1-Welcome To Sector Two

Jake Fizzle strolled through the Canterlot library. Following him were four pegasi and two earth ponies. The latter of the group, Sketch Myth (or Sketch Mythos, as he preferred to be called), pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil behind his pale grey ear, looking for something interesting to draw.

“So, uh, where are you taking us, Jake?” Lucky Strike flapped his wings a bit in agitation as they squeezed between some bookshelves. “You know I hate small spaces.”

“This isn’t a good time to ask questions.” Flora Mistwing scolded.

“Sorry, Lucky.” Jake added, although it wasn’t clear exactly what he was apologizing for. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of space up ahead.”

“Why are we in a library?” Sarah Flameheart inquired, eliciting a glare from Flora. Her cheeks turned from magenta to red as she averted her eyes to the floor.

“Maybe it’s the royal book club.” Hit Lander joked, trying and failing to ignore the fact that he was standing directly behind Sarah. He glanced back at Brave Charger, who set him with a disapproving stare.

The group of ponies continued to weave through the Grand Arcanum until they came to what appeared to be an elevator. They stepped in, some with reluctance, some with courage, and one with sheer indifference.

"What you are about to see is absolutely top secret. You can't tell anypony about what you see here, understood?" Jake said sternly as the elevator lowered.

All present nodded.

"Good. Now, without further ado..." He gave a flourish as the door opened. "Welcome to Sector Two of the Grand Arcanum."

Everyone gaped in awe at the enormous place before them. It was like the world's largest warehouse, with a dash of sci-fi thrown in. And it still somehow had a bit of a library-like feel to it, even though that didn't make any sense. Sketch quickly pulled out his pencil and paper again.

"Now, before I give you the grand tour," Jake began, "I need to set a few rules.

"Number one: don't touch anything without my explicit permission. And I mean anything. You can walk on the floor, of course, but if you have even a sliver of a doubt whether it's a floor or not, DON'T WALK ON IT.

"Number two: obey all direct orders from me and Flora. If we ask you to stand on your head and count backwards from 17, don't question, just do it. There is always a good reason, sometimes we just can't explain it, or don't have the time." Flora nodded in approval at this.

"Finally, number three: stay together. I can't tell you how many times something horrible has happened because somepony wandered off. However," He continued, handing each of them a small remote-control device with a single button, "If we do get separated by some freak accident, press the button on that thing as soon as you notice someone's missing. Does everyone understand the rules?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Just to be sure, repeat after me one more time. Don't touch anything, obey orders, and STAY TOGETHER."

"Don't touch anything, obey orders, and stay together.", the others repeated in unison.

"Great!" Jake suddenly dropped his serious demeanor and smiled. "Let's get started!"