What Was Found Below

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Elder Signs
Chapter 2 - Gifts of the Madman
Chapter 3 - The Dream

Chapter 1 - Elder Signs

Although Twilight had been all over Equestria, she honestly wouldn't live anywhere else other than the small town of Ponyville. In her studies with the Princess, she's seen the lunar rainbows of Vanhoover, the Grand Equine Statue of Manehattan, the cafes of Fillydelphia... However, there is no town quite like Ponyville; A town with culture and friendly mares and stallions all around. The most important thing about this little town though, is the fact that her friends are there. Her friends who she loves so dearly and could not live without. Her friends that-

“Twilight, hey Twilight?” A voice brought the unicorn back to reality as she was forced to focus in, only to see two bright blue eyes staring at her. “Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight!”

“Sorry Pinkie, I let myself get a little spaced out there,” She offered her a nervous chuckle which was returned with only a momentary deadpan glare.

“I was just saying that we need to get to the park, because the meteor shower is starting in an hour!” Pinkie Pie's demeanor almost instantly picked back up as Twilight finds herself literally being dragged from the library.

Ponyville was her home now, and not even for all of the time with the Princess would she move back to Canterlot. Her friends had become nothing less than the most important thing in her life, having filled a hole that, for the longest time, she wasn't even aware had existed.

Doing her best to keep up with the energetic mare, she couldn't help but let a smile slip up across her face. That night was a very special night, you see, as it was not only the night of the Winter Solstice, but it was the night that the millennial Stellaris Meteor Shower as well. A legendary event that was literally a once in a lifetime opportunity, and she was certainly planning on spending it with nobody other than her friends.

“You won't believe how long it took me to put up all of those streamers,” She rambled on with a wide grin that just made Twilight laugh. Although she loved Pinkie to death, she really did know how to talk. “Even with my party cannon! Also, Rarity helped me decorate the trees in the park and Applejack helped me make the snacks and...”

She was suddenly cut off by the shouting of Rainbow Dash, who was waving a hoof from the top of the hill, “Hey, up here!”

Twilight honestly loved how excited Rainbow was for the meteor shower too; she had even agreed to hold off the snow storm until tomorrow because of it. Ever since the librarian had introduced her to the Daring Do series, Dash had thankfully become a little more open to what she would consider 'egg head' stuff.

Arriving atop of the hill, the two mares noticed Spike and Applejack spreading the red and white checkered blanket out as Rarity levitated a few different plates from her bag that were covered in various horderves. Fluttershy, thankfully, had a less lavish taste and brought a plate of dandelion sandwiches. Rarity certainly wasn't known to be the best of cooks anyway, let alone when she made food that was notoriously sub-par even when made by professional chefs. Admittedly, that may just have been Twilight's complacency to having always to eat such garish foods at the castle.

“Thank you for setting up the telescope, Spike,” She smiled and gave the baby dragon a gentle nuzzle before turning back to calibrate said device. Luna's moon was always more beautiful than Celestia's ever was, although it certainly looked different without the famed mare plastered across the front.

“Man, when is this going to start?” Rainbow groaned and zipped upwards into the air in a prismatic streak, popping open a bottle of cider and taking a deep swig from it.

Laughing at her impatience, Twilight just shook her head and turned her attention back to knobs on the telescope, which was proving harder to calibrate than she remembered it being.

“Easy there, tiger,” Applejack bit down onto Dash's tail and brought her back down to earth. “Don't get too drunk on us before it starts. We don't need a repeat of your birthday party.”

“Hey, if I fall asleep on my birthday in a drunken stupor, that's my business,” She huffed and puffed out her cheeks before complacently sitting down onto the checkered blanket.

“But I worked so hard on that party!” Pinkie chimed in with a bit of chagrin of her own. Her anger was short lived, however, as her attention was brought back to her pulling a multitude of snacks from her saddlebags and splaying them across the blanket in between the six mares and dragon.

Everyone had really outdone themselves this time. Even looking out amongst the other groups of ponies, they all had their own picnics or games set up, despite the relatively cold weather from the solstice. Twilight found herself nuzzling contentedly into her scarf as she watched the other ponies gather, feeling thankful that Rarity had made it for her some time ago.

“Everypony, if I may have you attention for a moment,” A voice echoed from the microphone set up in the middle of the park with the speakers loosely strewn around for all to hear. At its source was Mayor Mare, who was wearing a scarf and earmuffs of her own. “The meteor shower should be starting any minute, but I just wanted to thank you all for showing up and for those that didn't, I wanted to thank you for dowsing your lights anyway.”

“I don't think the people at home can hear her,” Applejack quietly joked, eliciting a soft snicker from Rainbow Dash.

“I would also like to thank Pinkie Pie and Miss Rarity for setting up the decorations on such short notice. The shower, as some of you may know, happens only once every one-thousand years, so be sure to enjoy,” She explained before being silenced as the first bright white streak zips across the sky, followed by a variety of different colors shooting behind hit.

Her voice faded out as Twilight had watched the flashing stars through her telescope with an almost childlike excitement flooding over her. Ever since she was a little filly, she had always loved seeing the stars and was even obsessed with both astronomy and astrology; well, before she realized that astrology had absolutely no fact behind it. Although she did admittedly still read about it for fun on rare occasions.

~*~*~

The meteor shower had actually lasted about an hour in itself, but Pinke had managed to convince everyone to stay an extra few hours for an after party at Sugarcube Corner, which Mr. and Mrs. Cake were relatively upset upon having her offer such a thing. Out of politeness though, Applejack had agreed to move the party to her farm instead. Although it was far more wild than the usual Pinkie Pie party, it was fun no less.

Twilight's hoofsteps echoed throughout the empty streets of Ponyville as she was careful not to stumble towards her library as she carried a sleeping dragon on her back. Although she prided herself on never getting drunk, Pinkie had managed to spike the punch after the children either fell asleep or left, making in a little inescapable for the librarian. Granted, she was still pretty upset at Rainbow Dash for giving spike a drink of hard cider while the unicorn wasn't looking.

After about fifteen minutes of trotting in the cold to help clear up the haziness from the liquor, she levitated her keys from her saddlebag and unlocked the door, hearing a satisfying click before walking in...

“Agh!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs and reared up, accidentally sending spike flying off of her back and into the hardwood floor. “What- Why- How?!” She blubbered as she looked over the library with wide, horrified eyes.

“Jeeze Twilight, what's with the-” He stood up, rubbing the back of his head before his gaze was drawn to the tattered books splayed out on the library floor, having pages torn from some and having others being completely mangled. “Someone clearly didn't like your choice of books,” Spike joked, only to receive a death glare from the librarian.

“Spike, stay here,” Twilight ordered before slowly creeping her way towards the stairs, “I'm going to make sure whoever did... this... isn't still here.”

“S-Still here?” Spike shuddered, wide eyes in realization as to what Twilight had meant. He pressed his back against the door and kept his eyes peeled for anything that could be lurking in the darkness outside of the main room.

Twilight illuminated the dark hallway of the upstairs with her magic, creating a dim light to guide her way. The fact that it was quiet had put her only more on edge as every little sound suddenly became significant; the ticking of the clock, the creaking of the floorboards underneath her, the wind outside, the noise from inside of the bathroom....

“Wait,” Twilight whispered to herself as she turned to the closed door, hearing a soft, but audible scratching on the other side. Her ears swiveled and twitched as they tried to find a comfortable position to listen in on the sound of something suddenly falling over, the distinct sound of flapping wings, and the scratching suddenly returning harder than before.

With her horn beginning to glow brighter with raw magic, she suddenly swung the door open, only to have something rush at her face, clawing and screeching before she managed to shoo it off with a burst of energy striking against the ceiling above. “Owlicious?” She groaned and held a hoof against her cheek, feeling a small bit of wetness trickle onto onto it. “Don't scare me like that,” She sighed and cracked open the window that the panicked owl was thrashing against, watching him steal away into the night.

Making her way into the bathroom, she noticed that the owl had knocked over her bottle of shampoo and conditioner, and left quite a few scrapes across the inside of the door. “How did you even get locked in here?” She quietly asked herself before popping open the mirror cabinet over her sink and levitating out an adhesive bandage, placing it over the wound with a deep sigh. It certainly stung, but she agreed to clean it out later after she finished searching the house.

Making her way to the bedroom, she found it had actually not been disturbed as the books were in their rightful place, the bed was still neatly made, the dresser still wasn't disturbed, and even Spike's gemstone collection was left untouched. “Weird...” She murmured and started her way back towards the stairs. “If they weren't looking for valuables, then what?”

“Twiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiight!” She suddenly heard Spike's voice echo from downstairs, sending her into a full sprint towards the basement that he had called from.

“I thought I told you to stay-” Twilight felt herself almost gag at the pungent stench of what was nothing short of a middle-ground between fish and wet ink. Her words were stolen away from her as she noticed what the dragon was staring at, which was splattered across the floor in a bright yellow paint.

In what could only be considered three malformed question marks that were conjoined that the dot, it hardly formed what one could call a comprehensible drawing. In truth, it looked more like an accident as if someone dropped a balloon filled with paint onto the hardwood floor and couldn't be asked to clean it.

“What do you think it is?” Spike asked with wide eyes, pinching his nose shut with his claws; a power that Twilight honestly wish she had herself at that moment.

“I'm not sure...” She admitted before gently laying a hoof onto the dragon's back, “Spike, upstairs is clear... Go get ready for bed.” Spike opened his mouth in protest, but he noticed the mixed look of fear and concern on the librarian's face and simply gave her a hug and made his way to the bathroom.

Twilight continued down the stairs and gently placed a hoof against the paint, only to find out that it was perfectly dry. “How long have you been here?” She questioned and looked around the room for any evidence, only to find that it was untouched apart from the crude painting. For a good fifteen minutes, she just stared at it before making her way back upstairs to start on cleaning the mess left by the intruder.

~*~*~

“It just seems like an awful lot of trouble for a prank,” Twilight sighed and slumped over against the table in Rarity's kitchen, quietly thanking the mare for the cup of coffee that was offered to her. “I asked Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie about it and neither of them know, and not to mention the considerable property damage that this 'prank' has caused. That, and I checked and all of the doors were locked!”

“Twilight, you do realize that y'all teleport all the time, right?” Applejack commented from across the table as Rarity took the third seat with her own cup of tea.

“That makes it worse, though! Teleportation is a relatively difficult spell, so not too many ponies even know how to; let alone the debate on what percentage of those ponies that would actively destroy a library,” Applejack's explanation only seemed to shake the mare worse. “It's just that whoever broke into my house was clearly looking for something, and what if they didn't find it? What if they come back? I can't just put Spike in danger like that.”

“Twilight, calm down! If y'all want, Ah'll come stay the night with you and keep watch,” Applejack offered in an attempt to calm the increasingly frantic mare, reaching across the table and laying a firm hoof on Twilight's shaking one.

“I, for one, agree,” Rarity nodded and placed her hoof into the pile with a smile, “I think it's been far too long since we've had a sleepover anyway... Just as long as I don't have to jump out into the mud again.”

“... Or as long as Applejack doesn't pull a tree into my window,” Twilight joked with a slight smile threatening to surface at the remembrance of their last slumber party.

“Hey, what can Ah say? Ah know how ta have a good time,” Applejack smirked before the three mares broke into laughter. With the Winter Solstice snow storm on the schedule for that day, it was honestly a great time just to spend time together and relax.

“I may bring a few mannequins though, if that's alright; I do have a rather large order to fill still, and I can't afford to fall behind,” Rarity informed with a slight tinge of red in her cheeks as she remembered her promise to Fancy Pants.

“That's alright, I have plenty of room,” Twilight offered hopefully, not really wanting to turn down the extra sets of eyes for that night. If the intruder had indeed not found what they were looking for, one could never be too safe.

“Then it's settled; we'll meet up at the library later and have a fun little sleepover,” Rarity smiled at her friends before deciding that they needed a lighter subject, “So Twilight... About you and Big MacIntosh....”

“... What?” Applejack suddenly froze up.

~*~*~

It would have been a lie if Rarity were to say that she wasn't excited to spend time with her friends, even under such bizarre circumstances. For the rest of that day, she found herself working hard to finish Fancy Pants' order and somehow managing to get around 90% finished with it. As it stood though, she would either have to show up unfashionably late, or bring the remaining materials that she needed for the final two dresses.

Although Twilight had given her the okay to work at the library, it still felt like a bit of a waste of a night. However, the fashion line could either make or break her presence in Canterlot that year. As such, she decided to pack up the cloth she needed, tossing Opal off of a spool of cloth in a particularly lovely shade of blue.

“Let's see...” She murmured to herself as her eyes surveyed the room for anything that she might be forgetting. “Ah, there you are,” She commented and levitated a small box filled with various gemstones across the room from the dresser. “Gah!”

She found herself floored with gemstones scattered all around her as she met face to face with one of her mannequins, feeling her heart threaten to beat out of her chest. “Not where I left you,” She commented with a wry frown before turning to pick up the gems. “However, I do need to bring you either way,” She sighed, shrugging off the mannequins apparent movement as just her imagination. With that, she levitated her saddlebags onto her back and began to carry the mannequin out of the shop with her with a slight smile appearing on her face.

“Let's bring some desserts from Sugarcube Corner as well, shall we?” She spoke out loud, knowing that the mannequin wasn't going to answer.

Chapter 2 - Gifts of the Madman

“Twilight, are you awake?” Twilight stirred restlessly in her sleep as the voice awoke her, along with the soft rapping and tapping that echoed throughout her room. “I found something,” Her ears twisted towards the voice before hearing her door creak open and the soft clopping of hooves leave her alone in the moonlight.

Slowly, she turned her head to look towards the ajar passage, watching in silence as the flank of her friend left her view into the darkness. With a bite of her lip, she found herself stumbling out of bed with a wry grimace as the soft creaking of floorboards stirred Pinkie Pie as she did her best to avoid stepping on the pink mare. Although she felt a sense of dread as she followed through the abyssal night, she found her curiosity had her convinced into following the farmer.

“Applejack, what did you find?” She asked quietly with a shaky voice, hearing the cracking noise that her basement door made as usual when it was opened, causing a frozen chill to shoot down her spine as she was reminded of the mess that she had found only the night before.

“Come on,” She heard her whisper once more before trailing off down into the darkness below, forcing the unicorn to swallow in a mixture of paranoia and doubt. However, a small voice nagged at her to trust the farmer, and so she found herself lighting up her own horn with her magic.

“What is it?” She asked again as she slowly made her way towards the door with a grimace as her magic worked to fight off the darkness that seemed to reach towards her with umbral tendrils that threaten to pull her down into the abyss below. “Applejack, this isn't funny,” Twilight chuckled nervously and found the world spinning as she tumbled down the stairs with a sharp sting along with each bounce before her face smashed into the wooden floorboards.

“You made it...” Her attention to her pain was cut short as her watered gaze went up through the darkness towards her friend that was sporting her ever-trusty stetson and what appeared to be a necklace with a rather familiar symbol emblazoned on it, creating a three pointed question mark that almost detracted from the blank expression on her friend that slowly melted away into what could only be describe as a faceless horror. “She made it... She made it... She made it...”

“Applejack?!” Twilight quickly wiped the tears away from her face, clearing her vision to see the pale mannequin slowly crawl towards her with the creaking of its metal frame before a crude mouth cracked open on the muzzle of the artificial mare, allowing the soft gurgling semblance of a voice echo its observation over and over again.

She made it.

“What do you want?!” Twilight screamed and pressed her back against the wall, having her horn light up with raw energy that threatened the crudely animated equine.

What I want.

“Yes, what do you want?!” She hissed and fired off the unrestrained energy towards the creature, only to have it misdirected towards the ceiling with a bright flash of light, and in that moment, she found the creature standing over her with with a foul smelling yellow ink leaking out from its misshapen mouth as one phrase gurgled out in a choking voice:

The.... King.... Returns....

~*~*~

“I don't know,” Twilight sat in front of the table with bags clearly showing her rough night as she had been tossing and turning from her bizarre dream. Although it had felt so real, so accurate, she had awoken without a drop of ink in sight and Rarity's mannequin remaining in its content position as a dressmaker. “I just think I'm a bit shaken up still from the other night,” Twilight sighed and took a long drink from the coffee mug that sat in front of her.

“Well, Ah was up all night, sugarcube,” Applejack reassured for a moment before continuing, “And Ah certainly didn't see nothing like that. Ah mean, hay, Ah'd probably have beaten that dang thing 'fer taking my hat if Ah had.”

“Even if my mannequin had somehow come to life, I'm sure it would have enough fashion sense to not wear... that,” Rarity deadpanned and gestured towards the stetson that her friend was wearing.

“What if it was alive and they just pretended not to be because they don't want us to know because they secretly have their own life while we aren't looking?!” Pinkie chimed in with a wide grin as she took a sip of her own coffee, finally giving her that boost to wake her up completely so early in the morning.

“Pinkie, that sounds like a really bad story in a children's book,” Twilight deadpanned this time around before letting out a soft giggle at her friend's usual antics. Although she had been a little more leery about letting Pinkie stay the night initially when Rarity had shown up with her, the idea quickly became an accepted one as the pink mare had brought her usual antics to cheer the librarian up and pull her thoughts away from the possible break in the night before.

“... Or one of those horror ones that you read Sweetie Belle on Nightmare Night,” Rarity commented with a wry frown before joining in with her own soft giggle. The memory had not escaped her of the event happening only a few months earlier as Twilight told quite a few rather ghastly tales to the foals around town in order to stir up the fears of Nightmare Night; although it had certain repercussions for the younger of the group.

“I said I was sorry about that,” Twilight felt her cheeks warm up a little at that memory. Having five foals literally run from the library screaming wasn't exactly what she would call a fun time, but it certainly was in the spirit of Nightmare Night if nothing else.

“Twilight?” A voice grabbed the mares' attention as they turned to see Spike standing next to the basement door with a claw outstretched. “Didn't you clean that?”

“Clean what?” Twilight blinked for a moment before realizing what the dragon was asking, causing her eyes to widen in shock for a moment before she stood up and almost galloped towards the basement. “I did, but how-” She stopped when she noticed the yellow paint splattered across the floor at the foot of the stairs yet again, in the same apparently accidental design and with that same pungent odor that would have been enough to knock even Big MacIntosh over.

“-Did it come back...” She finished her sentence as the three mares at the table also made their way over to see the artwork that could shake up even the otherwise unshakable unicorn wizard. Although it still looked like nothing more than your average paint spill, it was hardly what any of them would have expected to see considering the fact that they were all present the night before.

“Twilight, Ah'm beginning to think that this weren't no prank,” Applejack spoke apologetically as she looked over the basement below.

“Well, I'm not above saying I told you so...” Twilight murmured halfheartedly as she slowly stepped down the stairs, towards the bright yellow symbol that seemed to almost be beckoning her.

“Is there anything down there, darling?” Rarity asked before following the other unicorn's lead, having her attention drawn to the small book that was enveloped in her friend's violet magic. “What do you have there...?” She inquired cautiously, only to have Twilight turn towards her with an unsure expression of her own.

“An empty book,” She stated uncertainly and turned the book around for all to see, revealing just that; the blank pages of the small yellow book that she had found amongst the mess. “Just an empty book...” She restated, as if trying to assure herself it were nothing more and nothing less.

~*~*~

“Twilight, are you okay in here?” Spike asked as he carried in a tray of dandelion sandwiches for the librarian with a wide smile on his face. Ever since that night that the girls were over, the weird painting had seemed to stop recreating itself in the basement and Twilight was becoming herself again. Well, did find a use for the book and started writing down her usual notes in it, so that was new, but it was her usual things though: Books on magic and science that she always read anyway.

“Hm? Oh yeah, I was just studying about Starswirl's latest work before his disappearance a few centuries ago,” Twilight explained as she levitated a quill towards her little yellow book and jotted down a few notes. “Did you know that he was working on a way to amplify a pony's natural magics?”

“What would he need that for? ” Spike questioned and sat the tray of food on the beside table with his usual smile not once leaving his face.

“Well, it was more than just what it sounds like... It was a way to make ponies live decades longer than they should,” Twilight continued with a smile before levitating a half of a sandwich towards her, taking a small bite from it with an appreciative hum as she realized just how neglectful she was being to her own body's needs yet again.

“Should?” Spike replied, not really too curious, but wanted to satisfy the mare no less.

“Well, apparently there were some side effects that he was trying to work out, but it usually caused the subjects to go insane,” Twilight explained with a shrug as she continued skimming over her book. “It's kind of a weird thought; the ability to live forever... Starswirl apparently started having all kinds of weird experiments when he got older, but most of his research just mysteriously disappeared along with him.”

“I-Insane?” The dragon stared at the librarian curiously as he was reminded of the stories that Twilight shared earlier that year.

“Exactly,” Twilight explained as she jotted down a few more notes, “It's a shame really; getting so caught up in your work that you lose your mind yourself. Well, that's the theory anyway; that Starswirl went insane himself before vanishing.”

“R-Really? I-I'm just going to go... Uhm, clean the kitchen,” Spike explained nervously as he backed out of the bedroom. After he read Frankenmare, he had found himself always a little scared of the idea of those kinds of experiments having horrible side effects. In fact, it surprised him that Twilight had even let him read the book to begin with, and he honestly wished she hadn't in hindsight.

Twilight just giggled a little and shook her head, knowing why the dragon was so nervous about the conversation. Not that she enjoyed scaring Spike particularly, but she preferred to just be left alone to her studies, food or not. With a slight smile returning to her face, she continued on her reading through the book on obscure unicorn history. Although she was interested in the chapter on King Sombra, Starswirl the Bearded always had a special place in her heart.

Although she did make sure to eat what Spike had brought her, she hadn't noticed how the hours had passed for her in her studies. Seeming as if it were only minutes, she found herself watching the sunset make its way across the horizon. “I should probably let Spike know that I'm still alive,” She joked to herself and made her way out of the recesses of her bedroom and downstairs towards the kitchen, noticing a note laying on the table that mentioned he was going to Rarity's for the night and that he had tried to tell her, but she was too busy reading to notice.

“Sorry, Spike...” She murmured with a soft sigh and set the note back down, making her way towards the kitchen to grab a drink of water, only to find herself floored in surprise at the loud thumping that suddenly echoed from above her, stomping against the floor of her bedroom.

Levitating a knife from her kitchen rack, she gripped it firmly in her magic as she made her way back upstairs as the thrashing only seemed to grow louder and a soft humming noise began to accompany it, forcing her heart to start beating as if it were trying to escape her chest. Throwing the door open, she launched the knife forward, seeing it lodge itself about an inch into the floorboards right next to the small book that was now laying in the middle of the sunbeams of the fading light, having what was once only covered in her own ink now revealing so many different images.

“What the...?” She mumbled as her magic slowly levitated the book towards her. The images were rudimentary at best, and could easily be mistaken as petroglyph-esque with their minimalistic style. Although her dark ink was clearly overlaying the yellow images, it still made her question as to why it was blank only hours earlier. “There's no enchantments... No hint of an illusion or a glamor...” She murmured as she cycled through various identifying spells that she knew off hand, but nothing answered her call. “Disappearing, reappearing ink?” She speculated finally, but just settled on levitating the book back onto her bed as she looked around the room for the sign of any intruder that could still be lingering.

That's when she saw it though; a small sheet stabbed into her wall with what could only be described as a crudely carved shiv with an almost serpentine curve to it. On the sheet, it had symbols eerily similar to the ones that she had found only a moment ago in the book, followed by what she could only assume was a translation.

Awaken, awake, with claws outstretched, his majesty returns with his crown in hand. The king, the king, rejoice, rejoice, as with it comes the time of Yellow.

“Gibberish,” Twilight mumbled but tore the page from the wall and turned back towards her bed and levitated the book over, tucking away the translation safe and sound before backing slowly towards the wall and eying the dark corners of her room for anything or anyone that awaited. With a glow of her horn, she found herself outside of the library with a sprint towards one of her friends'... Any of her friends' house with her heart threatening to tear itself from her. “But insane doesn't mean you're not dangerous,” She whispered shakily as she found herself outside of Sugercube Corner with the mysterious book clutched tightly to her chest. “Pinkie Pie!” She called out in hopes that someone would be home.

Chapter 3 - The Dream

"Of course, Madame Mayor," Quickdraw assured the mare in front of him with a smile, “Our circus is sure to kick off the winter with a bang.”

“I see...” Ivory Scroll murmured as she skimmed over the pamphlet that he had given her merely minutes ago. His troupe was known as 'The Trotham Twelve', which obviously originated from the southern island-city of Trotham. “I suppose you could set up your tent in the field west of town. All that remains is the matter of payment for the space...”

“I assure you that we'll gladly pay, whatever your price,” The gunpowder gray stallion assured as he pulled a bag of bits from his bag and dropped it onto the table, “After all, our job is to entertain, because that's what we love most.”

The mayor's jaw dropped as she watched the coins spill out onto the table, “Oh no, no, no, I couldn't ask for this much!”

“Think nothing of it, Madame Mayor... Just think of it as a donation to Ponyville if you fear it will weigh on your conscious too much,” Quickdraw smirked and adjusted his hat with a nod, causing the mare to just stare in awe for a moment before nodding.

“Of course, you can set up your tent in the west field, and if you do require any aid... You only need to ask,” Ivory smiled with a sparkle in her eyes as she looked at the money given to her.

“Oh no, we prefer to do things ourselves... It wouldn't feel right if we had help from our audience,” Quickdraw offered as he began to stand up, “By the way... Feel free to contact us if you have any other questions; here's my card...” He stated and levitated a small blue card from a case in his bag, laying it onto the table as he made his way out.

It had ornate silver designs framing it, while it showed a phone number, Quickdraw's name, and a rather simplistic star underneath the circus' name, which held what was vaguely reminiscent of a flame. “Hm, maybe I should advertise for them...” The mayor pondered as she remembered the generous amount of money he had thrown away without thought.

~*~*~

Meanwhile, within the halls of the premium dress shop of Ponyville, its owner and proprietor worked with a dragon standing by her side. Holding several small pins in her magical grip, she worked fervently on a tuxedo that the dragon wore with beads of sweat rolling down his face as the needles came dangerously close to stabbing him.

“I don't know, Pinkie... A circus isn't exactly my idea of fun,” Rarity commented halfheartedly as she worked. “Besides, I'm a little busy with this next order.”

The pink mare let out a groan and sprawled out across her friend's sofa and looked over the pamphlet again, “Why does everypony keep saying they're busy?! Applejack has to buck apples, Twilight is busy reading that weird book, Fluttershy hates how they treat the animals, and you're working... Rainbow is the only one that wants to go! I mean, they have a free chocolate fountain!”

“Well, we can't really help us being busy, darling,” Rarity explained before jerking back from a yelp as a needle poked into the dragon's underside, “Sorry, dear, I didn't mean to!”

“I-It's fine, really!” Spike offered with an unconvincing grin, although Rarity had seemed to buy it as she went back to work. “You said something about Twilight reading that weird book, right, Pinkie Pie?”

“Yeah! Since she asked to stay at Sugarcube Corner with me, she's been reading this book that has some really bad drawings in it... And I mean bad! There's no words either, which Twilight never reads books without words,” Pinkie joked, but the other two members in the room had their attention brought to the party pony.

“What book would that be, Pinkie?” Rarity asked curiously. Not that it was out of character for Twilight to be reading, it did sound a little strange for her to be so into a picture book.

“I dunno, it's all yellow though,” Pinkie explained before exclaiming, “Ooh, they have free carrot dogs at the circus too!”

“Yellow book...” Spike pondered before remembering what Twilight had found in the basement only a few days ago, “But it was blank, wasn't it?”

Pinkie stared at the dragon for a moment, as if what he was saying was sinking in, “It does look kind of the same, doesn't it?”

“Maybe she drew the pictures?” Rarity suggested. “She's not exactly known for her talent in art.”

“Mm-mm,” Pinkie shook her head, “I already asked her. She did get mad that I said she was bad at drawing, though.”

“Maybe I should talk to her...” Rarity murmured as she looked out her window thoughtfully before hearing Spike yelp in pain from another needle, causing her cheeks to flush. 'One problem at a time, Rarity. One problem at a time.'

~*~*~

Monday 21/12

In my studies of the tome, I have deemed 'The Yellow Book' as per the repetitious theme of the color yellow that has been surrounding the recent events of my life. Although I am having a rather difficult time translating the text in the book, as my only cypher is a translated page that I had found in my bedroom that night before I fled to Sugarcube Corner. For Spike's protection as well, Rarity was kind enough to let him stay with her and Sweetie Belle while I sort things out with the intruder in my home.

From what I can tell, the book is hardly anything more than the ramblings of a madman, but I can't figure out how the events of the past few days possibly happened otherwise. I have cast a wide array of magical detection spells on the book, the translation page, and all throughout my library, only to find hardly a trace of magic other than what I perform daily.

From the images within the book alone, though, I do fear what I may have stumbled blindly into, as the images seem to relay the most blasphemous of rituals and spells that should, by right, not even work. Magic is a science that one can study, measure, and control, but the supposed rites that this book offer have no basis in fact. How would drawing pseudo-runes and cannibalizing the heart of a stallion offer you sustained youth? Age magic is nearly impossible, and is only superficial at best.

My scientific mind is admittedly conflicted with this though, as my logic denies the possibility of these dark arts even working, but my curiosity also wants me to try a ritual to see if it would. Provided that I can find a ritual that does not involve harming those around me, I will attempt it and in the impossible event that it does work, I will study how. Ever since I had moved to Ponyville though, I have constantly disproved the rumors around magic, and I have almost found the cause of the things I do not know, with the exception of Pinkie's impossible power of foresight. Maybe not all things in this life are as straightforward as I would like.

Tuesday 22/12

Through my studies, I have only found more and more disturbing images within the pages of the Yellow Book. Pinkie mentioned something about a circus coming into town, but I had admittedly given her an unsure answer, as I would prefer to study, but I should not neglect my duty to my friends either. Maybe I will make time to go to the circus with her and the girls later; I think it depends if I find a breakthrough on translating the pages or not.

Wednesday 23/12

I have officially decided that, whether or not these spells work, the writer of this book was completely insane. Although I had joked about it in the past, I have officially decided that it can possibly be nothing less than the truth. When I arrived on page 182, the book began to detail creatures far beyond pony comprehension. Eldritch things not of this world that accidentally created us as some byproduct to their unholy experiments.

Amongst these creatures, they mention a few by name, although their pronunciation is quite literally impossible. How does one pronounce xch or rchk? There was one that I found curious though, as he is only ever mentioned as 'The King' or 'The Unspeakable', as if it is some kind of crime to say it even in text. Although I would assume it not be impossible for life to exist on planets other than our own, I do find the claims that this book gives us to be highly unlikely.

Thursday 24/12

A spell! I found a few spells that actually do not require physical harm to those around you in order to perform them. One I noticed was referred to as the 'dread name', which was nothing more than one word... Hastur. Granted, it is supposed to inspire fear in these elder things that I have mentioned yesterday, but it's hard to test such a thing without any creatures like that around. So, I did settle on performing a spell with a runic circle, words of power, and a rather dark intent.

To my understanding, it is a kind of initiation to gain contact with the Unspeakable One that I had mentioned before. I, of course, expect to have little more than a waste of magical energy as I try to perform this ritual. I can't help but notice a common theme throughout this book, and that it is magic always comes at a price, no matter how minimal it may seem. Tomorrow, I do believe that I may perform this ritual to gain contact with this King that this book seems so keen on talking about.

~*~*~

Twilight sat in front of the spell circle which was etched with the blasphemous runes that were described in her tome. Runes that roughly translated into 'yellow', 'wind', 'darkness', 'power', 'lordship', and the dread name, 'Hastur'. The unholy cirlce was drawn in yellow chalk that Cheerilee had provided for the librarian upon request, to which Twilight was admittedly nervous to try. In the off chance that it would work, she found herself filled with dread to meet a creature beyond the comprehension of ponykind.

She took her place in the center as she looked up to the beautiful moon that Luna was admittedly so proud of. With a wry grimace, she uttered a few words and closed her eyes, and uttered her best attempt at the dead language. Due to her uncertainty if the Equestrian translation of the ritual would perform the desired effect, she had decided to speak the enchantment in its archaic form with the pronunciation as close as she could possibly make.

She chanted these words over and over until she started to channel her magic into her horn, using those unholy words to fuel her spell. What was normally a violet glow around her horn had turned a faint shimmering gold as the spell began to take form, only to fizzle out at the last moment and release the raw magical energy to the air.

Finding herself actually a little downtrodden from the lack of an effect, Twilight let out a groan of both frustration and relief, “Well, at least it proved to be little more than a madman's ramblings...” She offered before noticing how the moon had moved across the sky. It may have only seemed like minutes to her, but she had apparently been trying this spell for no less than an hour. With a sigh, she made her way back to Sugarcube Corner with a small sense of frustration at how pointless her studies had proven to be.

~*~*~

“You called me...” Twilight stirred as a small voice echoed throughout her head. With her eyes popping open, she found herself standing in a frozen desert, surrounded by spires of yellow sand and ice. “Awaken, child.”

Glancing around the alien landscape, she felt overwhelmed at the impossible terrain that housed the most bizarre of creatures roaming around her. Floating throughout the air were masses that could only be described as polypous, expelling a foul smelling gas from their mutated bodies to propel them throughout the sky. Amongst the towering spires, batlike creatures watched her with their eyeless expressions.

Their whispers were ones in an incomprehensible language, causing Twilight's ears to twist and swivel to soak in the noises that echoed around her. Beneath her was a very familiar symbol in yellow, splayed out in its three-pointed shape with her standing in the center of the yellow dot.

“This is impossible... The spell was impossible!” Twilight hissed as she backed up, feeling the sand threaten to shift underneath her as she attempted to leave the circle. Overhead, the bats were picking apart the mutated creatures, ripping them apart at what could only be described as seams and dragging them into the holes littering the spires.

“Only a fool denies what is right in front of them,” Twilight's attention was brought to a creature rising from the sand, which formed into a vague shape of a robed stallion, having a porcelain mask being the only thing with apparent tangibility. “But you are no fool...”

“W-What are you?” Her words fumbled out of her mouth as she desperately tried to draw on her magic, only to feel nothing answer her call. Feeling a vague semblance of a fight-or-flight instinct, she began to back away, only to feel the stand collapse from underneath her back leg, causing her to retreat back into the circle.

“Your king...” He stated calmly, “Even if you did not believe it would work, you still signed a pact... And with it, I offer you knowledge beyond your wildest dreams.”

“Knowledge? Is that what you call this?!” Twilight hissed in panic, feeling as if her heart was about to explode as the shrieking of the polyps called from overhead.

“Knowledge is power, child... You need not use the knowledge I give you, but what harm is there in learning it?” He offered as the sands of his body shifted, revealing a hoof of sand outstretched to her. “After all, you are a scholar...”

“But why would you do this?” Twilight raised her brow, retracting her hoof away from the creature. “What's the catch?”

“I am a procurer of knowledge, and what use is knowledge if it is horded?” He explained, “Now, I will not offer this again to you, but I will still give you my blessing if you accept it now...”

Twilight froze up as she stared into the unreadable mask in front of her, trying to find anything behind it, only seeing the black void of its eyes looking back. Although she knew that she could not trust the stallion, her scientific mind wanted to learn more about this foreign magic. He did have a point though, as she did not have to use the knowledge, so what would the harm be in learning it?

“... I am willing to learn,” She stated uncertainly and outstretched her own foreleg, meeting her hoof against the sand.

“Then take my blessing, you will learn all you need from there...” He replied before his body began to crumble, followed by the sandy landscape, leaving her standing in the yellow paint that slowly began to shrink, closing in on her. Panicking, she collapsed onto the dot and groped at it with her hooves in an attempt to escape the void below before...

Twilight opened her eyes to the morning light, feeling her head throb from a first-thing-in-the-morning migraine. Tossing over, she pulled the blankets over her head and let out a groan, “What a dream...”