Twilight’s curiosity was a mistake, could it be a blessing in disguise?
Ages have been both written and forgotten by Atrus. His writing has brought him both great happiness, but also great suffering and struggle. Equestria was an Age that had been forgotten by Atrus more than a decade ago that he’d written as a gift for his daughter, Yeesha, when she was very young. Twilight, in her curiosity, found a book in the library of her new castle labeled “Tomahna” bringing her to Atrus’s home. Her arrival put her in the middle of a scheme that could separate her from Equestria forever.
Family. What word could better describe everything that an individual has ever loved or ever hoped to achieve? What better word can accurately place that individual’s wishes and dreams? Everyone has one, and I hope that everyone will yearn to have one. For me, my family is the inspiration for all my greatest accomplishments, and my greatest regrets.
-- Atrus
“Arrgh! Not again!” A mare’s voice groaned.
“Twilight, you are beating yourself up over nothing. Can’t we take a break?” A smaller voice responded. This one belonged to a small baby dragon with green spikes going from the top center of his head down the whole length of his body. They were also his namesake. Spike was Twilight’s assistant and was very near a migraine.
They had been searching the libraries for hours now and Twilight had run out of patience. Her wings were unfurled and her horn glowed with magic as she pulled books from off the shelves left and right.
“We can’t take a break now Spike!” Twilight said as she ran to the other end of the library. “I have very important research I need to do if I’m to fulfill my role as the Princess of Friendship and the last book didn’t help!”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “And you think that these books will have what you need?”
Twilight stopped in the middle of a run and put a hoof to her mouth. “Yes... Um, no... I mean... Maybe?” Her wings drooped to the floor as she gave a sheepish grin.
Spike walked over to the slumping purple alicorn and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay Twilight. I’m sure that you’ll do great in your new position.”
Twilight had been appointed the Princess of Friendship after saving Equestria from the demon Tirek. He was a demon that stole everypony’s magic and Twilight had been entrusted by the other princesses to thwart his plans. Up until then, she had no clue what she was to do as a newly coronated princess. It had weighed heavily on her mind for some time and then, finally, after defeating Tirek she knew what role she was to play.
Despite that, she felt very insecure when it came to breaking new ground.
Twilight let herself fall to the ground. “I’ve always had someone else’s experience to learn from or some other pony to help me learn. Even with all the lessons I’ve learned about friendship, they were learned with the help of my friends.”
“You can do it Twi, you always have,” Spike said.
Twilight gave a grateful look towards Spike and sat up. She levitated a few books in front of her as she slowly walked. “I know, Spike. Finally knowing my purpose as a Princess has helped me a great deal. However, not knowing exactly what a Princess of Friendship does makes me nervous.”
Spike turned and started searching through some of the books Twilight had discarded. “I don’t think that there is anything that we can read that can help this time.”
Twilight stopped, turned to Spike, and said, “Why not? It’s always helped in the past.”
“But a princess of friendship hasn’t ever been done before. Right?”
Twilight sighed, “I don’t know, that’s why I’m hoping that all these books can answer that.”
The library inside the castle had been stocked full with books. That was strange, considering that it hadn’t been here before. It was located near Ponyville, where Twilight and Spike had been living. Ponyville was a small town located in the country a short train ride away from Canterlot, Equestria’s seat of government. There had never been so much as a trace of a crystal castle like this one to ever exist here. It had only appeared recently. Because the castle was filled with several library’s worth of books, it was an anomaly that Twilight was hoping to investigate in the future.
The crystal castle had risen after the defeat of Tirek when Twilight and her friends used the Tree of Harmony to banish him back to where he came. All of them had used special keys relating to what made them a good friend to unlock a chest that contained the power to restore Equestria’s inhabitants their magic. Tirek had stolen it all and Twilight sacrificed much to allow their victory.
Twilight felt a need now more than ever to help everypony with her new role. However, she only had an idea of what she wanted to do and not what she was supposed to do.
Spike couldn’t rule out the possibility that a princess of friendship had existed in the past. All that he’d ever known were the two main princesses, Celestia and Luna. One ruled the day, and the other ruled the night, respectively. Their reign has lasted centuries. Luna had, for a time, been imprisoned by her sister for a millenium in the moon when she tried to seize all power for herself. When Twilight and her friends wielded the Elements of Harmony, powerful magic that righted Equestria’s wrongs, they brought her back from evil.
Cadence was another princess that ruled, but she was responsible for the Crystal Empire located near the northern borders of Equestria and her rule was fairly recent. If there was any mentionings of another princess of friendship in the past it was unknown to both Twilight and Spike.
Spike casually glanced at other books in the other room, not really paying attention to what they contained. Even with his desire to help Twilight as her junior assistant, his patience was waning.
“Can’t we just talk to Celestia about this?” Spike asked, almost pleading.
Twilight didn’t even look up from the book she was looking at. “She might be my teacher, but all I can see her doing is having me struggle to find the answers. Despite her experience, I’m certain that even she doesn’t know fully what a princess of friendship’s responsibilities would be. She trusts me.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to just ask,” Spike said under his breath.
Twilight heard him. “Complaining won’t get us anywhere Spike.”
Spike stammered, “Well, it wouldn’t. You said yourself that she’d probably just have you struggle for an answer. Isn’t that what we’re doing now?”
“I don’t want to bother her with this.”
Spike folded his arms and insisted, “It won’t hurt a bit.”
“Really, Spike?” Twilight said. “I don’t want to concern her with this. I already feel like I’d be imposing on her if I did. I really want to show that I can handle this.”
Spike relaxed, realizing that he couldn’t persuade her otherwise. “You remember what’s happened before when you’ve tried to do something big on your own. It never seems to work out. What would the others think?” he replied.
Twilight had made some good friends since she arrived in Ponyville. They were as close to her as family. All of them had helped her learn the lessons she knew now about friendship. It had become her most valuable possession until it literally became her life because of her title. They had been through so much together and she knew that she couldn’t live without them.
Because her new castle had a throne room with six thrones positioned in a circle, it was clear that her friends were key to helping her fulfill her role. As Princess Celestia had said, “What is a princess of friendship without her friends?” The Tree of Harmony, the Elements’ source of power, was responsible for creating Twilight’s castle and since each of her friends, including herself, embodied an element it made sense that they would be included in this venture as well.
Twilight’s train of thought was broken when Spike spoke again. “All of them are included in this as well Twilight.”
She pursed her lips as she knew that he was right. They were a part of this, and undeniably so.
Twilight scratched a foreleg and replied sheepishly, “You’re right Spike. I just wish that I could gain some sort of clue on how we can work together. I want to be the kind of princess that they can look up to.”
Spike smiled gently and said, “You already are Twi.”
That brought on a smile from Twilight as she relaxed. Spike might be a baby dragon and immature at times, but he knew some ways that helped her with stress.
Twilight looked around at the mess that they had made and they were nowhere closer to finding a book that could help her. As she thought about it some more she had to settle that she might not be able to learn anything from these books. It made her uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. There were many thoughts of failure flowing through her head. She wasn’t sure how to do her job right. It was almost as bad as not knowing what her purpose as a princess was.
She turned back to Spike and let out a short breath before saying, “Alright Spike, let’s clean up.”
Spike sprang into action almost immediately. “Yes ma’am,” he said with a salute.
Twilight chuckled as he left and she started using her magic to help clean up the place. Books had been strewn everywhere and it looked almost as if more books were on the floor than on the shelves. Spike began with gathering a large stack in his arms and precariously moving around to the shelves and placing books on them.
Twilight had a system for organizing books alphabetically by subject then alphabetically by name. It made it easier for her to find books relating to what she wanted. However, her castle’s library hadn’t been arranged that way which was the main reason she was so set that she could find the book that she needed.
In her old library, Twilight knew almost every book and where she stored them. With the constant studying that she did every day to learn more and more it was easy to see why she had that kind of knowledge.
The castle had made it difficult because nothing was organized the way she preferred. She felt that with time she could get it to her liking. At first, when she had discovered the vast array of knowledge that her castle had she was ecstatic to say the least-- practically drooling when she first came in the doors. It may have been too much of a good thing.
One by one, Twilight picked up her books and carefully placed them on the shelves. Spike, knowing her system, was doing the same and occasionally asked her for advice on where she’d like a particular book. This library was one of many rooms and they hadn’t searched as thoroughly through some of the others yet. So cleaning up in the other rooms wouldn’t be too difficult.
The library was divided into seven parts with one main room to act as the hub for all the rest. The hub room was hexagonal in shape, consistent with the number six as a motif, with doors leading out from the main room in the middle of each of the walls. The room was three stories high as well with balconies allowing access to higher shelves. On the main floor there were numerous bookshelves organized into rows that swiftly became a labyrinth.
“You go ahead and clean up this section. I’ll head over to the next one,” Twilight said.
“Okay, don’t get lost,” Spike said in jest.
Twilight chuckled, “I’ll try not to.”
She walked away from Spike and through the bookshelves into the main plaza of the library. Tables were set up so that anypony could easily read what they had selected. It was near heavenly for Twilight to have this almost exclusively for herself.
She wasn’t going to keep it that way, however. The old library she had lived at had been destroyed during her battle with Tirek. So now her castle’s library would serve as Ponyville’s library.
Twilight took in more of the sights as she walked further away from where Spike was cleaning and into more of the maze of shelves opposite her. She cleaned up with her telekinesis, placing books one at a time into the shelves after looking at it to determine its subject. The process was actually kind of enjoyable to her. It was methodical and it involved organizing. It helped her ease off of earlier stress.
She picked up another book in her telekinesis labeled “The Science of Griffon Flight” and with no thoughts at all placed it on a shelf with some books already stacked on it. She released her spell and immediately turned away. Upon doing so the unexpected thud of a book falling to the ground caused her ears to perk up.
Twilight turned around to see what the problem was and was surprised to see no problem at all. No book on the floor. No sign of any disturbance. She cocked an eyebrow before walking slowly over to the shelf and immediately her inquisitive mind was searching for possibilities.
She had definitely heard a sound and she knew that she wasn’t going crazy. Or was she? She had been nearly manic half an hour ago when she wasn’t finding any helpful advice on how to be a princess of friendship.
After a brief mental inventory, Twilight deducted that possibility.
She put a hoof to her mouth before looking around some more. “Hmmmm…,” she said in thought.
If there wasn’t a book on the ground or on the shelf that was upturned then maybe it was up. Twilight craned her neck, looking high in the air at the upper shelves in case the castle was pulling some weird spell on her. After a few seconds of looking up she couldn’t see anything out of place, even on the higher shelves.
“Well that’s weird…,” Twilight said as she scratched her mane and leaned to rest on the shelves.
As she did so the unexpected sensation of falling through nothing came to meet her. She yelped out loud before landing flat on her face.
She looked forward with a deadpan expression. “...and that was embarrassing,” she finished.
After that, she spat out some dust in her mouth before getting on her hooves. She blinked in confusion at what she saw. There was a path of stone steps leading downward. Torches were lit further down as their glow flickered on the clean stone walls.
Twilight took it in for a moment. This definitely didn’t fit the theme of the architecture. The castle was made completely out of crystal. Some of it was even roughly surfaced to have a matte appearance so the eyes didn’t tire of the shine. She also wasn’t aware of there being a lower level than the ground level. There weren’t any stairs that lead to any cellars other than the larders. When the castle had first appeared Twilight and her friends had taken the opportunity to explore as much of the place as they could. So this was completely new for her.
Twilight nearly squeaked in anticipation. A mystery level in the castle that she could explore was thrilling. Forgetting the mess that needed to be cleaned in the library, she walked along the stairs to discover this new secret passage.
He hooves echoed in the solid corridor making the air feel heavy. The torches along the wall kept the path well lit. Twilight was curious as to why the torches were lit, either somepony had been here very recently or they were made using magic. Upon closer examination, the torches weren’t glowing a usual yellow light, but were instead giving a faint yellow-green light. They also burned very evenly despite the light flickering as a natural flame would. They were ever-burning torches, obviously magical, so that ruled out the possibility that there was another pony here.
The stairway descended further down until levelling off. The entrance wasn’t visible any more. Twilight freaked out inwardly for a moment because she hadn’t inspected the entryway to the stairwell. She determined that she’d look at it when she came back out. For now, adventure awaited!
Everything about this place felt like it was out of one of her Daring Do books. The secret entrance, the undiscovered passageway of stone, much of this was similar to her favorite adventure novels.
Her eyes widened at a thought. “Ooh! Maybe there’s some ancient treasure down here? Or maybe an ancient artifact lost to time! Haha! This is exciting!” She was nearly giggling like a school-filly.
The path in front of her lead on a straight course away from her. The ever-burning torches lined both walls now and the walls became slightly more ornate with engravings. The corners where the walls met the ceiling had the largest concentration of designs etched into them with elaborate patterns that swirled and flowed along them.
Twilight was taking this all in with the anticipation of a fangirl. She was beyond feeling like this was real and was starting to be convinced she was in a Daring Do novel now. She half-expected to see the heroine pegasus running down the hallway pursued by some ancient horrors. Twilight allowed her imagination die as she stopped for a moment to examine the designs on the walls.
They were in regular patterns and varied in length. Soon Twilight realized they were organized into rows. Twilight’s eyes widened with glee at her discovery. This was writing! Much of the designs on the walls was writing in the same patterns. She couldn’t wait to break out a copy of her favorite linguistics novel to decode the script.
After her breakthrough, Twilight wanted to see what was at the end of the hallway. The corridor ended with a stone portal leading into another room with a single pedestal in the middle of it. A pillar of light shown through an unknown source in the ceiling centered on the raised platform. It was angled towards the door for the person who approached it to see plainly what was on it.
Twilight approached it and saw with some disappointment that it was currently empty. With a small groan she decided to look around at the room she was in. There was definitely some purpose to this room. Otherwise there wouldn’t be such emphasis on the pedestal.
“What could be hidden here?” Twilight thought as she walked around in the room.
There were four pillars that were half as tall as the room with unlit torches on the top of them. Twilight wondered why they were unlit while the rest of the torches in the room were clearly on fire. Looking around for a moment she saw that each of the unlit torches had thin lines etched from the top of their pillars down the length and on the ground leading to the central pedestal.
“Maybe I should try to light them,” Twilight said under her breath, thinking out loud.
She looked up at the nearest torch and grabbed it with her telekinesis. Upon lifting it from its place on the wall it immediately snuffed itself out.
“Darn it!” Twilight cursed.
She put the torch back into its holder on the wall and it lit up again. Twilight rolled her eyes at the irony. Whoever designed this room wanted to get a laugh from the frustrations of others. This only made Twilight more determined to solve this puzzle. If somepony had gone through such lengths to have a device built with no obvious solution meant they had something to hide, and it was probably valuable.
Twilight sat down and put a hoof to her mouth in thought. The torches, when removed from the wall, will snuff out. The four torches in the quadrants of the room obviously had to be lit.
She looked up and her horn glowed purple with energy. A spark of flame spontaneously combusted on top of one of the pillars but to no avail. The flame that Twilight had summoned disappeared just as quickly as it had come.
Twilight looked up and groaned, “Why does this have to be so difficult?”
After a bit of a tantrum she began thinking out loud again. “There has to be a solution to this. Think Twilight,” she said as she put her hooves to her temples, “the solution is often the most simple one.”
Twilight looked around at the room again, making sure to take in as many of the sights as she could. Anything that could possibly be out of place was sure to be noted in her head. She wasn’t going to let this room beat her. She would be the one laughing in the end.
She was biting her lip when she finally discovered it. “Yes!” she said with excitement.
Near corner to the left of the door there appeared to be an irregularity in the wall. Some of the stone was jutting out slightly and Twilight figured that it was a button of some kind. She walked over to it quickly and gave it a press.
The stone slid with surprisingly little effort. When it was in almost two inches she heard a click. Several wooden sounding clacks sounded through the room before a short stony grating noise sounded from the floor. Up came three levers to about eye level for Twilight. At each corner of the room a pedestal arose slowly from nowhere. On top of each of them a magnifying crystal was placed at random angles. One pedestal at the corner opposite to Twilight rose higher than the other three.
Twilight’s head reeled back slightly at what she thought was a design flaw. Shouldn’t they have all reached the same level? She looked over at the levers.
“Oh, they must control the pedestals’ height.”
She bit on one of the levers and pulled. The highest one in the corner lowered down. Twilight sighed in satisfaction as it did so but groaned as two pedestals rose up making the scene even more unorganized.
Her eye twitched as she observed the situation in front of her. This was going to be a long day, wasn’t it?
She pulled another one of the levers to see what it would do. The middle lever made the two pedestals closest to her rise while one of the others at the far end of the room rise. Twilight’s lips pursed in concentration as she fought her way through this puzzle.
She experimented with the levers and with much frustration found herself where she felt that three of them were in the correct position while one -- and only one -- pedestal was out of place. She yelled in frustration when she was so close to finally uncovering the solution.
“I don’t know what kind of dastardly person could come up with a puzzle so evil, but I’m gonna win!” She exclaimed as she pulled more levers. “You’re just lucky that I love puzzles. Oho, you’ve never thought somepony like mewould come along.”
She spoke as if talking to the puzzle would intimidate it into place. It may as well should have because soon after she said that all of the pedestals were in place. She knew it was correct when a shaft of light appeared with an abrupt noise. It nearly gave Twilight a start as her heart leapt in her chest.
The light shown through the crystal nearest her and two other beams of light shot out in random directions. When she looked over near the base of the pedestals each of them had two wheels for adjusting the directions of the beams. Twilight looked at them with dismay because it was another puzzle for her to solve.
With stubborn resignation she began turning the wheels to adjust the crystal. The two lights turned in response to the adjustments. One wheel controlled the vertical axis of the light and the other the horizontal axis. Twilight was pleased that it was easier than the other puzzle had been as well as it being a practical design. The question now was where to point the lights.
The two beams were at an angle from each other. From her experimenting she couldn’t have the lights be pointed at two of the torches at the same time. Instead she tried to direct the light to another crystal while placing the other beam on a torch. It couldn’t shine on the next consecutive crystal and a torch at the same time, so she decided that the placement of the beams had to be irregular. With some finagling, she finally had the beams shining on a torch and crystal at the same time.
A similar effect happened with the other light crystal. Two beams shone out from it in reaction to the beam entering in. Twilight walked over to the new pedestal and experimented with different placements of the light.
Soon, she was on the last crystal. It also had two beams of light shining from it. She paused and looked around for where the two streams could be placed. Twilight decided to go with her first thought. One beam of light on a torch and the other beam placed back onto the source.
When the light neared the last crystal, all the crystals gradually shined brightly, giving more light to the room than the torches had. The beams intensified before the torches erupted into life. A thin line of sparks trailed down along the recesses in the torches’ pillars towards the ground then out of sight. Twilight cocked an eyebrow as nothing immediately happened.
“Whoah!” Her eyes widened as a loud rumble engulfed the room. Dust was disturbed as the ground opened up. Stone doors opened upward from the ground to reveal a spherical metal cage rising from the ground. When the cage cleared the floor the stone doors closed beneath it. The sphere turned several times before a hatch with two doors from its hemispheres opened up to reveal a book. It’s shelf lifted at an angle and the book slid onto the stone pedestal in the middle.
Twilight was in awe of the show of machinery before her. To her this was the best thing ever. A challenging puzzle rewarding her with a book when solved. Her eyes gleamed as she watched her prize slide into place.
With a short squee she hopped over to the book. It was leather bound with a couple small emeralds embedded near the corners. Parts of the book were trimmed with gold, particularly near the binding. One word was stamped in silver print for the title, “Tomahna.” With excitement, Twilight opened the book.
To her surprise a single note written on parchment was between the cover and the first page. It had one simple phrase:
This will help.
“What?” Twilight said.
She tried to speculate who the author of the note was. As far as she was concerned, she didn’t think that it was addressed to her but the timing of it was too perfect. She felt that she needed help and that through the new books here she could gain some advice. Twilight was feeling an odd connection with the book in front of her. It pulled on her mind again and again because of the note.
After reviewing the note for any more clues she peered down at the first page. What she saw amazed her.
In a rectangular frame on the page a moving panoramic view of another location could be seen. The view in the book flew through the air of a desert-like environment. Large red rock formations flew past the viewframe as it travelled across the landscape at astonishing speed before it finally stopped at the edge of a cliff looking down over a rushing river. A small gazebo was the focus of its attention as it began circling it endlessly.
“What could this be?”
With wide eyes, Twilight, without thinking, placed her hoof on top of the page over the panel. To her confusion, she felt a pulling sensation towards the book. Her vision blurred for a moment before she found herself soaring through the air in the exact manner that the panel on the book depicted.
Twilight screamed as she was unwillingly pulled through this scene towards the gazebo. For a moment she tried to open her wings and fly, but to her bewilderment felt no wind rush through them, not even through her mane. All she could do now was scream.
She felt like she was going to be thrown over the edge of the cliff as she was zoomed in to the gazebo. Her vision blurred once more before she found herself standing in the middle of the small building that she had seen in the panel.
“What? Where am I?” she panted.
Twilight looked around, trying to get her bearings. The air was hot where she now was, very similar to how it felt in Appleloosa. The landscape was similar as well, so she figured that she was somewhere near there. However, she didn’t remember seeing a large slot canyon with a river there before. There was the river that lead into the Ghastly Gorge, perhaps that had a slot canyon before it.
On a small pedestal in the middle of the building was a book similar to the one in the chamber she had left in her castle except this one was labelled “Equestria.” Twilight opened the book and found the same type of panel that was in the other book. She guessed that it was her way back to the castle because the panel showed the book chamber she had solved the puzzles in.
She moved away from the pedestal and observed that the gazebo was built over the edge of the cliffs on an edge that stretched out over nothing to get a good view of the river below. Three sides ended with a sheer drop. Twilight grimaced at the noticeable lack of a railing. She walked over as close to the edge as she dared and looked down. The movement made her woozy and she stepped back to a safe distance before sitting down to catch her breath.
“Okay, Twilight. You can figure this out.”
She worked up her courage and walked over to the other edge of the gazebo. One railing remained on this edge and she was better able to look over the edge.
A catwalk began at another edge of cliff near the gazebo and lead downward to the river below where a trail followed it out of sight. The river was full of rapids that showed signs of the speed of its current. She wondered where the path next to it could lead her and leaned out as far as she could to see if she could see at least a bit around the corner the path.
The railing creaked and jerked suddenly away from the gazebo. Twilight let out a frightened yell, briefly forgetting that she could fly, as she reflexively tried to make herself fall onto the floor and not the ground hundreds of feet below her. Her arms flailed in an attempt to keep her safe as she painfully slow fell backwards. As she fell flat on her back her head hit the pedestal that Equestria’s book was on. It toppled over in slow motion to Twilight, looking up from where she lay.
“No!” She sprang up as quickly as she could to try and stop it from falling but in vain. The pedestal fell onto its side, flinging Equestria’s book through the air and over the edge of the gazebo.
“No no no no nonononono!” Twilight was screaming as she opened her wings and flew over the edge.
She raced as fast as she could to catch the book, but she wasn’t fast enough. Being new at flying, she couldn’t dive faster than she could fall and the book had a two second head start on her. She watched helplessly as the book fell into the rushing rapids of the river.
With frantic desperation she tried to see where it could have been. The water was murky from all the sediment in it and the current splashing over the rocks made seeing anything under the water impossible. She flew erratically around trying to see where it went.
“It has to show up soon!” Twilight said, trying to deceive herself.
“This can’t be happening! I’m not stuck here right?” She looked around for any sort of confirmation that this was true.
“I can get out!” She flew up above the cliff tops and tried to mimic the flight pattern that the book had shown. It was no use as all she could see for hundreds of miles around was desert. Nothing but desert.
Tears began streaking her eyes at the thought of never being able to go back home. She did everything she could to think of any solution.
Her horn glowed intensely as she summoned up the strongest teleportation spell that she could use. She imagined her home back in Ponyville as the destination, and when she felt she had a sufficient image in her mind she released the magic.
A large lavender burst of energy exploded in the sky as the spell had no effect. It couldn’t release Twilight to where she wanted to go. It knocked the wind out of her as she plummeted from the sky. Her emotions were getting the better of her now as she began cursing herself for her curiosity in her library. Moments before she hit the ground she came to her senses and opened up her wings again, catching the air and flying safely away.
Twilight retraced her flight and found the gazebo with the catwalk nearby.
When she landed she was sobbing. Inside, she felt betrayed. The note she found promised that she could receive the help that she wanted. It had given her hope which was now dashed to pieces. Getting back to Ponyville was now impossible.
“Some help this turned out to be!” She yelled in defiance to the heavens through her tears.
What could she do now that would get her back? The desert provided an imposing obstacle as Twilight thought of flying away. If she left, there was no way to tell if she was going in the right direction.
She looked over to the toppled pedestal and gave it an angry kick with a forehoof. It rolled off the edge of the gazebo without resistance. A moment later a loud metal clank sounded in her ears. She stopped sobbing and wiped her tears from her eyes to look over the edge again.
The pedestal had hit the catwalk that lead below. Twilight sniffled and came to her senses. She looked along the path to where the trail lead out of sight. If anything, she could follow it and get some answers. To her, it was to be her ticket home.
Twilight trotted around the edge of the cliff where the catwalk met the top. It lead through a crag in the side before becoming fully exposed to the sun under the edge where the gazebo was built. She arrived to where the pedestal had fallen and took a deep breath before she broke out into a gallop down the pathway.
In no time at all she was at the bottom on solid ground, hundreds of feet below the top. The water's rapids rushed and splashed over unseen rocks under the surface. The noise blotted out most other sounds. In any other circumstance Twilight would have found the sound to be relaxing but it now only reminded her of her predicament. Her pace quickened as she wanted to get away from there and towards a solution.
Not long after she met the ground and followed the trail, it lead her under an artificial arch and around a bend. The noise of the rapids became muffled while they disappeared behind her and the river's current became less tumultuous.
To her frustration, the path in front of her meandered out of sight again along the riverside. She had hoped that she would be able to see more signs of civilization sooner.
With determination, Twilight spread her wings and jumped into the air. Flight was the most convenient thing that she had gained since becoming a princess. She hoped that she would be able to find out where this path went much faster than if she simply galloped. The trail could lead on for miles, and if she was really unlucky it might be days travel on hoof. Twilight was desperate to get to the bottom of her situation and travel time was something less she needed to worry about.
Twilight flew in the center of the canyon and kept close to the river to keep the hoofpath in easy view. She doubted that it would be a major problem because there weren't any tributaries from the main canyon to distract her. The water below was deceptively calm from the air, but Twilight knew that it was rushing speedily on its way. She rolled her eyes at the thought that she had to appear at the more dangerous part of the river. The rest of the surface was undisturbed by any obstacles and she may have been able to save the book.
She rounded a u-bend in the canyon into view of a fork in the river. The vein she was following ended suddenly and joined another perpendicular to its flow causing whirlpools to form where the rivers met. The new river was double the width of Twilight's and was also doubly saturated in sediment. Twilight wondered how a river could become so filled with sand.
Twilight blinked for a moment at what she thought was a mirage. A large monorail suspended several hundred feet above the river stretched along its length. Multiple metal support towers held it in place. Twilight wondered what it could mean, and soon she became filled with hope. Other ponies could be near! That thought, unfortunately, was snuffed out quickly. If a rail existed then the nearest civilization could be much much further away than she thought.
Her brow furrowed, why then would there be a hoofpath and a gazebo with a magical book be placed so far out from anypony? She began to think that her worries had been misplaced. Some sort of dwelling had to be near.
As she flew closer to the monorail she saw a single pod travel in her direction. Twilight gave a hearty sigh of relief. She could figure out where she was and the easiest way back to Equestria. Any second now the ponies inside it would see her. She hovered in midair for a moment before she noticed something off. The silhouette in the pod was definitely not another pony, nor any other creature she was familiar with. Twilight panicked and flew out of sight from the pod.
When she had rounded into a crag she peeped around the edge to watch the monorail. A station that she hadn't noticed in her attention to the rail was nearby. The mechanical pod slowed to a stop at the station. Twilight's heart raced. What could the strange creature's intentions be? Had they seen her? She didn't even know if they were friendly or hostile. She was in a strange new land where basic concepts could be foreign. Twilight didn't want to take any chances yet.
Twilight held her breath as the door of the pod opened up and a figure emerged. It was bipedal and wore clothing similar to the ponies in Canterlot. It had on a grey vest and a white shirt with its sleeves rolled up. It wore clothing that covered its legs and Twilight didn't know why. Perhaps that was a different fashion here. His feet were deep brown and looked like they could be hoof-like. It all seemed strange to her. She didn't know if it was male or female, but going solely on the design of the clothes she guessed it was male. He appeared to have no fur on his forelimbs. He had a short-cropped mane and glasses on his face. The male creature's face grimaced in the sun as he adjusted them. He slung a bag and a canteen over his shoulder then walked down some stairs to the hoofpath below.
Twilight moved back behind the crag in the cliff and perched herself on an outcropping of sandstone. She finally remembered to breathe and gasped for air as she worked to catch her breath. She looked down and said, "What was that?"
Her mind began to search through its index for something that resembled any creatures she knew, both factual and mythical. The male creature's torso was almost exactly the same as Tirek's. However, the skin color and facial structure didn't match up. The strange tufts of hair on its head had some similarities to ponies. They both had manes and some stallions had facial hair like this thing. There was a lot that could probably be learned from him, however, Twilight had yet to determine if it was hostile or not. She decided to follow him.
The male walked with a purpose along the path. He moved at a painfully slow rate for Twilight who was used to flight. Even a steady cantor was more than double the pace the creature moved at. Twilight's teeth gritted as she watched safely out of sight. She made sure to take short, quick flights to other hiding spots when its back was turned away from her. It was a tedious process coupled with the slow pace. This was enough to begin wearing down on her nerves. Nevertheless, she was a mare of science, and sometimes you had to be patient with observations.
After an hour they had traveled the same distance Twilight would have gone in a fraction of the time. It got to the point where Twilight would sit lazily in a crag for several minutes so that the male creature could get out of sight. She knew where he'd be. He was walking at a brisk pace but he had nowhere else to go other than forward. Twilight counted herself lucky that he was easy to track.
Twilight got up from her resting point and looked out over the edge to see where the male was. Seeing that he was out of sight, she started back up on her stalker routine. She flew out from her perch and then rounded the corner. She yelped in surprise when she saw that the creature was looking in her direction. Twilight flailed her limbs manically to stop her flight and find cover as quickly as she could.
She hugged her back to a rock out of sight from the creature, her eyes wide with anxiety. Had he seen her? She desperately hoped not, what if it had some magical powers she didn't know of yet? What if it could teleport like she could? Her breathing intensified as her mind raced at a million miles a minute in panic, the entire situation bearing down on her mind. Twilight swallowed and calmed herself down using the breathing technique she had taught Princess Cadence to relieve stress. Now composed, she worked up the will to look around her boulder.
The male was gone. Twilight blinked a bit and fought hard to suppress the thought of a teleporting Eldrich thing suddenly appearing in front of her. She didn't know if she wanted to see it up close yet.
She gave the area around her a visual inspection, trying to look for the creature she had been following. Thankfully, it was nowhere to be seen. Twilight flew out from where she was and traced her flight path along with the trail below. This time she was more careful when she rounded another bend. It was the last twist in the river before the straight shot to the gazebo.
Twilight found a place to hide near the arch from before. She looked along the path and saw the creature, to her surprise, right below her drinking from his canteen. Up close he wasn't as terrifying. Twilight guessed from the color of his mane that he was probably older. His fatigued look further reinforced that assumption. He was panting and sitting in the shade that the arch offered. Twilight peered over the edge, stretching her neck as far as she could in an attempt to better observe. In her carelessness, her hoof slipped and some rocks slide off the edge.
"No no no no!" she whispered harshly.
The rocks made a loud noise as they fell over the edge and near the male. He let out a startled yelp as the rocks hit the ground. Dust flew up into the air and everything became completely still. Twilight cursed herself for her curiosity. She had clearly given herself away.
"Who's there!" The male's voice called out.
Double crap! Twilight's face tightened up.
"I know you're there, you've been following me for some time now," he said. He didn't sound too happy.
Twilight gulped. She wasn't ready for this sort of contact. She didn't want to hurt him, but if it came to blows she would be ready to defend herself. However, Twilight was searching desperately for a way to tactfully approach this. She didn't know if she even wanted to reveal herself now at all. After thinking about it carefully she decided to see what would happen.
Twilight cautiously looked over the edge towards the male, bracing herself for anything. The creature looked surprised at her appearance and, strangely, his expression went from stern to gentle as her whole head came into his view.
"Why hello there little fella. What are you doing following me around?" he said in a singsong voice.
Twilight's expression switched from apprehension to slightly offended, "Little fella? I'm not some filly that you can act all condescending towards!"
The male's expression went immediately to shock. Taken aback he said, "You're not just another animal!"
"Of course not!"
The creature put a hand on his chest and another in the air towards Twilight, "Forgive me, I'm a little embarrassed right now."
That took Twilight off guard. Thank goodness he wasn't hostile. However, with her pride slightly she was still a bit peeved.
"What are you?" she asked.
"What?" it said back.
"I said, what are you? I've never seen any creatures like you before, and neither have I read about you. I should know, I read. A lot," Twilight said with finality.
The creature blinked for a second. He was obviously just as puzzled about her existence as she was about his.
He changed the subject, "How about we start with names rather than 'whats.' My name is Atrus, do you have a name?"
Twilight's disgruntled expression revealed her displeasure, she didn't like misdirection, however it was a more pleasant turn in their conversation. She carefully moved more into the open but remained on top of the arch high up from Atrus. She needed to convince herself that he could be trusted more fully. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."
Atrus responded with a polite nod. "I'm pleased to meet you. As for what I am, I'm human. You've never heard about humans before?"
Twilight shook her head. "No."
Atrus hummed to himself with interest before looking back up to Twilight. "What are you, may I ask? And where did you come from?"
This was new for Twilight because she never had to explain what she was to anypony. In Equestria everyone just knew, especially her status as an alicorn.
"I'm a pony, you ever heard of that before?" Twilight said with a mixture of annoyance and some hope.
"Well... yes..." Atrus said back, not what to say.
Twilight perked up a bit at that information. If he's heard of ponies then there's a chance that she could get back to Ponyville.
"So you have heard of us!" she said in excitement.
The corner of Atrus's lip rose. "They're not like you. You're unique."
"Oh," Twilight said as her ears drooped. Her hopes, albeit small ones, had been in vain. Atrus's words drew some questions to Twilight's mind. If he had heard of ponies before then why did he say that she was unique? She looked similar to the rest of her species, except for being an alicorn of course. She had elements of all three types of ponies embodied in her, it was what helped her and her fellow princesses rule. They could empathize with all three of the pony races.
"What did you mean by unique?" Twilight asked.
"The ponies I know aren't as colorful as you, also they can't talk," Atrus said matter-of-factly.
Twilight cocked an eyebrow, "What, really? I don't believe you."
"It's true."
That both intrigued and horrified Twilight at the same time. To think that there were other ponies that didn't share the same attributes that she was used to was shocking. If they couldn't speak then could that mean Atrus had done something to them that had taken that ability away? What if there were ponies that were enslaved by him? These thoughts came and went in Twilight's mind as possibilities, however, she was one that preferred to believe in the good inside everypony. She was curious to know what Atrus meant but, for now, other pressing matters demanded her attention, such as heading home.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked.
"This," Atrus said motioning with his hands to everywhere, "is Tomahna. My home."
"Where in Equestria is that?" Twilight asked.
"Equestria?" Atrus replied.
"Yes, this is in or around Equestria, right?"
"I'm not familiar with..." Atrus trailed off.
Twilight leaned closer to hear him. She was really hoping that she was still at least close to Equestria. Since Atrus knew where they were then he should know where Equestria was. Twilight clung to that thought as hard as she could because the only way she knew how to get back to her castle in Ponyville at the moment was currently rushing down the river to be forever lost.
After a moment Atrus quickly looked up at Twilight, "Wait a moment, I know that name!"
"You do!" Twilight jumped up and flew from the arch before landing several yards away from Atrus.
"Yes, I wrote an Age a while back with that title. I think I know where I can get it, but first," he turned around to head up the trail, "I want to check on something."
Twilight immediately thought back to how she had accidentally knocked the book off the pedestal in the gazebo. Atrus was surely going there, and if he was going there he was certainly going to check on the book. Her chest began thumping as she thought of the trouble she might get into if he found out she was the cause of the book going into the water.
"Check on what?" Twilight asked with trepidation.
"Didn't you see the large explosion in the sky near here?" Atrus asked.
Twilight blinked, "The what now?"
"There was a pretty spectacular explosion in the sky that happened not too long ago. I think it happened near here and I wanted to try and find the source."
In Twilight's fit of desperation she had tried to teleport to Ponyville from here. To her, the spell had inexplicably failed. When that happened the next thing she remembered was falling to the ground. The explosion that Atrus was talking about must've been the result of her failed spell.
"Wait," Twilight said and Atrus stopped to look back at her. "That was probably me."
"You did that?" Atrus said with a skeptical chuckle.
"I'm being serious," Twilight said.
Atrus's humored smile disappeared. "How could that have been you? You would've died if you were caught in that."
"It's not that farfetched. A failed spell can have spectacular results," Twilight said, "or be spectacularly dangerous."
Atrus said nothing, looking back at the purple alicorn, trying to rationalize what he'd just heard. In Atrus's field, a creature at the center of an explosion would not survive. Twilight's mention of a failed spell made him mentally double take. Atrus liked to think of himself as a rational thinker and a mention of magic was new to him coming from a real creature in front of him.
"In the field of magic, anything can happen," Twilight said with a nervous laugh.
"You're able to perform magic?" Atrus asked.
"Yes. What? Is that uncommon?"
"In the Ages that I've been to, yes," Atrus said.
Twilight pointed a hoof at him. "You keep talking about 'Ages.' What are those?"
Atrus sighed and looked out over the river in thought. "I think, to understand that it might be best if I just show you." He began walking up the trail again. Twilight followed.
It was slow going for Twilight despite the short distance to the gazebo. Twilight was worried about what she'd say to Atrus when he figured out she had been the one to lose his book. She knew inside that it would be inevitable. He would find out and it would be bad for her because she knew that that book was going to be very valuable. If she had created a book that could transport you to other places, she'd value it very highly.
When they came upon the pedestal on the catwalk Atrus had a puzzled look on his face. He ran up to it and inspected it.
"Is something wrong?" Twilight said past a swallow.
Atrus sat on the pedestal and sighed, "Yes. One of my linking books was placed here. When you said Equestria, it reminded me of this location. I stored it here. I can't believe I forgot about it."
"Linking book?" Twilight asked.
"It allows you to travel between Ages. The explosion you caused must've knocked this over and sent the book into the river." Atrus obviously looked disappointed. However, Atrus's response to the loss of the book was surprisingly mild. He had correctly deducted that Twilight had been the indirect cause of the loss of the book.
"Yeah," Twilight said looking down. She decided that honesty was the best policy right now. The book was her only way home and she had accidentally lost it. She felt terrible.
"You're not mad?" Twilight asked with caution.
Atrus gave a weary chuckle, "No. It was probably an accident."
Twilight let out a very audible sigh of relief. "That takes a load off my chest."
Atrus grinned lightly. "Well, the loss of one linking book, while unfortunate, isn't something to worry about. The actual Age is in my library where I live."
Twilight snapped to attention. "You mean that you have another way I can get back home!"
"Well... yes," Atrus said as if it was common knowledge, not feeling the weight of his words.
"Haha!" Twilight exclaimed as she rushed forward and gave Atrus a big hug. Before long she let go. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! You have no idea how happy that makes me!"
Atrus was startled at the sudden pony hug he received. However, sensing her gratitude he let it happen and he was happy to help. He knew what it was like to not be able to return back to your home. It had happened once before.
Twilight stepped back from Atrus as he got up from his seat. "I'll take you back to my home. I'll have your Age in my library, it won't be a problem to get you back. You'll get to meet my wife and daughter as well. I'm sure they'd love to meet you," Atrus said as he walked down the catwalk to the trail below.
Twilight nodded eagerly as she followed him. She was now interested in meeting Atrus's family. It not only made her feel better for being accepted here but she would also get to see what other members of Atrus's species looked like. Those facts did interest her as a mare of science and discovery. With these new observations she could record much for Equestria's benefit.
There was one thing that Twilight didn't learn from their conversations yet. "Again, you keep mentioning 'Ages.' What are those?" she asked Atrus.
Atrus was walking in front of Twilight at a slightly quicker pace than he had when she followed him. His gait now showed his excitement. Atrus talked as he walked. "I was hoping to explain that with that linking book. An Age is one of many worlds. To travel between them you need a book like the one that was on the pedestal. Was there anything similar to that-- that you saw before you came here?"
She took a moment to consider the room in her castle with the strange book. Twilight spoke, "Yes, I opened it and it had a panel that showed me this place. It was guarded by an elaborate puzzle. I don't know what happened to make me come here. All I remember is placing a hoof on the page before I was rushing through the air here."
Twilight had caught up next to him. Her shoulders were level with the middle of Atrus's thigh and the top of her head matched the middle of his torso in height. It felt weird to be so much shorter than anypony --or in this case, anybody-- other than the princesses.
Atrus continued to speak as they walked, gesturing with his hands as he went. "It's not uncommon for someone to guard their linking books like that. I know that I've done that before with mine. They are an open conduit between Ages. Think of them like an open door. When a book is left unguarded then anyone can go through them. It can be troublesome when that does happen. I prefer to set up puzzles like the one you found to make it so I can go back and forth without worrying about that because I'm the only one who knows the solution. I think others like me have done the same."
Twilight nodded. "I can see why. It proved to be a problem when I got here. I lost that book."
"Just count yourself lucky that your Age's descriptive book is here. If you'd done the same thing and lost a linking book somewhere else, you'd be stuck there forever."
"Gee," Twilight said, she had almost had that happen to her here. Thank goodness Atrus had another way for her to get back home.
It took them some time to get back to the monorail. Twilight was fine now with the pace they kept because Atrus provided good conversation along the way. As they talked, Atrus asked about Equestria and what it was like there. Twilight was happy to give a full account of every detail she could think of. It proved to be more than Atrus bargained for as she talked about every subject possible. Atrus, to his credit, listened intently, asking intelligent questions whenever he wanted to know more about something. It did well to liven up Twilight's mood.
When they reached the station, Atrus went up the stairs first with Twilight following close behind. The monorail pod was able to fit more than one person comfortably, however, it wasn't made for pony occupants. Two seats were positioned near the front of the pod which had a large glass windshield that allowed a panoramic view to the passengers. Twilight found the seat uncomfortable because it wasn't large enough for her to sit regularly. She scooted back into the seat but there wasn't enough room for her fore hooves. Atrus did everything he could to make her feel comfortable by placing a box or two in front of the seat where a person's feet would usually go.
Atrus sat in the seat next to Twilight where instruments to control the pod were located. It consisted of two levers that could be pushed forward or backward to aid in speeding up or slowing down the pod. A third mechanism with a crank was placed in the middle of the pod between the driver side and passenger side.
Atrus looked over at Twilight. "Are you ready?"
Twilight nodded in reply. Atrus then looked forward and turned the crank in the middle. The pod then began to turn and the door closed simultaneously while Twilight watched in wonder as the machine worked. She was looking upward at their vehicles connection to the rail, trying to see the pod's source of power when she felt them lurch forward. She almost fell on her face but managed to steady herself. Twilight looked backwards to see the station slowly move away from them as they began to pick up speed.
Soon they were moving swiftly through the canyon. It thrilled Twilight to see such a unique landscape rush quickly past them. The water sparkled under the sun of a cloudless day. The sun hit the sandstone, highlighting their red tints. They passed under and over arches formed by the many long years of erosion. The metal towers supporting the monorail soon gave way to large guy-wires that suspended the track above the river. They rounded bends quickly and turned abruptly through a narrow snakelike s-turn. This was exhilarating for Twilight who almost gave a squeal of pleasure at how fun this was.
They emerged from the slot canyon to a more open area. The river was still below them and they now were moving at a much more steady speed. The rail lead them in a straight path through the area with no sudden turns in sight. Twilight took this opportunity to really look around at their surroundings. It was very beautiful to her. The water had an emerald shine with the red-rock formations. As she looked forward again, she saw one of the most beautiful homes she had ever seen.
The river's source was at the top of a waterfall. The monorail lead upwards over an arch to the top of another arch the waterfall cascaded through. Several buildings were built onto the cliff face and were supported by stilts where they leaned over the edge. Walkways crossed between the buildings allowing for easy access. The source waters were as still as a calm lake which added to the beauty of the scene.
The pod reached the top of the archway where the end of the line was. It slowed before entering in and came to a soft stop. Both sides of the pod opened up, allowing both Twilight and Atrus an exit. Atrus methodically exited with the supplies that he'd brought with him. Twilight followed out from her side. She kept on taking in the sights as she walked, forgetting to look where she was going, and walked into one of the guard railings. Since she was much shorter than the intended person it was meant to protect, her neck was the first to make contact. She choked for a moment before springing backward and coughing.
Atrus walked quickly over to Twilight to see if she was okay.
"I'm fine," Twilight raggedly said.
Atrus chuckled, "Try to be more careful. You might be able to fly with those wings, but I still don't want you to get hurt on accident."
After Twilight regained her composure Atrus walked over to a lever and pulled. A spiral aperture opened up allowing access into the natural stone of the arch. Twilight followed him inside, mostly eager to see the rest of his home.
To her uttermost delight, the first room that they entered was a laboratory. The walkway leading in immediately turned right and up some stairs. Next to Twilight, a contraption sparked with electricity arcing from outstretched points. Steam and gears turned on the other side, powering other machinery that was used for scientific observations. Upon looking towards the ceiling, Twilight noticed that this was an observatory as well. All the scientific equipment helped her feel right at home.
"You're a scientist?" Twilight asked.
Atrus let out a short laugh as he walked up the stairs to a large desk that lined the wall. On top of the desk were several cabinets and drawers that stored various items. He placed his bag on top of the desk and looked back towards Twilight who was looking around in awe at the whole place.
"What can I say?" Atrus said, "I love to learn."
"Father?" A younger female voice sounded. "Father, is that you?"
Atrus looked up fondly towards the direction of the voice. "Yes Yeesha, I'm over here," he called out, "and I've brought a guest."
Footsteps gradually got louder as the source grew closer. They were light steps, filled with youthful energy that was eager to approach. A young girl late in her adolescent years walked over to them. She had on a simple skirt and blouse combination with a vest. Her hair was brown and tied back into a single ponytail. "Has your friend come to visit agai--" She cut herself off at the sight of Twilight.
"Uh... Hi?" Twilight said.
"Oh my gosh! She's adorable!" The girl said enthusiastically as she clasped her hands.
Atrus smiled and looked over to Twilight. "My daughter, Yeesha."
Twilight was taken by surprise with Yeesha's reaction, nopony had ever reacted in that way to her. She didn't know what to expect from Yeesha now. Yeesha walked quickly over to Twilight and began to give the most uncomfortable visual inspection Twilight ever had. The entire time Yeesha bombarded her with questions.
"Where are you from? Are there more of you? Can you really fly? Can you do magic?" All of these questions came at Twilight faster than most people had time to think.
"Equestria. Yes, back home. Yes, and yes." Twilight said, not missing a beat.
Yeesha eyes went wide in fascination, "Wow..."
Atrus walked over and placed a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "Yeesha, please don't smother our guest."
Yeesha looked up and began to realize what she had done. She looked over to Twilight in mild shock and clenched her teeth. "I'm so sorry. I got carried away."
Twilight brushed it off, "Don't worry about it. This is new for me too."
Atrus spoke to Yeesha, "Why don't you get your mother. I'm sure that she'd like to meet Twilight Sparkle."
"You can just call me Twilight."
Atrus corrected himself. "Twilight, then."
Yeesha nodded obediently and said, "Yes, Father," before walking out of the laboratory.
"She's very bright, but still very much a child inside," Atrus said.
"I noticed," Twilight said.
Twilight took this opportunity to look around some more. On the desk at the end nearest to the stairs was a contraption that looked like it modeled a solar system. It was made completely out of metal and had a switch at its base. Twilight went over and looked at it. It was definitely different from the astronomy she was familiar with. She lifted a hoof and flipped the switch. The arms which held up the metal planets spun around the machine's center in different directions. It was mildly entertaining and she flipped the switch again when the arms stopped spinning. Sufficiently amused she walked around more of the lab.
Near another door was a large contraption that Twilight had no clue of its design or purpose. It was a large cylindrical machine with glass tubes protruding from the top at every direction. They were all lit up and had electricity arcing inside of them. In the middle of it there was a glass screen which furthered Twilight's perplexity.
"That is my crystal viewer," Atrus said from behind her, " It can be used to look into Ages if you know the proper frequencies."
"Couldn't you just use one of your linking books to do that?" Twilight asked.
"A linking book has a fixed point it can see that is determined by its location. This," Atrus placed a hand on the machine, "can have its picture adjusted."
Twilight walked over to it. "Where do you see the image?"
Atrus motioned to the glass screen. "You see in right here. And these," he placed pointed below the screen where four slots were seen, "are where you put the tuning crystals in to see the Age you want to." He pointed to another machine opposite to them. "That is where you can calibrate the sound component to hear what's in the Age."
"Could you use it to see Equestria?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, if we knew more about the frequencies your Age was tuned to."
This intrigued Twilight. She wanted to see Equestria through the device but it was better if she could simply go back. Being there was better than seeing it through a screen.
In their attention to the crystal viewer they failed to notice the other person who had walked in. "Getting another one of your friends involved in your work again?"
Atrus and Twilight turned around to see a woman the same age as Atrus standing with her arms folded. A smile was on her face as she looked fondly at the two. She wore a faintly blue dress under a red coat that nearly reached the same length as the dress. Her salt-and-pepper hair hung freely from her head behind her shoulders. Her face was beginning to show wrinkles that added to her gentle appearance.
"Well, yes and no," Atrus said quickly.
"You've always been so passionate about your work, I'd be surprised if you weren't about doing that. Who is this?" the woman asked.
Atrus introduced them, "This is Twilight, Catherine." He turned to Twilight, "This is my wife Catherine."
Twilight gave a pleasant smile, "I'm pleased to meet you."
"And I you," Catherine said with a slight nod. "Yeesha couldn't stop talking about you when she came to get me. I sent her off to begin preparing lunch. Would you care to join us?"
Twilight was flattered. Here was a nice family that invited her to stay for a meal. It reminded her of when she first arrived in Ponyville and their hospitality. She really wanted to get back there as soon as possible but she didn't want to refuse their generosity. "I would love to," she said.
"She really couldn't stop talking about her?" Atrus asked.
Catherine let out a chuckle, "She kept on saying how there's an adorable pony doing sciency things with Dad."
Atrus laughed lightly at that comment. "Yeesha's pretty smart herself. It's funny how she phrased it like that."
"She's pretty smart?" Twilight said.
"Yes, she's learned everything I've given her very quickly. She assists me a lot with my discoveries now days. Like I said, very bright. She's been very adept at writing Ages. I haven't had her make the leap to having her write Ages that are inhabited yet, but Yeesha is almost there," Atrus said.
"Please, explain this to me. Ages are written?" Twilight said.
Catherine walked up next to Atrus. "They are, it's a prized skill. My husband here writes Ages and explores them. You'll see that when he gets a new idea he has to begin writing an Age based around that immediately. He's written hundreds."
"You create worlds through writing?" Twilight asked, amazed.
Atrus grew a little uneasy. "Not exactly. I've theorized, and there are many who agree, that when we write an Age we aren't creating it but instead are just creating a link to an already existing world."
"I see, that makes a lot of sense. It requires less assumptions," Twilight said. "Already I can see how this could give somepony a god complex."
"Exactly," Catherine said.
Yeesha walked briskly into the room. "Lunch is ready, we can eat now." She couldn't stop staring at Twilight.
"What?" Twilight asked.
Yeesha broke out from her trance and shook her head quickly. "Nothing," she said before walking out of the room.
"We'll talk more over lunch," Catherine said as she followed behind Yeesha. Twilight and Atrus followed after her.
Twilight was escorted first by Atrus through the compound that was his home. Catherine was already out, going to assist Yeesha in preparing the dining area for their meal. They walked out of the laboratory and towards an elevator. Atrus pushed a button and the doors opened and he went inside. Twilight followed and as soon as they were inside Atrus pushed a button and they were lowered down a level to a raised pathway attached to the side of the cliffs above the lake. As they walked, Twilight was able to get a better feel for what Tomahna was like. It felt as if the whole landscape was built with this place as its focal point. The river's source waters were here. Which was impressive because the small size of the lake in the middle of the cove created the massive waterfall which fed the river.
The compound was designed with the intention of having its tenants be outside for most of their stay. The yurts that formed rooms weren't very large and could hold only a few people comfortably before it became crowded. Most of the buildings were elevated and sitting on ledges of cliffs. A lower level, at the same height as the surface of the lake, had more buildings with varied rooms. Some platforms were designed to help gain access to the lake. It was an idyllic place for a single family to live in privacy.
Twilight and Atrus walked on the catwalks around two buildings before reaching a door that lead into an open dining area. A small kitchen could be seen through a door off to the side. By its size, Twilight figured that it wasn't meant for preparing large meals. It served its purpose as an informal dining area. Yeesha and Catherine began to set the table with simply designed plates and cups. Atrus motioned for Twilight to take a seat and went into the kitchen to help his family.
Twilight walked over to the table and pushed out a chair. To her displeasure, it wasn't designed for a pony to sit at. She lifted herself awkwardly onto the chair and tried her best to figure it out. However, it was a difficult process. The chair wasn't deep enough to allow her to comfortably sit. Yet she stubbornly tried to make it work. Catherine noticed the difficulty that Twilight was having and quickly finished what she was doing.
"I think that I can find you something more suitable for you to sit on, Twilight," Catherine said.
"No," Twilight said through a grunt, "it's fine." She'd managed to get on the chair somewhat but now had one leg hilariously sticking out the side under one of the arms. Her head lay on the ground with her fore hooves outstretched. It looked very uncomfortable. Twilight, after her comment, jerked her body in an attempt to get upright. All Catherine could do was watch and wait for Twilight's consent. Her face showed she was trying very hard not to laugh out loud.
After another few moments of trying hard, Twilight gave up. "Alright, help me," she said in resignation.
Catherine reached out with her hands and pulled on Twilight's hooves to help give her some leverage. After some squirming, Twilight managed to free herself.
"You can grab one of the ottomans," Atrus said from his seat. He had also tried very hard not to laugh, Yeesha as well.
Catherine nodded and walked off for a moment. A soft chuckle could be heard from her as she left the room.
Twilight smiled in embarrassment before Catherine came back with an ottoman of the appropriate size. She set it down at one end of the table. Catherine sat at the head with Atrus to her left and Yeesha to her right. Behind Atrus, the room was completely open to the air. A solid guard rail shielded anyone from unintentionally going over the edge. The wind blew, bringing pleasantly warm air into the room. Above them was a glass ceiling. It allowed for light to enter the room yet it shielded them from the heat of the sun.
On the table was set a bowl with a wide arrangement of fruits that Twilight hadn't seen before. A large salad bowl was placed next to it along with dressing bottles. A plate of sandwiches was the main focus of the meal. When everyone was seated they all began to plate food. Twilight's horn glowed as she began using her telekinesis to grab herself a sandwich and some fruit. She placed them evenly on her plate and eyed them hungrily, not realizing how empty her stomach was until now. Twilight began eating ravenously when she noticed everyone else had stopped what they were doing and were staring directly at her. She was in the middle of a bite of her sandwich and had sauce all over her face.
Sauce dripped off Twilight's face as she swallowed. "What?" she asked. Suddenly, realizing how much of a slob she was being, she picked up a napkin with her magic and wiped off her face. "Oh," she said, slightly embarrassed.
Atrus spoke first. "It's not that. We never seen anything like that before," he said pointing to the napkin that Twilight was levitating.
Twilight remembered how Atrus had reacted when she had talked about her use of magic. It was a little strange to Twilight that Atrus would talk about writing worlds in books then visiting them at will and how unusual it was for him when she used magic.
"At least I know now what you like to eat. I knew that tomato sandwiches would work," Yeesha said. "I was worried that you wouldn't like it."
"It's great, thank you!" Twilight said sincerely.
"How do you do that?" Yeesha asked.
"What, my magic?" Twilight replied.
Yeesha nodded and Twilight began, "It's hard to explain. The best way that I can put it is that I think up what I want to happen and it just... happens."
"It's that simple?" Atrus asked.
Twilight put a hoof to her mouth and thought. "Well, putting it that way doesn't fully explain how I can cast spells. Words just can't describe it adequately. You'd have to be a unicorn to understand."
Atrus looked upset. "I was hoping to learn more on how that worked."
"I'm sorry," Twilight said. She had tried to explain before how unicorn magic worked to other ponies that weren't unicorns and whenever she did she could never find the appropriate words. Every time she was asked she felt that she either oversimplified or overcomplicated it. Magic, to her, was very specific and nuanced that was nearly impossible to share it with anypony that wasn't magically adept.
"There's no need to apologize Twilight," Atrus said.
"I wish that I could help you understand at least a little bit since you're scientifically inclined."
Atrus chuckled. "Believe me, I really wish that you could too."
"It's similar to my old amulet Father," Yeesha said.
Atrus looked slightly annoyed at the memory. "Yes, and there's a lot of things from Serenia that I haven't been able to understand yet."
"Yes, and this might be just another one of those instances," Yeesha said through a mouthful of sandwich.
"Yeesha, be polite!" Catherine chided. She turned her attention to Twilight, "And where are you from Twilight? I don't believe I've had the chance to ask that yet."
Twilight was all too happy to oblige. She quickly swallowed the food that she was eating and began. "I'm from a place called Equestria, which," she tilted her head to Atrus, "he explained is nowhere near here. It's a place where ponies of all kinds live in harmony."
Yeesha's eyes went wide and she looked to Atrus. "Do you think that I can go there someday?" she said hopefully.
"It depends, Yeesha. In this case, Twilight should be the one to decide," Atrus said parentally.
"It shouldn't be a problem. I'll have to talk with the princesses before I can make a decision," Twilight responded.
"So there's a world filled with ponies like yourself and ruled by princesses. It sounds like a little girl's fantasy," Catherine said, smiling at Atrus.
"I wrote that Age for Yeesha to go to when she was younger. I must've forgotten," Atrus said dismissively.
"You had other things you were worrying about at the time. I don't blame you," Catherine said.
Twilight was looking back and forth between them, a little puzzled. "Why, what happened?"
"I got kidnapped by my brother," Yeesha said through a mouthful of food.
Twilight was shocked to hear that. She had the sudden horrific image of her brother kidnapping her against her will. However, she brushed it off as soon as it began. Shining Armor would never be so evil to do that. They were too close.
"Yeesha!" Both Atrus and Catherine said. Yeesha merely shrugged her shoulders.
They conversed more about Equestria and Twilight, again, was eager to share everything that she could about her home. She loved it so much and her friends in Ponyville had helped her through so much. Catherine and Yeesha were eager listeners, both of them giving intelligent questions on the same level as Atrus. Twilight was happy to see that each of them were very intellectual. However, now she was growing more and more homesick. The thoughts of almost having her connection to Equestria severed forever made her want to return as soon as possible. When they were at that point, Twilight sought a good way to end the conversation.
"It's getting late, I really should get back to my home," Twilight said politely.
"Yes, I don't want to keep you waiting," Atrus said.
After briefly cleaning up their meal they set off towards Atrus's library. Twilight was lead through more catwalks above the lake below to an elevator different from the one they had taken from the lab to this main level. It was smaller than the first and had a very simple brass cylindrical design. Atrus entered first, as before, and when Twilight was inside he pulled the lever. It only had two positions, either up or down. When they first got in it was in the up position.
They descended below ground level and through the bedrock. The surface of the lake passed their view and the elevator grew dark. Electric lights illuminated the small space as they worked their way downward. Twilight began to wonder how far they were underground. They descended for several more seconds before the view port of the elevator revealed an underground cavern. The sound of water trickling gently through the ceiling was heard throughout.
Atrus opened the elevator door, revealing more of the underground to Twilight. A smooth and straight path lead away from them towards a wall with an ornate circular door. The source of the water's sound came from streams that ran next to the path on either side through a decorative trench. A guard rail bordered the edges of the walkway, defining where it was acceptable to walk. On the top of each of the poles a small light shined down on the path, dotting it with light.
Atrus walked out from the elevator and Twilight followed. She was looking around and taking in the sights. It was impressive to her that Atrus had been able to construct such a cavern. It must have taken a great deal of time for him to get everything ready.
"Did you make this yourself?" Twilight asked.
"I had a little help from my people, the D'ni," Atrus said as they walked.
"Do they live near here?"
Atrus shook his head. "No, they live in another Age called Releeshan."
Twilight was always impressed when she heard about more Ages. There was an infinite number of things that she wanted to learn from Atrus, especially how Ages were made. The field of science in Equestria would be furthered much faster using other Ages than if they were simply left to their own devices. Twilight had deduced at this point that there was an infinite number of possible Ages to visit using the linking books that Atrus had talked about. For now, however, she needed to get back home.
Atrus stopped at the doors. They were circular and had ornate filigree set into the dark oak doors. He opened them inward and Twilight saw the moderate storage of books that Atrus had. The room was rectangular with shelves lining each of the walls. A writing desk facing them was at the end of the room opposite the doors. This library wasn't very large but, in the end, Twilight was in awe because she sensed that many of those books contained links to other Ages.
Atrus walked in routinely and placed his hands on his hips, his gaze searching the bookshelves.
"Everything alright?" Twilight asked as she walked up next to him.
"Yes, I just have to remember where I placed your Age," Atrus said, bringing a hand to his chin.
After a few moments of thinking Atrus moved suddenly to one of the bookshelves off to their right. He twitted his fingers over one of the rows of books before he reached in and pulled a book off the shelf. It was similar in design to the linking book that Twilight had lost but was bigger. It had in large gold letters, Equestria.
Twilight's heart leaped in her chest as Atrus brought the book over to the desk and opened it. Twilight quickly moved over next to Atrus, a broad smile on her face.
Atrus let out a satisfied breath as he opened the book. "There you go." He motioned to it with his hand.
In the book was a familiar rectangular panel that showed the interior of the room Twilight had left in Equestria. Relief soon flooded through her at the sight. She looked up to Atrus with a grateful look on her face. "Thank you," she said.
Atrus returned the gratitude with a nod. "It was my pleasure. Feel free to come back any time you like. I'm sure that Yeesha would be the most happy with that. She'll probably still want to go to your Age one day."
"I'd like that," Twilight said, "It'd be the least I can do for the kindness you've shown me."
With that Twilight looked back to the panel on the linking book and began to move her hoof over it. Thoughts of telling her friends the adventure she had just been on filled her mind. Spike would probably greet her with a snide retort on how she shouldn't go off on her own like that again. All of that filled her with overwhelming nostalgia. It surprised her to have felt that way with such intensity, but then again, she had almost lost her only way back to her world.
Moments before she could place her hoof on the book and return to Equestria a shock wave of force shook the room violently. Books fell from the shelves and became scattered about on the floor. The lights flickered and dimmed. Atrus nearly fell over but braced himself on the desk while Twilight lowered herself to the ground. Moments after the initial shock, a second wave throttled the room. Cracks appeared in the ceiling and walls and water began to rush into the cavern at an alarming rate. The earthquakes didn't cease and unsettling tremors continued to rock the earth. The sounds of earth grating against itself were nearly deafening.
"What's happening!" Twilight shouted in alarm.
"I don't know!" Atrus replied.
Atrus did his best to get up but the tremors hindered his movement. He turned to Twilight. "I have to get outside!" he exclaimed. Worry was apparent on his face even in the dimmed light. Twilight nodded back at him.
Atrus then moved as quickly as he could out of the room and towards the elevator. Twilight began to follow, worried for him and his family, and before she was too far she looked back at Equestria's book on the writing desk with longing.
Atrus sensed her worry and willingness to help and shouted back over the noise. "This room will be fine, the water drains out to the waterfall and I've had the cavern reinforced to endure for centuries!" He was propping himself up on the door frame to keep from falling over. Twilight nodded back at him after giving the book one last glance.
They both worked their way with difficulty to the elevator. Lights were flickering madly at the disturbance. The gentle trickle of water had become more violent and spattered water on the walkway. Atrus did his best to move on his own but ended up tripping. Twilight swiftly helped him up and he grabbed the guard railing for support. Twilight was having some difficulty, too, moving along the path. Her gait swayed with the trembling earth.
Twilight was the first to get to the elevator and Atrus followed soon after. He quickly pushed the lever upward to make them reach the surface. The ride wasn't smooth. They felt as if the elevator was being beaten with a bat while they were riding. Twilight gritted her teeth every time the elevator hit the walls. Atrus grunted as he held fast to the hand rails during their rough ascent.
Finally, they rose above the surface. The sky had become pitch black with night, a swirling starry expanse enveloped the horizon, appearing to move and fold like fabric. Thunder boomed all around them as gusts of wind howled through the once peaceful dwelling. The surface of the lake below was filled with white-caps reflecting the tempest that blew. Once secured rope bridges were now billowing with a life of their own, making them impossible to cross. Some catwalks had become impassable with debris.
The elevator reached a jarring halt at the level they had their meal earlier. Once the door opened Atrus quickly moved outside to the edge and with a hand over his brow looked around. Twilight followed behind, a look of worry on her face. Wind blew her mane in all directions as she squinted to try and get a good view of the situation. She couldn't see any obvious signs of Catherine or Yeesha.
"You go back to the dining area! I'll check the other side of the compound!" Atrus said to Twilight.
Twilight nodded resolutely and started off towards the dining area. The wind made it hard for her to see. She couldn't fly unless she wanted to risk being violently tossed with the wind. The thunder in the air coupled with gusts made it hard to hear anything. Twilight did her best to move swiftly through the compound to find Atrus's family.
She squinted against the wind and moved through the walkways towards the kitchen. Thunder clapped in the air again after a flash of lightning. The path, thankfully, was secure and clear enough for Twilight to make her way to the dining area with ease. When she reached the open room the table and chairs had been tossed by the wind. Potted plants had been overturned, placing soil all over the floor The furnishings were making it difficult for Twilight to cross. She maneuvered carefully around them and made her way to the kitchen.
"Catherine! Yeesha!" Twilight called out but received no answer.
Upon entering the room Twilight noticed that everything was surprisingly in place. It was enclosed, with the only entrance being the one that lead to the dining area. Because of the small size of the room Twilight confirmed that none of them were here. She let out a disappointed sigh at that discovery.
Soon after Twilight's entrance to the room a loud crack sounded through the room. The ground shook hard and the kitchen's contents began to be displaced. Pots clanged loudly against the floor, falling off of their hangers above the counters, disorienting Twilight with the noise. A crack in the ground outside the room formed and began to widen. The dining area was separating itself from the kitchen. Twilight could only watch from her crouched position as the other room fell to the lake below.
Now Twilight was isolated. The only way out from the kitchen was across an impassible obstacle by hoof. If she was to fly then she'd risk getting blown against her will to wherever the winds decided.
Through the debris and mist blowing through the air from the lake, Twilight was able to see the other end of the compound, but only barely. Atrus was having the same amount of luck. There were several paths that he needed to take to move forward but now had become nearly impossible to cross. Despite that, he was making every effort he could to get around to where he thought his family would be. Twilight had to admire him for that. She would do the same for her friends or family back in Equestria.
As Atrus slowly made his way through the compound, searching through different rooms, a couple of silhouetted figures caught her attention. They were on the lower level, huddled inside one of the yurts near the edge of the lake. Water was crashing into the open room over them. A bright flash of lightning revealed to Twilight that it was Yeesha and Catherine and they didn't look to be in very good shape. The normal path to exit was too treacherous to cross. Twilight looked back to where Atrus was and saw that he had made his way through the blocked path and was in one of the rooms. Unfortunately, both he and Twilight were a level above where Catherine and Yeesha were.
Upon looking back to the women's location she could see visible shaking in their yurt. It was going to fall into the water at this rate! Twilight looked around for any way she could possible make it over there in time. There wasn't any time to react as she heard Catherine and Yeesha cry out in fear as the building lurched dangerously towards the lake. More water cascaded over them and threatened to pull them in, and Atrus was painfully unaware.
Twilight knew that she was the only one who could do something, anything, to help save them. If they fell into the water, with how tumultuous the surface was, they could drown or worse --they could drift over the edge of the waterfall!
Lightning again lit up the night followed by a terrible boom of thunder. Twilight got up from her perch and spread her wings. She beat them down with great force to propel her over the edge of the destroyed dining area and into the air. Twilight shrieked immediately as the whirlwinds buffeted her around like a piece of paper. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she knew her purpose. Determined to beat the storm, Twilight flapped her wings with all the force she could muster and flew towards Catherine and Yeesha.
"I'm coming!" Twilight yelled.
It was hard work but she managed to get near to them. Catherine was clinging to one of pillars near the rear of the open room while Yeesha held tightly onto her. They were both soaking wet. A wave crashed over the two of them. Catherine spat out the water in her mouth as Yeesha coughed from water attempting to make its way into her lungs. Twilight did her best to hover over them but with the wind she had to correct herself constantly. Catherine looked up at Twilight with concern as all she could do was watch and hold on to the wall and Yeesha. With strain, Twilight encircled them with her magic and lifted them out from the building. Twilight panted hard with the exertion and made her way as quickly as she could to a catwalk that was several feet above the surface of the water.
It was one of the most difficult things that Twilight had done. She had never had to focus on her magic as well as flying through a storm. When Catherine and Yeesha were safe on the catwalk, Twilight dropped herself suddenly onto the path, grateful for the break. Twilight rolled over onto her back, exhausted from the feat, and panted raggedly.
"Twilight!" Yeesha called out with concern. She moved quickly over to Twilight's side and knelt next to her. "Are you okay?"
Twilight lifted a hoof dismissively. "I'm fine," she said wearily.
Catherine moved over near them both. "Are you sure? That didn't look easy."
Twilight, having stabilized herself somewhat, pushed herself into a seated position. Still panting she said, "Anything for my friends." Twilight smiled and Catherine smiled back.
In a moment concern came back to Catherine's face. "Where's Atrus? Is he okay?"
Twilight nodded. "He's fine too. When the earthquakes started, we both came back up to look for you." Twilight looked up a level. "He's up there."
Another flash of lightning shown through the air and Twilight caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye an unknown figure. She looked over in the direction she saw it. Sure enough, a man that was definitely not Atrus was moving quickly through the compound. He managed to take routes that were still clear. It soon became apparent that he was going to the elevator that lead to the library.
Panic filled Twilight's mind, almost more so than the thought of Catherine and Yeesha drowning. Equestria's linking book was down there and if anything happened to it then she would never see her home again.
Twilight was conflicted. She wanted to see both Catherine and Yeesha to safety, but she also felt a yearning need to go home. Twilight looked back and found both of them looking directly at her. Care and worry could be seen in their expressions and Twilight immediately decided to see them to safety. Twilight blinked away the moisture in her eyes. "Let's get you two safely back to Atrus," Twilight said.
Catherine and Yeesha nodded before they all got up and began moving up the ramp they were on. The wind still tried to snatch them from the path and the ground shook with tremors once more. Twilight lowered herself to the ground while Catherine and Yeesha clung to the rail. Once the tremor was over they began to move again.
"Catherine!" Atrus's voice could be heard.
"Atrus!" Catherine called out.
Once they were at the top of the ramp they turned and Atrus ran quickly to them and embraced his family. A look of the deepest relief flooded through Atrus's face as the family held each other. Twilight smiled at the show of love they shared.
Twilight's face became serious. "Atrus, does anyone else live here?"
Atrus looked over at Twilight, a little puzzled. "No, why?"
Twilight became more worried. "I saw another person. He's going to the library."
"What?" Atrus said. Sudden shock went through his conscience as his eyes widened. "The library!"
Catherine and Yeesha, after hearing what had happened also became very concerned. They finished their embrace and Atrus immediately began heading towards the elevator that lead down to the library. Each of them followed closely behind. As the reached the elevator they all noticed how it currently wasn't there. It was underground. Atrus pulled the lever near where the entrance should have been. Mechanical noises sounded as gears turned, recalling the battered elevator to the top. Once it was up and the door open, Atrus got inside. Twilight got in next to him as they had done before. Unfortunately, since the elevator was so small, it could only accommodate the two of them.
Catherine watched with worry. "Be careful."
"I know," Atrus said with a smile and pulled the lever making him and Twilight descend.
Once through the layers of rock the elevator door opened and they both left for the library in a hurry. Behind them, the elevator began to rise back to the surface. Twilight and Atrus reached the door of the library quickly. Atrus reached to a handle and tried to open the door. It was locked. He then jerked the handle with all the force he could muster while slamming his shoulder into it. The door wouldn't budge.
"Stand back!" Twilight said as her horn began to glow. Atrus quickly obeyed as a bolt of energy shot from her horn and tore apart the door. Splinters crashed aside as the entrance was now accessible.
Once some of the smoke and debris had settled, Twilight and Atrus went inside. Both of them were prepared for a struggle. As they reached the inside they saw a man standing behind the writing desk. He was a thin man with shoulder length brown hair. The man was wearing simple clothing, a pair of dark trousers with a white shirt under a black jerkin. His face had a tired, but gentle look on it. However, when he saw Atrus a look of the utmost contempt crossed his features. Over his shoulder was draped a heavy satchel that was filled with books.
"Stop right there!" Atrus said sternly.
The man smirked at the comment before opening a book and pressing his hand down onto it. In moments he disappeared, the linking book in his hand dropped to the ground unceremoniously. Soon after, the trembling earth calmed itself and everything returned to normal. Twilight looked around, confused as to why the squall had ceased so suddenly. Atrus moved quickly over to where the man had been and examined the linking book he left behind before stopping, his gaze then fell on the empty writing desk. Disdain crossed Atrus's face.
Twilight moved over to him and asked, "What is it?" before she followed his gaze. When she saw the desk she gasped.
Equestria's linking book was gone.
Twilight looked up to Atrus in disbelief before looking back to where the key for her return was missing. "W-what does this mean?" Twilight asked with a tremor in her voice.
Atrus gave a deep sigh. "It means," he paused, "that he took your Age."
Twilight's eyes watered. Again, her opportunity to return home had been snatched away from her. She wasn't ever going to see her friends again, and that terrified her. Atrus and his family were great, and she already cared for them, but her own home had been taken from her as easily as a candle being snuffed out. It was too much to take in.
Catherine and Yeesha came in soon after and noticed a defeated Twilight next to a downed Atrus. Catherine strode over to her husband and wrapped her arms around him in a comforting gesture sensing that something was amiss. Yeesha saw that Twilight was upset and walked over next to her to comfort her in any way that she could.
After a moment of mourning Atrus left Catherine's embrace and quickly went over to one of the bookshelves to grab a book.
"What are you doing?" Catherine asked.
"That man that was here was looking for something," Atrus said as he walked over to another end of the library with a large chest.
"What could he possibly want from us?" Catherine said.
Atrus motioned to the bookshelves nearest to the desk. "He took a bunch of my books. I'm betting you that he took some of my Ages as well."
"Why would he want to steal those?" Catherine said.
"I don't know," Atrus said as he grabbed a tiny pouch from the chest, "and I don't think it's as simple as getting rich. None of my Ages were really that wealthy, and he also didn't leave a ransom note." He walked over to Twilight, "He also took Twilight's Age."
Catherine placed her hands over her mouth, suddenly sympathizing with Twilight.
Atrus placed the linking book in the pouch and knelt before Twilight, presenting her with it. "You need to follow him and take back your way home."
Twilight sniffled, "Why me?"
Atrus explained. "The reason that everything here went to hell was because he opened up something called The Star Fissure. It's a rift in an unstable Age that causes a lot of problems. I have to repair this Age while I'm in Releeshan and my family can't go in there after him."
"Why not!" Yeesha said, obviously disappointed to miss out on some adventure.
Atrus looked at Yeesha parentally. "You're my daughter and I won't let you risk your life like that. Also I need Catherine to help me because she knows a lot about this Age and I need her assistance to help me bring it back into order. Twilight is the only one that can do this."
Twilight dried here eyes with a hoof and nodded. "Alright. I'll do it."
Atrus gave a thankful shake of his head and placed the small satchel over Twilight's head. "This contains a linking book to my study in Releeshan. I'll be there for most of the day, you can contact me through this if you need any help." Atrus then opened up the linking book the man had left behind. The panel showed a desert-like environment with blue stone. No plant life could be seen at the location the book showed. The sky had dark blue clouds, blocking out much of the daylight. It was a very foreboding place. "This is an Age I'm not familiar with. So be careful.
Twilight nodded and after a moment's hesitation she placed her hoof on the panel and felt the now familiar pull to a new Age.
