Transcendent Assignation

by Mr Anomalous

Rating: everyone
Tags: Romance, Original Character, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human
Length: 6184

Twilight is gone, probably forver, and Booker Gray just doesn't know what to do . . . . or does he?

Sequel to Platonic Tryst.

[/hr]
Book Gray, "The Computer Man," is left alone in his Earth home after a rather confusing event involving Twilight, not knowing what to do. But he does know one thing: he can't just let it go.

The awakening of strange, æon dead creatures won't stop him, either.

Published 2014-01-24 23:20:07 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-15 16:45:05 UTC

Green Dust

Ever since the Middle east, I, Booker Gray have woken every single morning at five-thirty, no matter how late I was up the night before. Even on weekends. Thus is the way of my schedule. I recognize that that sounds impossible, but with caffeine, nothing is.

But on this morning, after the events of the day before, when the alarm went off, I let it ring. Fortunately, today was a Saturday, so work was not mandatory for me. I'm not sure if I would have been able to anyway.

Eventually, the harsh beeping ended itself and I rolled over and stared at the ceiling, thinking. I never had the feelings for Twilight that Twilight had for me, it never crossed my mind. But I was still sad. I mean, no on in their right mind would revel in the utterly unintentional feeling-destruction of another extra-terrestrial being, especially one as adorable as mine.

That's not to say that I wasn't interested. Though I wasn't sure just how exactly everything would have worked out, I was more than willing to give it a shot.

But the fact that I did not share Twilight's feelings just made me feel guilty. And then I was actually kind of angry. At myself for not being able to control my reaction, and then at Twilight for overreacting in such a way. And that anger toward Twilight made me feel even more guilty.

Eventually, however, even on a Saturday, even if I felt like crap, as I most certainly did, I did manage to drag myself out of bed. I had to do something, be it about Twilight's self-banishment or just anything at all, I couldn't laze the entire day away. Well, I could, but not in bed.

And so, I began to do what I always to to calm me down: I got on the computer. Now what? Code? Video games? Music? I could make music, though perhaps it's not that great. I gave it a shot anyways and I was relatively satisfied with the result. Sadly, this did not make me feel any better.

Java? Sure, why not.

I threw together a simple application, one that generated Gryphon Names, and that made me feel a little bit better. Then I checked the time. Seven o' three.

I got up and stalked my way into the kitchen. I didn't feel like anything solid, not even Fruity Pebbles (I know) - so I just grabbed a couple of energy drinks and returned to my geek lair.

At least, I almost did.

On the way back to my electronics, I stopped something in the television room, in the same spot where Twilight had always appeared when she came and left; a mark on the ground.

I set down one can and opened up the other, absentmindedly sipping it as I went to investigate.

Yes, definitely. There on the carpet, was a very, very faint layer of . . . green dust? Yeah, a ring of it.

Naturally, I bent down and rubbed my finger on it. I startled when all of my hair stood up on and and my finger jolted. I fell back on my ass, spilling some of my drink as I did so. Damn it, 'Twi, you run out on me and then make me spill my caffeine? I am disappoint.

Okay, this is most definitely something worth my interest.

I went into my bathroom and collected a pair of tweezers and a Ziploc bag, which I used to gather a sample. The rest got swept up and put in a tiny jar.

Alright, before we continue, I realize that what I did next was not the most . . . professional of things, but it was all I could do: I returned to my bedroom and dug around a bit in my closet. A few minutes later, I emerged with a microscope in my grasp. Kind of a . . . not laboratory-grade one. It was an old toy of mine.

But, even after all of that effort, my results were inconclusive.

So, stupidly, I tried touching it again. Zap. Ow.

I was, once more, at a loss.

Poke. Zap. Damn it.

"Alright then, this is not progress in any form," I said to myself. After a bit of more pondering and calling upon my college science classes, I opted to return to the crime scene.

Again nothing.

Suddenly, I was struck with an idea.

I returned to my bedroom once more and returned with the letter upon which was elegantly written the bad news of the night before, and I tore a tiny corner off.

With the tweezers (What a scientist I am, eh?) - I held the little bit of parchment over the open jar, the thing layer of electric green dust laying at the bottom.

I dropped the shred and startled when, as soon as it came into contact with the substance, it vanished. Alright . . . progress? . . .

Spike the dragon's lovely mid-afternoon walk on the way to the marketplace was interrupted, rather rudely, by the sudden arrival of . . . a bit of parchment. A tiny bit of paper.

Spike was baffled; the belch needed to spawn with tiny, torn-off corner was astronomical, much larger than any normal, Celestial scroll. Spike shook his head and decided to ignore the incident and making a mental note to speak with Twilight about it as he waddled into the main Ponyville marketplace.

A raised fist pounded on a door. Silence. More pounding. Suddenly, the door opened, and Johnathan Smelt leaped backward a bit as his friend, Booker, wrenched the door open.

"Woah, Booker, what's going on?"

"Ooh . . . nothing of importance, really, just been kind of busy. What . . . what do you need?"

"We had a LAN party planned, remember?"

Booker's eyes widened suddenly.

"Oh! Alright, I totally forgot. Hold on, let me grab my gear."

John smirked a bit as he looked at Booker oddly.

"You sure I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Well . . . you are, but it's not important, really, I don't care."

John could only frown as his friend spidered back inside and returned only moments later with one of his laptops and a case of Red Bull.

Again, John raised his eyebrow and then smirked. Booker chuckled and the two, both of them baffled for different reasons, went down the hallway and toward the stairs.

Very similarly, just someplace very, very far away, a raised hoofed thudded gently against a much thicker door, one that belonged to a library rather than an apartment.

But not very similarly, the door was answered immediately, and Rarity was met with the smiling face of Twilight Sparkle.

"Hello, Rarity! What can I do for you?"

Rarity hesitated. Her friend seemed . . . too upbeat. But Rarity ignored the feeling and returned the smile and answered, saying, "Well, this is a library, is it not?"

"Oh Rarity, I've told you; you don't need to knock for that!"

"Well then, may I come in?"

"Of course!"

Rarity pursed her lip, but crossed the threshold anyway.

"What book exactly is it that you are looking for?"

"That would be 'The Misadventures of Calvin Clydesdale.'"

"Oh! That would be right here!"

Rarity suddenly had a rather rough muzzle-full of book.

Rarity took some time to recover and said, "Um, Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"I . . . is everything alright?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't everything be alright?"

"Well I don't know, darling, but you seem a bit odd to me."

"Oh, well it's nothing! . . ."

"What is? . . ."

"Nothing!"

Twilight's upbeat tone remained, but Rarity could definitely sense that it was becoming rather strained.

"Twilight, dear, you know that I can help you? You know that you can tell me anything?"

Finally, Twilight's disguised sadness came to the surface and she collapsed to her haunches, her eyes cast down to the floor and her shoulders slumped.

Rarity set the book down and trotted closer to Twilight and joined her.

"What is it?"

"Well . . . this is going to be a bit . . . odd."

"See ya!"

"Yeah, later."

I gently swung my door shut and set down my computer. As much as I loved Johnathan and all of my pals, I couldn't help but feel that the past seven hours had been a bit of a waste.

Oh well, at least it had given some stress release. But now that I was back home and saw the jar and bag with green dust sitting on my desk, my bag of mixed feelings returned, and, as it seemed I had been doing quite a bit that day, I sighed.

Should I just give up? I mean, Twilight's a dramatic creature, but I'm sure that she'd eventually come back.

But, another voice said, I wasn't willing to risk that. And, as much as I knew, I wasn't.

"Alright. That green dust is the key for me to tray and communicate with Twilight, or perhaps . . . " I thought occurred to me. A crazy one that I wasn't sure would really happen. " . . . . for me to get to her . . . . "

That was kind of frightening. Would I even be able to get back? Probably, but should that be risked.

I steeled myself. I was a marine, I know how to take risks, it was part of my job.

And so I did something that my mind had actually been nagging at me to try for a long time, but I hadn't wanted to, well, risk it.

I grabbed my most powerful laptop, my phone, a whole stack of batteries, my journal, one of my guns, an old MRE or two, and threw them all into a dufflebag, which I threw onto my back. Then I went over to my desk and opened up the Ziploc back, joined the two stashes of dust together and then held the jar up above my head.

I hesitated.

There was more than half an inch of the stuff just sitting in my grasp, some odd, inter-dimensional substance that had caused me pain when I came into contact with it. And I was indeed about to come into full contact with all of it.

"Well, why not?"

And the I dumped it.

"Well, Twilight, you were most definitely not lying when you said that the situation was 'odd.'"

"I just don't know what to do!"

"Twilight," Rarity said in an even tone, "think about it. You kissed him almost out of nowhere, of course he was going to be surprised. But that's not to say that his reaction was a bad one."

Twilight bit her lip and turned Rarity's words over in her mind. Then, he snorted, amused.

Needless to say, Rarity was a bit confused.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, it's just that, I've known you all for years now and I'm still a socially awkward bookworm deep down inside."

Rarity smiled. The two sat in silence, in the middle of the floor for a few moments before their time together was interrupted by the opened of the door.

"Twilight! Something weird happened! Oh, hey Rarity. Wait . . . what's going on?"

The two ponies exchanged glances and let go of one another, standing up.

"Never mind, Spike," Twilight said, "What is is that was so 'weird?'"

"Oh, well, you know how you get and send your letters to and from Princess Celestia from me?"

"Yes? . . . "

"Well, I had that feeling today, on the way to the market - here's the groceries, by the way - but, well, this is all that came out."

Spike gave Twilight the tiny corner of paper. Twilight's eyes widened as she read the few words that had been taken off with it.

"This . . . this is part of the letter that Princess Celestia . . . . "

Twilight trailed off as a tell-tale light began to glow in the center of the room. It grew brighter and brighter, pure white light, and the three occupants of the room were all forced to shield their eyes. Suddenly, the light went down.

And there, laying in the middle of the floor, his clothes and bag smoking, was Booker Gray.

Ethereal

Three pairs of eyes, wide-eyed with complete and utter surprise, all fixed themselves on the smoking, groaning creature in the middle of the room. He did not stand up, he simply twitched a bit for a while.

Twilight, Rarity, and Spike all had different thoughts speed through theirs minds, different emotions. Relief, regret, fear, surprise, fear, surprise, and more fear and more surprise.

Rarity wondered if this was the the creature of whom Twilight spoke - it had to have been -  but it it wasn't was it a threat? Should they all be fleeing?

Spike didn't know what to think.

Twilight, however pressed her ears against her head and made herself look as small as possible. She did not know what was going to happen. She knew Booker, and he was not an angry of vengeful man by any means, but that didn't mean that something happened to him on the way to Equestria.

Eventually, however, the man, gray wisps still curling from his clothes and body and into the air, made the effort of standing up, Twilight leaning back and the other two leaning forward all the time. All three kept telling themselves that now was the time to act, to run, to fight, to do anything, but none of them could budge, their bodies frozen.

Soon, the creature stood at full height, and every single emotion of gear and awe increased. He began to stumble forward, his feet flopping about, toward the room's other occupants. The main room was large, but not extraordinarily massive, and soon he had almost reached them.

Finally, Rarity opened her mouth to say something. She doesn't remember what exactly, or to whom, but she never did as the creature tripped and fell forward, his hand outstretched to Twilight.

. . . . it passed right through her.

Again, no on moved for a good long while. Then Twilight whimpered, "Booker?"

She received naught but a grunt in response.

"Booker, are you alright?" Twilight asked, her ears standing tall, waiting for a response.

Silence.

Twilight cautiously held out her hoof and tried to remove Booker's baseball cap, but just as Booker's hand had done, Twilight's hoof passed through.

" . . . what? . . ."

"Twilight!" Rarity was finally able to blurt out, "Twilight, is that - is that him?"

Twilight's head swiveled to meet Rarity's eyes and then returned to the back of Booker's head. Then she sighed.

"Yes."

"But, well, I mean, how did he get here?

"I don't know."

"But what are we going to do?"

"I don't know!"

Throughout the midst of all of this, the only intelligible thought that had reached Spike's mind was: Wow, I'm sure glad I didn't burp him up! . . .

I can't describe what exactly it was that happened after that. Surprisingly, not that much pain. Yeah, there was the Dust's trademark zap! that had plagued me so many times,  but it wasn't really increased.

The, uh, ride, we'll call it, wasn't particularly interesting either. I mean, there was quite a bit of flashing light and fleeting images, a lot of flopping about, a lot of heat, but it was all over in just seconds.

I suddenly found myself discarded onto something that looked like wood. Despite the briefness of the whole ordeal, it had somehow left me completely exhausted and I wasn't able to move for quite some time. It took me a good five minutes to force myself up, and even then I was having a hard time staying on my feet.

The world was a blur. I saw some wood, more wood, several dim colors, and three spots of much brighter colors, and that really was about it. Nothing was perceivable, nothing had a definite shape or place to stay.

One of the spots of brighter colors was an assortment of purples, the exact same colors as Twilight, the exact pony I was looking for.

And so, seeing as I couldn't really see or walk or feel anything for that matter, I began to, rather awkwardly, stumble my way over there, abandoning my bag in the process. Something might have gone wrong on my way to wherever I was now, and I really didn't want to be stuck in this state forever.

The bright colors didn't move.

I reached them rather quickly and I extended my hand outward. I wanted to say something, anything, but my sluggish brain had other ideas.

I heard a distant gasp and I knew that these spots were alive.

Unfortunately, my strength gave out, and I thudded to the floor, still unable to feel anything very strongly. It felt more like landing on a solid pillow than one a slab of wood.

Finally, they spoke. Well, two of the three.

The voices sort of dodged in and out of my sense, seemingly attempting to evade my perception, but they were clear enough.

One of them I did not recognized, but when I heard what it was saying, I was happy.

Twilight answered her back and then talked to me. She talked to me! It was Twilight! I'm going to be saved! I'm going to make everything right! And then I'm going to kick her ass for being so emotional! Hooray interdimensional travel!

But, again, my brain wasn't really working right then, so I wasn't able to form an intelligible response. I just sat there, laying about in a stupid position on the fluffy wooden floor, trying and failing to send "move!" command to any one of my limbs, to get up and hug Twilight, and then beg for her magical help before I imploded in on myself and took the entirety of Equestria with me in some sort of  Booker-formed black hole in the middle of this place. Or perhaps I would be grabbed by the laws of reality and shoved elsewhere, lost among the dimensions forever never to be found. Needles to say, this and any other idea of the like scared me, more than my soldier balls of steel would like to admit. But I was still unable to say anything, or move at all.

So I asked myself: what now? . . .

Skyrim in Slipspace

Skyrim in Slipspace

Remember one of the many scenes in the Lord of the Rings in which the one rings finds its way onto Frodo's finger? Yeah, the way he sees when that happens is quite similar to what I was seeing at that time.

I clambered up to my feet and simply looked down at the pony whom I had come to make amends with. I attempted her name, but nothing came out. What, I couldn't even talk?

Twilight, however, had been able to speak and I heard my name. I went to pat her head, but remembered that I was stuck in some sort of non-solid state, and simply went for a thumbs-up. I'm still not sure, but I'd like to think that Twilight smiled, so I smiled back and lumbered back to my bag.

If I couldn't do anything, why not pay some video games?

It took a great long while, but the three completely solid and non-human creatures in the room eventually were able to speak again.

"Twilight, did his arm just pass through you?"

"Yes, it did."

"Well what does that mean?" Spike spoke up.

Twilight didn't answer immediately, instead frowning thoughtfully and pursing her lip. How had Booker managed to find her? She had left no clue, not a single trace . . .

Wait.

The new spell. She hadn't . . . .

"Oh no . . . ."

"What? What is it, Twilight?" Rarity asked, frowning in concern.

"Well, last time I went to Earth-"

"-Earth?-"

"The planet Booker comes from."

"The last time I went to Earth, I was using a new type of teleportation spell . . . ."

"Yes?"

"Well, I was just so excited to get there quickly and show Booker that I didn't really go through all of the testing that I should have," Twilight spat out, her ears once again clinging to her skull and a sense of embarrassment and shame washing over her.

Rarity ad Spike were both amused and sympathetic.

"Well . . . what are we going to do?"

"I don't know! Still! What can be done?"

"Uh, does Celestia know about this?" Spike inquired.

Rarity looked at Twilight and said, "Of course she does. Right, Twilight?"

"Well-only . . . sort of." Twilight was shrinking to the floor more and more.

"What does that mean?"

"Erm . . . after I left Earth for the last time, I went to Celestia and told her a bit about it and asked her to send a letter because I was too-well, she knows enough."

"Will she be able to help us?"

Twilight nodded slightly, "Yeah."

Rarity was about to speak again until something stopped her.

"Twilight, what is he doing?"

Twilight cast Booker a glance from her sad spot on the floor and mumbled: "Just playing on his computer."

"Computer?"

"It's a machine made of millions of electronic circuits set atop a plate of a semiconductor material, normally silicon. These chips can be used for different purposes. It can be programmed to run, play, or do just about anything you want."

"Woah . . . " Spike gaped.

Rarity cautiously approached and peeked behind Booker. Then she frowned.

"Ew, spiders."

"Yeah, those things can get scary."

"So . . . what else can these computers do?"

"Oh, you can use the to write, watch movies, play music-"

"What about design?"

"Yes, you can do that to."

Rarity's interest was growing, but Spike broke in again saying: "Hey guys, Booker, he needs help."

Rarity only looked at Twilight, who eventually forced herself up and stalked over to her desk, opting to write it herself.

"Twilight, that explanation of computers was a bit off, but I'm proud of ya."

No response? Alrighty.

This Rarity pony made me laugh, however. She was indeed a character. Spike, though, was the one who I was most grateful for, seeing as he was the one who got the other two to address my kind of stuck-in-slipspace issue.

Poor Twilight, though, she must have been so embarrassed. This whole situation was the definition of awkward and just plain odd. I'm pretty sure that we were the first people ever to have this problem, ever, honestly.

Soon, the letter that-I hoped-was for my help had been sent and the other three began deliberating again only, for some reason, they were mumbling.

I returned my attention to the game-whee! Down the waterfall!-and was just about to get my new blade when the ground beneath me shook.

I furrowed my brow and sat still. Was that the space-time continuum giving out underneath me? I looked over the the brightly-colored blots of light and saw that they, too, had grown still.

Just what was going on?

Despite the situation, Jurassic Park came to mind, and I smirked.

But then it happened again, and the colors beside me began what could only be described as "panicking."

I bolted to my feet, my computer shut and held closely to my chest as something cold touched my leg. I looked down and took a few steps back.

"What the hell?"

Tendrils. Tendrils of shadow were reaching out from the nooks and crannies of the library. And apparently they were after me.

I dove for my bag and extracted my flashlight, flicking it on.

"Hah!"

The light didn't completely obliterate the darkness as I had hoped, but it did indeed slow it down.

But then my other leg was tickled by a chill, and then an arm.

Just what the frik' was going on??

The strength and energy fled from my legs and I collapsed to the ground.

"Gah!"

I couldn't move them. The colored blurs seemed to be locking into battle with the shadows as well.

"Twilight!"

The shadows were overtaking me. I began to feel tired, and I made sure that I was holding all of my things.

Just before I drifted into wherever it was that the darkness was taking me, a distant, bright light began to glow through the windows of the library.

And then, as the incredibly overused phrase goes, all was black.

Shadows

The night sky shone brightly, the breeze was warm, the grass and the trees waved, and the bright orbs of lightning bugs hovered about. In short, it was an incredibly cliche type of night. Nice, yes, but often times an omen, the calm before the storm, if you will.

That's why Astrus stayed indoors. He knew about nature, he knew about the world around him. And the world, as it would seemed, was often upset with him.

The scruffy-looking stallion grit his teeth as he sat at his desk, lamp flickering weakly, quill in hoof and his eyes cast down upon an empty yellowed sheet of parchment.

He dropped his quill, and then picked it up, and then dropped it again. He ground his teeth and pressed his hoof into his temple.

"You know what? Forget it. They'll have to wait another month," he said, both in anger and in defeat.

He forcefully left his desk and left his study, leaving the lamp on.

Grumbling, he made his way through his wooden hallways and ducked into his kitchen where he poured a glass of milk. He sighed and leaned against one of the room's counters. His eyes became distant, ponderous as he drank from his glass. Slowly, the anger drained away, but it was replaced by a wall of tiredness.

"And I'm all out of coffee," he said dryly to himself.

Eventually, after spending a great amount of time staring at the floor, he started off to his bedroom. But something stopped him. There, in the corner of his eye . . . .

Most ponies would roll their eyes at such as momentary disturbance of the shadows. But most ponies weren't Astrus.

He set off at a trot, not panicked, but not relaxed, either. He hurried up his stairs and shut his door quickly. He let out a sigh of relief, and them promptly set his four locks. Without magic, he had to place his trust in the simpler things for means of self defense.

As was tradition, Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia drank tea whilst speaking of important matters. Tea. The beverage of the apocalypse.

This time it was surprisingly un-exotic; regular old earl gray from Tottingham, but it was good. The tea in the palace was always good.

"Twilight, I find myself in about as much of a loss as you," Celestia said.

Twilight started and quickly swallowed her mouthful of tea, despite its temperature.

"Wha-does that mean-"

"No, Twilight," Celestia said, a flavor of amusement hiding her in voice, "He's not gone forever. I know what took him, but I, as of now, am having trouble remembering how exactly to get him back . . . ."

"Well then, what took him?" Twilight asked, eager as well as worried.

"A force that I haven't seen for quite a while, as a matter of fact. It has many names, but it has, as of now, almost faded into legend, as the phrase goes," Celestia said, "Most ponies simply call them the 'Shadows.' Unimaginative, I know."

Twilight frowned, thinking. "Well . . . why did they take Booker? What uses could they possibly have for him?"

"Well, Twilight, the traveling of another being into another dimension is a rather heavy stone on the fabric of the universe."

"But I was doing it for months-"

"Yes, and each time, another stone was added to the pile."

Twilight fell silent, a pit forming in her stomach.

"So . . . it's my fault, then."

Celestia pondered for a moment, then said, "Well, yes, Twilight, I suppose it is."

Twilight 's head fell further, but Celestia chuckled.

"Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle, we all make mistakes. It was a good thing that Booker's hunt for you was the stone that tore the fabric; if we had unleashed the Shadows onto Earth, they could not have been stopped quite so easily."

Twilight's ears perked. "Easily?"

"The Shadows are an ancient force, experienced in the ways of many worlds, leeches, but they are by no means exceedingly powerful. They're illusive and clever, but very rarely do they exhibit the sort of behavior we witnessed today. I fear that this may mean things have changed, but we can still stop them."

"How?"

Celestia smirked. "I told you. I don't remember."

Twilight furrowed her brow while Celestia raised her eyebrow in amusement.

Finally, she said: "I don't remember, but I'm sure our library the books do."

Twilight hit herself in the forehead.

"Of course . . . ."

Despite the fact that I was kidnapped by evil shadow tentacles, I did not find myself in some dark void. Actually, I found myself on top of a mountain. A very cold one.

I forced away the feeling and began to observer the area around me. As said, I was on a mountain. A ledge, near the peak. I looked over the side and squinted through the snow.

"About two hundred feet or so." Not too bad.

I checked my pockets--pen, knife, and memopad still there--and I touched my dog tags to make sure they were still there. I found my bag soon after.

So I had all of my supplies, but I was still trapped. Maybe.

I looked up again, looking closely. There were several tiny juts and wears in the stone that could have been used for climbing, but based off of the fact that I didn't dress for mountain-snow-type-weather, I didn't really want to risk getting higher, and therefore colder. I decided to save that for later. And then I berated myself for not grabbing a freaking jacket. Like Mom used to say. Like every Mom says. I smiled at her memory and decided that, when I got home, I would totally visit her. What would I say? 'Hey Mom, sorry I haven't visited, I went after my small equine girlfriend and got kidnapped by shadows.'

It was right then, our of the void it seemed, that I realized something. I Iooked at my hand, and then the other. I tapped my boot on the stone ledge. I was solid again.

I grinned and retrieved a handgun from my bag. I could use this thing now.

But the question was, on what?

Not Board Games, That's for Sure

At this point in my life, I really wished I had  somehow managed to bring my bagpipes. Of course, they were far too bulky and heavy to really take anywhere, but I couldn't help but wonder how cool they would sound, far up into a high mountain, echoing down. Bagpipes are really a rather unique instrument, and unfortunately many people hated them.

Probably because they weren't Scottish in lineage. Like me.

I just shook my head and stood up from my cross-legged position near the edge and returned to the side of the mountain. I went into my duffle bag's side pocket and withdrew a pipe (Gandalf style!) - and patted my pocket for some form of lighting-device.

I always kept smoking pipes in random places, just in case I ever found myself in need of one and lo and behold, there I was.

I drew in a breath and blew a ring. I've gotta say, cold mountain air through a pipe actually tastes pretty good.

I leaned back and . . . well, the mountain fell out. Or, I guess, the wall.

I fell backwards with the cascade of snow, cursing on the way down. I scrambled back up to my feet, wondering just what the hell had happened, and then cocked my head.

The snow. It'd been covering the entrance to a cave. I looked left and then right, and then grabbed my bag and ducked inside the darkness.

Twilight and Celestia had been moving about the palace as they spoke all day long, but they had eventually found their way into Celestia's sleeping quarters and were, what else, drinking tea. Tea, as it would seem, was an end-of-the-world beverage.

"Game . . . Masters? . . . . But what does that mean?" Twilight asked, more confused and frustrated than she had been in  a very long time.  But anger was useless, she knew.  Which only served to make her feel even more irate.

"The Game Masters. That is what these shadows are most commonly referred to as," Celestia answered patiently.

"But why? They don't play games, they kidnap defenseless people and take them who knows where!" Twilight said, voice raised.

"On the contrary; why do you think Booker was taken?" Celestia countered.

Twilight fell silent and forced herself to calm down. "Okay. But why Booker? Why now? And just what kind of games?"

Celestia spoke slowly, saying: "I do not know why they have taken Booker, and why it was now, of all times. But the games? That just depends on which of the shadows gets to him first."

I was reminded of one of those vast cave systems in Skyrim. Where were the frostbite spiders, the falmer? Bandits? Dragon Priests? The atmosphere and overall shape of the passages just made me alert for a vampire to jump out at a moment's notice.

" . . . and then I'd have to trek all the way to Whiterun and activate Talos because I forgot to buy any disease potions again and it would totally suck . . . ."

I jogged quickly, eager to find something, anything, preferably the end of the cave, but remained alert at the same time, weapon ready to be drawn. There, of course, may have been actual monsters about.

I wasn't sure if I was even in Equestria any more. That scared me. I had been fighting that thought for the entire time, but that's what would make the most sense. I really couldn't deny it for much longer.

Fortunately, something else took my mind off of that.

There was a flash of warm light in the wall and I screeched to a halt, my heels digging into the dirt in a rather cartoonish fashion. I whirled around and backtracked. The light looked like an entrance to a side-cavern, and it was much brighter than everywhere else I'd been, so naturally I was drawn to it. A lot like a moth, apparently.

I peeked around and ended up gaping a little bit.

"Huh . . . how'd that happen?"

Stone Ridge stood guard at his usual spot outside of Celestia's throne room with his usual companion by his side. There was once a time in which he would have found himself bored to death, but fortunately he had matured past that phase. He had grown very skilled at acting more like a rock than a stallion.

But, even for someone as stoic and experienced as Ridge, some things just kind of take you unexpected.

There was a noise, distant, but definitely there. It was . . . unlike anything he had ever heard before. High-pitched, rapidly changing in volume, it almost sounded musical.

Ridge and his companion exchanged glances and they both lowered their weapons, ready for anything.

Ready for anything, that is, other than what actually  happened.

Ridge heard a sound like stone on stone, and suddenly the sound was amplified. He whirled around and raised his weapon, crying out.

Ridge stopped in his tracks. And so did the source of the noise.

Twilight and Celestia halted their conversation.

"Did you hear that?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. It sounded like it came from down the hall, near the throne room . . . ."

Celestia's eyes widened and Twilight jumped when one of the guards shouted and and the noise grew louder for a moment before stopping.

Celestia moved faster than Twilight could really catch, but she followed as best as she could. Twilight reached the door and peeked outward. Celestia stood, tall and firm. Both of the guards were unharmed, but one had dropped his weapon and they both looked rather disheveled.

Twilight advanced suspiciously, but when Celestia turned, she saw her smile.

"I think we found him," she said.

Twilight frowned but looked around the elder princess and . . . .

"Booker?"

He was looking just as confused as the guards.