Delivery
It was an unusually hot summer day in Ponyville, the absolute worst kind of heat anypony could imagine. The sun shone brightly and the air was moist. It was so hot that looking at something for too long it would make it start to appear wavy, and sometimes one wouldn’t be able to know if one had started seeing mirages or not. The whole town lay quiet, as practically every inhabitant had taken to one of the many small rivers and lakes around town. The only ones who seemed to enjoy this situation were the salesponies around town, as most of them had suddenly abandoned their usual job of selling fruits or vegetables and taken up selling ice cream, lemonade, or anything that would cool ponies down. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had even had a limited success selling ice cubes, until their stash melted away, and they had soon given up on those cutie marks.
Even at Sweet Apple Acres, which usually kept very active, things were going slow. Down by the river that ran through one of the orchards, six ponies lay sprawled across the grass in the shade from the apple trees. Applejack had invited her friends to relax at her place, and had stocked up a large supply of ice-cold cider to get them to come. Now they all lay in the soft grass, bodies heaving, trying desperately to stave of the murderous heat.
“Oh, it’s so hot I can barely think,” Twilight muttered and glanced upwards at the tree she lay under, “I never imagined that it could get so hot in these parts.”
“I hear you darling,” came Rarity’s voice from a few feet away, as she lay sprawled on her back resting her head on a sweat drenched pillow. “Not that I mind a little bit of warmth on a summer’s day, but this is just too much.” she said with a heavy sigh and gulped down a mouthful of cider.
“Yeah, we’ve got sum heat Ah’m tellin’ ya” Applejack chipped in from her spot right beside the tree, “If the princess keep this up mah orchard’s gonna burn up soon enough. Ah swear, if she wasn’t the ruler of Equestria Ah’d give her a piece of my mind,” She said and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Twilight just sighed, but she didn’t say anything. Celestia only raised and lowered the sun after all, she couldn’t possibly control how hot it was. At least Twilight thought so. Slowly she dragged herself off the ground and made her way to the stream where Pinkie Pie lay by the shore. The usually up and going pink pony was just lying there with her snout almost touching the water, her poofy mane all straightened out, as she looked at her reflection in it. Occasionally she’d stretch out her tongue and lap some water, making Twilight wonder why she wouldn’t just jump in.
“How’s it going there, Pinkie?” Twilight said half-heartedly as she stepped into the water. She shivered a little as the cold stream enveloped her hooves, but at the same time she felt incredibly relieved. Pinkie didn’t move, she just lay there glancing at Twilight.
“How do you think it’s going? It’s so darn hot and moist my hair can’t even stay up, and no pony wants to party. And I don’t have the energy to host a party even if they wanted to.” Pinkie said in an unusually downbeat tone. Twilight just rolled her eyes and walked further into the stream until the water touched her belly. Slowly she lowered herself, taking it inch by inch until the stream enveloped her completely, before standing back up again, dripping wet.
“How’s the water, Twi?” came Rainbow Dash’s voice from up a tree. Twilight looked up towards the apple tree her friends were resting beneath and saw Dash lying on a branch with a weak smile, trying to cool herself with a bottle of cider.
“Why don’t you jump in and find out?” Twilight shot back with a slight grin on her face. Normally she wasn’t playful, but for some reason this heat made her somewhat irrational, and act out in ways she normally wouldn’t. She figured living in Ponyville for so long had somehow made changes in her, not that she minded it.
“It’s too hot, I can’t move,” Dash whined, sounding like a schoolfilly that didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. Twilight just rolled her eyes again and lit up her horn, enveloping Rainbow Dash in a purple aura. Before the cyan mare could react, Twilight yanked her out of the tree and dropped her in the water. Dash came up only microseconds later, gasping from the sudden chill. “Whoa, since when did you grow a pair Twilight?”
Twilight just smirked. “Well, I’m supposed to be the smart one in this group, and you’re all being stupid and not coming in the water to cool off with me, so I guess I’m just being sensible,” She said, still looking at Dash’s shocked expression. She glanced over at Applejack and Rarity, whom where just staring at her with slightly mixed expressions. She smirked at them. Applejack leaned over to Rarity and whispered into her ear, never taking her eyes off Twilight.
“Whaddaya think’s gotten into ‘er, Rarity? ‘S it her time o’ th’ month or sumthin?”
“I don’t think so darling, I guess the weather must’ve gotten to her.” Rarity said before taking another sip of cider. “Although I must admit, it would feel nice with a cold bath right about now, heck, your little river is starting to look quite inviting.” She added with a smirk.
“Really? Ah thought ya’ll couldn’t set yer hoof in water unless it came out of a tap?”
“Oh please Applejack, I may be a prude sometimes but I’m not THAT sensitive. Besides, have you taken a look at me lately? I’m already drenched anyway, so a little untreated water isn’t going to make it any worse,” she stuck back at the farmpony and wiped her forehead again, getting it covered in glistening sweat.
Applejack just started at Rarity for a moment, her confused expression slowly growing into a slightly more sinister one. She smiled devilishly. “Oh is that so, miss priss? Then maybe ya’ll won’t mind me doin’ this then?” she said, and before Rarity could react Applejack scooped her up on her back and started running, making a leap into the air and landing with a splash right in the middle of the river. They both broke the surface only seconds later, Rarity gasping for air and screaming her lungs out at the same time.
“You’re a dead mare Applejack!” she yelled and splashed some water in the farmers face before lunging at her. It didn’t take long for Twilight and Rainbow Dash to get in on their little fun time, and soon the four of them were engaged in a strange mixture of a wrestling match and a pool party. Pinkie Pie just watched them from her spot, feeling too heavy to even lift her head, the heat weighing down on her like an invisible anvil. Still, her friends looked like they were having fun, maybe she should join them.
Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when Applejack landed just a few feet away from her, creating a huge splash that drenched the pink pony from head to hoof. If Pinkie wasn’t soaked before she certainly was now, her mane draped over her head with only her snout sticking out. Every one of her friends suddenly froze in place and looked at Pinkie. They didn’t know what to expect out of her. The party pony tried and failed to blow a stray hair out of her face, her normally smiling mouth fixed in a frown.
“It’s on.”
With another mighty splash of water Pinkie joined her friends, going wild with splashes and spitting mouthfuls of water at them. They all kept at it for a few minutes before they noticed that something was still missing from the picture. They all stopped for a while and glanced over towards the trees again until they caught Fluttershy still sitting slightly behind one of them, looking at them with big eyes, her face slightly covered by her mane.
“Come on Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “The water’s great!”
Fluttershy just shrunk back a little, trying to make herself seem smaller. “Oh, um, I-I think I’ll be better off here, you girls have fun though,” she said in her usual timid voice. The other five ponies sighed in unison.
“Come on Flutters, get out from under that tree an’ come join us! You’ll enjoy it, Ah promise!” Applejack cheered, which only caused Fluttershy to back of even more, curling up into a pink and yellow ball as she desperately tried to make herself invisible.
“You two obviously don’t know how to do it properly,” Rarity said, glancing over at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “You have to be delicate, like this. Observe,” She added, giving the two mares a slight smirk as she walked closer to the shore. “Fluttershy, darling, there’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of,” Rarity cooed in a honey like voice, “We simply don’t want to make you feel left out is all. Now what do you say, won’t you join us, I promise you will enjoy it.”
Fluttershy poked her head out a little as Rarity spoke. Out of all her friends, Rarity was probably the one Fluttershy trusted most, seeing as how they met each week at them local spa, and the white mare always seemed to respect Fluttershy’s shyness. Although there had been the occasional moment where Rarity had taken advantage of her, Fluttershy still felt safe around the fashionista. Slowly she made her way out of her hiding spot, approaching Rarity in the same way a foal would approach a stranger for the first time. Rarity just watched Fluttershy with a kind expression, but once the shy Pegasus had almost made it down to the water her eyes became slightly wicked, and a small grin spread across her lips. Fluttershy didn’t notice until it was too late.
“Now! Nab her!” Rarity yelled as Twilight’s purple aura enveloped the startled Pegasus and dragged her into the water, dropping her in the circle of friends waiting for her. They all resumed their water fight, laughing merrily along the way. All of them except Flutterhy of course, whom was scared half to death already, not helped by the frantic motions around her. Her eyes darted from side to side as she tried to find an escape route, her pulse quickening by the second. She could not believe how her friends could act this way towards her. Were they even her friends anymore? Maybe the entire town had been overrun by changelings during the night, and they’d left her alive just to torment her?
The more Fluttershy thought the wilder her imagination ran and she started panicking, desperately trying to push aside the others, whom just kept pulling her back, trying to get her into the mood. It wasn’t working. Seeing no options for herself, Fluttershy was just about to accept her fate, whatever it was, when she noticed someone approaching. Seeing a way out of this madness she mustered all the strength she could, which was a lot despite what she always thought about herself, and forced herself out of the cluster of moving bodies and hooves, scattering her friends in the process like a set of bowling pins. Running frantically she darted towards the pony standing on the shore and got behind them, cowering like a foal behind its mother. She was shivering, mainly from the cold water, and slowly glanced up towards the pony she was hiding behind. Her fearful gaze was met by a pair of golden, slightly misaligned eyes.
“Um, Fluttershy, are you alright?” Derpy asked curiously, looking at the cream-colored Pegasus with a slightly confused look on her face.
“No! No I’m not alright! I think my friends are possessed! Or worse!” Fluttershy yelled between breaths, almost causing Derpy to step back. The grey mare looked at Fluttershy for a moment before turning towards the other five ponies.
“Ehh, girls, may I ask what exactly you’re doing scaring this poor Pegasus like that?”
Twilight and her friends all looked a bit dumbfounded, most of them were starting to blush furiously. Not only from Derpy probably having seen them act like a bunch of crazies, but also from being lectured by the mailmare on account of having scared Fluttershy half to death.
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry you had to see that, Derpy,” Twilight quickly blurted out, “I-I don’t know what came over us, we were just having fun and, oh gosh, I’m so, so sorry Fluttershy,” she added, finally noticing the yellow pegasus still in hiding behind the mailmare. “We just got carried away, we didn’t mean to hurt you, things just got out of hand, right guys?” she said, looking at her friends who all nodded, heads hung in shame. Rarity especially had developed a nice shade of red, looking like she was about to have a mental breakdown, eyes darting back and forth. She’d been the one who’d coaxed Fluttershy on, and right now she just wished to sink into the muddy river bottom just to escape this situation.
Derpt just watched the five with mild amusement, knowing she’d probably just caught them at a bad moment. She wasn’t too familiar with any of them, though Rainbow Dash she knew a little about, since both of them were pegasi. Besides her though, not so much. Derpy knew their names and such, but apart from the occasional greeting in the street or running into one another at one of Pinkie Pie’s parties she didn’t know very much about them. She stepped closer, feeling Fluttershy tug on her tail, though she ignored it.
“Oh, I think we’ll be fine,” Derpy said with a smile as the five ponies slowly made their way to the shore, none of them wanting to meet her gaze. They were all still blushing, apart from Pinkie, who’d regained her usual happiness and was happily skimping along with a bright smile on her face. “Actually I just came here to see Twilight,” the mailmare continued, “I went to the library first and Spike told me you’d gone here, and when I got to the farm Applejack’s brother told me where you were,” Derpy said still smiling, her forehead dripping with sweat. She took of her postal hat and waved it against her face, trying to cool down a bit to no avail.
“Oh, well, I’ll be right with you then.” Twilight said and got out of the river. She quickly shook the water out of her fur and magically straightened out her mane before going up to Derpy whom just watched in silence. “So, what did you want to see me for?”
Derpy didn’t answer at first and opened up one of her saddlebags that looked overly stuffed, pulling out a large brown package and a letter. “These arrived at the office today, I thought I should deliver them to you in person,” Derpy said and handed Twilight the package. The unicorn grabbed it in her teeth and was a bit shocked over just how heavy the thing was. She carefully put it down on the ground and looked at it curiously.
“Are you sure this is for me, Derpy? I can’t remember ordering anything,”
“Be that as it may, it has your name and address written on it, and I’m willing to bet the letter is part of it as well.” Derpy said rather matter of factly, “I’m just delivering, it’s not my business what it is.”
Twilight just looked at the mysterious package for a while and shrugged a bit. She decided not to delve any further into the matter for the moment. “Well, I’ll just take it home and see what it is I suppose,” She said in a neutral tone, “Thanks for bringing it to me Derpy.”
“Don’t mention it, just doing my job. Someone has to make sure ponies get their mail even when the weather is killing just about everyone,” Derpy said with a chuckle and wiped her forehead again.
“Wait, you’re doing this all on your own?” Twilight asked and raised an eyebrow at the grey pegasus, “What about the rest of the mailponies, shouldn’t they be out delivering as well?”
Derpy just sighed and smiled. “They should, but the boss decided today was just too hot for work and let everyone off. I wouldn’t have it, I’d just hate for somepony to have to wait for an important letter or package. Plus, they pay me extra, not much, but I really need all the bits I can get right now,” she added. Twilight just looked at Derpy curiously.
“Are you having money problems or something?” Twilight asked cautiously, “Not that I mean to pry or anything!” she quickly added. Derpy just smiled at the purple unicorn.
“No, I just need them for this one,” She said and patted her belly. Twilight suddenly noticed that Derpy seemed considerably larger than usual, and so did her friends whom were all starting to encircle Derpy, finally snapping out of their shame. Even Fluttershy finally made her way out from behind the grey mailmare, though she still kept an eye on her friends, just in case any of them would sprout fangs.
“Is that what I think it is?” Rarity asked with a hint of overjoy in her voice.
“Sure is,” Derpy said with a sly smile, “Time Turner and I finally got things working. Soon we’ll be adding another little one to our herd,” The grey mare said and patted her belly again.
Twilight and her friends all encircled Derpy, each one talking louder than the other, offering words of congratulations and pats on the back. Derpy blushed slightly, she wasn’t used to getting this much attention, but she didn’t mind either. It felt nice to be in the center of attention once in a while.
“Soooo, may I ask, Derpy, is it a filly or a colt?” Rarity cooed. Derpy just snickered.
“Don’t know, I want it to be a surprise. And before any of you ask, I don’t know what species it’ll be either,” she added when she noticed Rarity was about to break out another question.
“How is Dinky handling it?” Twilight asked, “I bet she’s excited to become a big sister.”
Derpy chuckled heartily. “Oh she hasn’t been able to keep her hooves on the ground for about a month now. She’s so excited she can barely sleep at night, much to our dismay,” She added with another laugh.
“An’ how’s Time Turner doin’?” Applejack asked. “Ah bet he’s practically climbin’ the walls ‘t this point.”
“Pretty much. Ever since the doctor confirmed it he’s been doing everything to prepare, and he’s been just wonderful, even when he stresses out completely,” Everypony laughed heartily, except Fluttershy whom merely hummed, all of them having their own inner picture of a panicked Time Turner. Derpy smiled and put her postal hat back on.
“Well, it was nice to chit chat for a while, but I really must be getting back to work. Other ponies need their mail too you know,” Derpy said before turning tail.
“Hold on there Derpy, I’m coming with ya. No way I’m gonna let Ponyville’s only working mailmare do the delivering on her own on a day like this,” Rainbow Dash piped up, taking to the air and hovering beside Derpy.
“Oh, that’s, that’s very kind of you Rainbow Dash, but I don’t want you leaving your friends just to help me out. I’ll be fine,” Derpy said, waving her hoof a little.
“Hell no, I’m not leaving a fellow pegasus behind. I’m the element of Loyalty for Celly’s sake, and not just to these guys, but to all of Ponyville. Now give me a saddlebag and let me help,” The cyan mare said, putting a hoof on Derpy’s lips before the mailmare could say anything else. “In fact, both Fluttershy and I’ll help you out, won’t we Flutters?” Rainbow added, startling Fluttershy a bit. The yellow mare just hid behind her mane, but she wouldn’t dare go against Rainbow Dash’s wishes. She nodded a little.
“S-Sure, we’ll help you Derpy,” She said meekly, joining the grey mare and grabbed a saddlebag in her mouth. Rainbow did the same, and soon enough they were flying towards Ponyville.
“See ya guys later, ‘kay!?” Rainbow shouted back at her friends, waving a hoof before she and the other pegasi vanished out of sight. The rest of the ponies just stood there for a moment before Applejack broke the silence.
“Well, guess Ah’d better get goin’ as well. It’s almost time fer lunch anyway, an’ Granny’s gonna be mighty crossed with me if Ah don’t give ‘er a hoof in the kitchen,” she said and picked up her hat, “Anyone wanna join up, we can always set the table fer ya.”
Her friends all shook their heads slightly.
“Thanks for the offer dear, but I really must head home as well,” Rarity said, “I have some dresses I want to work on. Another time maybe?” she added with a smile. Applejack huffed a little, but didn’t make a fuss of it.
“Sure, another time then,” she said, “What about you two?” she asked, turning to Twilight and Pinkie.
“No thanks AJ, I must head home as well. Spike is probably waiting for me, plus, I really want to see what’s in this package that Derpy brought,” Twilight said, patting the box with a hoof.
“And I’ve got some super delicious twenty-flavored-super-sticky-leftover-bubblegum-cake from last Tuesday, home in the fridge, and I really wanna get home to that before somepony else does, so see ya!” Pinkie blurted out before taking of, vanishing in a pink blur. Applejack didn’t even have time to react before the pink mare was out of sight. She just sighed and put her hat on.
“That’s our Pinkie,” she muttered and started walking, followed by Twilight and Rarity. Eventually the farmhouse came into view and they parted, the two unicorns heading down towards Ponyville while Applejack went home. Once they reached the town center, Twilight and Rarity said their goodbyes and went separate ways, with Twilight headed for the Golden Oaks library. The doorbell chimed as she stepped inside and put the heavy brown package next to the coat hanger.
“Spike! I’m back! Are you in here?” she called out, hearing some clattering in the kitchen. As she stepped into the room she was taken aback by just how much of a mess the whole place was. The fridge was open, though completely empty, and the floor was littered with empty ice cream buckets, melted ice cream leaking out of some of them leaving large sticky stains. Twilight facehoofed hard and groaned, this was NOT the kind of welcome she wanted, especially on a day like this that was already unbearable. Angrily she stepped into the room and went for the cupboard under the sink, and once she opened it Spike tumbled out of his hiding place. She looked down at him with a stern expression.
“Well, what have you got to say about this, huh?” She asked angrily, never taking her eyes of her dragon assistant. Spike didn’t look up at her, and he didn’t dare speaking. He knew she’d caught him red handed, and that he wasn’t going to be able to lie himself out of this one. He still gave it a shot though, hoping in vain that she’d fall for it.
“W-Well, the fridge broke, and I thought it’d be a waste to let it all just melt away…” he said half-heartedly, trying his best not to catch a glimpse of Twilight’s face. The unicorn just huffed.
“Very clever mister, you really expect me to fall for that? You know I can tell it when you lie, Spike, and it’s not the least bit amusing,” she said and shook her head disapprovingly. Spike didn’t move, he just lay there and took it. He hated it whenever Twilight got angry with him, it happened so rarely, but when it did it always hit him hard. Slowly he raised his head and met Twilight’s gaze with tears in his eyes. The unicorn’s eyes didn’t show any trace of sympathy in them.
“I-I’m sorry Twi, it was just so hot in here, and I figured you wouldn’t notice if I took some of it. But it was just so good, and I couldn’t stop myself once I had that first taste, and it all just went downhill from there. I was going to clean everything up before you got home, but then I heard you calling out and got scared and…and, oh please don’t send me away! Please forgive me, I promise I’ll never do anything like this ever again!” the little dragon cried out, tears streaming from his eyes as he hugged Twilight’s forelegs.
Twilight’s anger vanished as quickly as it had come, being replaced by a sudden rush of guilt as Spike hugged her legs, leaving wet patches in her fur. She didn’t say anything at first, but after a few minutes of Spike sobbing into her she finally opened her mouth.
“Spike, I, I’m not going to send you anywhere. I mean, sure I’m upset with you, but I’d never do anything like that, why would you even think something like that? Look, I’m sorry I snapped at you like that, it wasn’t the right thing to do,” she put a hoof under his chin and looked him deep in the eyes, “I’m not going to send you away Spike, and I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
The little dragon just looked into Twilight’s purple eyes, still sniffing a bit.
“Promise?”
Twilight just sighed and shook her head before embracing Spike in an affectionate hug. “Promise,” she said before letting him go. She looked down at him with a smile on her face, “But you’re still cleaning this mess up. When you’re done, come see me in my studies, I’ll need your help,” she said and went for the door. She stopped and looked back at him one last time before leaving the room, “And no more ice cream for a week, you hear me?” she said, closing the door behind her leaving Spike a little dumbfounded, but still happy. He grabbed a broom and sighed happily.
Examination
About an hour passed before Spike had cleaned the kitchen and made his way to Twilight’s study room. Putting away the cleaning tools he stretched his back and walked out of the now sparkling clean kitchen, making his way upstairs to his master’s room. He stepped into the room where Twilight sat slumped into a chair next to the window, her nose buried deep within the pages of a book. He tapped the door frame, snapping Twilight out of her reading.
“Oh, there you are, Spike. Listen, I’m sorry about what happened earlier, I just hope we can put that behind us,” Spike nodded.
“Good,” Twilight added, “Now come here and help me with this,” she said, whilst pointing a hoof to the brown box on her desk. Spike approached slowly and hopped up on a chair next to the table, looking at the package.
“What’s in it?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Derpy gave it to me earlier today. I was going to wait until we were together to open it,” Twilight said, levitating a pair of scissors from a drawer. “I guess we’re about to find out what it is.”
She took the scissors and started cutting the tape around the box, taking care not to damage it just in case. Once all the tape had been cut Spike opened the lid, only to find the inside to be filled with scrunched up paper packed tightly around something inside the box. Digging through the paper with his tiny hands, Spike finally uncovered something, and Twilight used her magic to lift it. Slowly but surely a large stone urn floated out of the box. It was roughly the size of a pony’s head, made out of dark grey stone, and shaped like a vas, top and bottom slightly smaller than the mid section. Carved into the stone was a strange pattern of lines, all of them interconnected to form a bizzare maze. Around the middle a ring of dark green gems were etched into the stone. Twilight carefully put the urn down on the table and looked upon it with great interest.
“What in the world is this?” she mumbled to herself. Spike too was looking at the strange stone container, his eyes focused on the gems. They had a strange aura about them, like nothing he’d ever felt in his life, much less tasted. Each gem seemed crafted not by hoof or hand, but rather seemed to have been formed by nature itself, except Spike couldn’t think of any instance where gems would be naturally smooth like this. As he examined them closer he noticed that right beneath their glistening surface there seemed to be patterns as well; strange patterns forming unknown symbols that simply couldn’t be natural. He shook his head and stepped away from the urn, crossing his arms.
“Dunno, but I don’t like it. There’s something about it,” Spike said promptly. He critically eyed the urn which just stood there. Twilight sighed.
“Oh come on Spike, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” she said, but as she did she felt a knot forming in her stomach. Normally she would be thrilled to examine this thing, but even she felt slightly unnerved by it. Something about the patterns and the gems, and as she’d just noticed there was no lid, gave the thing an alien feel.
“Maybe this will tell us more,” she said and picked up the letter that had come with the package. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a regular brown paper letter with a postal seal. It wasn’t heavy, but it was bulging a bit. “Let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this,” Twilight said and grabbed the scissors again, cutting open the letter. She reached inside and pulled out a large folded up paper and a note. The folded paper was old and yellow, while the note was new. She picked it up and scanned her eyes across it.
From an old friend. Instructions included.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. Just two sentences, nothing else. She tapped her chin and turned the note around, looking to see if maybe she was missing something, but she found nothing.
“What does it say Twi?” Spike asked from his spot on the table.
“It says ‘From an old friend. Instructions included’,” Twilight said without looking at Spike. “I don’t know what to make of it, I haven’t got any old friends, at least none who’d send me a gift like this without a name or anything. And what about instructions?”
“Maybe they’re referring to this,” Spike said and picked up the folded paper. He started to carefully unfold the paper until it was sprawled over the table. They both looked at it curiously. The picture was old and slightly smudgy, seemingly drawn at least a century ago, but the image was still clear; it was a similar urn to the one that stood on Twilight’s desk, with instructions and arrows pointed at it. Twilight scanned the paper for a while, trying to make out what it was trying to tell her, and after a few silent minutes she finally spoke.
“I think I got it, Spike. I think it’s telling us how to open this thing,” she said and glanced over at the urn basking in the sunlight. Twilight grabbed the paper with her magic and turned to the mystical container. Spike watched her in silence as she went on with her business. “Let’s see, apparently if I push here first, then here, hmm…” Twilight mumbled. Spike slowly walked up to her.
“Um, Twi, are you sure we want this thing opened? What if there’s something bad in it,” Spike said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Spike. Why would anyone willingly send me something bad? Now hush and let me concentrate…” Twilight said and pushed one of the gems. This caused the urn to react. The gems lit up with an eerie green glow, and soon the same glow spread into the patterns on the surface like water being let into canals. Twilight and Spike both stepped back, the little dragon hugging Twilights leg and trembling in sheer terror, while Twilight just stared at the thing with the same kind of fearful expression.
“T-Twilight, what is it doing!?” Spike shrieked.
“I don’t know, Spike! Stay behind me!” Spike did as he was told. On the table the urn was now completely enveloped in green light, and suddenly it started making a grinding sound. The top had started spinning slowly, releasing a cloud of dust, and once it stopped spinning the top opened. Twilight watched as the glow slowly died down, an eerie silence draping over the scene. She didn’t dare approaching it, she just stood still, waiting for it to do something. Out of pure reflex she lit up her horn, ready to shatter the thing into pieces should it do anything. Suddenly there was another grinding sound, this time from inside the urn, and a cloud of dust rose from inside it. Inside the smoke Twilight spotted something rising out of the opened top, and once the dust cleared she found herself looking at a glass vial held by some kind of ancient mechanism.
“W-What is it, Twilight?” came Spike’s voice in a tiny whisper.
“I don’t know. Stay back, Spike, I’m going to take a closer look,” Twilight said and stepped forward. Spike tugged a bit on her tail, but she ignored him, and she slowly approached the now quiet urn. She had to stand up on her hind legs as the thing had nearly doubled in height, and found herself looking right at the vial. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever seen. The glass itself seemed to be hoof made, with a spiral shaped body ending in a top shaped like a snake head, and the bottom flattened to enable it to stand. But it wasn’t the design that caught Twilight’s eye the most, but the content. Inside the vial was a thick black and purple liquid that glistened in the sunlight from the window. Twilight turned the vial a little, but the liquid didn’t seem to move at all. As she watched it, her fear was slowly replaced with scientific curiosity, and she felt determined to find about more about this strange gift.
“Twi? What are you doing?” came Spike’s voice from behind her.
“Spike, go down in the basement and set up my lab. I’m gonna crack this thing.”
***
Half an hour later the basement of Golden Oaks Library was bustling with activity, with Twilight at the center of it all. Spike had set up the lab like she’d ordered him to, and the table was littered with jars and vials, large vats filled with boiling liquids of all colors and consistencies. The whole place looked and sounded like something out of a horror movie, with the constant bubbling sounds and electricity crackling. At the center of it all, among the vials and equipment stood the vial containing the strange liquid. Next to it was a glass bowl and some other vials belonging to Twilight, all of them filled with their own strange mixtures. Twilight rubbed her hooves together and smiled.
“Everything’s in place. Spike, turn on the recorder, I don’t want to miss anything,” she said and glanced over at her dragon assistant who stood beside her wearing a hazmat suit, a recording device clutched in his hand. He looked a bit nervous as he clicked the button.
“It’s on, Twilight,” he said. Twilight nodded and stepped up, making gestures for Spike to follow her. He reluctantly followed, never taking his eyes off the vial of liquid. He hopped up on a chair next to the table and joined Twilight.
“Good. Okay, time is four in the afternoon, Tuesday. I’m about to open the vial, now,” she said and levitated the glass container with her magic. Slowly she twisted the snakehead shaped top, taking care not to break it, and soon it gave in. She put the head down on the table and gestured for Spike to set up the glass bowl, which he did. Ever so carefully Twilight held the vial above the bowl and started tipping it. The liquid still wouldn’t budge. She gave it a gentle tap and got results, as the thick stuff finally began to run towards the opening, taking its due time. After what seemed like an eternity the liquid had reached its destination, and a large drop began to form, falling into the bowl, followed closely by a few more. Twilight and Spike both looked at the small pool that had formed at the bottom of the bowl. The stuff was very thick, almost like tar, and glistened like oil in the light. Twilight put the vial away and levitated a pipette close to the stuff, but realized quickly that it was just too thick to allow itself to be sucked up. She tapped her head with a hoof and sighed.
“The liquid won’t allow itself to be handled normally, I’m going to try another approach,” she said and grabbed a small metallic spoon which she scooped up some of the stuff with. Once she had what she needed she levitated it over to a microscope and put it under. She pressed her eye against the other end of the scope and looked, and almost immediately she frowned. She couldn’t see anything, just a black blob of nothing. No matter how much she zoomed and un-zoomed she couldn’t get a clear picture, only more black. With a heavy sigh, she stepped down.
“Impossible to examine under a microscope,” she said and glanced over at Spike, “I’m starting to think we might have to consider slightly different methods.”
She scraped the liquid back into the bowl and looked at it. “Seeing as how the liquid won’t allow itself to be examined, I’m going to try exposing it to the elements,” she said and levitated one of the vials from the table. “First off, a dose of regular sulfuric acid,” she said and poured a small drop of clear liquid onto the black mass. It sizzled a bit, but nothing happened. The black goo was still as sticky and unresponsive as ever.
“No effect from the acid,” Twilight muttered and grabbed a new vial, “Let’s try something a bit stronger this time.”
The same procedure repeated itself for a good hour. Whatever Twilight tried, it simply didn’t seem to affect the stuff at all, and with each failed attempt, Twilight was becoming more and more frustrated. After pouring pure nicotine on it without results she threw her hooves up and slumped down on the floor.
“I’m starting to think this stuff just doesn’t WANT to be examined. I’m bummed out,” she said with a heavy sigh and looked over at Spike whom just looked at her with his big green eyes sympathetically.
“Maybe you should take break, Twi,” he said, “We’ve been down here for almost two hours. Let’s take a break and come back tomorrow, this stuff isn’t going to go anywhere.”
Twilight sighed again, knowing Spike was right. Forcing herself to try and crack this one would only aggravate her more, and now that she’d began to settle down she also noticed just how hungry she’d gotten. Coming home and yelling at Spike, followed by them opening and examining the urn had made her forget about food altogether, but now all she could think about was eating. She stood up.
“Yeah, you’re right. Could you put the stuff back in the vial for me while I get lunch started?”
“Lunch? Isn’t it a little late for that,” Spike said with a slight frown and pointed to the clock.
“Oh my, I guess you’re right again. Dinner it is then,” Twilight said and headed for the stairs, leaving Spike alone in the basement. The little dragon looked at the glass bowl still containing the black liquid and narrowed his eyes at it. Grabbing the same metal spoon that Twilight had used he scooped the liquid up and tried forcing it back into the vial, which was easier said than done, as the thick stuff stuck to the spoon like a wrench. After a bit of struggle he finally managed to force the thing back into the vial, though a small amount of it still stuck to the spoon. He didn’t notice it though, as he heard Twilight calling him from upstairs.
“Hey Spike, how’s a waffle dinner sound to you!?”
Spike’s eyes widened at this, and his lips curled into a bright smile. “Sound great, Twi! I’ll be right with you!” he shouted and threw the spoon into the lab sink, then quickly removed the hazmat suit and ran upstairs, closing the door behind him. Down in the sink however, something was happening. The black liquid was starting to loosen up from its tar like state and make its way into the drain, bubbling and sizzling as it did. With a dripping sound it soon vanished into the sewers beneath Ponyville.
On the surface the sun had begun to settle, bathing the small town in a bright orange light. There was a calming silence draping over the town, like it was being enveloped in a warm blanket. Everypony would be in their homes soon as night fell, tuckered away safely in their beds, protected from all the evils of the world. At least, most of them would.
***
Mr. Waddle awakened in the middle of the night. Normally the elderly stallion was quite a heavy sleeper, able to sleep through everything from a thunderstorm to and earthquake depending on the situation, but this time it was something else. His old eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness around him as he fumbled for his glasses. With some effort he sat up and perked his ears, his eyes might be bad, but his hearing was as sharp as it had ever been. And then he heard it; the rumbling. It sounded like it came from under the floorboards and from inside the walls. He listened carefully, trying to pinpoint where it would come from next. He finally heard it again from down the hallway, the upstairs bathroom to be exact, and groaned. On old and shaky legs he slowly dragged himself out of bed, making his way through the dark corridor towards the sound. He didn’t need to turn on the lights, he knew his house well. Once he reached the bathroom he pressed his ear against the door and listened. There it was again. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, the moon shining in through a small window, bathing the room in dim blue light.
He went up to the sink and looked at it, though he couldn’t see much in the dark. He tried turning the knob on the tap, but no water came out. Thinking to himself it must’ve been a clog in the pipes he turned tail and began to head back to bed when he heard the rumbling again, and louder this time. In fact, it didn’t sound like a rumble, but more like a sickening gurgle. Against better judgment he turned towards the sink again and looked down into it. He leaned closer, the gurgling growing in strength. And then he couldn’t see.
Mr. Waddle felt something grab hold of him, like a wet blanket covering his face. He tried to struggle, only to find that his oxygen supply was quickly running out, and the more he fought the more he had trouble breathing. He started panicking, but the thing holding his head wouldn’t let go. Desperately he tried wiping it of his face, only to feel his hooves getting stuck in some kind of substance. His air supply was almost gone. He kept trying to breathe to no avail, as he found he couldn’t open his lips, the pressure around his head constantly increasing, making him feel like he was trapped in a vice. He felt his mouth and nostrils being filled up with something thick, and then he was being hoisted into the air before crashing down, being slammed into the floor like a ragdoll. There were cracks and pops echoing through the empty house as Mr. Waddle’s old bones broke, followed by silence. The old pony’s body had finally caved in as he lay on the floor in front of the sink, his body broken, legs sprawled in unnatural ways. The dark house was soon filled with another sound; a slurping, sucking sound, followed by the sounds of more bones cracking, and something being squeezed into a tight space. And then there was silence.
The town of Ponyville slept peacefully through the rest of the warm summer’s night.
