced them only seconds later.

Then, Twilight used the brief respite to shove the story orb into the glowing pink flame of the torch. It stuck there, but didn’t burn. Then she nodded, as if she understood what she was doing now.

That was good because Sunset didn’t have a clue.

Another snake-thing rushed forward. Twilight let out a holler of defiance and used the torch like a club, swinging the torch like a club across the thing’s jaw.

The instant the sphere made contact with the snake-thing, both exploded.

An eruption of power and rainbow light threw Sunset and Twilight against the bookshelf as books fell like rain. Neither of them had the strength to shield themselves from the avalanche. But when Sunset scrambled back up, with Twilight seconds behind her, she froze at the sight before her.

A large book now floated in a brilliant nimbus of white light in the very center of the gallery. Its radiance seemed to beat back the monsters. They hissed and gibbered and snarled, though Sunset could not see anything distinct save for two gray eyes narrowed in annoyance.

“Well… I didn’t see that coming,” Sunset muttered. “Really is a bound story?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty,” Twilight whispered. “They’re… usually really pretty. They’re… usually children’s toys. Just… little plays of light and shadow...”

A stallion of pure light appeared in front of the book. He looked around, as if distracted, then knelt down to write on a glowing table that hadn’t been there before. Another pony joined him—a mare, Sunset thought—then things started to move quickly.

White light burned around the book. Sunset could only see a little bit of the tableau that played out before them. It took her almost a half a minute before she realized she was watching the story within the book itself.

She’d seen this sort of thing before, of course. Everypony had. It was nothing more than a spell crafted to animate the events of the story using magical figures. Sunset had done a few herself.

But never had she seen one crafted so beautifully in such pure, white light.

Finally, the story ended, lasting less than two minutes, with that same stallion sitting in a chair, reading a book. Then the figure faded.

The orb shot back into Twilight’s hooves. She stared at it, then looked to Sunset.

“We expected better,” hissed the voice. “Now—”

Sunset, snapped out of her reverie by the thing’s voice, did the first thing she could think of. She grabbed a book in her magic—though the little runes didn’t light up for her—and chucked it at the thing as hard as she could.

It passed through every shadow without the creatures doing more than fuzzing slightly.

“That… was pitiful,” it sneered.

The book did nothing… because it was my magic. But when Twilight threw them...

“Chuck more books at them,” Sunset snapped.

“What?” Twilight sputtered.

“Use your magic! Fire more of these weird books at them!” Sunset cried. “It hurts them when it’s you!”

Twilight stashed the orb and immediately began launching book after book. And just like before, the book’s runes ignited every time. Sunset fired a bolt of sunfire into the gray eyes, but shadows just rolled back in.

That’s when she got it. The orb hadn’t been meant to do anything… save to buy them seconds. Seconds for what, she didn’t know. But maybe, just maybe, they could make them matter.

“Every book, Twilight.” Sunset forced her magic to send out a blast of sunfire as a roiling sheet of flame. “All at once!”

Twilight nodded so quickly her glasses nearly fell off. A spine of shadow struck Sunset in the shoulder and she screamed. Another one glanced off a pillar and cracked across Twilight’s glasses. She snarled in rage and unleashed her unique book magic… and every book in sight lifted into the air.

“You can do this!” Sunset cheered, ripping out the spine and swearing when she saw the blood welling up from her shoulder. “Tear them up!”

And that’s what Twilight did. Her horn flaring like another sun, Twilight Sparkle stood before the darkness and wielded her greatest power against the monsters who wanted to claim their souls. The light of the books shifted from blue to yellow to a brilliant orange as she spun them around in a half-tornado.

To Sunset’s shock, more books ripped through the monsters from the other side. Twilight was summoning books from other passages and chambers!

“Let us through!” Sunset bellowed as she watched monster after monster be shredded by the magic-infused bookstorm. “Do it! Let us leave and we’ll stop!”

“You are ours. Now, forever. New champions we need, for ours failed. You will serve!”

“We are not for you to claim!” Sunset shot back. “Not here, not now! Death would be better!”

Twilight grunted in agreement.

“You will wish it, but never find such release, Little Sun. Your darkness is too great. Unlike that one’s strength. It fades even—”

A brilliant fountain of white light erupted from the floor, shocking everything into silence. Strange lights appeared on the ground, eventually forming into a square-like shape.

“Oh, come on!” Sunset groaned. “What now…”

“A delay,” the evil voice hissed in Sunset’s head. Sunset looked back up at their personal nightmare. “But we cannot be denied forever. We know you, Little Sun. We know your heart. We know your mind. We will see you again when the Moon falls from the Stars…”

The eyes shifted from a pale gray to a bloody red.

Sunset gritted her teeth.

Twilight whimpered, clutching at her head again as the books began to fall from her magic.

Sunset prepared her sunfire spell and took aim at the hint of a face in the shadows.

“Oh for the love of Sentence Structure, Librarian! I told you I don’t want… any more… bananas?”

Sunset blinked a few times at the source of the voice.

A head stuck out of the floor directly where the strange white light had come from. A pony stood there, just inside a door that hadn’t been there a second ago. However, since the pony seemed to be standing perpendicular to their current angle, he had to look down to see Sunset and Twilight.

“What in Nine Circles of Demented Metaphysics is…” the stallion glanced up, took in the sight of the horrific shadows and blanched. “By Starswirl’s Beard! Amber! Disassociation spell, now!” He turned to face back inside… wherever he was. “No, not that button! The right one! The other right! The one with the green label! Fine! Turquoise! I don’t care! It’s not my fault I’m colorblind as a pony, just hit it!”

The stallion peeked back out as the shadows snarled and screeched around them. He met Sunset’s eyes and grinned.

“So… you coming, or what?”

Sunset didn’t need to be asked twice. She grabbed Twilight in her magic and made a flying leap for the doorway. That seemed to snap the monsters out of their surprise. They rushed forward, screaming in defiance and death.

The second Sunset passed the threshold, gravity shifted and she found that down was a completely different direction than what it had been a moment before. She slammed to the floor with a groan, just managing to prevent Twi from sharing her fate with a gentle push that sent her skidding on the floor a few yards away.

She looked up just in time to see the stallion unleashing white fire at the doorway… now consumed by shadows, though at least Sunset couldn’t see those evil eyes anymore. He started speaking in some language Sunset couldn’t recognize. Runes around the door began to burn in a brilliant rainbow of light.

“Amber, I said Disassociation!” the stallion shouted. “Now would be a very good time!”

“You’re welcome to come over here and try it yourself!” said a mare’s voice from behind them. “Why is it that you only let me use the controls when we’re dealing with some horrific monster?”

“I believe in on-the-job training!”

“You’re a twit!”

“That the nicest thing you’ve said to me in days!”

“Would you please come over here so I can smack you?”

“Maybe in a minute! Gah!”

Something snaked into the room. The unicorn stallion’s hooves were smoking in the dark redwood of the floor as he tried to hold his position, but tendrils of pitch blackness were still slithering through his magic. They snapped forward, going for his legs, but Sunset rolled and speared them with a pinpoint blast of sunfire. The shadows screeched as a tendril turned to ash.

“Good show!” the stallion shouted. “Now if we could just… oooh, I hate these things!”

A dozen more tendrils snapped forward like whips, all aiming for Sunset, but she rolled out of the way. They gouged the floor as Sunset scrambled to her hooves. She stumbled and tried to take a breath. She’d never been forced to use this much sunfire before. She’d felt like a hollowed-out Nightmare Night pumpkin.

The tendrils snaked forward and Sunset lined up her shot. She probably had one more in her. With a final growl, she dove under the tendrils, slid under the stallion’s legs and unleashed a single wave of sunfire at the shadows in the door.

The spell exploded at the threshold. Every tendril inside dissolved into ash. For a second, the shadows reeled, showing a bit of the ceiling outside as they gathered themselves for another strike.

Sunset slumped to the floor and glanced up at the stallion. She could feel her horn smoking.

The stallion raised an eyebrow. “Crude, but effective.”

“Thanks?” Sunset replied.

The stallion turned and bucked the door closed with a resounding bang that sent books rattling off the shelves. Then he glared at the other side of the room. “Now would be a lovely time, Amber.”

“You’re the one who stopped for hitchhikers, you know,” the voice of the mare—Amber, apparently—replied.

“By Starswirl’s Beard, would you simply—”

The entire building around them shuddered as a pulse of white magic swept over them. It went by so fast, Sunset couldn’t even guess what it had been.

“So, hello there!” the stallion said with a cheerful smile as if they hadn’t just fought off a horde of shadow-monsters. “I’m Book Light! Welcome to Out of Circulation! Were you looking for anything specific today?”

“Would… you happen… to have a copy of… Teahouses of Saddle Arabia?” Sunset gasped, her exhaustion finally catching up with her.

The stallion—a brown unicorn with an oddly curved horn, a frizzy mane and a long navy coat—briefly considered her question before shaking his head.

“I’m afraid not!” he declared with an all-too-happy smile. “But I might have an associate who does in Canterlot. I can’t quite remember the name of the store, but I’m sure I could find it for you if you’d give me a few hours.”

“Worst. Night. Ever,” Sunset muttered.

Then her eyes rolled back into her head and the world went blissfully black.

Author's Note:

DAMN.

First of all, I had so much fun describing the various different libraries/bookstores/chambers. I worked off some various concept arts, plus just stuff I came up with on the spot. Probably why this chapter's so freaking long.

Not only is this chapter huge, but it's brutal. Writing Twilight's emotional breakdown and finally getting to see the events from A Study on Chaos Theory from her heart (instead of just from her mind) was so cathartic... and so intense.

Not only that, but for the first time, we get to see Sunset and Twilight in action. We get to see just what sunfire can do and that Twilight isn't a slouch in the magical combat department either. Not at Sunset's level, but she could easily hold her own (you know, as long as it happens in a library).

Even better, they managed to get through some monster cameos that seemed strangely familiar... (Though don't look too deep for a connection between the Diamondverse and Wavelengths. This was more me having fun.)

And if the appearance of the odd stallion seems familiar, I'll have you know that's not the Doctor/Doctor Whooves. Not at all. Book Light is definitely not him. (Really, it's not!)

Now, you should be asking yourselves two things: These visions they keep having... are they the future? Are only possible futures? Or... are they just wishful thinking after that first one?

And just what the hell did they just face off against?

---

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

Comments

[Unity Bringer]

That was terribly brutal and I loved it!

[Amber Spark]

9766937
Thank you! It was one hell of a ride to write!

[ScopingLandscape]

This one hit so hard. And I love it.
Twilight breaking down is unexpected, though. Maybe I'm just way too oblivious.

The shadow monsters make me think of the Vashta Nerada, only more sinister. (I don't remember what episode it is, but I know it's the 10th Doctor, meeting River Song for the first time, in a library.)
Also, Book Light is definitely not Dr. Whooves because he is never that cheery. Ever.

I'm thinking that the visions can be different futures. Things that could be. Or it can just be wishful thinking. I don't know, I can see it go either way on this.

[Nonchalant]

If you believe in the Wavelength Theorem of Multiverse Branching, of course.

!

Magnificent. As long as I'm locked into this one-chapter-one-comment thing, this maelstrom of action and drama is amazing. It felt like a blur, but enough detail was always given so that while never ruining that pacing I still got the detail of every setpiece you so loved writing.

So much is happening at this point that I'm just bracing myself for what happens when the kaizo train ride stops and our Instruments of Fate here get to catch their breaths. Not to mention what Moonie's gonna say when she finds out...

[Amber Spark]

9766983

This one hit so hard. And I love it.
Twilight breaking down is unexpected, though. Maybe I'm just way too oblivious.

Twi's been trying to keep it all inside for a while now... and with all the stress she's under during this insane journey? A leak turned into the dam breaking... then worse came out. She's got some more to say on this... and it'll shape it a little more.

The shadow monsters make me think of the Vashta Nerada, only more sinister. (I don't remember what episode it is, but I know it's the 10th Doctor, meeting River Song for the first time, in a library.)

Actually, one of my editors said much the same thing! I had to look them up, since I don't follow Doctor Who, but I will confirm it's definitely not them!

Also, Book Light is definitely not Dr. Whooves because he is never that cheery. Ever.

I'm thinking that the visions can be different futures. Things that could be. Or it can just be wishful thinking. I don't know, I can see it go either way on this.

Considering where we are, potential realities are definitely possible...

[Amber Spark]

9767021

!

I love this. But don't worry, I'm definitely not hinting at anything regarding the numbers 616, no matter what Mysterio says.

Magnificent. As long as I'm locked into this one-chapter-one-comment thing, this maelstrom of action and drama is amazing. It felt like a blur, but enough detail was always given so that while never ruining that pacing I still got the detail of every setpiece you so loved writing.

Thank you! This enormous chapter was a monumental thing, yet... it never felt as big as it really was. It's strange and wonderful at the same time!

So much is happening at this point that I'm just bracing myself for what happens when the kaizo train ride stops and our Instruments of Fate here get to catch their breaths. Not to mention what Moonie's gonna say when she finds out...

Moonie's going to be like "You are never doing that again without me. Seriously. You could have met the LIBRARIAN! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME OUT?!"

[Ri2]

You're right, that's not the Doctor. Everyone knows he's a brown Earth Pony with a gray pegasus for a sidekick.

Given what the shadows were rambling about regarding champions, I can't help seeing a connection to Stygian, Luna, or even Sombra.

I also think the girls might need to sit down and have a chat with Celestia about what she's really up to, but of course they won't since it needs to be drawn out for several stories until it's far too late.

[Amber Spark]

9767105

You're right, that's not the Doctor. Everyone knows he's a brown Earth Pony with a gray pegasus for a sidekick.

And wears scarves while actually having Roseluck as a sidekick.

Given what the shadows were rambling about regarding champions, I can't help seeing a connection to Stygian, Luna, or even Sombra.

Each of those may indeed have a connection to Grey Eyes & The Black Goth Gloom Band. I doubt we'll see them again though. They're actually pretty terrible. Seriously, the need to just replace their bassist. The guy's always oversleeping and showing up late.

I also think the girls might need to sit down and have a chat with Celestia about what she's really up to, but of course they won't since it needs to be drawn out for several stories until it's far too late.

...personally, I think it reached "Too Late" at the end of Chaos Theory. I mean, it can't get worse, can it?

[Crack-Fic Casey]

Since you do't follow Doctor Who this is probably a coincidence, but those two are dead ringers for David Tennant and Catherine Tate.

Also controversial opinion, but the the Vasta Narada are kind of generic Shadow monsters and they're nothing special.

[Ri2]

9767125

Each of those may indeed have a connection to Grey Eyes & The Black Goth Gloom Band. I doubt we'll see them again though. They're actually pretty terrible. Seriously, the need to just replace their bassist. The guy's always oversleeping and showing up late.

So they're definitely showing up in the series finale.

...personally, I think it reached "Too Late" at the end of Chaos Theory. I mean, it can't get worse, can it?

It's too late already? Well, crud. And now they'll put it off until it's even later.

[Amber Spark]

9767132

Since you do't follow Doctor Who this is probably a coincidence, but those two are dead ringers for David Tennant and Catherine Tate.

I watched the 9th Doctor and go into the 10th to the point where there was an Alternate Earth overrun by the Cybermen and decided to check out. Is Catherine Tate River or Rose?

Also controversial opinion, but the the Vasta Narada are kind of generic Shadow monsters and they're nothing special.

I really wouldn't know. I will say I know exactly what Grey Eyes & The Black Goth Gloom Band are, and they are anything but generic! But that's okay. I'm sure we'll never see them again! So it doesn't matter if they're generic or not! Right? Right!

[Crack-Fic Casey]

9767145
Catherine Tate is actually Donna Noble, she's the only person that isn't in love with the Doctor.and she's terrific.

[Amber Spark]

9767209
Yeah, she's one I don't know. You'll have to see Amber for yourself and see what you take away from her. I'm curious if you'll keep to those ideas after you get to know the two for a bit!

However, I can say, 100%, that she is harboring ZERO romantic feelings toward Book Light! (He's a little weird, you know).

[Crack-Fic Casey]

9767214

https:I

[Da Fennec]

if this keeps going IT would definitely been safer taking an airship home and maybe FASTER

[Da Fennec]

9767105 Ahh but this is the tenth or so incarnation of the Doctor if you accept he's been there all along that means hes changed forms and could've been a unicorn in previous incarnation

[Fistfire]

Hooo boy! Twi and Sunset have really gone and messed up! passed out on somebody else’s doorstep, and possibly in another timeline than their own. If Twilight ever gets her nerve to rip into Celestial for keeping things from them, it’s gonna be a wild ride! I guess I’ll have to wait and see

[Ri2]

9767325
How long until the gender change?

[Da Fennec]

9767350
WHO knows probably the only exception of pony is alicorn

[Amber Spark]

9767316
Perhaps. Perhaps not. You'll have to wait and see!

[Amber Spark]

9767347
Thank you for your input. I'm sorry you see it that way. However, I enjoy interacting and teasing my readers. It's something I've done since the beginning and I do not intend to stop. I think most people enjoy it as well.

Also, if you have this kind of feedback, I think it's better suited for a PM rather than a public place.

[Amber Spark]

9767348

Hooo boy! Twi and Sunset have really gone and messed up! passed out on somebody else’s doorstep, and possibly in another timeline than their own.

Different timeline? Where'd that one come from?

If Twilight ever gets her nerve to rip into Celestial for keeping things from them, it’s gonna be a wild ride! I guess I’ll have to wait and see

Despite Twilight's forceful words, she really doesn't have any proof of anything. And considering her personality, confronting Celestia about this would be really hard to do. Remember, Celestia's not ignorant of what's going on... and she has her own feelings on the matter.

[The Voice in the Water]

A maze of knowledge, secrets untold.
Guided by the words of a trickster.
Shadows writhe through the library.
Hunting those who despair.
Two lost mages: one yearning, one bitter.
Shadows seek, to make them a host.
An entity of the void, held back by fire and knowledge.
An unforeseen ally when they needed it most.

I fear I may have to re-read this one again, because I'm not sure I quite got everything the first time. Not that its a bad thing, mind, just that there was a lot to take in.

So, Twiggles isn't feeling rueful towards Sunny because she's crushing on her, but because she feels like she's some pale imitation of Sunset, and that Moondancer wanted Sunbutt Jr., not her? I… did not see that coming. That was a magnificent curve-ball Novel.

Also, Grey-eyes… yea, I don't foresee that being a problem later on. Nope, not at all…

[Amber Spark]

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I will happily confirm that an Alicorn Doctor Whooves (mare or stallion) is not in the cards for Wavelengths!

[Amber Spark]

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A maze of knowledge, secrets untold.
Guided by the words of a trickster.
Shadows writhe through the library.
Hunting those who despair.
Two lost mages: one yearning, one bitter.
Shadows seek, to make them a host.
An entity of the void, held back by fire and knowledge.
An unforeseen ally when they needed it most.

I don't know what to do with these. I feel like I should make them some sort of coda or preface to the chapters when I get around to publishing or... something. They're awesome and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THEM!!!!!

I fear I may have to re-read this one again, because I'm not sure I quite got everything the first time. Not that its a bad thing, mind, just that there was a lot to take in.

It's over 14,000 words. Trust me, I know exactly what you mean.

So, Twiggles isn't feeling rueful towards Sunny because she's crushing on her, but because she feels like she's some pale imitation of Sunset, and that Moondancer wanted Sunbutt Jr., not her? I… did not see that coming. That was a magnificent curve-ball Novel.

It's less about Moonie wanting Sunny and more about just one more thing. I've been in Twi's position (in life, not romantically), and when you're in this sort of mind set, the smallest facts can end up becoming far larger than they should have be. However, the pale imitation of Sunset? That's bang on. She's felt like that since Sunset "stole her friends" shortly after the events of Alchemy.

[The Voice in the Water]

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I don't know what to do with these. I feel like I should make them some sort of coda or preface to the chapters when I get around to publishing or... something. They're awesome and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THEM!!!!!

I'm glad you enjoy them. I consider that high praise. Thank you.

To be honest, I should be thanking you for giving me something that inspires these little synopses. It's fun trying to synthesize the salient points of the chapters into those little poems.

It's less about Moonie wanting Sunny and more about just one more thing. I've been in Twi's position (in life, not romantically), and when you're in this sort of mind set, the smallest facts can end up becoming far larger than they should have be. However, the pale imitation of Sunset? That's bang on. She's felt like that since Sunset "stole her friends" shortly after the events of Alchemy.

I know that feeling too (though like you, not romantically).

[Amber Spark]

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I'm glad you enjoy them. I consider that high praise. Thank you.

You are most welcome and THANK YOU EVEN MORE!!!!

To be honest, I should be thanking you for giving me something that inspires these little synopses. It's fun trying to synthesize the salient points of the chapters into those little poems.

I might tap you one day to help me with story synopses then, because I'm terrible at synopses!

[The Voice in the Water]

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I might tap you one day to help me with story synopses then, because I'm terrible at synopses!

Well, barring being in the midst of a semester when I'm teaching (introductory Biology classes infested with pre-meds are murder), I might be able to help in that regard if you need it.

[B_Munro]

Leeeroy Jennnkins!

Twilight Sparkle: Once and Future Princess of Books.

Well, that was a pretty wild one.

So are these shadow things kin (or even the same) as the comics-canon Shadows which turn both Princesses and fashionistas into Nightmares? Or to the Pony of Shadows?

I'm a bit confused: were they saved by luck, the magic of narrative, or something else?

[Amber Spark]

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Sounds like a plan!

[Amber Spark]

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Twilight Sparkle: Once and Future Princess of Books.

Now that's a book title!

So are these shadow things kin (or even the same) as the comics-canon Shadows which turn both Princesses and fashionistas into Nightmares? Or to the Pony of Shadows?

Ever notice how there's a whole lot of shadowy things? Everything is shadow-this and shadow-that? It's a little crazy!

I'm a bit confused: were they saved by luck, the magic of narrative, or something else?

A little of both? But really, they were saved by more than that! You'll find out exactly what in the next chapter!

[Ri2]

Despite Twilight's forceful words, she really doesn't have any proof of anything. And considering her personality, confronting Celestia about this would be really hard to do. Remember, Celestia's not ignorant of what's going on... and she has her own feelings on the matter.

That she's completely and utterly screwed things up forever and because nobody's willing to talk to each other she doesn't know HOW bad it really is or how to fix it?

[Lightning_Striker]

“I…” Twilight hesitated, her ears drooping. “Okay, I’m not sure about that one. Maybe leylines are cross-dimensional? If you believe in the Wavelength Theorem of Multiverse Branching, of course.”

You actually said it. You actually said Wavelengths.

[FanOfMostEverything]

That vision raises some very interesting questions. Could be or might have been? There's still time for the Moonlight to end, hopefully amicably.

Why do you want her again? Leave her.

Hmm. Given the Angry Little Pony's nature as Discord's advocate, the fact that she's gone from taunting Sunset with what she gave up to telling her to forget Twilight says a lot.

the Wavelength Theorem of Multiverse Branching

Roll credits?

This time, there weren’t any books in sight.

Given the context, this might be the most unsettling sentence in the entire chapter.

That was when Sunset realized that Twilight might have bottled up her emotions even more than Sunset herself had.

You're not the only pony with issues, Sunbutt Jr.

This is my head! screamed Sunset’s angry little pony. She belongs to me!

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

Given the immense crystal library, Sombra certainly comes to mind. Leyspace definitely seems like a viable option for where the Empire's been all this time. But I get the feeling it's not quite that simple.

We know you, Little Sun. We know your heart. We know your mind. We will see you again when the Moon falls from the Stars…

When, not if. This definitely won't end well, to say nothing of what it will do to Sunset trying to preserve the bookhorses' romance.

In any case, Sunset and Twilight definitely needed this talk. It's just a shame that they were interrupted partway by a pack of grues. Not sure if they'll ever pick up the topic any time soon, but I can hope.

And I do hope Sunset discusses Twilight's suspicions and feelings of inadequacy with Celestia. Not only might it get Sunbutt Sr. to see some of the damage she's caused, it might even be enough to qualify as need-to-know status for that mysterious purple alicorn spotted in Cloudsdale years ago... (Highly unlikely, but again, I can hope.)

[Amber Spark]

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You actually said it. You actually said Wavelengths.

It's almost like I'm planning toward something...

[Amber Spark]

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Tia's thoughts on this are chronicled in The Cloudsdale Report, as well as the Prologue and Epilogue of A Study on Chaos Theory.

[Amber Spark]

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That vision raises some very interesting questions. Could be or might have been? There's still time for the Moonlight to end, hopefully amicably.

Well, I did mention parallel realities in very chapter. And we already know that time travel is involved.

Or I could be playing it totally straight.

I legitimately don't know which one of those is more frightening.

Roll credits?

Nah. I'll be still writing this when they're in G9.

You're not the only pony with issues, Sunbutt Jr.

Seriously. She should have figured that out earlier.

This is my head! screamed Sunset’s angry little pony. She belongs to me!
Huh. Didn't see that coming.

One of my favorite moments. ALP isn't the sharing type. Sunset's HERS, dammit!

Given the immense crystal library, Sombra certainly comes to mind. Leyspace definitely seems like a viable option for where the Empire's been all this time. But I get the feeling it's not quite that simple.

Huh, I hadn't even considered part of that statement (I can't tell you which, of course), but seriously, one of those connections did not ever occur to me.

When, not if. This definitely won't end well, to say nothing of what it will do to Sunset trying to preserve the bookhorses' romance.

I'm pretty sure this thing's involvement in ANYTHING is not going to be good!

In any case, Sunset and Twilight definitely needed this talk. It's just a shame that they were interrupted partway by a pack of grues. Not sure if they'll ever pick up the topic any time soon, but I can hope.

It's definitely a hard topic to broach. Look at how much stress they had to get under just for it to finally explode out. That being said, I promise we're not done with this.

And I do hope Sunset discusses Twilight's suspicions and feelings of inadequacy with Celestia. Not only might it get Sunbutt Sr. to see some of the damage she's caused, it might even be enough to qualify as need-to-know status for that mysterious purple alicorn spotted in Cloudsdale years ago... (Highly unlikely, but again, I can hope.)

It may not impact Tia's reactions. After all, she does have more important concerns coming very, very soon...

[King Kenya]

Librarian! I told you I don’t want… any more… bananas?”

Oook...

[Flightsy]

Wow. This was a big one. The leylines are really cool, and I love reading all the different library discriptions. Weather or not the futures are alternate or not is a bit of a doozy to deduce. I personally like to think of them as alternate, but thats not really based on any evidence. But man, this one was an emotional uptaking. I loved it. I started reading at around 1:30am, and ended at around 3:00am, and how tired I was the next day was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT! I’m not certain any of the rest of the timeline hit as hard as this chapter has. I also definitely did not see this coming. Twilight really is much better at hiding it then Sunset. Though, we do see everything through sunsets eyes. There were a ton of gut punches in this chapter. I like how it’s revealed how much more twilights been effected by the unified harmony spell then sunset has. How she only feels she knows moony because of the spell with sunset. That was possibly the first guy punch to really gut punch me. Like, I had to put down my phones for a few seconds. It makes so much sense, but it’s really not something you think about. I love how one of twi’s biggest insecurities are still her inadequacies. Even after getting friends and even a mare friend, she still feels inadequate. Before she felt inadequate because to her she’d done nothing remarkable in her life. Even with those lost opportunities given new life, that doesn’t fix the problem. Her insecurities find another hand held, that the success she got was not really hers. It was an absolutely unexpected and wonderful twist when it was revealed that twilight getting closer to sunset fed into that. That the act of unification, of harmony, fed into those insecurities, and gave them strength. That after becoming closer then most ponies in this world, she now she feels like she’s just a 2nd hand replacement of Sunset. That she became almost too close, and her insecurities were able to wiggle in and grab hold of what seemed to be an exclusively good thing. And she’s not entirely wrong. Her bond with sunset has definitely helped her, and sunset meeting her did lead to her having friends. I also love how Celestia’s scheming has fueled this. She wonders if Celestia just used her as a way to show sunset what not to do. It’s kind of poetic, as originally Sunset was kinda a version of twilight gone bad, and now that sunsets still round, twi feels like a version of sunset gone bad. And the fact that twilight points out that they don’t actually know what Celestia’s doing, and that it could be anything. It’s beautiful how the reasons twilight was bitter,( feelings of inadequacy and frustration with how the world revolves around sunset) haven’t gone away, they’ve just adapted to the new environment. And it’s interesting how this trip brings them out. Through out the trip, twilight has been reacting arguably better then the Sunset. She’s seen excitement and an opportunity where sunset only gets more and more frustrated. And sunsets been shutting that excitement down. It’s understandable, but damaging to both of them. While ALP uses sunsets frustrated outbursts to highlight how unfit sunny is for twi, Twilight slowly gets her enthusiasm worn down. An enthusiasm that is, in a way, kinda unique to her. This contributes to twi’s feelings of inadequacy, as the things that make her unique are being called out as unhelpful and annoying. It all slots together brilliantly. I also love how twi figures out sunset is a wreck before sunset figures out the same in reverse. It’s just another way the two are similar. I like how sunset describes shock at twilight being angry at sunset’s perceived sacrifice, and horror at how mad it makes her. I also love sunsets gradual realization that sunset is even worse emotionally, and better at hiding it all. I’m not very good at people, so if I missed anything, you should point it out for me. Twilights cutie mark is a book now, instead of magic. But with the leylines and the library’s, we see that books ARE magic. After seeing last chapter how all the libraries seem tangentially connected to each other, and how you joked about it being a cult in the comments, I would like to say I am interested in twilight joining the cult. Anyway, I suppose we’ll be seeing the shadows around Sparks, as they mention the moon falling back down. With Book Light and shadow monsters in a library, this is starting to feel a bit like the doctor who two parter with the vashta narata. Just an interesting connection. Sorry that these thoughts were even more jumbled then usual, but this chapter did effect me quite a bit. See ya next chapter, or in the reply to this comment. Bye

[Sun Sage]

All 'futures' are 'possible futures', every multiversed entity knows that. ...Quite reasonably gives a lot of us a headache though.

That said, this finally, really restored the investment I'd set aside (I won't say lost, there's enough being lost going on here) towards the end of Chaos. It did take until here though... because as I mentioned last chapter this story was all just set up, and not addressing the real conflict of Wavelengths (that being Sunny's mental state). No matter who she ends up with, her mind and what's going on with it are the real story of the series. It'll determine what happens with NMM, how (and if) the Elements are claimed, how 'happy vs dystopian' this iteration of Equestria can be considered to be, and whether or not various readers will burn Celestia effigies in understandable rage! The story was certainly poking us about it, with ALP being her usual charming self... and was that a third voice I was catching a couple times? But... Chaos Theory... yeesh. I won't rehash it here, but because of how that ended I was, until this chapter, reading with little more than morbid curiosity and the hope that my genuine interest would be rekindled.

It was.

It was when the story came back to that main point, and not just with ALP snark. It influences everything... including Sunset's desire to get a very specific (and incredibly, ludicrously rare) gift for Celestia. So kudos there as well, her reasoning behind needing such a particular gift was quite poignant. And then the rest of this.... maaaaan the irony of Twi feeling like the knock off version of Sunset. Despite the nature of the discussion to unearth it, I couldn't help laughing a bit at that particular revelation. I do get it though. Setting aside the possibility that, in some metaphysical sense, she instinctively realizes she's the 7th spoke on an Elemental Wheel that's only got 6 (...usually); from an emotional point of view... she's basically just Sunset, or Moon Dancer, but weaker. It's nonsense to any other observer but from her point of view... I get it, and it's not much easier to overcome than Sunset's own issues.

Oh, but before all that... WE HAVE BATTLE SIGN! AHHHHH! *PANICKED MUPPET RUNNING* Anyone ever wonder what it'd look like if you threw talented but woefully unprepared ponies into the middle levels of a Diablo-like labyrinth? I didn't, but I got the shades (heh...) of an answer here anyway. Happy Twilight wasn't just dead weight in there, especially after being the worse of the two breakdowns beforehand. ...Though really, Sunset, running away and screaming for her to leave you? Ahahahahaha wat? I know we just got out of a love triangle story (without really resolving it, mind), but maybe lay off the sillier anime tropes a smidge? *Instructions unclear, running away!* ...No! But she pulled it together when it mattered. We wouldn't expect any less, but that takes nothing away from how awesome that was. All of it.

...Including the wacky rescue. Now just who are these familiar seeming folks, hmmmm? ...Oh right, this fic's completed. Hah! Guess I'ma find out. Eat it, Cliff Hanger.

[Revel Montaro]

I've been tearing through the FiMfiction archive for a little over a year now and that was one of the BEST written, intense chapters I have ever read.

[KittyrinnAiko]

Twilight just seems to be acting really manic in this. And the whole the book isn't worth it and throwing all that shade on Sunset is extremely self-centered on Twilight's part. If Twilight hadn't have gone and mucked around with that mechanism that sent them into a layline they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. I mean, they are lucky they didn't end up splinched or materialized in a solid object. Worse yet some old chamber from which there is no escape. I seriously fond myself wishing I could reach in and slap Twilight at multiple points so I can tell her to focus and doing what she needs to do to stay alive.

[redmar]

This was an interesting chapter and I'm not entirely sure what happened but at least Sunset and Twilight talked about their emotions. Celestia isn't going to reveal her interest in Twilight until she knows all the details concerning what was mentioned in the Couldsdale report. I wonder if the original Starlight Glimmer is still somewhere around in this timeline.

[_CheckMate_]

Its interesting that Twilight thinks that she's just a second-rate copy of Sunset when in canon, its more accurate to say that Sunset was the failed prototype of her.

[Amber Spark]

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Funny how they parallel each other, eh?

[Thranx]

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I don't think Starlight would be there since she might've already left when she stopped the Rainboom. What intrigues me is that will canon Twilight and Spike arrive to the this future alternate timeline like any other timeline that was changed.