Nightmares and Dreamscapes

A tender hum floated through the air leaving a sense of serenity that was hardly found in other places. The room was intricate and wealthy, a completely different change of scenery from the cave. However far that place was... while fights and anger happened off in the forest one could only find peace and happiness in this room.

Flowers of all kinds lined a large mirror with a gold rim. The walls and floors while polished marble where somehow giving off a soft yellow-orange glow giving the room a sense of sunset or sunrise. In the middle of the room so large it could practically be considered a small house were a large white carpet and a, exceedingly large fluffy bed with the matching cartoonish sun mark printed on them. Off in the left corner with the mirror was a large marble dresser, a polished wooden desk covered with neatly stacked papers, a large birdcage containing a currently sleeping phoenix. Various artifacts like staffs and magical books were spread across the room in a chaotically neat way.

In the middle wall were two large doors printed with the same sun marking. They were decorated in such a way that the gold and marble simulated a certain princesses color scheme. Across from that was a large balcony, the white, almost transparent curtains billowing softly in the wind as the glass doors were kept pushed open.

Despite the constant stimulation of the day time the night time was currently the dominant of the two.

Off to the right were two doors, one with another carpet in front of it, albeit a little smaller. and the other left blank save for a bunch of paintings surrounding the wall around it. The door next to the one infested with pictures swung open revealing a bath-robed Celestia.

The immortal alicorn who fought off dragons, armies and the worst of evils let out a loud yawn. With a fan off her hoof she smacked her lips together, trotting over to the luxurious bed. Rubbing her eyes softly she slid into the bed, pulling up a piece of crisp paper. She smiled as she read of the note Twilight sent her today, this time it was about teaching the others the value of sharing.

Celestia seemingly pulled a paper and quill out of nowhere.

"Dear Twilight, I-" Celestia suddenly stopped as muffled shouting and screams came from behind her door.

All she managed to pick up where things like "Princess calm down." and "Somepony stop her!". Just as she got up too see what the noise was all about a burst of light sent two guards tumbling through the door. They both rolled to a stop, seemingly unconscious. Celestia went from serenity to shock real fast.

Who would dare attack the castle.

She thought about it for a second.

Okay, many things would dare attack the castle but who else is a princess?

A low whimper came from the doorway. Celestia instantly got up realizing who's voice it was.

Not even seconds after the realization Luna came limping through the doorway. Sniveling with her head low.

"Sister, I can't hold it off any longer." she muttered before collapsing. Celestia was instantly at her sisters side, already nursing her gently.

"What happened!?" Celestia demanded, trying to keep her voice calm.

"nn..."

Celestia leaned in slowly.

"nnnn..."

"Sister.... "

"Nothing I can't handle."

Luna shot up, her horn glowing with an intense magic that nearly blinded Celestia. But before she could even touch the princess a blue bubble of magic surrounded Celestia. Luna out a cry of frustration as she was forced back by the field. The princess of the night glared over at the door, where one of the unicorn guards had managed to pick themselves up. Luckily for Celestia the shield was a surprise otherwise it wouldn't have held, unluckily for him her attention was now on him.

A simple blast of magic took care of him.

By the time she turned back to Celestia though, the day princess was already in a battle ready stance. Already having put distance between them.

"You were destroyed." Celestia growled.

The room grew colder as the night princess rose to her full height. "No, no... sleeping, waiting, still a little broken but nothing a couple of cakes- minutes fix. It's so exhausting too stay in control of this body." She fluffed her astral mane with a toss of her head. "Your little sister is trying ever so hard to gain control."

Celestia gritted her teeth in anger. "Let her go."

"Oh Tia."

"Don't you dare ever call me that!" The room seemed to rumble as Celestia shouted.

A low chuckle was her only response. "Ok, fine I simply won't call you TIA. I mean that's not a fitting nickname for a.... nng what is the word? Still working out the kinks.... ah yes, slave."  

Before Celestia could react an explosion echoed from the outside. She snapped her attention to the balcony and galloped over, appalled at the sight before her. A literal army was raging through Canterlot, terrorizing nobles, pillaging stores and causing destruction equivalent to the changeling invasion. The army was diverse, Griffons, Minotaurs, Buffalo, earth ponies, unicorns, Pegasi and many more races all ran around chasing the nobles. Some laughed, others roared but they seemed to enjoy one thing, hurting and scaring the ponies. She spotted some flying in through the air and others crawling from the sewer covers, joining in on the mayhem.

"How did..."

"It wasn't easy to sneak an entire army right under THEE gaurds nose. But it's pretty easy if you're in charge of it. Oh and also you might want too tell your little 'prodigy' that a giant boulder isn't the most conspicuous way to hide a mirror pool. "

It then dawned on Celestia that Luna was in charge of the night guard.

A shrill scream broke Celestia from her trance.

The image of Luna disappeared showing the true thing that lurked underneath. Nightmare Moon....... a malicious smile formed across her face.

With an uncharacteristic war cry Celestia whirled around and let all of her power loose.

Trixie shot off another blast at the ceiling in front of her. The area once as neat as it could get was now absolutely destroyed, some mushrooms missing chunks, the bed and desk flipped which left the bottled ship scattered everywhere. The book desk lay face down, some books slipping out from underneath. The cave was riddled with blast holes.

Trixie held her breath. Trying too pick up the tiniest movement. THERE! A pair of stark white eyes peered at her from the darkness, soon after a toothy smile joined them, the canines exceedingly pronounced. The whole affect of it all gave off the feeling of nightmareish, court jester and creepy fools did not sit well with Trixie.

She fired again. The shot missed but the faint, white glow of the beam revealed some very interesting details. Its furless skin was a light brown, the only thing looking at all close to fur was the shaved hair on its head. Whatever it was it was as close to a mountain of meat as it could get, with a torso and shoulders so wide it almost looked unnatural, its arms looked almost as if they were thicker than tree trunks which made its head and legs look laughably small, even though they were just as functional as the arms. In fact this was proof as it sprang up and clung to the ceiling.

Then it began to crawl towards her.

Nope.

Trixie made sure not to miss this time as she caught him in the back with a paralysis spell. The creature let out a low grunt as it fell to the ground, stiff as cardboard. She took a step towards it before it twitched suddenly.

"Fuark..." it gurgled.

"That'll teach you not to mess with Trixie..." she muttered dropping all caution and looming over him.

Now that she got a better look at it, it wasn't as bad as she thought. It looked like a strange male minotaur. It wore a black shirt with a cursive dark green "J" on the back, woodland green pants that had pockets seemingly everywhere, and what looked like red and white shoes. His entire outfit looked as if it was held together by duct tape, staples, stitches and....syrup.

She stopped and looked at his face. His eyebrows were really thin taking away from the intimidation he possessed earlier. Despite the situation he was in he still had that same smile plastered on his face. His eyes hadn't changed from the stark white giving him the effect of a hero wearing a mask.

"Yu gno lt mmm gggg..."

Trixie looked at him and quirked an eyebrow. "Are you Jay?" she asked, keeping her focus on another spell just in case.

"Yee." Jay gargled.

"WHY DID YOU MAKE TRIXIE GO THROUGH SO MANY DAMN TUNNELS!!?"

Jay mumbled what seemed like a lot of gibberish.

Trixie sighed and rolled her eyes, she bought her horn down and tapped his chest lightly. A dull white light spread throughout his body before fading away. Jay instantly jumped up, showing that his height was easily under seven feet. Trixie nearly cowered away when he snapped his head towards her.

"It.Was.Funny." he muttered.

"....."

"Besides." He let out a grunt as he cracked his neck and rubbed his wrist tenderly. "We're even now." He gestured to the destroyed room around them, calling her attention to it.

"Trust me Trixie could do a lot worse...." she said with a leer.

"Well JAY says try it and JAY will show Trixie what JAY can really do. Seriously why do you talk like that? I've never met someone who talks like that." Jay picked up the remains of his ship in a bottle and visibly deflated. "I worked very hard on that ship...." he muttered.

"Why did you attack Trixie?" Trixie snapped, getting increasingly irritated.

Jay turned back to her with a look of genuine surprise on his face. "What? You've never been greeted like that before?"

"NO."

Jay scratched his head "Could'a swore that's how you guys said hello."

Trixie pulled the rim of her hat down and let out a muffled scream. She yanked it back up and glared at him with an intensity so fierce it could be mistaken for a wild predator. "You thought that ponies said hello by terrorizing each other and then attacking each other? And speaking of which you're obviously not from around here so what are you? Some kind of alien?"

"Yes! Well and no.... I'm not from this world."

"So you're an alien."

"No, I'm not from this dimension.... I think."

"Alien."

"No, no, no you're not hearing me. I'm not an alien I just didn't come from here."

"Yeah, alien."

"No-"

"JUST....." Trixie sighed and took a long breather, already growing tired of this Jays antics. "Tell me what you are please." she murmured rubbing the bridge of her muzzle.

"I'm a human! Well, used to be. Don't know what I am now." Jay turned around and began to move towards a pile of rocks.

"Hu-Men? Wait, you mean all Humens don't look like that?"

"Yeah..." Jay muttered stuffing his hands between two large rocks propped up in the corner. "Now cool it for a second with the questions, I'll show you what I needed to than you can leave." With a grunt and a considerable amount of effort he began to push the rocks apart.

Trixie's eyebrows dropped and she pointed her horn at him. Her horn began to hum and glow as she focused on one thing. Aura reading, if this humen was telling the truth and he wasn't from this world than his aura would be different. She focused on seeing the force around his body, taking in every little detail. The strange clothes, the jester face, the hair, everything she could see.

Auras were basically a frosted window to ones soul. While it could show you some of what they were about it couldn't show you all of it. But it was useful for tracking spells, Celestia's guards, hunters and law enforcement would use a variation of this spell whenever they needed too. Each aura was unique in its own way, but it always pertained to its race in some shape or form.  For example ponies had a wobbly, easy-going aura while Griffons had a firey like aura.

It wasn't long before she saw her results. And it was more surprising than she thought. A darker green aura snaked and slithered like vines around a water-like purple aura. The green aura kept the purple aura from escaping its grasp. As Trixie watched she noticed a peculiar movement on the upper left corner. The green aura had what looked like a mouth filled with sharp teeth at the end of it. It growled at the purple aura and shot forward, sinking its teeth in.

Trixie gasped as she was jolted from the spell the auras disappearing with a soft hiss. This caused Jay who was oblivious to her doings until now to glance back at her.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"Y-yeah fine..." Trixie muttered, giving him a deer light stare.

He gave her a suspicious look for a second before turning back to the rocks and continuing to push them apart. Trixie stared forward at him, the green aura meant only one thing. Alteration magic,a special kind she had never even seen before, and it had him in its grasp good. Good enough to nearly overwhelm his soul. She stayed silent as he finished his work, revealing a built in wooden door.

"Come here." he muttered gripping the door handle.

She reluctantly came to his side, still shocked at what she had just witnessed.

He turned back to her, his smile somehow growing more confident. "Ready to feel like a pimp?"

Before Trixie could respond he swung the door open. A gold light instantly blinded her, causing her to shield her eyes. "What the-"

"Welcome to Jays fantastical treasury!"

Trixie lowered her fore-leg and instantly let her jaw drop. What seemed like mountains of bits, gold bars, crowns, scepters, and many more were scattered across the massive cavern. This cavern was significantly bigger than the other one, about four acres long of shining piles of gold. The ground was dug inwards acting like a bowl of sorts, while hundreds of lanterns hooked to chains in the ceiling acted as the light for this room. They stood on the outer-edge at least a good fifty feet above the ground.

There was so much that she could pocket more than the well-to-do's could ever give her. "How did you..."

"I had a long time."

She turned to him and quirked an eyebrow. "How long?"

The smile wavered for a brief second. "Long enough, follow me." Before she could prod anymore into it he leaped off and slid down the wall of the bowl.

She slid down more cautiously than he did after him. When she reached the ground she couldn't hide her awe as she peered up at the gold piles. They had looked even bigger from down here. She trotted slowly after him as he strolled through the paths in the golden mess.

"I swear you guys shit this stuff or something. I know Dragons with twice as much gold as this and your economy is still thriving." He turned a corner suddenly.

"Wait a minute. How come you don't have any gems around?" she asked eyeing the gold piles.

"Only like em' if they're on something, like a crown or something. Otherwise the Dragons can have em." He stopped suddenly. "Here we are." he said before moving forward at a faster pace. Trixie watched with curiosity as Jay dragged out a large, wooden and silver chest. He jiggled the padlock on it before swiping at it instantly shattering it.

He looked back at her before opening it. The creak of possibly thousand year old wood lay heavy in the air as he smiled broadly. "Listen, I may as well tell you what you're up against. And let me tell you, it ain't nice.... This place didn't used to be so empty, in fact most of the Everfree animals would kick it with me. I was the alpha after all." He let out a soft chuckle. "Those were the days.... then he showed up..."

Jays shoes crunched against the forest ground as he strolled through the woods. A small posse the consisted of two Manticores, a small squad of Timber wolves and a Bear trailed behind him. He whistled a soft tune that some unseen birds in the treetops repeated back to him. Multiple sun spots that broke through the thick canopy dotted him and the heavily grown path he was treading casually. Eventually he came to a break in the thick forest, a small clearing illuminated by an opening in the treetop. The area was big enough for a small house at most, littered with mossy logs, rocks and multi-colored flowers.

Jay let out a long whistle. "Nice spot." he muttered producing a small woven basket. He skipped over to one of the logs and plopped himself down as the posse of animals flooded into the clearing. The bear smacked its back against a tree and began to rub itself against the trunk, letting a look of satisfaction befall its face. The timber wolves joined Jay as they sat around him while the Manticores just dealt with their own business.

Jay reached into the basket and pulled out two bowls and a jar of peanut butter. He popped off the lid with his thumb and scooped out some scoops of the buttery goodness, plopping them down into the bowls. With a curt nod he dropped both bowls and kicked them over to the wolves.

As they began to enjoy their snack Jay reached into the basket and pulled out a ham on rye sandwich. He took a bite out of the sandwich, enjoying the savory taste. The way the bread contrasted with the sweet taste of the ham. The dry texture of the bread and moist texture of the ham. The taste of the che-

"Wait a minute, where the hell did I even get this sandwich from?" Jay stared at the sandwich for a couple minutes before shrugging and taking another bite.

"Mmmmm." A sudden snap of a twig alerted Jay. He whirled around as the wolves pulled away from their meals and looked off into the same direction.

"Whof ther?" Jay swallowed the bite and grimaced.

"Who would dare interrupt my tasty and unlikely meal?" He got up, put the sandwich down and dusted off his pants. "Well?"

After some more shifting the perpetrators stepped out of the bushes and into the clearing. It was the two Manticores that had accompanied him. Though they seemed different than before.

Upon seeing this Jay clapped his hands and shot them a goofy smile. "Ah, it's just you two." He stopped and lowered an eyebrow. "You guys didn't sneak off and make me an uncle did ja'?"

They continued to stare forward, unresponsive as two mannequins in a clothes shop.

Jay quirked an eyebrow. "Riiiiight, well if you guys want something I still have some fish in there somewhere.... wait where the hell did I get fish?"

As Jay turned around to rummage through his basket a sudden weight tackled him. Jay let out a shout in surprise, the wolves instantly springing to action and darting forward. Two of them moved to take the weight off of his back but were destroyed by the swipe of a mighty paw. Shattered twigs and splinters sprinkled everywhere. The other two wolves backed off, whimpering softly.

"Ricky Spanish do something!" Jay managed to grunt out to the bear. With no response Jay got frustrated and managed to shake the weight off. Turning around he realized that it was one of the Manticores themselves, its eyes glowing an eerie yellow. A quick look at the bear confirmed his belief that it to had yellow eyes.

Jays look of shock soon twisted into anger. "Y-You.... YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"

Before the Manticore could react he grabbed its mane and twisted his hands, locking them in the fur. With a growl he sent a knee into the Manticores muzzle, stunning it. He then planted both feet firmly into the ground and used all of his strength to sling the Manticore over his shoulder and slam it into the ground.

Before it could break free, he regained his footing by shifting he weight and flinging it over again. As it slammed into the ground with a sickening thud, he pulled it up and sent a headbutt into the Manticores snout. The four-hundred pound creature let out a whimper as Jay let go, letting it drop to the ground. It swayed around for a brief moment before falling over.

The bear and other Manticore which had been somewhat cautious and avoided engaging during this, but they steeled themselves and rushed forward. Jay turned towards them with a crazed look on his face that screamed 'Lester the Molester'. He jumped back from the blind swipe the bear had sent out, just barely missing out on being minced meat.

The bear, still off balance from the weight of the first swing sent out another. This time Jay was barely hit, just being grazed. Digging his feet into the ground for more power, he rocketed forward. Sending the top of his head into the bears gut forming some sort of ineffective headbutt. Oddly enough the bear doubled over, giving Jay enough time to dodge the Manticores pounce.

He went straight into the air, going a good six feet off the ground. Firmly pushing his legs together and bending his legs to expose his knees, he drove his full-weight down. Sending it crashing into the Manticores head. He hopped off as the beast let out a mewl, tiny newly hatched birds circling around its head as its eyes danced around in a funny way. Jay used this moment to finish it off with a haymaker to the face.

He growled at the unconscious body and turned his attention back to the bear. Which was gone.....

"What the..." he was suddenly tackled from the side by a brown blur.

Jay struggled to keep the snapping timber wolf jaws away from his face. His hands kept fumbling and slipping away as the wolf lunged forward with every snap. Letting out a frustrated cry, Jay rolled his back and tucked his legs under the wolfs stomach. He bought them in tight and launched them forward into its gut, moving in a cradle-like motion he sent the wolf off and into the distance.

He rolled backwards and hopped up, now standing again.

What seemed like hundreds of yellow eyes surrounded him. In the sky, in the bushes, in the trees. They all leered down at him an that's when Jay knew he wasn't going to win.

Suddenly a slow clap got his attention. With a look of confusion he turned away from the eyes and turned his attention to the source of clapping. A reptilian creature stepped out of the shadows and made a motion as if it were tipping a hat. It also winked which made him extremely angry for some un-explicable reason.

Jay took a step forward to let some more anger loose on the newcomer but the yellow eyes all around him moved forward in unison. The reptilian tsked and wagged a finger at him.

"Ah,ah,ah you may be able to take on a couple of em'. But you an' ah both know you can't take on an army." The reptilian crossed his arms. "Names Gator Rudge. But you may call me Grudge."

"Hah, hah..." Jay said through gritted teeth. "What do you want so much that you would go and ruin a perfectly good picnic?"

Grudge clapped his hands together excitedly. "Your title of course!"

Jay raised an eyebrow slowly and questioningly.

"Oh don't give me that look, you know' Alpha? Dominant male? The King of Everfree?" Grudge cracked a toothy smile. "Ah wanna be the new alpha male."

Jay took a step forward with a growl and was stopped again by the eerie simultaneous movement of the yellow eyes creatures.

"Welp." Grudge said taking a hold of Jays sandwhich. "Waddya' have to  say about that matter?" he asked taking a big, slobbery bite.

Jay shot a glance at the eyes all around him and looked back at Grudge. "How are you doing that?" he asked, standing down for the time being.

"Hmmm? Oh, the mind control? All of my kind can do it in different ways, some in anger, others in lust, mine is pure fear brother'. Which is strange because you've been staring in my eyes for the past three minutes and you're not even close to falling under. You don't think ah'm scary?"

Jays smile grew wider. "Not at all."

Grudge chuckled. "Heh, you're funny. Maybe ah'll have that beaten outta ya."

"No you won't." Jay said smugly.

"And why's that." Grudge lumbered over to Jay, standing a good two feet over him. "Why.is.that?" he poked his chest with every word.

"Because I have an very elaborate and whimsical pl- POCKET SAND!" Jay threw sand into Grudge's eyes  causing him to shout in a mixture of pain and surprise.

Jay sprinted off into the woods as the yellow eyes just stood there blankly awaiting orders from their master.

A faint 'King of the Hill saves me again!' could be heard as Jay disappeared into the distance.

The glamour of the treasury made it very easy for Trixie to break away form the story but that didn't go without saying she hadn't been invested.

By the time Jay had finished his story various items from the chest were littered everywhere. Robes, swords, shields, staffs, amulets, and more. And he was STILL digging through the chest.

"Uhm, Trixie is running on a schedule here, you know family to save, creature to fight?" She said in such a snappy way it made Jay briefly pause.

"Yeah, well magic chest. Got it right off the big girl herself." Jay grunted as he threw out a pair of giant scissors.

Trixie ducked as they sailed over her head, before perking up suddenly in realization."Big gir- wait you don't mean."

"Ceeeelestia the goddess of the sun, briefly the moon and immortal god who has fought in like tons of wars? Nah, I mean her under-guard who had been on duty that night. She was asleep. They put up a fight though."

"Mhm... Trixie made a mental note of that as she watched him with a little more caution.

"AH! Here it is!" Jay pulled out a brown leather book. It wasn't long after he held it that the front cover grew a mouth and a pair of gnarly teeth, it growled and snapped at him. A couple times even nearly slipping out of his hands, the whole time it tried to rip off his face off Jay just flashed it an amused smile.

Trixie flinched away though as it came centimeters from his face, chomping its jaws down and barely grazing his nose. Jay held the book out at arms length as it began to writhe in his grip.

Then the growling slowly turned into a heavy panting. The book seemed to slump in his grip, a velvet bookmark hanging out of the unlikely maw as some sort of pseudo tongue.

"Knew you would tucker yourself out." he said flicking the top of the books bind.

A small yip was the only response.

"Oh, go ahead and speak up. You and I both know better."

The book growled softly, making more of a "Grrr" sound than anything.

Trixie was beginning to think this guy was crazier than he looked.

"If you speak up I'll get you some more of them frosted, donut holes you like."

"Grrrr... I hate you." The book squeaked in a voice so high pitched it made the breezies sound intimidating.

Trixie's eyes widened. She hadn't realized it earlier but she had read about that book. It was a book of forbidden knowledge, rumored too hold the arts of dark magic, hexes banned from all around and the secrets to ultimate power. It was said to topple whole civilizations, defeat whole armies, put beggers into the thrones of rulers.

"What do you want this time you slobbering maniac." It spat at Jay.

"Hey! Keep talking too me like that and I'll use you as a coaster again!"

The book began to visibly sweat(?). "N-No that's fine, just tell me what you need."

Trixie debated interfering but decided against it. Her interest keeping her from doing so.

"A couple' of months ago I asked you on how to take down a lizardman."

"You and your feuds....you know I was literally one of the most powerful things Celestia and Luna owned. Whenever there was a war, who did they consult? Me. Whenever a dragon attacked a town, who  did they come running too? Me. And what do you ask me for? If you can fight this or that or if anime harems actually exist!"

"Tch, we both know I ask important stuff too...."

The book made some sort of strange sound like someone rewinding a tape. When it opened its mouth the voice was not its own but rather Jays. "Yo' How many licks does it take to reach the center of a tootsie pop."

A visible sigh rushed out.

The next voice was the books own. "One if you do it right...."

Jay tugged at his collar and shot a glance back at Trixie who gave him an amused look. "Yes well, we're kinda cut for time here, get on with it." He said wagging his hand.

"Yes, well..." The book started. "Last time you asked, I told you, you needed a unicorn that was at least somewhat good with magic."

"Ahem." Jay gestured over to Trixie who quirked an eyebrow.

"Ah didn't see you there ma'm. Anyway, a lizardman has nearly impenetrable skin. But if she was to use a certain spell called the 'Traiciens in the arma' spell she could make his skin as soft as a newborn kitten. It's a really simple spell to learn really..."

Jay went to say something but was stopped by an unknown sound. He listened intently, just like the wolves had been earlier. With wide eyes and an attentive look he stared off into the distance.

"Uhm?" Trixie started but he stuck up a finger and shushed her.

Jay slowly slid out of the trance he had been in. Turning to face Trixie with a crooked smile.

"Sooooo.... good news and bad news. Good news they found his hideout and where the family is.... bad news is it's an hour walk and we got thirty minutes before he decides to eat them..."

"If someone hadn't wasted Trixie's time she would've found them in twenty...."

"Relax! I got this." Jay tossed the book at her. She instinctively caught it with her magic, nearly dropping it as she realized that she was in possession of a very powerful tool.

A tool that let out a long sigh of relief. "Ah, it's sooo good to be out of those sweaty hands and feel the warm embrace of magic again..." It purred.

"Jay, you better tell Trixie that you have a way too reach that family ASAP." Trixie growled.

Jay scratched his head. "Of course I do....."

She stared him down with a look of impatience.

"Look, I think I've got a way."

Her eyelids dropped lower.

"OK! Jeez I got a fifty/fifty deal kinda going on. Depends if I can use it."

"Jay..." Trixie started.

"Book!" Jay called out, already scaling his way up the side of the pit. "Teach Trixie that spell I"ma get the Orb ready!"

Trixie turned to look at the book as it gave the impression of staring at her. "Orb...?" Trixie asked raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see in a few...." The book began. "Now focus on me. Let's begin, the sooner the more doughnut holes are in it for me....."

Jay burst through the door and skid to a stop. Without even paying tribute to his destroyed possessions he sprinted over to the fence. Stopping just before he crashed into it he peered out at the waterfall and formed a square with his fingers, he hummed to himself quietly as he peeked out from behind them. With a nod of his head he backed up slowly.

Upon reaching the other side of the room he sprinted forward as fast as he could. Just as he reached the fence he hopped up and planted his foot on the top of it, with a grunt he pushed off of it. He shot straight through the waterfall, bursting forth with an explosion of foamy water and gripped onto the rocky wall behind it, holding his spot for a second and shaking some water off.

He looked up and began to scale the wall, managing to stay clinging to the surface despite the water. The smell of sulfur and heavy water began to permeate his nose as he continued his trek.

The sound of roaring water growing even louder than the already deafening power it held as he approached the head of the waterfall.

Stopping a good couple feet away from the head of the waterfall he reached up and gripped onto a ledge. The ledge lead into a narrow tunnel that had a beam of light illuminating a flimsy ladder at the end of it he pulled himself into the tunnel with ease and navigated it with even less effort.

As he reached the ladder he shielded his eyes with one hand and looked up.  The light of an unknown object flooded down a distant charming sound that sounded like wind chimes being blown gently humming down. A narrow hole stretched so far down that the light was something akin to viewing the sun from far away, with just enough room for the ladder and himself to climb it it would be kind of challenging.

He stepped on the first rung of the ladder and pulled himself up. He climbed the ladder with ease, clearing it in six minutes without any hindrance.

He pulled himself into a fundamentally different setting. A large, stark white brick room. The room was a perfect, uninterrupted three hundred and sixty degrees. The roof which was painted like a sunny day with tons of clouds in the sky, was low enough for him to reach without a problem. The light which revealed itself to be a giant orb, which gave off the same aura as a unicorns spell, chimed and hummed softly in the room. Jay stared up at it for a second before scratching his head.

"Let's see if I remember how to use this thing..." he muttered reaching up and tapping it once. As soon as his finger made contact the orb seemed to expand itself, the soft chimes and hums briefly turning into a deafening drone.

He pulled his finger away. He quirked an eyebrow before shoving both hands into the Orb. They instantly sunk in, the Orbs surface offering no resistance. What felt like multiple cats purring began to trickle up Jays arms as the Orb droned on and on. Suddenly he was yanked forward. Pretty soon he went from just his fore-arms in to all the way to his shoulders.

His shoes squeaked and skidded across the smooth ground as he struggled against the Orbs grasp. A brief look of panic flashed on his face before being replaced by determination. Placing one foot behind the other he steeled himself.

Giving it all he yanked backwards. With a plop the Orb released its hold of him, Jay instantly toppling over himself and crashing into the ground.

Picking himself up and playing it off like it never happened he smiled at his balled up hands. Opening them gingerly he revealed smaller, glowing orbs. Each one humming softly they gave off a symphony of soft noise that melted into an angelic kind of music. He picked one up in between his fingers and examined it.

"Sweet..." he muttered, quite obviously satisfied with himself.

"WHO DARES TO USE THE MAGICAL ORB OF ZOA!?" A husky, older female voice boomed.

Jay flinched, nearly dropping the smaller orbs in the process. He turned back to the Orb and stared at it with mild shock. "Well, you've never done that before." he muttered walking up to it.

"THEY WHO DARE TO USE THE ORB MUST GIVE THE PASSWORD!"

Jay scratched his head and looked at the orbs in his hand. "Uhhhh...."

"THE PASSWORD IS NOT Uhhhh!"

"...." Jay looked back and forth silently.

"THIS ORB WILL SELF DETONATE IN THE NEXT TEN SECONDS!"

"Wait!" Jay shouted.

"NINE!"

"Shit!" Jay hissed as he chucked one of the orbs into the ground. A bright light followed by a loud bang engulfed his senses.

"You're really not going to practice?"

"Nope." Trixie simply stated, shoving as many bits as her magic could handle into her satchel. The book hovered around her, switching sides whenever she moved to grab more.

"And why is that?" The book inquired.

"Because you already told Trixie HOW to do the spell, therefore she already knows it."

"Well you're just the little egomaniac aren't you?" The book's demeanor seemed to drop a little. "Look." It started. "Jays kind of a dingus but he's a really good guy. He just wants to free his friends and stop Grudge."

Trixie stopped and quirked an eyebrow at the book. "And?"

The book seem to let out an audible sigh. "Do you know why he waited for a unicorn to show up? Because last time he went to go search for one nobody would help him because they ran at the first sight of him."

"Well understandable since he ATTACKED Trixie!" Trixie suddenly shouted, shoving her snout into the books 'face'.

The book backed up but seemed to relax. "He's been in the Everfree for five-hundred years that's how they get-"

Trixie held up a hoof, a look of curiosity plastered on her face. "Five-hundred years?"

"Well, yeah. Didn't he tell you why he lives here?"

Before Trixie could acquire more information a sudden flash of light and a bang engulfed the room. Shielding her eyes shortly she let out a yelp of surprise as something grabbed her, briefly hearing the book scream something as well. Another bang and flash of light and they were suddenly outside, the serene sound of nocturnal birds and crickets chirping and a stream running somewhere.

Trixie pushed away to find that none other than Jay had been the one holding onto her. Before she could even say anything she was interrupted by a loud boom. The whole forest seemed to shake as the sound thundered throughout the forest, cutting everything off or making them quiet.

The night sky was now lit up brighter than the daytime. Everything from the birds overhead to every blade of grass being visible.

She looked back to see a bright flash peeking over the tree tops in the distance. Birds and all kinds of animals retreating from it as well.

"Wha-"

"YOU IDIOT!" The book shouted. It flew forward hitting Jay on the fore-head with the end of its body.  "You forgot to put in the password!?"

Jay rubbed his head and frowned. "No... Well, yes but it was a brief moment of forgetfulness."

"Brief moment of for- I hope you realize your home was just decimated! I knew it, I knew the Orb of Zoa would've been too much for you to handle on your own!" The book flew forward and smacked him again.

Trixie's ears perked up at the word 'Zoa'. She turned back and gave the two bickering a thousand-yard stare. The more she was learning about this 'humane' the stranger and stranger he seemed.

"Well....it's not a total loss. At least you got some portable orbs out of it. How many do you have?" The book hovered around Jays head slowly.

"Uhm... didn't count. I was trying to you know, not be blown to itty, bitty, little bits." Jay rolled the orbs around in his hands before continuing. "I think like four?"

"Waitaminute." Trixie interrupted. Her magic enveloped the orbs and bought them over to her, letting them hover in front of her face so she could study them. "Are these going to help at all?" she demanded.

"Of course!" Jay said with a beaming smile. "Those orbs you got in your han-...hoov- err, aura, are genuine teleportation orbs."

"...."

Jay covered up the silence with a cough and continued. "Well, basically, in laymans terms. These can teleport you anywhere in the world, but the catch is you have to envision it perfectly."

"So these are like an advanced teleportation spell in the waiting..." Trixie murmured. She suddenly stiffened, a sour look overtaking her features. "So what was the point of getting these? We don't even know where our big bad guy is."

"Ah, we don't! But I got something coming in right about...... now."

As if on queue a squawk echoed throughout the air, alerting everybody to a presence in the sky. A brown and white streak zipped by overhead, dropping off a small white piece of paper that floated down, rocking back and forth across the sky.

Jay snatched it when it got close enough and stared at it for a few seconds. "Yes!" he shoved the paper into the orbs light and flashed it at Trixie, revealing that it was a picture of a mossy cave covered by massive brush and thick trees. A dirty, dead path lead into the abyss of the gaping hole staring into the picture.... to the left was one of the wolves holding a painted 'Wish u were here' sign.

"What in-" Before Trixie could continue he walked over, snatched three orbs out of the air and crushed his hands around the last of the orbs, a flash of light overtaking the night.

"Tartarus...." she finished, seeing that they were now in the area that was pictured.

Jay clapped his hands together happily, his smile fully stretched across his face. "I love it when a plan falls together!" he said, putting on the imitation of an older guy.

Trixie moved around in a circle slowly while Jay danced and laughed behind her. The Book could be heard reprimanding him and reminding him that they hadn't even fought yet.

The area was part of the spookier area of the Everfree. All the trees were dead, the brown, dry grass cracked as a gust of strong wind bellowed throughout the night sky, sounding like a ghost moaning. On top of all of this the night sky suddenly seemed considerably darker, almost on the verge of the area being pitch black.

"Alright!" Jay exclaimed snapping her out of her observational trance. "Let's do this." He took his first step toward the cave... and was instantly stopped by a wall of white aura.

He let out a yelp of surprise upon bumping into it. Just as he was startled into backing up, the wall closed and folded around him, forming a transparent cube to act as a holding cell. Out of surprise he dropped to his knees and stared up at Trixie.

The intensity of her magic died down revealing her stoic face. "Trixie can take it from here. She's sorry Jay but you're too strange for this mare to trust."

"Wait!" Jay exclaimed as he began to pound against the cubes surface. "You need me! Listen to me!" The cube hovered into the sky then suddenly shot forward, disappearing into the night along with Jay.

"What did you do that for!?" The Book exclaimed.

Trixie produced a file from under her hat and begin to file her hooves. She stared at the book for a second and looked back at her hooves. "You'll be useful." She said, before anything could be done her horn flashed and the Book fell to the ground with a thud. "And Trixie just found out that paralyzation spells do indeed work on books." she said as her aura nabbed the book and slipped it into her satchel.

She turned around and stared at the deep, dark cave before her.

With a heavy sigh she trotted forward, no knowing what she was getting herself into.