Spiral: The Strangeness of Ponyville

Chapters

Chapter 1: Obsession
Chapter 2: Staircase
Chapter 3: Zebras

Chapter 1: Obsession

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic owned by Hasbro, or Uzumaki written and drawn by Junji Ito.

Spiral: The Strangeness of Ponyville
By: GWFan (The Softcore Brony)

Chapter 1: Obsession

To my dearest brother, Shining Armor,

If you are reading this for the first time, then I cannot guarantee that I am even alive. I wish I didn’t have to resort to calling on you for help, but the measures we have taken are not working and the evil that threatens us is gaining the upper hand. I shutter to even recount the strangeness that has occurred here in Ponyville, but I must tell somepony in the case that we fail to stop the horrors that have come to pass and it falls into the hooves of others to finish what we could not. In that light, I would like to share with you the strange events that took place here…

Princess Twilight Sparkle pranced down the street on her way to Quills and Sofas. She would need another supply of quills, especially after the events of the previous few weeks. She smiled as she walked in the door and heard the familiar bell.

“Good morning, Mr. Davenport. I’ll need a dozen more quills, please.”

Mr. Davenport looked up from his balance book and smiled back. “Sure thing. Morning, Princess Twilight. Oh wait, is it okay to say Mayor Sparkle now?”

“It’s all right. Even as mayor, I’m still Twilight to all my friends here in Ponyville. You know I’ve never liked being treated like a Princess even if I am.”

Davenport laughed. “I knew there was a reason I voted for you.”

It was true. Twilight had been sworn in a little over two weeks before and she couldn’t help but smile whenever she went out in public. It had been a heated election since the previous mayor had decided to retire. Still, even Twilight’s opponent, Filthy Rich, had seemed to have a lot of respect for her and congratulated her sincerely on her victory.

After placing her new quills in her saddlebag, Twilight shook Davenport’s hoof. “Thanks again for the quills, Mr. Davenport. I’ll probably be back for more next week.”

“Always a pleasure to do business with you. See you later, Mayor Twilight Sparkle.”

Mayor Twilight Sparkle. Just hearing it made Twilight feel giddy inside. She had been rather reluctant when her friends had first encouraged her to run, but she was glad she had. Already, she had started looking into ways to improve Ponyville and make it even more the wonderful place she had grown to love over the last ten years she had lived there.

“Morning, Mayor,” a citizen greeted her as she passed by.

“Good morning, June Bug.”

“Hi, Mayor,” another greeted her.

“Good morning, Carrot Top.”

“Hey there, Mayor Sparkle.”

“Good morning… Wind Dancer.”

“Good morning, Mayor.”

“Good morning to you… um… Mr. Waddle.”

Twilight waved before quickly ducking into an ally behind Sugarcube Corner. Silently, she went over the names of as many ponies as she could remember. Befriending everypony in town had been Pinkie Pie’s idea, but Twilight didn’t have anywhere near the perfect memory that Pinkie seemed to have when it came to remembering names. She didn’t want to offend anypony by letting them think she had forgotten them.

Cursing her memory, Twilight pulled a scroll out of her saddlebag and read through the various names of Ponyville’s citizens. She read quickly while slowly walking further down the ally. There was Sunshine, Mrs. Cupboard, and Mr. Green Hooves. Of course, she couldn’t forget Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda, Pudding and Cookie Crum, Flower Light, Angel Mood…

How did Pinkie Pie do it? Twilight kept reading and barely noticed a rump that she nearly bumped into.

“Oh, sorry. I almost didn’t see you there. Um…” She realized that this was one pony she definitely recognized. Twilight smiled in an even friendlier greeting. “Hello there, Mrs. Macintosh. How are you doing this fine morning?”

Mrs. Lemonade Macintosh, Big Macintosh’s wife of about six years now. Everypony had been surprised when Big Mac rather quietly popped the question to her out of the blue, but it had been quite the happy occasion. Twilight had even been a bridesmaid at the wedding. Nopony had seemed happier than Granny Smith though, who had found the strength to dance with her grandson that day. The very sight of it had been enough to make even Applejack shed a few tears.

Lemonade however, didn’t answer Twilight. She didn’t even look at her.

“Lemonade? Are you okay?” Twilight glanced around Lemonade’s rump and saw her focused on something stuck to the wall. It was a snail shell. It didn’t move and there was no sign that any snail inside was still alive, but Lemonade wouldn’t break her concentrated gaze. Maybe it wasn’t Lemonade after all, and yet she was unmistakable with her bright yellow coat, green mane, and lemon slice cutie mark. Even if you didn’t see her cutie mark, anypony could recognize her wearing her wide brimmed sun hat.

“Okay then… it was nice talking to you.” Twilight quietly walked away, not sure what to make of the encounter. Lemonade still didn’t make any indication that she had noticed her and kept staring at the shell as if she expected it to come to life at any moment. Twilight looked back once as she exited the ally.

“Good morning, Mayor Princess.”

“Oh uh… good morning, Flap Jack. And please, Princess isn’t necessary.” Twilight nodded and moved on down the street. Perhaps Lemonade just wanted to be alone for a while or something. In any case, being mayor, Twilight had many responsibilities to perform every day. However, she couldn’t forget that it was also Saturday and she had a very important lunch date to keep after her morning duties were finished. Not to mention she had an even more important dinner date as well.

Twilight hummed a merry tune as she set out the tea set Rarity had given to her when she celebrated her birthday during her fourth year in Ponyville. Just as the teapot whistled on the stove, Twilight heard somepony knock at the door.

“Come on in! You should know you don’t need to knock by now,” Twilight called as she turned off the stove and floated the pot to the table with her magic. With everything perfectly in place, Twilight was pleased to see her friend Applejack walk in.

“Hey, Twilight. I know I don’t need to knock, but I can’t help how I was raised ya know.”

“I understand. You’re just in time. I just took the tea off the stove.”

Applejack sniffed the air. Cinnamon. It had been a while since they had shared cinnamon tea. Before the stout work pony sat down at the table, she briefly glanced around the library. “Is Pinkie comin’ today?”

“Eeyup,” Twilight answered, imitating Applejack’s brother playfully. “She said she would be a bit late, but she’s definitely coming.”

“That’s good. I feel like I haven’t seen her in ages. She’s kept herself pretty busy since she had her kid and all.”

“Very true. I never thought I’d see the day that Pinkie would start acting so serious. Then again, I never thought she would be the first one of us to have a baby.”

It had happened just a few years ago. Pinkie had been the first (and so far only one of Twilight’s PFFs) to get married. Not long after that, Pinkie had her daughter. It was a little surprising too, since her husband, Pokey Pierce, worked in another town and almost never came home. Her daughter Binkamena Cyan Pie, or just Binkie Pie for short, was truly a blessing for the pink party mare and had become the center of her universe. Perhaps that was part of the reason Pinkie had become so serious and put so much effort into being a mother. Twilight often wondered if Pinkie’s husband really cared or not. Rainbow Dash had gone as far as to suggest that he was actually cheating on her, but Twilight had convinced her not to jump to such conclusions. At least he sent a lot of money home.

In any case, Pinkie would be coming today and their slowly diminishing circle of friends would be complete. “That reminds me, I just received a letter from Rarity this morning. Her latest design has taken Canterlot by storm and we’ll probably see it sold in Ponyville soon. She said she is going to send us all a free outfit too.”

Applejack giggled. “Good ol’ Rarity. I’m glad to hear she hasn’t changed much since she became famous. I actually kinda miss her attention to detail around here sometimes.”

“I know what you mean. Oh, and she said Rainbow Dash is doing fine too. Rarity just had a quick lunch with her last weekend.”

“Quick probably doesn’t do it justice. Rainbow Dash doesn’t have time for nothin’ since she joined the Wonderbolts.”

“Can you really blame her? You know it’s been her dream since she was a filly.”

“I guess not but still…” Applejack shook her head. “She could try visiting for more than ten minutes at a time.”

The Wonderbolts kept a much tighter schedule than any of them had realized and Rainbow Dash spent nearly all her time with them. The last time Twilight had seen her in fact had been when Dash participated in a Wonderbolts Derby. Inevitably, she had won, but the odds were in her favor anyway so the winnings were rather minor, much to Rarity’s disappointment. Even though they had primarily been there for Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus had rushed off to another event before Twilight could even congratulate her. Even with her schedule though, she saw Rainbow more often than she saw her last friend.

“Any word from Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

“No, not yet. Not since her last letter about a month ago, anyway. I’m a little worried, but I’m sure she’s fine. I’ll bet she’s caught up with a sick animal or something.” Applejack nodded and took a small sip of tea.

Fluttershy hadn’t been home to Ponyville in almost two years. Through some rather amazing efforts, she had managed to find homes for nearly every animal in her cottage. Apparently though, the lack of animals to care for had left her feeling rather disappointed and her determination to find homes for the few remaining made her anxious as well. In what perhaps was the rashest decision Fluttershy had ever made, she decided she wanted to travel all around Equestria like a veterinarian version of Johnny Appleseed and care for animals the world over. Taking Angel Bunny and her few remaining animals with her, she had set out and, to all of her friends surprise, never came back, only sending a short letter every now and then to tell her friends that she was doing okay and that animals all over Equestria were doing even better.

“Anyway, how are things going around the farm these days?”

Applejack spilled some of her tea and seemingly hesitated a moment. “It’s… goin’ fine I spose. As fine as it could be.”

Maybe that hadn’t been the best question. Twilight had heard that Granny Smith had suddenly moved herself to Ponyville Retirement home, but she hadn’t had the courage to ask why. “So how’s your nephew doing?”

At least Applejack smiled. “Little Mac’s doin’ just fine. He ain’t even got his cutie mark yet and already he’s tryin’ to buck trees with his dad. He’s not too bad at it for a kid his age neither. I bet he’ll be a strong boy when he gets older.” Not long after Big Macintosh had been married, he and his wife had had Big Macintosh JR or Little Mac as everypony called him since he looked so much like his father, only with Lemonade’s green hair.

Twilight laughed. It was good to hear some good news and Applejack looked happier for the change in subject. “Oh, I almost forgot, I thought I saw your sister-in-law earlier today, but I’m not sure it was actually her. I saw her behind Sugarcube Corner looking at a snail shell.”

Applejack dropped her smile and suddenly sighed. “You weren’t mistaken, Twi. That was her.”

“Really? You knew she was there?”

“No, but if you say she was lookin’ at a snail then I would bet mah hat that was Lemonade. She’s been like that lately.”

Twilight raised her eyebrows in concern. “Like what?”

“Well… a while back she started collectin’ stuff. Stuff with spirals on them. Don’t really matter what it is so long as it has that ridiculous design.”

“She started a hobby then?”

“It ain’t no hobby. It’s turned into a darn obsession.”

Twilight laughed. “Applejack, I think you’re blowing this out of proportion. I tend to collect a few odd things every now and then, for scientific purposes of course.”

“You don’t understand, Twilight, her collection is enormous. It’s startin’ to freak me out.”

“There’s nothing wrong with having an interest in something.”

“An interest?” Applejack knocked her teacup over, spilling the contents all over the table, but she didn’t seem to notice. “What she does is more than an interest. You know what she does? If we leave her alone for more than a few minutes, she’ll go in that room she keeps all that junk in and just stare at it. There ain’t nothin’ we can say that’ll distract her from it either. It’s like she doesn’t even hear us. We literally got to drag her outta there before she snaps out of it.” Twilight poured her friend another cup of tea as Applejack continued. “I keep tellin’ Big Mac that we gotta get rid of that collection for her own good, but he’s afraid she’ll get mad or somethin’ stupid like that. I just don’t understand him. If not for her, then he should do it for Little Mac. The little guy needs a mama who don’t flake out like that.”

“Well… she is the only one in the family who doesn’t harvest apples, right? She probably feels a little left out and distant from you two since you’re always out doing that everyday. Maybe if she came out and helped you at least put the apples in baskets or something, she would do much better.”

“I’m not sure it’s so simple, Twi. She’s been doin’ other strange things too. You know she needs to stir up the bathwater into a whirlpool before she gets in? It’s… I don’t know. It’s just weird.”

“Maybe… um…” Twilight didn’t have any explanation for that. Some ponies just had odd hobbies.

The lavender alicorn stuttered, trying to find something to say. Applejack realized it too. “I’m sorry, Twi. I didn’t mean to come over just to complain. It’s just… I don’t know. I’ve been so frustrated lately. So much has been changin’ around Ponyville. Rarity and Rainbow Dash moved to Canterlot, Fluttershy’s off on her little excursion that I still don’t really understand, and the town is just flat out startin’ to look different. Everythin’s growin’ so fast and so many new buildin’s are goin’ up all over the place, I hardly recognize it anymore.”

“I know what you mean. Everything seems so different from when I first came here ten years ago. A lot of the children we knew have grown up, new businesses are moving in, it’s a lot to take in. Trust me, Applejack, I get it.”

The orange earth pony sighed. “Yeah. I miss Apple Bloom too.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow at that. “What do you mean? She still lives in Ponyville. You see her all the time.”

“I know, but I miss havin’ her around the farm. I still can’t believe she started her own business. And who’d a thought it’d have nothin’ to do with apples.” Though she sounded sad, Applejack still smiled. Even if it wasn’t in the family business, she was still proud of her little sister for taking matters into her own hooves. She was living independently, though Applejack didn’t know why she had decided to live alone.

“We was all so proud of her, but then Granny just…” Applejack shook her head. “I never told you why Granny Smith moved out, did I?”

“You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, I…” She sighed. “You’re right. I’ll just sound like a bitter old ninny. Dang it. I’m sorry, I’ve ruined the whole lunch.”

“You haven’t ruined anything. I haven’t even served lunch yet. You like daffodil and daisy sandwiches don’t you?”

Applejack was about to say something else when they both heard a knock at the door. Twilight sighed. “It’s open! Come on in!”

“Hi, Twilight. Hi, Applejack. Hope I’m not too late.” Pinkie Pie strode inside calmly, a gentle smile adorning her face. Even just a few years before, she would either have bounced in or made a loud entrance of some sort that may or may not have been accompanied by party streamers. But that was the old unpredictable Pinkie. New Mother Pinkie acted more like the previous mayor.

Applejack sighed. “That was the most depressin’ entrance I’ve ever seen from you.”

Pinkie cocked her head. “What do you mean? All I did was walk inside.”

“Exactly.” Applejack’s reaction only served to make Pinkie look confused.

“What she means Pinkie is… well… I guess we kind of miss when you were more… random.”

“I don’t think you’ve thrown more than a few birthday parties since you daughter was born. Well… you know, not that I’m complainin’ or nothing’, I just never thought I’d see you like this.”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh, girls, the old Pinkie is still here. Do you need some cheering up?”

Applejack and Twilight looked at each other. Pinkie giggled again and started singing a slow song.

“If you’re feeling down

And you think the blues are here to stay

Just turn that frown upside-down

And laugh your cares away.”

“Pinkie, I actually missed this side of you,” Twilight said as Pinkie’s song became louder and faster.

“So cheer up!

Let the sadness fade away-ay-ay-ay.

Just giddyup

And seize the day-ay-ay-ay-ay!”

“It feels just like the good ol’ days,” Applejack said, chuckling to herself.

“The good ol’ days are here to stay

We’ll make new memories everyday!!!!!!”

“Suddenly I don’t quite miss Pinkie’s songs as much as I thought.” Twilight uncovered her ears and tried to get a word in with Pinkie, but the old party mare had come back from nowhere and there was no stopping the latest Pinkie Song.

Lunch had gone on a little longer than Twilight had intended and she almost missed her train to Canterlot. She had a very important dinner date with her old mentor, Princess Celestia. According to Celestia at least, Twilight had long passed her studies on friendship with flying colors, but every now and then, Twilight still felt obligated to send another report. She didn’t see the princess as much as she used to before either, but at least once a month the two of them, sometimes joined by Princess Luna, would get together for a late diner.

Even though it was just about sundown, Canterlot was bustling with activity. Ponies walked everywhere either shopping or going home from work. Some even were about to start work. As it happened, the guards at the station switched shifts just then and Twilight found herself striking up a conversation with double the guards. Being a princess, they all recognized her of course and it was purely friendly conversation, but Twilight was already almost late when she realized she had been talking for over fifteen minutes.

The guards ending their shift escorted her to the castle and continued the conversation that had started with her becoming mayor but for some reason shifted on why she hadn’t found a husband yet. Friendship was a wonderful thing, but taking things that far was still a bit beyond her desire. Hopefully, Celestia would never ask her to research the magic of dating. Twilight was relieved when she reached the castle and the guards returned to their barracks for the night.

Twilight glanced around the palace of Canterlot almost expectantly though she knew her brother, Shining Armor, hadn’t worked there in a long time. He lived in the Crystal Empire now and it was a shame he hadn’t stayed in Canterlot. Twilight would have liked to see him. His wife (and Twilight’s old foalsitter) Cadence had become pregnant a few months before, and Shining Armor had decided to focus on his new role as a soon to be dad. The odds of danger in the Crystal Empire were slim at best (though it had happened) and quite suiting for a father to be who wanted to be there for his future foal or foals. Twilight couldn’t wait to meet her new nephew or niece. There was so much she could teach and not just flying a kite, which of course she would leave to her brother.

Walking through the lit halls, Twilight realized that it was the first time in ten years that she had come to Canterlot without at least one of her friends. She knew they were still her PFF’s, but it still felt strange to walk the halls alone. She had done it plenty of times before she discovered the magic of friendship, but now it felt entirely unfamiliar. Speaking of friends, Twilight decided to take a slightly longer route to the dinning hall where Celestia was inevitably waiting for her. She passed through the lower halls looking into open doors, searching for a certain occupant. She smiled when she finally saw the other resident of the castle she had been looking for. “Spike!”

The dragon dropped the books he was sorting and turned around with a smile. “Twilight!” Spike bellowed and rumbled over to her. He snatched her up in his arms and hugged her so tightly that Twilight lost her breath.

“I’m glad to see you too, big guy…” Twilight managed to say before Spike realized he was crushing her and sat her down gently.

“Sorry, Twilight. I guess I forgot that I’m bigger than you now.”

Twilight shook her head, telling him that she didn’t mind. As the years went by, it was inevitable that Spike would grow. He was not a full-grown dragon, but it was still difficult to keep his dragon instincts in check. That was why Celestia had suggested he start working in the lower levels of the castle to keep him busy. So long as he didn’t have a chance to think about gems or other valuable objects, his natural hoarding instincts couldn’t kick in and wouldn’t jumpstart his transformation into an uncontrollable behemoth the likes of which Twilight had seen only a few times. Besides, Rarity lived in Canterlot now and that always seemed to have an effect on repressing his inner-dragon.

“So,” Twilight said, nudging him with her elbow. “Did you ask Rarity out on a date yet?”

Spike turned red. “No way. I’m not ready to ask her that. We did have dinner the other day though. Rainbow Dash was there too I guess, but it was still pretty romantic.”

Rarity hadn’t mentioned Spike being there. Twilight shook her head. Spike must have been hiding behind something and watching her again. He was no longer Rarity’s little Spikey-Wikey anymore since he was so large, though Rarity was still fond of him. Spike was just afraid that his larger size was off-putting and didn’t like to let her see him like that. Twilight figured he would eventually learn that Rarity wasn’t so vein, though she also didn’t know how a dragon and a pony could date. The magic of dating was starting to look all the more intriguing.

Twilight shook the thought from her mind and bid Spike a short farewell before continuing on her way to have dinner with Celestia. She could catch up with Spike later that evening.

In the end, Twilight was twenty minutes late. A few more guards had struck up a conversation with her just as she reached the dining hall. She didn’t know why everypony was so interested in her social life and she was glad when Celestia came looking for her. After apologizing for keeping her, the guards returned to their posts outside the door and Twilight sat down to dinner.

“I can’t believe how exhausting it is just to walk from the front door. This is the busiest day I’ve had all week.”

“Being mayor is a big responsibility. You have your work cut out for you.”

“I hardly even did anything productive today. I’ve just been going from one place to the other.”

As some of the servants brought in their dinner, Twilight relayed the various events that had gone on in Ponyville for the past week. There had been endless meetings, lots of papers to sign, and decisions she never knew existed regarding everything from taxes to whether a new series of homes should be built or not. As dinner moved on, Celestia had hardly spoken a word and mostly listened to the various troubles of Equestria’s most recent princess.

Finally, with the main course finished and desert, which for some reason was always cake, eaten, Celestia called for some tea. Somehow, Twilight’s life had begun to revolve around drinking tea. It had become her private stress reliever since her various duties at home had started to pile up around the time Spike had moved to the castle.

“So Twilight, how are your friends doing?” Celestia asked when the tea was ready.

“They’re doing fine. Pinkie sang a song today, ten whole minutes. I think that’s a new record for her. Oh, wait… never mind. I almost forgot about her wedding song.”

“Have you been having a good time with your friends?”

“I guess. Whenever I get a chance to see them.” Her own words partially startled her. Other than lunch that afternoon, Twilight hadn’t seen Applejack since their lunch the week before and hadn’t seen Pinkie since she organized a surprisingly small celebration the day she had become mayor. “I’m losing touch with my old friendship studies aren’t I…,” she said knowingly.

“You may not be my apprentice anymore but that does not mean your studies ever have to end. Trust me. Take some time to keep in touch with your friends. You already know the obstacles you can overcome with the strength of friendship.”

Twilight nodded her head and stirred her tea with a spoon. How many adventurers and trials had she managed to overcome because her friends had been there? What had ever happened to their friendship? It felt as if they were drifting apart. They all had their own things to do, though it seemed like Applejack was still trying the hardest to keep their relationships together. She had proven it that afternoon when she reminisced about the others.

Twilight looked at her cup of tea as she finished stirring it and watched the umber liquid spin. She smiled. “A spiral.”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something Applejack said today. I guess she’s had her hooves full with her sister-in-law lately. Apparently she likes to collect memorabilia with spiral designs on them.” Twilight giggled but she was surprised when her former teacher stared at her.

“Spirals?” In fact, Celestia almost looked stunned. “Mrs. Macintosh has been collecting spiral designs?”

“Yes.”

“Anything as long as it has a spiral?”

“I’m… not really sure about the details but-”

“And this is a behavior that she has developed just recently?”

“I guess so.” Twilight couldn’t understand why Celestia sounded so serious. There was certainly nothing wrong with collecting things. Twilight for example liked to collect books. “Is something wrong, Princess?”

Celestia didn’t answer right away. Her expression almost seemed dark when she responded, “I’m not sure yet.”

“If something is troubling you, then you can tell me. I’m your friend after all.”

“Yes. You are, Twilight Sparkle.” To that, Celestia smiled. “How about we end this a little early? Luna should be finished bringing the night soon and I’m sure she would like to spend some time with you as well.”

“Huh? What about you? I thought we would all have tea together.”

“I… have something I need to look into.” With a brief nod, Celestia excused herself and walked out of the room.

“Princess?” Twilight teleported out of the room and right in front of the regal ruler. “If something is wrong then I want to help. Please, tell me what’s the matter.”

The gentle smile that Twilight had seen so many times in the past, greeted her once again. “What I want you to do is stay up with Luna for a while. I may call on the both of you later to discuss something.”

“Princess, you’ve never acted like this before. I don’t understand. What is it that you can’t tell me?”

“I’ll explain the next time you hear from me, my faithful friend. I promise you that.”

That said, Celestia walked past Twilight. Her horn lit up in magic and a satchel appeared around her side just as she headed for the balcony. The lavender alicorn watched as Celestia spread her wings and took off into the night before teleporting.

The princess’s behavior was beyond odd. Twilight couldn’t understand why she had reacted so strangely to something as simple as a friend’s family matters. Moreover, Celestia had left alone. She almost never went anywhere without her royal escort. However, there was more that bothered the magical mare. Celestia had said, ‘…the next time you hear from me…’ almost as if she didn’t expect to see her in person. Twilight dashed to the balcony, scanning the sky for any sign of Princess Luna. She had to tell her about this immediately. But in reality, she had little to tell. Twilight didn’t even know where her former mentor had gone.

“You have to add the apples now,” Lemonade said sternly, scratching her head slightly underneath the prim, white, wide brimmed sun hat she always wore.

“And I’m tellin’ ya that we have to wait. You’ll spoil the whole batch if we put them in so soon,” Applejack retorted.

“Well that’s not the way I was taught.”

“Well it is the way I learned, and mah family makes a business out of apples. You aught to know that by now.”

“Did you ever think that perhaps you weren’t making them the right way?”

“How dare you! I’ve been makin’ apple goods mah whole life and I sure as shootin’ know how to make em’ right!”

Lemonade huffed and turned away from her sister-in-law. “Mac honey, please tell your sister that she is being unreasonable.”

“If you want to tell me, I’m standin’ right here. Big Macintosh, don’t you let her fluff her way through this. Stand by your sister and tell your wife that she’s bein’ ridiculous.”

“Uh…” Big Macintosh gulped, looking between the two squabbling mares from where he was sitting at the kitchen table.

“Well?” the two said together.

Big Macintosh nodded his head and said, “Eeyup,” before returning to the pre-dinner soup he was drinking. His son, Little Mac, who sat opposite of him, laughed into his hoof. He was used to seeing his dad resolve problems like that.

“Oh, you’re a big help you big softie,” Lemonade scolded him. Then she looked at the apples that were still sitting on the counter. She sighed. “Sorry. I guess haven’t really been myself lately.”

Applejack tried to look her in the eyes, but it wasn’t easy. Lemonade wore her hat so low it nearly covered them. “It’s all right. I shouldn’t a yelled. But you know I’m right about this.”

Lemonade looked away. She didn’t voice disagreement but she didn’t look happy either. Then her eyes lit up. “What is this!?”

“What? What did I do now?”

“The noodles!” She pointed at a bag of noodles on the opposite counter. “You didn’t buy the noodles I wanted!”

“The store was outta spiral noodles so I bought them stringy ones instead. What’s it matter anyway? Pasta is pasta. It all tastes the same.”

“You don’t understand. I wanted spiral noodles!”

“Stop your screamin’ and hollerin’. You sound just like a little kid. Especially not in front a Little Mac. Big Macintosh, why ain’t you sain’ somethin’?”

“I uh…” Big Macintosh started, but his wife cut him off.

“Look at this, the whole dinner is ruined now.”

“Shmoopy doo, please-”

“Don’t you shmoopy doo me. I know what you’re trying to do. Don’t you dare change the subject.”

“I’m not, but what you’re sayin’ just don’t add up. It don’t matter what kind a noodles they are.” The sudden glare from his wife made Big Mac clear his throat. “Though I certainly wouldn’t mind havin’ them spiral shaped ones.”

Applejack facehoofed. Every day had been like this lately. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t buy your noodles, but this is gettin’ way outta hand. We’ve been squabblin’ so much that dinner is hardly even started and we shoulda been just about done by now.” The only thing they had finished was the soup.

“What are you suggesting? That there are too many cooks in the kitchen?”

“Maybe a little.” Applejack scrunched her lips together and expected a retort, but Lemonade looked hurt instead.

“I’m trying, okay? I know I’ve never been the greatest cook, at least not as good as you. Just let me help with this.”

Applejack thought about what Twilight had said about Lemonade feeling left out of the family but shook her head anyway. “I’ll handle the rest of dinner, so you just sit down and… just eat the soup or somethin’ … okay?”

Lemonade glared but complied, sitting herself roughly at the kitchen table.

“Mama, are you mad?” Little Mac asked.

Lemonade looked at her son and finally put on a smile. “No, sweetie, your aunt and I are just having a little tiff. We’ll work it out…” She breathed in heavily, apparently calming her nerves.

Applejack smiled too. She couldn’t deny that Lemonade was a good mother. Even her strange spiral obsession usually took a backseat to her son. Maybe Twilight and Big Macintosh were right and the whole strange hobby would pass. Applejack hummed to herself and returned her attention to dinner.

Her ears shot up when she heard the sound of a spoon rumbling against something. Turning her attention back to the table, she saw Lemonade stirring her soup with a spoon. She stirred with increasing speed, somehow not spilling even a drop. Eventually she stopped and stared into the bowl. She smiled as her eyes followed the spiraling liquid. Lemonade took a sip of the soup and giggled to herself, stirred it up again before slurping up some more.

The sudden knock at the door was the only thing that stopped Applejack from going off on her sister-in-law. When nopony moved, Applejack sighed. “Don’t everypony get up at once.”

She walked briskly to the door, grumbling to herself in an attempt to calm her temper. She knew she didn’t need to be angry but it wasn’t entirely her fault. Lemonade had put Applejack in such a foul mood lately with her weird hobby. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. At one time she had been one of the sweetest mares Applejack had ever met, second only to Fluttershy if that was even possible, though much more talkative. She was actually quite the gossiper when given the chance. Applejack remembered sharing many funny stories with her before she and Macintosh married. She had seemed even sweeter after Little Mac was born. Then, just recently, all of a sudden came the obsession with spirals, and rational, sweet Lemonade had simply ceased to be.

Applejack shook her head in regret as she opened the door. “I’m sorry, but it’s late and…” She stopped with her mouth still open. A gentle smile greeted her. “Whoa nelly… Princess Celestia?”

“Good evening, Applejack. I hope I’m not disturbing you,” the princess answered with a further smile. “How are you?”

“Uh… fine I guess. Forgive me if I sound rude but I thought Twilight was goin’ over to visit you tonight. Did you decide to come see her instead?”

“Oh no, Twilight is in Canterlot talking to my sister, so I decided to come and visit you while they catch up. Is that okay?”

“Well… sure. Please come in.” Applejack stepped aside, almost bumping her knee on the door in her haste. She watched Celestia walk in, still shaken by the unexpected visit. She followed Celestia as far as the entrance to the kitchen and just stood there, still in awe that she came to visit so unexpectedly. She was even wearing a satchel, something Applejack had never seen on her before.

Big Macintosh stood up immediately, bowed his head, took Celestia’s hoof, and kissed it. Celestia giggled. “Such a charmer, Big Macintosh, but remember that you are married now.”

“Uh… eeyup.” Big Macintosh blushed. He hadn’t meant it as anything more than a friendly gesture. He looked at his wife as if to make sure she wasn’t glaring at him, but she wasn’t even paying attention, still watching her swirling soup.

“What a beautiful kitchen you have. You must keep a strict hoof in the house, Mrs. Macintosh.” Lemonade didn’t answer. She nodded her head slightly and stirred her soup again.

“And how are you, Little Mac? Helping your father around the farm?”

“Eeeeyup,” Little Mac mimicked his father and nodded happily. “Some day I’m going to buck as many apples as my dad.”

“That’s wonderful. I can see a bright future in you.” Little Mac beamed as Celestia pat his head.

Applejack cleared her throat and walked into the kitchen. “Please Princess, we would be honored if you joined us for dinner.”

“That sounds lovely, Applejack. You always make the best goods.” It was a compliment that Applejack almost wanted to rub in Lemonade’s face, but her manners and sense stopped her.

Celestia turned to Lemonade. “So Mrs. Macintosh, are you making the dinner as well?”

A strange silence fell over the room, only interrupted by a single spoon rattling against a bowl.

Celestia finally broke the silence. “That must be quite delicious soup.”

“Mmmm,” Lemonade agreed as she slurped more up.

Applejack couldn’t have felt more embarrassed. “Why don’t I fix you up a bowl, Princess? Dinner’s not quite ready yet.”

“I would love some.” She sat down next to Lemonade and glanced at her. Lemonade giggled at her soup again. Celestia cleared her throat. “If you’ll please excuse me, I need to visit the little fillies room. Would you mind showing me the way, Mrs. Macintosh?”

Lemonade looked up from her soup with a start. “Huh? Restroom? Um… sure…” Lemonade slowly pulled herself away from the table, scratched her head, and asked the princess to follow her.

“I’m sorry, Princess, she hasn’t really been… feelin’ well lately,” Applejack apologized.

Celestia nodded and started to follow Lemonade. “Oh, and Applejack?” Celestia’s horn lit up with magic and she pulled a scroll out of her satchel. “I know this may sound peculiar, but if anything… strange happens, I would like you to give this scroll to my sister Luna and Princess Twilight as soon as possible.”

“Uh… okay.” Applejack slowly accepted the rolled up parchment and tipped her hat as Celestia followed Lemonade to the bathroom. She honestly couldn’t imagine how the night could become any stranger than it already had.

Celestia watched the smaller mare with concern. She had exhibited very strange behavior the likes of which she had only seen once before. That’s what concerned her. She couldn’t imagine something like that happening again, but the signs she saw were beginning to add up. She only hoped she was wrong.

Lemonade seemed half in a daze as she led her down the hall. When they reached what presumably was the bathroom door, Lemonade scratched her head and pointed at it with her other hoof. “By all means.”

Celestia stood at the door but didn’t enter. Lemonade smiled awkwardly and scratched her head again. “So I hear you are collecting spirals,” Celestia said rather nonchalantly.

Lemonade’s face suddenly lit up. “Oh yes. Lately I’ve come to love that pattern. I’m collecting everything that has spirals. Do you want to see?”

“It sounds quite intriguing.”

Lemonade led the way with much more enthusiasm than she had a moment before and in a perfectly straight line. It only made Celestia worry even more. It couldn’t be happening again, not after so much time had gone by.

They reached a door at the end of the hall and Lemonade quickly opened it and walked right in. “Here it is,” she said as she waved her hoof around the room. Celestia stopped in the doorway and stared. “Isn’t it fantastic?”

Fantastic didn’t even begin to describe it. It wasn’t just a few items. The entire room was filled from wall to wall and floor to ceiling with spiral shaped objects and patterns. Several conches littered a corner and snail shells by the dozens lined and overcrowded a long shelf. Clothing, artwork, and pottery all covered in spiral designs hung on the wall or sat all over the floor. Spiral-shaped wind chimes hung from the ceiling. Hoof-woven baskets, paper lanterns, and even clock springs cluttered what little walking space there was in the room. Even fully wound scotch tape, twisting vines, and drill bits were not excluded from the huge collection.

“It’s so wonderful I could almost cry.” Lemonade walked over to the shelf of snail shells and stared at them admiringly.

Celestia stepped inside and quietly shut the door behind her. “So tell me, what is it you find so intriguing about the spiral design?”

“I find the spiral to be very mystical. It fills me with a deep fascination… like nothing else in nature… no other shape…” Lemonade lovingly petted a ceramic bowl with a spiral pattern around its inside.

“Mrs. Macintosh?” Lemonade sat and stared intently at her sprawling collection of spirals. “Lemonade?” As if she couldn’t even hear her, Lemonade transfixed on the shape of a clock spring she picked up and held in her hoof. Celestia gazed around the smaller pony’s shoulder and looked at her face. Lemonade’s eyes were spinning, following the spiral shape.

Celestia raised her head and sighed. “I’ve seen enough.” A strong light ignited on Celestia’s horn and she tapped Lemonade with it. The other pony cringed at the tap and dropped the spring. “Snap out of it. You’re not yourself.”

Lemonade appeared momentarily spooked and gazed around the room at the various articles of spiral-inspired junk as if she had never seen them before. Then she looked at Celestia and jumped back, landing in the pile of conch shells. “What did you do!? What are you trying to do to me?”

The light on Celestia’s horn only grew brighter and she stamped her hoof. “Get a hold of yourself. You’ve been cursed by the Spiral.”

“Cursed?” Lemonade answered with a grin. “I’ve not been cursed by anything.”

“Do you honestly believe this collection of yours is healthy? Look at it. It’s taking over your life. You’re not well.”

Lemonade scratched underneath her hat. “Who are you to say that? Just because you’re the almighty ruler of Equestria you think you can tell me how to live?”

“No, I’m trying to help you.” Celestia tried to move closer but Lemonade stood up and held a corkscrew in front of her.

“I’m fine. I’ve never felt better in my life,” Lemonade argued around her mouthful of the corkscrew and scratched underneath her hat.

“Why do you keep scratching your head? Is something bothering you?”

“That’s none of your business!” Lemonade shouted and threw the corkscrew at the regal ruler. Celestia calmly caught it with her magic and let it drop. Apparently, the small dose of magic she had hit Lemonade with hadn’t been enough.

“Please… you don’t understand what the Spiral is or what it can do. If you don’t give up this spiral obsession of yours soon, you are going to die.”

“Die? Over this?” Lemonade dismissively waved her hoof over her collection and laughed. Then she glared at the much taller pony. “You really think I need this? I don’t need to collect spirals. The spiral is so much more wonderful than this junk can portray. Why, I’ve just realized that you can even make spirals yourself.”

“Lemonade, no! You don’t understand what you’re saying. You can’t think like that. Otherwise-”

“No! Maybe you’re the one who doesn’t understand spirals. The spiral is amazing. You can even express it through your own body… like this…”

Though her eyes were just barely visible beneath the brim of her hat, Celestia saw Lemonade open them as wide as she could. Then her left looked straight to the left and held there a moment, independent of her other eye. Then it moved again around until it stopped, looking at her nose. Then her other eye started to move. In fact, her eyes started to move independently of each other. They both spun in opposite directions, moving faster and faster until Lemonade’s eyes looked like rings.

“My fears really have come true. The Spiral has actually returned.” Celestia cringed as Lemonade laughed at her accomplishment. Celestia could see her tongue twisting and curling in her mouth.

“Princess Celestia…” Lemonade hissed. “You asked about my head? Look how beautiful I’ve become.” She flipped her hat off. Celestia stared. In the middle of her forehead was a gaping hole corkscrewed in such a way that it looked as if a massive drill had been jammed there. Even though it was clearly on Lemonade’s head, the hole looked infinitely deep, baring nothing but blackness inside. Her left eyeball sat at the very edge of it, as if the hole threatened to swallow it. Lemonade hadn’t done that herself. Celestia knew that only the Spiral could have been responsible.

There was no time to waste. Celestia knew that only the strongest variation of that spell could stop the contamination before it spread. With haste in mind, she started to cast it.

“Princess!?” came a shout from the other side of the door. Celestia flinched.

“No! Stay out, Applejack!” she shouted as the door opened.

Applejack tried to concentrate on finishing dinner, but her mind kept wandering to the parchment Princess Celestia had given her. Something about her behavior bothered her. It wasn’t so much her sudden appearance but the fact that she had said something so odd regarding the scroll. Then there was the fact that she had never stopped smiling. It wasn’t an honest smile but one that seemed more forced.

Applejack tried to focus on stirring the batter for the cornbread but she stopped when she realized her stirring had started to make a spiral shape. It reminded her too much of Lemonade’s hobby. Applejack rubbed her eyes and looked away. The scroll sat on the counter where she had left it.

It would be horribly dishonest to read it, but Applejack couldn’t resist. Something about all the strange events of the evening made her feel it was necessary and perhaps even a little urgent. She slowly unrolled it and read.

“What the hay?” she uttered quietly. Her eyes grew wider as she continued to read. The words were unbelievable and yet Princess Celestia had apparently written it herself. “This is crazy. It can’t be true, it just can’t.”

“AJ?” Big Macintosh asked her, having noticed what she was doing.

“Little Mac, stay in the kitchen. Your dad and I need to go find your mom.”

“Huh?” Both Macintoshes said at the same time.

“Come on Big Macintosh.” Applejack speed walked out of the kitchen. The letter couldn’t be true and yet it was addressed to both Princess Luna and Twilight, and signed along with an official royal seal at the bottom.

“AJ, what’s goin’ on?” Big Macintosh asked, after catching up with her.

“I think Lemonade’s spiral obsession is more than we thought.”

“AJ, I told you-”

“No, Big Mac, this is more than an obsession. Her life’s in danger.” Big Macintosh didn’t reply but the look on his face said more than he could have in a hundred words. He knew Applejack would never say something like that if it were a joke.

The siblings raced to the bathroom, but neither Lemonade nor Celestia were there.

“The room,” Big Macintosh said. Applejack knew exactly where he was talking about. They galloped down the hall to the room Lemonade kept her collection in.

“Princess!?” Applejack called as soon as they reached the door.

She listened and heard Celestia shout, “No! Stay out Applejack!” Her voice sounded desperate. Something was wrong.

Without hesitating, Applejack threw open the door. Celestia looked back at her with powerful magic dancing on her horn. Behind her, Applejack saw Lemonade spring at her. Applejack nearly screamed when she saw the gaping hole in her sister-in-law’s head. Lemonade did scream. She pounced on top of Celestia who tried to strike her with magic, but the light stretched and started to funnel inside Lemonade’s corkscrew hole. Big Macintosh pushed past Applejack and stopped dead as something else unexpected happened. Celestia’s form suddenly warped and twisted, funneling into Lemonade’s head like water going down a drain.

“Princess!” Applejack yelled, but Celestia was gone.

“Lemonade!” Big Macintosh called to his wife, but her laughter drowned it out. However, she cut short and started to scream again, this time in what sounded like fear. The hole suddenly swallowed her eyes and it started to become larger.

Big Mac tried to go to her but despite all his strength, Macintosh’s legs refused to move. “Honey!” he yelled as the hole expanded and swallowed his wife from head to tail in the blink of an eye.

Big Macintosh gaped, frozen where he stood. Applejack stared at the spot where she had just seen two ponies disappear into nothingness in ten seconds flat. “What in Tartarus just happened?”

Author's Note

The story has changed slightly to include Princess Twilight rather than normal Twilight.

Chapter 2: Staircase

After the incident in her home, Applejack convinced the conductor of Ponyville station to send her to Canterlot in the dead of night so she could give both Princess Luna and myself the message that Princess Celestia entrusted to her. Admittedly, I was rather skeptical as to the true identity of this thing known only as the Spiral. Surely, I thought, only a powerful villain like Crysalis or King Sombra could muster such a feat. The disappearance of both Princess Celestia and Big Macintosh’s wife left us with only a vague idea as to what we were really up against. Perhaps only Applejack and her brother understood the Spiral’s power at that time, but that would change very soon.

She dashed through the halls of Canterlot Castle. A scroll appearing from a poof of smoke and landing in a punch bowl in the middle of the room had abruptly interrupted her dinner party earlier. It was the first time it had ever happened, and even though most of the writing was illegible due to its soaking in the punch, she could never mistake the signature at the end. Besides, only one dragon could have sent a letter in that way.

As she made her way quickly, though still as elegantly as running like a madmare allowed, the various guards directed her to where she could find the pony she was looking for. When they finally directed her to the last door, she burst into the room. “I’m here, Twilight. I hurried over as soon as I heard. Whatever is going on?” Rarity said as soon as she saw her.

Twilight, Princess Luna, Spike, and for some reason Applejack were gathered in the room. “In a moment. We just need to wait for Rainbow Dash and we’ll try to piece together what we know so far,” Twilight said relatively calmly though she did sound rushed.

“Rainbow Dash?” Rarity said, raising her hoof to her mouth. “Oh, darling, I doubt Rainbow is coming. In fact, she probably did not even receive your letter. Have you forgotten what time of year it is?”

“Huh? What do you mean? It’s…” Twilight stopped in sudden realization.

“That’s right,” Rarity answered for her. “Training season for the Wonderbolts just started yesterday.”

Twilight facehoofed. “I forgot. The Wonderbolts fly all over Equestria don’t they?”

“Yes. Moreover, they won’t be back until the end of the month. They could be anywhere right now.”

When Spike had sent the letters, he already had a suspiciously accurate idea of where Rarity was and had sent Rainbow Dash’s letter to her bedroom in her new apartment in Canterlot. He couldn’t send it directly to them like he had with Princess Celestia since that required a specific contract spell that Rarity didn’t know and Rainbow, being a pegasus, couldn’t cast even if she did.

“Do they have a flight schedule? Maybe we can send a letter to somewhere ahead of them.”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Rainbow Dash said something about going where the wind takes them or some such.”

“Great.” Twilight looked at the gathered ponies and shook her head. “We’ll just have to do this without her. We can’t wait for her to come back.”

“What about Pinkie? Ain’t we gonna wait for her?” Applejack asked.

“Actually we don’t have time to wait for Pinkie to take the train. It doesn’t run this time of night anyway. I sent her a quick letter explaining the situation, so we can fill her in on what we plan to do later.”

“Pinkie Pie as well? What is going on? Is it the changelings again?” Rarity didn’t know if she could take the suspense any longer.

Princess Luna, who had been staring out the window with a rather angry look on her face, suddenly spoke. “Read it, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight picked up a rolled up parchment from the table, cleared her throat and read.

“To my sister, Luna and faithful friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I wish I could tell you this in person, but alas, if you are reading this I must have failed. A grave enemy the likes of which you have never faced before has returned and I implore you to take the utmost caution in dealing with this threat. The enemy I speak of is only known as the Spiral. It is a vast phenomenon that nearly caused the extinction of all ponykind almost six hundred years ago. From what Twilight described to me before, Lemonade is the first known victim, but the Spiral may have already cursed many others. It will take the form of anything and everything you can imagine with a spiral design, not just obsessions like Lemonade apparently has. It’s only known goal is to eradicate all life. If this is anything like before then there is still much time to act, so try to remain calm, but heed this warning and do not take the Spiral lightly. For further instructions, seek out the Rickshaw family. If I am not mistaken, at least one descendent of their family is currently living in Ponyville. Find him. His family devised the method for defeating the Spiral the last time. I do not know what else I can say other than good luck and have faith in your friends. Remember that friendship is the true key to overcoming any obstacle. Yours truly, Princess Celestia.”

When Twilight had finished, everypony was silent.

“What?” Rarity finally said. “Did she just describe some kind of apocalypse that almost happened in the past?”

“In a nutshell, I suppose so.” Twilight sounded considerably more nervous than while she was reading.

“And it’s happening again, right now?”

“It seems that way.”

Rarity blinked once and fainted. Spike rushed to her side and started fanning her.

“I can’t blame her. I kind of feel like doing the same thing.” Twilight looked at the letter again. “I don’t get this though. What is the Spiral? She’s not exactly specific in the letter.”

“She said it’s a phenomenon didn’t she?” Applejack asked. “I believe it. What I saw was way too freaky to be real magic.”

“I know, but still. Princess Luna, what can you tell us about this Spiral thing? Where exactly does it come from?”

Luna turned away from the window and looked at her sternly. “I can’t tell you.” The look of shock that overcame Twilight was almost comical but Luna didn’t laugh. “To be honest, this is the first I’ve heard of the Spiral.”

“But you’re the princess of the night. You have to know something.”

“I was still banished on the moon six hundred years ago.” Luna frowned at a painted mural on the wall of Princess Celestia. “And my sister never mentioned anything of the sort when I came back.”

It was clear to everypony that this fact was a source of irritation to Luna. However, why Celestia had never mentioned such a dangerous sounding adversary before was an answer they wouldn’t be able to obtain.

Luna returned to glaring out the window. Twilight decided to leave her to her thoughts and focus on what they knew. “Based on the letter, we can say that the Spiral is definitely evil. We need to pull together in friendship once again to stop another threat to Equestria.”

“Pancakes!” Rarity suddenly sprang awake. She appeared startled as if expecting to be in her bedroom. “I’m sorry, what were you saying about apocalyptic spirals?”

Twilight groaned and shook her head. “If we’re going to stop this threat we’re going to need more information. We hardly know what we’re dealing with here. Applejack, is there anything else you can tell us about your encounter with this Spiral?”

Applejack removed her hat and shook her head. “I don’t know what else to tell ya. Princess Celestia tried to cast some spell or another and it got sucked up in that freaky hole in Lemonade’s head. Then they both disappeared and that’s it.”

“Hole in her head?” Rarity repeated slowly.

“What about all that stuff Lemonade was collecting? Did that do anything?” Twilight continued, ignoring Rarity’s expression of illness.

“Not so far as I know and I ain’t gonna find out.” Applejack snorted. “Big Macintosh is probably done movin’ all that junk out and burnin’ it. There ain’t no way we’re gonna let the Spiral live at our farm.”

“So this Spiral… that makes holes in ponies’ heads… is it here? Now?” Rarity worried, edging closer to Spike who suddenly turned a shade of red.

Twilight shrugged. “I have no idea. We could look around Sweet Apple Acres I suppose, but other than spiral patterns, I don’t know what we would even be looking for specifically. And if we did, what then?”

“What about the Rickshaw family? It sounds like Celestia believes they are the key to defeating this.”

“The real question is how do we find the Rickshaw family? I don’t remember meeting anypony of that name in all the time I’ve lived in Ponyville.”

“Why don’t you just ask Pinkie Pie? She does know everypony in Ponyville,” Spike pointed out.

“Oh… right. I forgot about that.”

“Or you could check the public records. That should have a list of everypony who’s lived in Ponyville since it first formed.”

Twilight stiffened. “Of course. How silly of me.”

“Actually, you’re the mayor now. Maybe you could just publicly call them to your office or something and see who shows up.”

“Right! I could just…” Twilight growled and stepped in place.

“What’s the matter, Twilight? You seem kind of out of it.”

“I’m not! I just…” She sighed and lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Spike. I don’t mean to be so short with you. I guess I’ve just never wanted to admit how scatterbrained I am without you around. You’re the reason I could always stay so organized. Even after re-shelving day, you always knew where the books I needed were before I did.”

Spike smirked. “Sounds like you still need your number one assistant around.”

Twilight gave him a weak smile. “Maybe, but you still can’t leave Canterlot. I don’t want to say I don’t trust you, but we can’t have you lose out to your dragon instincts while we’re trying to stop this whole Spiral thing.”

“Uh… yeah.” Spike sounded hurt. Rarity smiled and patted him on the leg.

“It’s okay my big Spikey-wikey. You have a very important job to do right here in Canterlot. We might need to make some long distance messages.”

Spike somehow turned even redder and beamed. Even though he was apparently fine with his position, Twilight couldn’t help but feel guilty for bringing it up. However, logic dictated that they minimize their total number of problems in the face of an emergency. They didn’t have any real clue as to what the Spiral would do next and could only depend on finding the Rickshaws if they were going to have a chance.

“I wonder if I should make an emergency flight back to Ponyville tonight. I want to find the Rickshaws as soon as possible.”

Luna suddenly turned from the window and spoke. “Hold, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” She raised her hoof as if she expected silence. “I realize the urgency of this crisis, but there is no sense in losing sleep over it either. My sister did say there is still much time. In any case, you particularly appear exhausted.”

Twilight looked at the door and whimpered. “But, the crisis.”

“No buts, Twilight. Sleep is necessary to keep one’s brain activity functioning properly and I will not lose to this menace because we were too slow of thought. Besides…” Luna lowered her voice slightly and turned red. “I may need some assistance figuring out how to raise the sun in the morning.”

Twilight gasped. “That’s right, Celestia’s not here to perform the bringing of the dawn.”

“My sister has always told me that the duty would fall to me if anything were to prevent her, but I never imagined it would happen or so soon. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never practiced the task.”

“Well… the unicorns of the old days used to bring day and night before you and Celestia, so I’m sure there is a book on the subject somewhere. If you want, I could help you look for it-”

“Then it is settled. You will all stay here for the night and in the morning we will go to Ponyville and find this Rickshaw family.”

Applejack and Rarity looked at each other in surprise. Twilight startled. “We? As in all of us including you?”

“Do you find something amiss with that?”

“No, it’s just… Princess Celestia usually leaves everything to me and-”

“I am not my sister and this crisis seems far too large for you to handle alone. After all, what better ally could you have than your princess of the night?”

Twilight exchanged glances with her friends. “It’s an honor. It’s just… different. You’re essentially the standing ruler of Equestria right now. Shouldn’t you stay safe for the sake of order or something?”

“I feel it is imperative that I meet the Rickshaw family personally. I have many questions to ask about the Spiral that my sister so neglectfully failed to inform me of.” Luna remained rather bitter about that fact. She had yet to show any kind of emotion about Celestia’s disappearance other than anger.

“Hey, I think I know where that book-” Spike started but Luna held her hoof up again.

“Silence, scribe. The time for searching is not upon us. Sleep must come first.”

“But don’t you need it before-”

“Your princess has spoken. Do you defy her?”

Spike glanced at Twilight for help, but she shook her head. Spike sighed. “No.”

“Good. Then to bed with us all. We must get a very early start.”

As she had said, there was no questioning one of the princesses. Luna instructed the servants to have the guest rooms prepared and ushered the gathered ponies and Spike to leave. Then she returned to the window and stared outside again.

“Princess?” Twilight stuck her head back in the door. “Is everything all right? I can imagine that with… what happened to Celestia that you must feel emotional, but-”

“Emotional? Twilight Sparkle, I cannot feel emotional.”

“Why not? Don’t you care what happened?”

Luna squinted her eyes and put a hoof against the glass. “Twilight, I fear dearly for Celestia. I am angry she did not include me until after, but she is still my big sister. I refuse to believe that she is anything more than missing until proven otherwise. Until then I will not shed a single tear.”

Twilight stood next to the taller pony and smiled. “Are you really going to sleep? Didn’t you just get up to bring the night a few hours ago?”

“You’re observations are correct as always. I was just contemplating resorting to a sleep spell after I find the book on raising the sun.”

“That’s not what you told Spike.”

Luna looked sidelong at the shorter unicorn. “You’re observations are also a nuisance.” Though she sounded angry, her expression showed otherwise. “But you are right. I may not have been entirely honest when I asked you all to stay.”

“You don’t want to feel alone. That’s what I think.”

Luna let out a small laugh. “You should take up counseling.” Twilight saw a tiny sparkle in Luna’s eye, signs of a tear, but the princess of the night apparently had the will to hold it in. “I was alone for a thousand years, Twilight Sparkle. I am not ready to know that feeling again.”

“How about I help you find your book and then I’ll see about casting that sleep spell?”

Luna smiled. “That would be most helpful.”

Raising the sun hadn’t been too difficult. The fact that it had risen some ten minutes early was something most ponies probably wouldn’t take any notice of, but other than that it was shaping up to be a successful day. As promised, Princess Luna ordered a chariot flown by pegasi to ride back to Ponyville. With Spike waving farewell, it had been a very quick morning. Twilight and her friends were forced to eat breakfast on the way, which was difficult due to the speed at which they traveled. Hopefully nopony would be alarmed if a random English muffin happened to fall from the sky.

As they drew nearer to Ponyville, Twilight looked down and noted some of the ponies who had happened to see them descending. There had been no formal announcement that any royalty from Canterlot would be arriving today so it was understandable if some ponies were caught off guard by their unexpected guest.

“Greetings fair villagers of Ponyville. Your princess of the night has arrived!” Luna announced in the royal Canterlot voice as soon as the chariot landed.

Twilight groaned. “Princess, we’re not here for fanfare. Don’t you think we should be more discreet about this?”

It was too late to say that of course. Many ponies were bowing or making hasty greetings of respect, though there were many confused looks as well. Luna only made public appearances on Nightmare Night, and to see her arrive in the middle of spring and in the morning no less was completely unexpected.

Luna thought a moment. “Ah yes, we almost forgot.” Luna cleared her throat and spoke at a normal volume. “Hello everypony. I’ve come to check on a grave evil that threatens your village with dire horrors and vast chaos. Have any of you seen anything out of the ordinary?” Luna smiled with a squee.

A few ponies gaped, and a few more considered screaming in terror, but again, it wasn’t Nightmare Night. The princess had played the part of evil every year since her return, all for the sake of fun of course, but this sounded more real to them.

Twilight suddenly jumped in front of Luna and waved her hoof in a friendly gesture. “Sorry everypony. She’s just practicing for later this year when she returns. She felt that the Night Mare Moon thing might be getting a little old and thought to try something new.”

Luna stared at her. “What are you speaking of, Twilight? Have you forgotten our-”

“Nothing to see here, everypony. I’m going to have a meeting with the princess and then she’ll be on her way. Just go about your business.”

Twilight waved once more at the gathered ponies and ushered Luna and her friends into a back ally at the same time.

As soon as they were safely hiding behind some barrels, Luna stomped her hoof. “What is the meaning of this, Twilight Sparkle? A grave threat has befallen Equestria. We must gather as much information as we can.”

“I know but… can we do it quietly?” Luna raised her eyebrows. “If word of the Spiral gets out, everypony might panic. I just became mayor. It’s my responsibility to protect the citizens from unnecessary harm that could result from that. Didn’t you ever hear about the riot of Manehatten? Fifteen ponies were injured in that panic.”

“But Twilight, don’t you think the Spiral is a bit too important to keep to ourselves?” Rarity asked.

“Princess Celestia said we still have time. If it comes down to it, then we can tell everypony then, but until that happens, I think ignorant bliss might be best for everypony. It could end up hindering our progress rather than help.”

Princess Luna frowned, but she remained quite in thought for a moment. “Perhaps you are right. My sister did not inform anypony other than you and your friends when Discord returned. Not that anypony with eyes really needed to be told but I imagine she must have had much the same reason.”

“Exactly my point. Let’s just do what we came to do and move from there.”

Luna slowly nodded though she still didn’t look particularly happy. “As a former pupil of my sister I suppose I really should have more faith in you. All right, we’ll do it your way then. She turned to Rarity. “Come, we will ask Pinkamena if she has any knowledge on the Rickshaws.”

“Then I’ll check the public records and see if I can find information on the family there,” Twilight put in. “I’ll meet you at Pinkie’s house when I’m done. Applejack, can you help me?”

“Course, Twi. I woulda offered even if ya hadn’t asked.”

City Hall was an easily accessible building from most any road in Ponyville as it sat in the exact center of town. It was the center of many meetings and events throughout the year and housed many important documents to boot, including the public records. Twilight only acknowledged the various ponies who greeted her when she and Applejack went into the public records and shut the door behind her.

“That seemed kinda cold, Twilight,” Applejack said as Twilight opened the nearest filing cabinet. “You could at least act like nothin’s wrong.”

Twilight looked back at her with honest confusion on her face. “I thought I was. The mayor is always busy.”

“Every time I see you around town, you always seem so cheerful and approachable.”

“I was being approachable!” Twilight shouted as she slammed the cabinet shut hard enough to tip it over. She visibly blushed. “Okay, maybe I’m acting a little out of character.”

“Nah. I’d say freakin’ out is about right for ya. At least ya got good reason for it this time. But you’re the one who said we should try to stay discreet and yet you’re the one givin’ off the biggest sign of stress.”

“What do you mean this time?” Twilight raised her eyebrow but Applejack only met here with a scrunched expression on her face. “And like you just said, I’ve got good reason. I can’t stop to talk to everypony right now. Besides, any slip of the tongue could start all kinds of rumors. Who knows what ponies would say.”

“Oh, come on, Twi, it ain’t exactly believable to begin with. Who’s gonna say anything about somethin’ this crazy?”

Abruptly, the door flew open. “Twilight Sparkle!”

“Oh no,” Twilight grumbled.

A pale magenta pony stomped into the room, determination and a flare of anger on her face. “Madam Mayor, you can’t avoid me anymore. I demand that we discuss these namby pampy laws you’ve proposed.”

Twilight groaned. “And what’s so namby pamby about them, Diamond Tiara?”

“These new taxes are unfair and unjust. You can’t take away money from the hardest working ponies in Ponyville.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to target with this proposed tax and you can’t say I have just because you’re father happens to be one of the ponies most heavily affected by it.”

“Oh yes I can. Raising taxes on the wealthy is just outrageous!”

“You’re father is the richest pony in Ponyville by leaps and bounds. Besides, he’s the one who suggested it and furthermore he is quite the philanthropist so I’m sure-”

“Unacceptable! You cannot put up a bill that taxes just the wealthy. It’s unheard of to punish ponies just for being successful. You should reconsider my proposal.”

Twilight groaned again. Diamond Tiara wasn’t even listening to what she was saying. “Diamond, please, I don’t have time for this right now. As mayor of Ponyville, I have an obligation to see fit upkeep of the happiness and well being of our citizens.”

Diamond smirked and placed her hoof on her chest. “And as deputy mayor of Ponyville, I have the same obligation and same notion in mind. We have to discuss this new agenda now.”

Deputy mayor. It still irked Twilight that such a fussy and narrow-minded pony had been appointed to such a position. Then again, perhaps that was why Diamond’s father, Filthy Rich, had not seemed particularly troubled about losing the election. He had made sure she was appointed to the position the very next day. Yet, in regards to the law she was talking about, why couldn’t she understand that Filthy had been the one to suggest it, unless that had been some plan of his as well. It was as if the election hadn’t counted for anything.

“Look, I understand what you’re saying, I really do, and I promise to discuss it with you in due time, but right now I have some urgent business to attend to.”

“What could possibly be more urgent than the future of Ponyville?”

“Trust me, that is exactly what my business is about.”

“What? What are you planning?” Diamond paled when Twilight’s horn suddenly ignited in magic. “Don’t you dare-” In a wink, Twilight teleported Diamond Tiara outside.

“If her father didn’t have such influence…” Twilight growled under her breath.

“Hey, don’t look at me. I didn’t vote for her,” Applejack said, crossing her heart.

“Nopony did. You don’t elect the deputy mayor in Ponyville, they’re appointed.”

“Explains why I never saw her on the ballot. Anyway Twi, was that really necessary? I don’t wanna believe that politics can be solved by ignorin’ the other side.”

“Then you don’t know anything about politics and you don’t know what it’s like to deal with Diamond Tiara. I finally understand why Apple Bloom told me not to handle her lightly.”

“Maybe, but still, this is kinda important, Twilight. You’re really gonna leave the deputy mayor in the dark about the Spiral?”

“The fewer ponies that know about this the better. This is end of the world stuff after all and I don’t want to start a panic. If we can stop the Spiral quietly, then I’ll be all the happier.”

Applejack slowly lowered her head and appeared worried. “You said that already but I don’t know, Twi, this seems pretty heavy even for us. I know it don’t seem like much is goin’ on right now, but you didn’t see what I saw.”

“So long as we can contain this problem, I think this is the best option. Now help me look through the records. There are a lot of them.” She floated over two large stacks of folders, one for both of them to search through. Applejack picked one up and sighed. It reminded her of when Trixie had returned several years back and she and the others had spent a great deal of time trying to find a solution at the library.

For several minutes, the two mares sifted through paper after paper looking for the Rickshaw name. Even after fifteen minutes, they didn’t seem like they were any closer to finding this pony.

“This is ridiculous. Princess Celestia can’t be wrong. The Rickshaw’s must be in here somewhere.” Twilight flipped through a few more pages and skimmed slowly. Applejack saw her eyes light up and she pointed. “Here! The only pony with that name is Squeaky Rickshaw.”

Applejack looked at the document and nodded. “Looks like she moved here just a year after Granny’s folks founded Sweet Apple Acres.”

“And then she married into this family here.” She pointed again and smiled. “They do still live in Ponyville, only under a different name.”

“Well all right then. Let’s hightail it over to Pinkie’s and get the Princess. I’m sure she’ll be delighted.”

“Yeah. You’re right. We should hurry,” Twilight said slowly. She was looking out the window. “I’ll teleport us outside.”

“Teleport? Why?”

The door suddenly flew open. “Mayor Sparkle!” Diamond roared just as Twilight cast the teleportation spell. In seconds, she and Applejack were outside.

“That was really mean of you, Twilight,” Applejack told her as soon as she realized what the other mare had done.

“Desperate times, AJ. Defeating the Spiral comes first.” Twilight used her magic to hold the public records in front of her. “At least now we know that one of the Rickshaws still lives here. Let’s go. I don’t have time to listen to Diamond Tiara right now.”

Applejack shook her head. “Politics sounds complicated and childish all at the same time.”

“No kidding, but this is one politician who really does have something more important to do.”

Applejack nodded. “I don’t want to sound doubtful Twi, but I sure hope we can win this one. I still can’t get what happened outta my head. We can’t let that happen again.”

“Trust me, I feel the same way. At this point I’ll be happy if we can get through the day without any incidents.”

Whether it was fate or the design of a supernatural sort, Twilight and Applejack saw something out of the corner of their eyes before they heard a thud that made them jump. Nearby, an earth pony lay on the ground amidst dust that had risen after he had fallen there. Above him was the start of one of the newly constructed buildings, a good three stories tall.

“Oh my gosh! Are you all right?” Twilight ran over to the pony. He was trembling slightly, his eyes wide open, and he breathed rapidly.

“Jack Hammer! Hey, is he okay down there?!” a construction pony yelled from above.

Twilight looked over Jack Hammer quickly and determined that, for the moment at least, he was okay. “Applejack, get a doctor, hurry.”

“On it!” Applejack galloped to the hospital while Twilight stayed with the fallen pony.

“You’re going to be fine. A doctor will be here soon.” Twilight smiled but the pony didn’t even look at her. “Hey, snap out of it. You had a nasty fall but you’re going to be okay.”

Jack Hammer mumbled under his breath, “Couldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop…”

“Mayor Sparkle!” Twilight looked up to see the other construction worker coming down a staircase. She recognized him as Tough Nails. “Is he okay?”

“I think so. What happened?”

Tough Nails looked at his friend with a worried expression. “I don’t know. He just sort of leaned over and fell. I’ve never seen him do something that clumsy before.”

“Shouldn’t he have been tethered to the building or something?”

“He was. Safety is always our top priority, but…”

“But? But what?”

“He sort of… slipped out of it first.”

That didn’t make much sense. Jack Hammer couldn’t have had any reason to un-tether himself unless he was planning to come down via the stairs.

Jack Hammer mumbled on, “Couldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop…”

“Couldn’t stop what? Do you know why you fell?” Twilight asked him.

“Couldn’t stop. They were so mesmerizing. Those stairs…”

“The stairs?” Twilight looked up. There was nothing particularly special about the staircase other than that it circled up to the third floor. Then it donned on her. It was a spiraling staircase. “Tough Nails, what is this staircase for?”

“It’s the emergency stairwell for the new hotel. We just finished them about an hour ago. Why?”

“You finished the stairs before you even put in the floor panels? The building is still a frame.”

“Uh… yeah. Come to think of it, I don’t really know why we did that.” Tough Nails scratched his head and stared at the staircase as if it was the first time he had seen it. “Why did we build this so soon?”

“You built it and you don’t even know why?”

“Well…” He cocked his head and examined the staircase. Then he slowly shook his head in a no.

Twilight looked at the stairs again. It was too silly. There was no way it could have anything to do with the Spiral. It was just an accident, probably caused by a misused checklist. After all, Jack Hammer hadn‘t been sucked into any holes, and other than his injuries, he would probably be okay.

Twilight was out of breath when she and Applejack finally reached Pinkie’s house and knocked on the door. She was surprised when a tiny window opened in the middle of the door.

“What’s the password?”

Twilight groaned. “Pinkie we don’t have time for this. I have very important information to give to Princess Luna. Is she here?”

“Yep, that’s the password.”

“Huh?”

“Is she here. The password is, is she here.”

Twilight facehoofed as Pinkie opened the door and ushered them inside. Princess Luna and Rarity were sitting in the living room drinking something from teacups. “Sorry we’re late. There was an emergency in town we had to take care of.”

“Nothing involving the Spiral I hope,” Rarity worried.

“No, I doubt it. It was a work accident. A pony went to the hospital but I’m sure he’ll be okay.” She figured that Jack Hammer had just been tired and made a careless mistake. She remembered jabbing her hoof with a quill once or twice when she was sleepy. Why they had decided to build the stairs so soon, well, that could probably be explained in some way.

“In any case, we know where the Rickshaws live,” Twilight said happily.

“As do we. Pinkie Pie knows them very well,” Rarity replied.

“Yeah. Their family has been in Ponyville since almost the beginning,” Pinkie added.

“I guess I should have known I could rely on you to know.” Twilight smiled at her.

“Come on, let’s go. I’ll show you where he lives.”

Twilight abruptly looked at the records and realized there was no address listed for some reason. “I guess I wasted my time getting this.”

“Weren’t no waste of time if we helped somepony,” Applejack added.

“That’s true. The doctors said he should be all right with some rest.” She turned back to Pinkie. “What do you know about the Rickshaw’s Pinkie?”

“Lot’s of stuff. Their family is all brilliant ponies who achieved great awards in science and breakthroughs in pony technology.”

“Really? And I’ve never met them before? This is sounding better and better. We’ll defeat the Spiral yet.”

“Come on, it’s just a hop skip and a jump. But we should get there fast.”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“If we’re too slow, then I won’t be here when Binkie get’s home from school.”

The other ponies smiled. “I would never make you late for that. Let’s hurry everypony.”

The address in the records led the five ponies to a house on one of the nicest streets in town. It was a modest house with a somewhat unkempt garden in front and a roof that may have needed slight repair. As they walked up to the front door, a cat yawned lazily in the window and turned away from them apparently intending to sleep some more. This was the house of the Rickshaw family.

“Finally we can get some real answers.” Twilight knocked on the door and waited. When no answer came, she knocked again. Then a third time.

“It would appear that nopony is home,” Luna observed in slight irritation.

“He’s home. He usually takes a nap around this time of day,” Pinkie put in methodically.

“How heavy a sleeper is this guy?” Applejack asked and knocked even louder than Twilight. Still no answer.

Pinkie turned the knob on the door and revealed that it was open. “Yep. That’s just like him. Never caring to lock the door.”

“You sound very familiar with this pony, Pinkie. Is he a good friend of yours?” Rarity asked.

“Everypony is my friend. And you guys know him too.”

“We do?” Twilight said as they walked inside.

“Pardon us for intruding, but grave matters are upon us and we require your assistance,” Luna called. Again, no answer. “Are you sure this genius is home?”

“I doubt he’d be anywhere else.” Pinkie Pie walked further into the house and started looking around. Despite the motherly calmness she had gained, it seemed she still had no respect for other ponies’ privacy unless told otherwise.

The house was a mess. In the kitchen there were dirty dishes piled up in the sink and even a dirty plate and glass still sitting on the table. Nopony had dusted in a while and the carpet was such an off color that Rarity felt the need to unroll her emergency red carpet in front of her before allowing her hooves to traverse over it. Twilight was irked by the lack of organization in each room and suppressed her urge to make a checklist of things that needed to be done in the house. Finally, Pinkie opened a door in the back and pointed.

“I found him.” The other ponies smiled and gathered in the doorway. A pony snored in a lounge chair. Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack paled.

“Snails? He’s the brilliant pony who’s going to help us?” Twilight said with an exasperated tone.

“Accordin’ to the records, he’s descended from the family Celestia told us to find in her letter,” Applejack replied, reading from a document about Snails.

“And I remember learning about it from his father,” Pinkie put in.

“Pinkie, I thought you said his family had achieved awards and such for their brilliance?” Twilight complained.

“They did. Squeaky was the last one to win an award before she married into their current family name.”

“And what? It all went downhill from there in just one generation?”

“I don’t understand your distress, Twilight. Is something wrong with this pony?” Luna asked as she approached the sleeping unicorn.

“Knowing him as a kid, he never came across as brilliant. I suppose he was the first one in his class to use magic but still.”

“That sounds like a sign of brilliance if I ever heard it.” Luna turned to wake Snails up but noticed a bubble slowly growing and shrinking from his nose. With a look of disgust, her horn suddenly lit in magic and the bubble popped.

“Huh? Wha?” Snails rubbed his eyes and looked at Princess Luna. “You’re not my mother.”

“I suddenly feel very relieved that I am not. Arise young Snails. Your help is greatly desired in our time of need.”

Snails yawned and scratched the inside of his ear. “Okay. What do you guys want?”

“Would it be asking too much to know if you have any information about the Spiral?”

Snails froze. “The Spiral?” He pulled his hoof out of his ear. “The Spiral spiral? The one that almost destroyed Equestria before?”

Twilight’s eyes bugged out. “I don’t believe it. You know what we’re talking about?”

“It really is the Spiral?” Snails went wide-eyed and yet almost looked happy. “No way. My parents told me all sorts of things about it, but I never thought the Spiral would ever return. What happened?”

Twilight blinked. “You mean we actually found an expert on the subject?”

Snails pounded his chest. “Of course. My family helped Princess Celestia defeat the Spiral. We’ve been passing down the story of the Spiral for generations. ”

“Then you know how bad it is?”

“It’s bad. Very bad. Lots of ponies could die.”

“Then why do you look so happy about it?” Twilight frowned at Snails’ smile.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that my mom always told me that our knowledge might be needed again someday and I’m just so glad I can be useful.”

“Right…”

“Enough idle chatter,” Luna said angrily. “Tell us everything you know of the Spiral. Its horrible power has already struck and taken Celestia away.”

“It got the princess?” Snails finally lost his smile. “That’s not good. She was the only pony who knew that spell.”

“Spell? What spell do you speak of? Will it defeat the Spiral?”

“Hang on. My family recorded the events of the Spiral’s attack the last time. It has the spell we need and everything.” He turned to a bookcase in the back of the room and used his magic to pull a few books out. “Nope. Nope. That’s not it. Uh uh. Nope…”

As he pulled books out of the case, a stray piece of paper floated out and landed on the floor. Twilight picked it up. “You dropped… this…” She looked at it. It was a high school grade sheet with Snails’ name on it. According to the sheet, he had achieved nothing but Cs and Ds. One of the Ds was in science.

“Here it is!” Snails pulled out an old book, leather-bound and dusty with a leather strap securing it closed. It had no apparent title or description of any kind. Upon closer inspection, Twilight was sure that the pages were made of parchment vellum, something highly uncommon in any books she had in her library and only in a secured wing in Canterlot Castle.

Snails flipped through the book until he stopped on a certain page. He set the book down for the gathered ponies to see and pointed to a series of words and an illustration. “When the Spiral first attacked about six hundred years ago, my family was able to devise this spell. Celestia used it to stop the Spiral before.”

“Wait a minute!” Twilight exclaimed, grabbing up the book. “I know this spell. Princess Celestia asked me to learn this about a year after I started living in Ponyville.”

“Celestia taught you this?” Snails remarked.

“It’s called ‘Ruination.’ She said it was important that I learn at least one spell of offensive magic just in case. Unfortunately though, I got pretty frustrated that I could never get the darn spell to work.”

“Maybe it did work and you just didn’t know it.” Snails scratched his chin. “As far as I know, it wouldn’t have any effect on anything other than the Spiral.”

“If this spell is so great then what became of my sister? How did the Spiral overcome her?” Luna demanded.

“Well… I don’t know. What happened when she was attacked?”

Though she sounded a little begrudged to do so, Applejack relayed the incident with Lemonade and Celestia once again. Snails listened with an attention span that belied his poor grades in high school.

After thinking the incident over, he spoke. “It should have worked but from what you’ve told me, I don’t know if the spell failed or if the Spiral caught her before she could cast it.”

“Well she cast somethin’ but the Spiral sucked it up.”

Snails stared at her blankly and then flipped through the pages of his book again. He read a few lines, flipped to some other page, read some more and looked at some other pages.

“Well?” Rarity said impatiently.

Snails finally looked up from the book. “I don’t know what to tell you. There’s no record of anything like that in here, but it sounds like the Spiral found a way to defend itself.”

“Is that your expert opinion?” Rarity asked rather dryly.

Snails smiled. “Can I say yes?”

“Since you are apparently the only expert.” Snails looked overjoyed.

“If the spell doesn’t work then what are we supposed to do?” Twilight interrupted.

“No, no, the spell works. I’m positive it does. The Spiral might have just… I don’t know… dodged it?”

“So then we can still use the spell to defeat it, right?”

“Of course. Its how we defeated it last time.”

Okay, how?”

Snails remained silent for a moment. “There is one more thing.” He flipped through the pages again. “If the Spiral managed to come back again, then my family hasn’t been wasting their time.” He picked up the book and shook it until a folded paper fell out. “Even though the Spiral was defeated, we heard about it occurring somewhere much further away at around the same time. My great, great, great… uh… my great grandfather ten generations over thought that the Spiral may have had an actual source, a central location if you will. He feared that the Spiral would be able to return if that source was not found and destroyed. So he started designing this.” He unfolded the paper and revealed that it was a diagram of some kind with a large list of numbers and extra sketches all around it as if describing some kind of complex problem. “This is a blueprint of the machine he started and my family continued over the years.”

“Okay. And what is this machine?” Twilight asked.

“Well, it’s just called the machine. We never thought to give it a name.”

“Never… wait… what is it supposed to do?”

“Theoretically it’s supposed to find the source of the Spiral.”

“Theoretic… so you never tested it?” Snails shook his head and Twilight facehoofed. “I don’t believe this. We’re going to depend on a unicorn with a C average in school, and an untested machine with a theoretical purpose?”

“Uh… also, the machine isn’t exactly… real… yet.” Snails smiled apologetically. “My grandmother Squeaky finished the design but she never actually built it.”

“And it just keeps getting better,” Twilight moaned. “So you don’t even know if the machine can serve its theoretical purpose?”

“It’s never been built before so, technically no. The Spiral was defeated without it of course but-.”

“Then why are we even talking about it? Let us defeat the Spiral with the Ruination spell,” Luna announced.

“But that might not be the end of it. What if it comes back again in another six hundred years?”

Twilight had to admit, for being a pony who had never come across as some kind of genius before, he was being very rational now. “Snails is right. Even if we do defeat the Spiral, it would behoove us to make sure it can’t ever come back again.”

“Lest this whole incident be repeated. Once again you make a good point.” Luna looked angry again, but also sad at the same time.

“If nothing else, we can build this machine as a backup plan. I’d rather not leave anything to chance.”

“That’s a good idea. If Celestia cast Ruination on the Spiral already, it must not have worked,” Snails reasoned out.

“You just have nothing positive to say, do you?” Rarity grumbled.

“Then how do we get it to work?” Twilight asked, ignoring Rarity’s annoyance.

“Well… I don’t know. Maybe something prevented her from casting it.”

“No, she definitely cast somthin’, but it got sucked up,” Applejack confirmed. “I don’t know if that was the spell or not but the Spiral didn’t seem to care.”

“If it was then you don’t suppose that was the end of it?” Rarity said, almost sounding as if she were pleading.

Snails shrugged. “We’ll have to wait and see. If something else happens, then it’s far from over.”

“Something else?” Twilight’s mind ran through a number of possibilities. Then her thought’s stopped on one thing in particular. “As long as we don’t need these anymore, I’m going to return the public records.”

“Huh?” Everypony looked at her when she made her statement. “Now?” Applejack asked her.

“We found our expert and we have a clear way of fighting the Spiral. Maybe we can wrap this up as early as… tomorrow. Or something.”

“Twi, you okay? You seem kind a spooked again.”

“Get some more information from Snails for me. I’ll be right back.”

“Do you want somepony to go with you?” Rarity asked her.

“Or a lunch?” Pinkie put in.

“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“But-”

Before anypony could object further, Twilight winked outside. She took a heavy breath. It was probably nothing. It had been little more than an accident. It could have happened to anypony. Still, Twilight found herself walking towards the hospital where Jack Hammer had been taken after his fall.

It was nothing. It had to be a coincidence. That was what Twilight kept telling herself as she approached the hospital. All she had to do was talk to Jack Hammer, find out that he had just forgotten his coffee that morning, and be done with the thought. Even though she was sure it was something as simple as that, she found herself lingering in the lobby. The truth was far too important but her hooves refused to believe her.

“Out of the way everypony! Emergency coming through.”

Twilight woke up from her thoughts and absentmindedly moved to the wall away from the door. She watched some ponies walk in quickly and was about to return to her thoughts when a new one crept in.

“What the…? Tough Nails?” Two strong ponies were carrying in the head construction pony on a stretcher. He looked deathly pale. “Hey, what happened to him?”

“Oh, Mayor Sparkle. He fell off the building he was constructing. They found him at the bottom of the stairs.”

“The stairs? The spiral staircase?”

“Yeah, I think that’s what it was. I’m sorry, mayor, but he’s in bad shape. We have to get him to emergency, stat.”

Twilight watched them walk further into the hospital. She turned and stared out the glass doors and looked in the distance where she was just able to make out a part of the building Tough Nails and the other construction ponies were working on. On one side of that building would be a spiral staircase that should not have been built yet. The Spiral had influenced Lemonade to collect spirals as if gathering ammunition for the Spiral to inhabit. By that logic there was no reason not to believe that the Spiral influenced those two ponies to build the stairs and then fall down between them. Twilight wracked her brain but she could not figure out why the Spiral would want them to fall down the stairs. They were both seriously hurt but otherwise it was completely different from what apparently had happened to Lemonade.

“Don’t kid yourself, Twilight. It’s just a coincidence. It has nothing to do with the Spiral,” she told herself and tried to laugh it off. Despite that, she walked quickly through town moments later, headed to the incomplete hotel. It was probably nothing but she had to look at that staircase again. It was on the way to Town Hall anyway.

“What in the world?” As she approached the unfinished hotel, Twilight looked up and saw the staircase. It was taller than when she had last seen it. Tough Nails had somehow built it up a full story above the rest of the building. The fact he had managed it at all was an amazing feat in its own right, but just as the stairs had already done, it defied the logic of the construction.

Twilight followed the top of the stairs down to the bottom with her eyes and stopped. Sitting at the bottom, directly in the middle of the spiral staircase was Carrot Top, a pony who excelled at growing vegetables in her garden. She was just sitting there, staring up. She didn’t move nor did Twilight even see her blink until she walked up next to her.

“Good afternoon, Carrot Top.”

“Oh. Afternoon, Twilight.” Carrot kept staring skyward but waved her hoof.

“So… what are you doing here?”

Twilight waited for almost fifteen seconds before Carrot finally responded to her question. “I want to walk up these stairs.”

Twilight grimaced but Carrot Top never took her gaze away. Shaking her head, Twilight backed up and looked up. The spiral staircase loomed like a tower, taller than anything immediately around it.

Twilight jumped when she realized that she had backed into somepony. “I’m so, so, sorry. I didn’t…” An earth pony named Bumper was sitting behind her. He was staring at the staircase. In fact, he wasn’t the only one. There were a few ponies either standing or sitting around the building, apparently mesmerized by the stairs.

Twilight shouted, “Oh come on everypony, they’re just stairs! I have some at my house!” Some of the bystanders looked at her and some passersby increased their walking speed as if they thought Twilight had said something weird, but otherwise, none of the transfixed ponies moved.

Things couldn’t go on like this. The stairs had to come down before somepony tried to walk up them and maybe hurt themselves falling back down. Twilight thought a moment deciding what she should do. Burning the stairs would be too dangerous. Perhaps turning them into something harmless like leaves would be best. Then she remembered the Ruination spell. She had never managed to get the spell to do anything, but Snails had said it would only have an effect on the Spiral.

Twilight approached the staircase and used her magic to drag Carrot Top away from it. She didn’t struggle but kept her eyes trained on the top of the stairs no matter where she moved her. Groaning at the strangeness of it all, Twilight concentrated very specific magic into her horn. It was a good enough time as any to test the Ruination spell, but if it did have any kind of effect, there was no telling what it might do.

She took a deep breath and prepared herself in case she needed to cast some kind of counter spell or maybe even her failsafe spell. Twilight took careful aim and fired. A bright beam emitted from her horn and struck the staircase. When the light lifted, the stairs sat there, just as motionless as they already were.

“Well, once again, that didn’t do anything.” Twilight shook her head and prepared to cast a transformation spell when she saw something start to leak out of the stairs. It was like some kind of red smoke. The smoke suddenly flew into the air, forming a spiraling funnel as it disappeared behind the clouds. Twilight hadn’t realized she was gaping but quickly shut her mouth. “No way. It actually-” Twilight jumped when the topmost stair suddenly fell. Then piece by piece, the rest of the stairs crumbled, apparently unsupported by whatever magic the Spiral had imbued in them.

Twilight’s heartbeat had increased quite a bit. The stairs had been reduced to a pile of wooden rubble. She watched it, half expecting something to come crawling out. The spell had finally worked. To be more precise, that meant there was something for it to work on.

“That was the Spiral?” Twilight whispered to herself and gazed up at the clouds. She didn’t see anything moving up there, nor did she see the clouds change form. All was silent again. Apparently, she had just challenged the Spiral and won.

Still focused on the clouds, Twilight didn’t notice when Carrot Top blinked and looked around as if she wasn’t sure what she was doing there. Then she noticed Twilight. “Hey there, Mayor. What’s up?”

Taking her attention away from the sky, Twilight slowly responded, “Not the stairs.”

“Stairs?” She looked around again. “What stairs?”

Twilight studied the other mares face. She didn’t look like she was kidding. “The stairs. You know, the ones you were just looking at?”

“I was looking at some stairs? I’m pretty sure I was on my way to buy more seeds.”

Twilight paled. “You don’t remember anything at all?”

“I remember the seeds I need to buy. See you later, Twilight.”

Twilight watched in awe as Carrot walked off as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all. The other mesmerized ponies started walking away too, apparently continuing whatever they had been doing before seeing the spiral staircase.

Chapter 3: Zebras

I realize now that I should have taken the crisis more seriously, but the odd incident with the spiral staircase just wasn’t enough to convince me that the Spiral was as dangerous as everypony feared. Two ponies had been gravely hurt but otherwise everything was okay and the Ruination spell seemed to work fine. The only motivation I really had was Princess Celestia’s letter and Applejack’s testament to the incident involving her sister-in-law. Even as we sat down and discussed the Spiral seriously with Snails, I had my doubts as to the responsible party really being blamed on an unexplained phenomenon. Being a pony of science, I knew there had to be a more logical reason. I did however take preventative measures seriously and knew the one power that could take on whatever was really behind the Spiral.

“You saw the Spiral?!” Luna bellowed in the royal Canterlot voice. Twilight brushed her hair back down before replying.

“I saw something at least. It seemed like it had to do with the Spiral. Ruination actually worked.”

“The counter spell?” Luna looked quite surprised. “Then it must have been the Spiral. Fiend! What was the foul thing doing?”

“Making ponies walk up stairs.” Twilight received more than one confused look from her small audience of Luna, Rarity, Applejack, and Snails. Pinkie had already gone home to wait for her daughter despite the fact that it was still a few hours before school let out. Twilight took a few minutes to relay what had happened at the unfinished hotel. When she finished, Luna had dropped the royal Canterlot voice.

“That is just… bizarre. Truly, it does not sound even half as dangerous as my sister warned. Could it really be so weak?”

“Maybe it’s just tired after what happened to Lemonade.” Applejack looked down trodden as she shook her head. “You’re lucky it wasn’t anything as bad as that, Twi. I still can’t get that off my mind.”

“I’m not really sure what to say to that. I suppose if it’s a phenomenon, it’s going to have its strong and weak points but I don’t think the Spiral is really so easily explained. There was something in those stairs and I think it was magic.”

“But can you really be certain of that?” Rarity questioned.

Twilight opened her mouth but closed it again, rethinking her answer. “I’m not. It’s only a hypothesis for now but I’m certain we’ll be able to explain it somehow. Snails, isn’t there anything more specific you can tell us about the Spiral? Anything at all would be helpful.”

“Uh…” Snails opened his book and skimmed through the pages. He looked somewhat panicked but eventually closed it. “I don’t know what else I can tell you really. I don’t- I mean I can’t find anything in the book that’s really so relevant.”

“A book that large has to have something useful in it. Just give it another look.”

Snails hugged the book closer. “I already told you what to look out for. Anything that has to do with Spirals, like those stairs or slinkies or something.”

“Slinkies,” Twilight stated flatly. “You think our doom is going to come from a child’s toy?”

“It could happen. Slinkies are spiral shaped. I don’t think you get just how much influence the Spiral has.”

“All the more reason to find the source then. I’m glad it was something small this time but I’m not going to wait for something like what happened to Lemonade to repeat itself. Speaking of which, why haven’t you started building already? You’re the one who said it’s more dangerous than I think.”

Snails’ eyes scanned from one side of the room to the next before he smiled sheepishly. “The machine is really complicated. I’m not even sure if I can build it.”

Twilight wanted to cry. The future of Equestria was doomed.

“Well, maybe you can’t, but I think I know somepony who can,” Applejack said with a smile.

“This is it. The answer to our problem is solved.” Applejack proudly raised her hoof to the sign above the door that simply read: Apple Bloom’s Workshop.

“Apple Bloom?” Snails asked. “Why is Apple Bloom the answer to our problem?”

“Don’t you get out at all? Apple Bloom is a whiz when it comes to fixin’ and buildin’ stuff. It’s her special talent. She’s been runnin’ this business for over a year now.”

“Really? I’ve never heard of it.”

Twilight gave Snails a reassuring smile. “Trust us Snails, Apple Bloom is a hard worker. I’m sure she can get the job done.”

“Let us hope so,” Luna said and opened the door. “Apple Bloom, your Princesses and country need you,” she said relatively loudly, though she restrained herself.

However, there was no answer. Looking around the room, the five ponies could see many machine parts in complete disarray. A few tools hung on the walls and a juice machine in several pieces sat on a wooden table. Underneath the table, a yellow earth pony with a red mane and bow in her hair lay on her back, spread-eagle, snoring away.

“A hard worker, huh?” Luna said disgustedly.

“I think I just figured out why she wanted to live away from us,” Applejack said, facehoofing. “Apple Bloom, wake up.” The younger mare didn’t stir.

“Awaken and seize the day!” Luna bellowed in the royal Canterlot voice.

Apple Bloom jumped and smacked her head on the table. “Wha-wha? Customers?” She scrambled out from underneath the table and was all smiles. “Welcome to Apple Bloom’s Workshop where our motto is, if you break it, we can fix it, and if you dream it, we can build it.”

“A commendable motto,” Luna said. “I shall have to remember that the next time the royal toaster breaks.”

“Ya’ll need me to fix a toaster?”

“No, we need you to build a machine that will allow us to break through the time space continuum and traverse to an interdimensional plain so that we can battle a phenomenon with no physical form,” Snails told her. The other ponies all stared at him. That’s what it was supposed to do?

“Say what now?” Apple Bloom scratched her head. “You want me to build what kinda doohickey?” Then she noticed her sister. “Applejack? Wait, what’s goin’ on?”

“The end of the world possibly, that’s what!” Luna bellowed angrily.

Apple Bloom blinked. “I’m still asleep and am just havin’ a nightmare… right?”

Luna’s horn lit up in magic and she shot a tiny bolt of electricity that singed Apple Bloom’s hoof. “I’m an expert on dreams. That is more than a pinch to prove that this is most certainly not one.”

“Gotcha,” Apple Bloom said quickly as she nursed her hoof. “So what was all that dementia time and space somethin’ or rather you were talkin’ about?”

“Whatever Snails just said, we need you to build us the machine he’s got on these here blueprints.” Applejack took the paper from Snails and handed it to Apple Bloom. “You think you can manage this thing AB?”

“Don’t you worry none Applejack, there ain’t no contraption too hard for me to build.” She opened the blueprint and looked at it. Her smile slowly faded. “Holy pony berries on a cracker, that is complicated.” She briefly looked up from the blueprints at her sister’s worried face. “But I can handle it. It’ll just take some time.”

“How much time?”

Apple Bloom looked at the schematic again and drooped. “Um… like maybe a few weeks. Probably longer.”

“What? We don’t have that long.”

“I can’t help it. Have you seen this thing?” She turned the paper around and shoved it in Applejack’s line of sight. “This ain’t no toaster, AJ. Just look at some of the parts I’m gonna need. You can’t buy somethin’ like that in a store. I’m gonna have to make some of these outta scrap metal or maybe even somethin’ stronger. Look at this right here. I don’t even know what a flux capacitor is. They invented parts for this thing that don’t even exist yet so far as I know.” Apple Bloom rolled up the paper and scratched her head. “And anyhow, did I hear you right earlier? You fixin’ on savin’ the world with this here machine? Was that it?”

“Something like that.” Twilight hesitated a moment but realized she had no choice but to involve yet another pony. She relayed everything relevant up to that point about the Spiral as Apple Bloom’s mouth opened wider and wider in astonishment.”

“And… and this is for real?” Apple Bloom said after Twilight finished. “Well why didn’t you say so sooner? What am I standin’ around for? I gotta get this thing workin’ before, before… well, the end of the world! When’s it goin’ to happen?”

“When?” Twilight looked at Snails for a moment but he shrugged. “Well, not for a while I guess. Celestia didn’t really say how long before she stopped it the first time.”

Apple Bloom stopped reaching for a hammer on the wall. “Wait, this happened before?”

“Yes, Celestia stopped it with a spell before. But Snails’ family thought it wouldn’t be the end of it so they’ve spent the last six hundred years designing that machine in the hopes of stopping the Spiral once and for all.”

Apple Bloom leaned on her worktable. “You shoulda told me that earlier too. Didn’t you see me panickin’ back there?”

“What’s not to panic about? I’ve already panicked five times,” Rarity said dramatically.

“This is for after you get rid of whatever the heck the Spiral is gonna do, right? I got six hundred years to build this thing, not that I think it’s gonna take that long.”

“Even so, I want this problem solved long before that,” Luna said sternly. “If we find the source then perhaps we find my sister and Mrs. Macintosh too.”

Applejack looked at Luna with surprise. “That’s right. I hadn’t thought a that. We gotta do this for Lemonade too, Apple Bloom. I won’t be able to live with myself if I find out the Spiral has… done somethin’ worse to her.”

Apple Bloom nodded and opened the blueprints again. “Okay. I get it. I’ll get it done as soon as I can, but like I said this gonna take some time. I can’t promise it’ll be done before next month, or even after for that matter.”

“As long as it’s finished that’s all that matters, thank you,” Twilight said, a slight hint of relief in her voice. “We’ll need time to prepare for then too.”

“What do you mean, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“If we’re going to find the source then we might find something to fight too. If we do, then I think we are going to need the Elements of Harmony.”

“The Elements? Are you sure?” Rarity asked.

“If the machine really does locate the source of the Spiral then we don’t have any guarantee that Ruination will work against that. The Elements of Harmony might be the solution to defeating it.”

“But for that we’ll need Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight nodded. “Which means the only question is how? Fluttershy has never told us exactly where she is. She and Rainbow Dash could be anywhere right now.”

Luna scratched her chin in thought. “And at the same time we’ll have to prepare for anything the Spiral can throw at us. I was thinking to assign guards to patrol every town in Equestria but I don’t know if I can really spread them so thin.”

“Wait, we can’t just have guards randomly patrolling around Ponyville or anywhere else for that matter. Ponies will get suspicious. We don’t want to start a panic.”

“Then what would you suggest, Twilight Sparkle? What other way can we watch over the citizens and search for the other bearers of the Elements?”

Twilight tried to think, but Luna had posed a real conundrum. The last thing they needed was a widespread terror, but they needed to detect the presence of the Spiral at the same time.

“There’s a pony for that,” Apple Bloom suddenly chimed in. The others looked at her in surprise and she smiled. “In fact there’s a legion of em.” Twilight’s blank stare was enough to make Apple Bloom giggle. “You need the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Twi.”

“You still call yourselves that? Look, I know your friends have always been enthusiastic but I don’t see how…”

“You don’t get it Twilight. There ain’t just three or four of us anymore. We ain’t just some club neither. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are a whole social network these days.”

“A social network?”

“We got over forty members all across Equestria. At least sixteen or seventeen of em are all adults now too. If things are as bad as you say then we’re gonna need all the help we can get and I happen to know the two best mares to start the job.”

The sun was at a good angle. Still early. The weather was fair and the wind only two miles an hour towards the east. Not very many clouds but there were enough. Goggles would keep any dirt out of her eyes and maybe the occasional bug too. She flapped her wings a few times, warming them up. It was going to be a good ride.

“Here we go.” Scootaloo put one hoof on the ground and pushed off, flapping her wings at high speed. Her scooter responded as she wanted with a whiz. The orange pegasus was off, ready for her daily job. “Out of the way! Express mail coming through!”

Scootaloo jumped her scooter over Rose’s calla lily stand as Rose herself ducked for cover. After almost a full year of it, she had thought she would be used to it by now. Scootaloo continued on her way. The first package went to Block Buster. Boom! Right in the mailbox. Or at least it would have if Block Buster hadn’t been standing in front of it. No harm done though. He would wake up in five minutes or so. After almost a year of this, he should have been used to it too.

Package after package, letter after letter, Scootaloo delivered them all in record time. She had made a name for herself as the fastest pony on land. Nopony could match her skills or speed on a scooter. Only another pegasus could out speed her, and that was if they flew.

In just under thirty minutes, Scootaloo had covered all of Ponyville. She stopped and looked at her list. “Looks like these last few go out of town.” Reaching into her saddlebag, she pulled out a map and studied it for about fifteen seconds.

“According to the cloud map, I should just be able to make it. Now let’s see… that will do!” Scootaloo picked up even more speed and zoomed to a cart that was just about to be loaded with trash. “Coming through!” The pony who was picking up trash looked and jumped out of the way as Scootaloo bounced off the cart and onto the stone wall next to it. Without losing any speed, she whipped along the top of the wall until she reached a house with a slanted roof. Scootaloo smiled as she used the roof like a ramp and took to the air.

Scoot spread her wings and started to glide like a flying squirrel. She knew she could only go so far but her landing point was right there. She flapped her wings again to pick up speed and Scootaloo landed on the nearest cloud. Being a pegasus was the only reason it worked. Any other breed of pony would fall right through. Scootaloo smiled and screamed in celebration to the wind. If she hopped along the clouds, she would make it to the next town in no time.

Any other pony (barring a certain cyan colored one) might have lost their nerve at the mere thought of what Scootaloo was doing, but she had the utmost confidence in herself that she had the awesome skill to pull of such a dangerous feat. She leaped and jumped from cloud to cloud, sometimes only catching the slightest wisp of cloud with the edge of her scooter before propelling herself to the next jump. It was a perfect run. At least it almost certainly would have had it not been for an unexpected obstacle.

“Ahhhh!” Scootaloo put on the brakes when she noted something unusual. “Applejack?”

“Howdy, Scoot. How ya doin’?”

“Fine I guess. Um… how are you…?”

“Standin’ on this cloud?” Applejack stomped her hoof on the cloud a few times. “Magic. Twilight sent me up here to find you. Only problem is I’m not sure how to get down from here.”

Scootaloo smiled devilishly. “I can help with that in ten seconds flat.”

“You’re soundin’ a bit too much like Rainbow Daaaaaaaassssssshhhh!” Scootaloo grabbed Applejack as she zoomed past her. The earth pony had no choice but to hold on tightly as Scootaloo started skidding across clouds again.

“Wait, wait Scoot! You’re never gonna…! No, make a left! Left not right! There’s hardly any…! Ahhhhh!” Applejack covered her eyes as Scootaloo just caught a wisp of cloud and grinded across to another one five feet below. When Applejack dared to look, she noted what was in front of them.

“Ah, Scoot, I think were heading for-”

“I know. It’s the fastest way.” The scooter ascending speedily up a slanted cloud and slowed as it reached the peak. On the other side was what appeared to be some kind of slide that went almost straight down into open air.

“My heart ain’t ready for this,” Applejack squeaked.

“Cowabunga!” Scootaloo shouted as the Scooter descended down at amazing speed. Applejack didn’t know which was louder, the sound of the wind or her own screaming.

The end of the slide curved sharply and the pair sailed across the sky in a slow descent that eventually led to a faster and faster free fall. Just as the ground was about to meet them, Scootaloo pulled a cord on her saddlebag and a parachute glider sprang out jettisoning them into a forward glide that landed them somewhat roughly on the ground where Scootaloo applied the breaks, skidding almost fifty feet before they came to a complete stop.

When the dust settled, Scootaloo was posed on her scooter with one hoof touching the ground. She raised her hooves to an imaginary crowd. “Ten seconds flat.”

“Didn’t feel like no ten seconds.” Applejack shivered. “What was the point of that? Couldn’t ya’ll have just picked me up and set me down gently?”

“I could have. But that wouldn’t have been as cool.”

“Or as dangerous.” Applejack let go of the orange pegasus and took a moment to take some deep breaths and wipe away the sweat that had formed on her face.

In a quick movement, Scootaloo hopped down, collapsed her scooter, and put it neatly in the case she always wore on her back. “So what’s up Applejack? Why is Twilight looking for me? Don’t tell me she needs a package delivered that badly.” Scootaloo raised her goggles and rested them on her forehead where she always kept them before pulling a cord that automatically reset the glider in her saddlebag.

“It’s somethin’ really important but… Scoot, why do you got to do something like ridin’ along the clouds? It’s reckless.”

“I do it all the time. No problem.”

“You could get hurt if anything goes wrong. You know you can’t fly.”

Scootaloo felt a stab in her chest. “I… I know. You don’t have to remind me.”

Applejack sighed. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelin’s, but it’s the gall darn truth. You gotta stop takin’ these stupid risks.”

“Even if somepony took away her wings, Rainbow Dash would take the risk if it meant flying in the air.”

“That’s cause she’s reckless. Anyway Scoot, there’s no time to debate this. All of Equestria’s in danger and we might need your help.”

“Huh?”

“Look, I’ll explain on the way, but right now we got to get to back to Ponyville, fast.”

“Fast you say?” Scootaloo grinned.

Applejack frowned. “Me and my big fat mouth,” she said as Scootaloo unfolded her Scooter.

Sweetie Belle yawned and rubbed her eyes. She leaned heavily on the counter and tried to focus. The fact that the day was dragging on with only a few customers didn’t make staying awake any easier. Honestly, she didn’t mind running her older sister’s boutique, but her schedule was already so full that it became little more than a drab activity at the beginning of each day. Fortunately, Rarity didn’t require her to keep the store open all day so Sweetie had time to spend on her other more preferred activities.

She spent at least four days a week singing to sick patients at Ponyville Hospital, three days volunteering at a fundraiser for underprivileged ponies in some country she couldn’t pronounce, and spent a vast majority of her evenings teaching young fillies and colts how to sing. She also spent very random amounts of time organizing the new Ponyville choir which most of her students were also apart of. All together, she spent between three and four hours a day sleeping. If only she didn’t have to run her sister’s dumb boutique.

Sweetie Belle startled awake when she heard the bell over the door ring and a pony walked in. “Welcome to Rarity’s Carousel Boutique where everything is unique… and maginfique.”

“Chic!” the unicorn in the doorway corrected her.

Sweetie Belle shot up. “Rarity?!”

“It’s, welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique and maginfique. It’s not that difficult to remember.”

“Yeah.” Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly. “Hey sis. I wasn’t expecting you to drop in today. What are you doing here?”

“Sweetie Belle, we have something urgent for you to do.”

“You’re kidding…” Sweetie Belle rested her chin on the counter. Just what she needed.

“Not at all. Your talents are needed.”

“Can it wait till Thursday? I’ll talk to you then.”

Rarity looked at her abashed. “What? Why do I have to wait?”

“My schedule’s booked. I think I can pencil you in sometime on Thursday a little after lunch.”

“Since when do I need to make an appointment to speak to my own sister?”

“Since your sister had to start making appointments to talk to you.” Rarity winced. Sweetie Belle suddenly seemed much larger.

“Have I really been that neglectful since I moved away?” Sweetie Belle crossed her hooves. “I see.” Rarity glanced at a mannequin that displayed one of the designs she had made little over a month before. Apparently, it hadn’t sold in Ponyville the way it had in Canterlot. “I’m sorry if I’ve been… busy lately.”

“The only reason you ever see me is because your busy checking up to make sure I’m not screwing up. I’m your sister. Do you really think I can’t handle anything? Whatever happened to visiting just because you missed me?” Then she lowered her voice. “Or because I miss you.”

“Well I… being a top designer is… my schedule is just always…”

“Mom and dad have been asking about seeing you and I never know what to tell them.”

“Mother and father too?” Rarity rubbed her hoof. “I suppose I could try but you know how busy schedules can be.”

“I have a busy schedule. You know why?” Rarity blinked but didn’t answer. “Because my sister is the Element of Generosity. Or at least that’s what I thought. I’m doing community service and fundraisers and helping ponies all day long because I always thought it was so cool that you were the Element of Generosity. You know what else I’ve done? I’ve made time to go to Canterlot five times in the last three weeks and you know what happened?”

“I was too busy to see you.” Rarity felt very small as if she were the real little sister right then. “Sweetie Belle, I promise I’ll change my schedule around or something from here on out but right now we have more urgent matters on our hooves so close the store and come with me.”

The anger on Sweetie Belles’s face slowly changed to that of surprise. “Close the store? Um… seriously? You’re going to sacrifice business?”

“I told you this was important didn’t I? And as far as being a better sister goes can I start by asking you what it was you just said you do all day again? Perhaps with a little more detail this time?”

“Um… okay…”

Closing the store wasn’t a difficult matter but Rarity made it difficult by putting certain older garments away while sprucing up some of the newer ones before the pair left the building with the closed sign out front.

Sweetie Belle finished telling Rarity what she had been up too in the last few weeks and by the end of it she was surprised to see Rarity smile. “Apple Bloom’s right. You move around Ponyville so much that you can easily keep an eye on everything for us.”

“Everything?” Sweetie Belle slowed her walk. “What do you mean everything? Why do I need to do that?” She yawned and lowered her eyelids.

“This may come as a shock to you, Sweetie Belle, but I have a lot to tell you about spirals.”

“Uh huh,” Sweetie Belle closed her eyes. She knew she could depend on her sister’s blabbering. She shifted in and out of a light sleep as Rarity continued her story about whatever it was she was talking about.

Apple Bloom’s workshop had never been so busy. Not only were her two best friends in the world there but her sister Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, two royal princesses, and a unicorn with no past record of genius but apparently was one anyway. Though it was unfortunate that this wasn’t related to her small business, the gathering signified a greater concern that was amplified when Princess Twilight produced a soap box and stood on it.

“Okay everyone, is everypony in attendance?”

“We’re all here, Twilight,” Rarity announced.

“Yeah! What do you need us all to do?” Scootaloo asked, striking a pose.

Twilight smiled excitedly and opened her mouth to speak. Five seconds later, she lost her smile. “I have no idea.” The gathered ponies stared at her.

“What do you mean you have no idea?” Rarity demanded.

“I mean I have no idea. There are some things we need to do but I’m still not sure how to accomplish them.”

“I’m surprised, Twi. You of all ponies really don’t have a plan?” Applejack asked.

“I really need a checklist.” Twilight sighed and tried to assess the situation. “We’re already doing our only plan building that machine. Honestly, what else are we supposed to do to prepare for it?”

Sweetie Belle suddenly groaned. “I could have taken a nap.”

“Sweetie Belle, you need to take this seriously. What would you do if the Spiral suddenly attacked right now?” Rarity scolded her.

“I don’t even know what this Spiral thing is.”

Her sister scowled. “Weren’t you listening when I explained it to you?”

“I was half asleep. I heard you say spirals, panic, and something about the end of the world but otherwise I wasn’t listening to anything.”

“And the end of the world part didn’t clue you in?”

Sweetie Belle glared. “Rarity, with you, everything is the end of the world.”

Rarity’s scowl changed to a look of shock. “I really mean it this time. The Spiral is definitely the worst possible thing! I haven’t actually seen it yet, but I’m mostly positive that it is the worst possible thing.”

Sweetie Belle looked at her, unimpressed. Then she turned to Twilight. “And what’s your opinion?”

“If Celestia’s letter is true, then the Spiral is going to cause the extinction of Equestria.”

Sweetie’s eyes bugged out. “Are you kidding? Why didn’t you say so!?”

“I did,” Rarity grumbled.

“Well what are we standing around for? Give me something to do, Twilight. I’ll totally do my part to stop the Spiral.” Sweetie Belle paused when a silence fell over the room. “What exactly is it anyway?”

“I’m not sure I can give you a concrete answer, but all I can really tell you is to be on the lookout for anything that has to do with spirals. In fact, look for anything that seems at all suspicious.”

“That’s all? Just look for it?”

“That’s what I was sayin’ earlier,” Apple Bloom suddenly said as she sifted through a closet looking for some of her scattered tools. “Sweetie Belle, you do so much stuff around Ponyville that I’m sure you could tell if a signpost was out of place.”

“I guess, but how is that supposed to help?”

“It’s like Twilight just said, look for anything that don’t seem normal, especially if it’s got a spiral shape.”

“What’s supposed to happen if it does?” The incident in the Apple Family home was relayed yet again to a very horrified young unicorn.

“So… just look for it? Are you sure we’re taking this seriously enough?” Sweetie Belle finally said when the tale was finished.

“All the more reason to keep your eyes peeled around Ponyville. Can I count on you to do that?” Twilight asked.

Sweetie Belle looked a little disappointed. “If that’s really what you need me to do. I guess if going about my everyday routine helps fight the Spiral in some way, then I can’t really complain.”

“That’s the spirit Sweetie Belle. I knew I could count on my little sister.” Rarity’s attempt at making up for the past year was a start and Sweetie Belle appreciated the effort even if her role in all this didn’t seem very big.

“And what about me, Twilight? What can I do to help?” Scootaloo suddenly asked. Her eyes sparkled and she looked beyond anxious.

“Well…” Twilight rubbed her chin in thought before coming up with what should have been the obvious answer. “If we’re going to defeat the Spiral once and for all then we might need something that Princess Celestia didn’t have at her disposal the last time. The Elements of Harmony. But to use those, we need to find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy first. Without them here, the Elements are useless.”

Scootaloo’s eyes somehow lit up even more. “Then I have a really important job?”

“You’re one of the fastest ponies I know, Scootaloo, even though you can’t f…” Twilight trailed off when she saw Applejack shake her head and make a slashing motion across her neck. “I mean, since you don’t have to control the weather like other pegasi, you’re free to move around.” It wasn’t much of a save since plenty of pegasi had free time, but Scootaloo didn’t seem to notice. In fact, she looked psyched. “The only problem is we don’t have any particular place to start looking and sending you out randomly isn’t going to be very productive unless… I guess unless you had some kind of crazy dumb luck.”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie Pie suddenly raised her hoof. “I know what you can do.”

“Do I really want to ask?”

Pinkie was all smiles. “There’s only one pony I can think of who has the right kind of dumb luck to find Dashie and Fluttershy in a snap.”

Scootaloo thought a moment and then paled. “Oh no… you don’t mean…?”

“Abso-rootin’-tootin’-lutely!” Pinkie replied. “You need Derpy Hooves.”

Scootaloo facehoofed. “I was afraid you were going to say that. Derpy is a flying disaster. How can we possibly depend on her?”

“Trust me, she’s just what the doctor ordered, no pun intended.”

“Oh man… Twilight?”

Twilight didn’t look happy, but after thinking it over, she came to the same conclusion. “I was hoping to involve as few ponies as possible, but I think Pinkie might be right. If anypony can stumble across those two, it’s probably Derpy.”

Scootaloo groaned.

“Meanwhile, we need to tap into our social network to see if anything out of the ordinary is goin’ on anywhere else,” Apple Bloom said as she pulled five different sized screwdrivers out of a drawer. “But I don’t know how I’m supposed to write em’ all and work on this crazy contraption at the same time.”

“You said earlier that there were over forty of you or so, correct?” Rarity asked. “Since you need to stay busy with the machine, perhaps the rest of us can write those letters as long as we have no other task you want to assign.” She gestured to the two princesses. They both looked at each other and shrugged.

“That sounds fine though I wish there was something more productive I could do. I can’t just sit here and watch Apple Bloom build the machine either.”

“Nor can I,” Luna put in. “Perhaps I can use my power to enter dreams to see if anypony has been experiencing any strange activity.”

“That could work but that’s a lot of dreams to sift through.”

“I do it every night, though usually I use my power to target nightmares. I’m not sure how I might target something else.”

“You figure that out. As long as everypony else has a job to do, I have something else I want to check on,” Twilight said as she opened the door.

“What else could you possibly need your attention on at a time like this?” Rarity questioned.

“I’m the mayor of Ponyville and I have a responsibility to protect everypony.”

“Where are you going then?”

Twilight looked towards the nearby Everfree Forest. “To see if a certain zebra we know, knows anything about the Spiral.”

“But I thought we already found our expert?”

“I know I shouldn’t be choosy, but I just can’t put all my faith into him.” She pointed at Snails with her horn. He was quietly munching on an off-color petunia sandwich that had been lying on Apple Bloom’s table.

“I see,” Rarity replied quietly. “In that case, shall I go with you?”

“It would be nice to have some company.”

Everfree was still as dark and scary as it had always been. Twilight had found reason to venture into Everfree from time to time, but more often then not for friendly visits. Zecora’s knowledge of the world and even magic exceeded Twilight’s or at least it felt like it most of the time. The young princess could only hope that Zecora knew a thing or two about this ancient phenomenon that the so called expert perhaps didn’t.

As Twilight and Rarity passed through the woods, which was still surprisingly dark in places despite the time still being a little after noon, they took note of the odd trees and foliage that was found nowhere else in all of Equestria so far as anypony knew. Some of the trees appeared to have faces and some of the flowers looked as if they might snap at them if they came too close. Little in the forest seemed natural to their world except perhaps for the one addition that was entirely ponymade. A stream of fresh water that expanded from Ponyville to Zecora’s deeper in the woods.

It hadn’t been there before, but over the years, Twilight had convinced Zecora to allow them to dig a path for running water to reach her hut. She had been quite obstinate about it at first, but eventually agreed, claiming that it couldn’t do any real harm to the forest. The idea of harming the forest almost sounded like a joke as it had always come across as a sinister sort of place, but for whatever reason, Zecora found it homey and Twilight had no argument against that.

As Zecora’s hut finally cam into view, Twilight looked around despite knowing that timber wolves avoided the path to Zecora’s for a reason that the zebra had never revealed. Whether it was through some ancient technique or simply her presence, little wildlife ever bothered her, not to mention few ponies despite the friendly terms that Ponyville had long established thanks to Twilight and her friends.

Rarity gulped. “If you don’t mind, I’ll just wait here. I still can’t get used to all those peculiar things she has in her hut.”

“And I thought we cleared all this up way back when.” Twilight rolled her eyes but decided to let Rarity have her way. Twilight knocked three times before entering. “Hello, Zecora? Are you home?”

In the middle of the hut the zebra turned around with a smile on her face. “Twilight Sparkle, it is you. I was just settling down to a very special brew.” She slowly began pouring a substance into the pot from a bottle.

Twilight sniffed the air. “It smells good.”

“If you will wait but a moment, I think you will find this stew to be an enjoyment.”

“It sounds wonderful but before that I came to ask you if you know anything about a phenomenon called the Spiral.”

Zecora dropped the bottle she was holding into her brew. Though it puffed in smoke, Zecora didn’t seem all that concerned that her brew was ruined. Instead, she turned her head slightly to look at Twilight from the corner of her eye. “It is important that you tell no lies. Have you seen this phenomenon with your own pony eyes?”

“Sort of. Applejack saw it. You know of it?”

Zecora nodded. “You must tell me what it is your friend has spied before any information I may provide.”

“It’s kind of hard to believe but Applejack saw Princess Celestia pulled into a spiraling hole that was… well, she said it was in another pony’s forehead. There was an incident in Ponyville involving a spiral staircase too, but that wasn’t really that bad.”

Zecora’s face was ashen, though somewhat calm. Ignoring her brew, which had started to boil over, the zebra retrieved a jar from a shelf on the wall. “Tell me, Twilight, what do you see? Does this plant have any significance to thee?”

Twilight examined the jar, but as far as she could tell, the plant inside was just a withered rose. “Does this have something to do with the Spiral?”

“This rose I found in town, forgotten as it was, it only turned brown. But roses I’ve seen here in Everfree, flourishing without a pony’s care you see.”

“That’s just the way this forest is. It has all kinds of unnatural things in it.”

Zecora replaced the jar on the shelf and kept her eyes away from Twilight. “What you call unnatural is the natural state. Nature has not always done as ponies dictate.”

“Zecora, I don’t understand what you’re getting at. I’m asking you about the Spiral, not plants.”

“And I’m telling you, Twilight, the Spiral’s true desire, a quest of it’s own that is quite dire. It is an avenger I say, one that intends to take back what ponies took away.

“What? What do you mean? What is the Spiral exactly?”

“The Spiral makes no distinction between innocence and guilt. It destroys all with the conviction that nature be rebuilt. It will not hear your pleas or cries and will not stop until every offender dies.”

Twilight felt her chest tighten. “Zecora, it can’t be as powerful as all that and we haven’t done anything wrong. There has to be some reasonable way-”

“The Spiral’s existence is no joke. Its presence is something ponies themselves evoked.” Zecora’s voice rose to such an angry pitch that Twilight found herself backing away. However, Zecora edged closer, forcing Twilight against the wall. The zebra’s voice lowered just a bit, but still came across as a warning when she continued her speech. “For centuries, caring for plants and animals has been the ponies’ way, but kind as it is, it is not their burden to defray. What you see in Everfree is what remains of the natural state. It is important that I set that record straight. Why do you think this forest has resisted you’re kind, to constantly fill you with fear and unsettled minds? Know this, Twilight Sparkle, the Spiral is the spirit of all natural things, and it resigns to correct the imbalance that ponies did bring. Do you truly think it is normal to control all aspects of your lives? That even weather, night and day should fall under your calculating eyes? Heed my words, for I can only speak true, when the Spiral comes, there is nothing you can do.”

Twilight swallowed under Zecora’s gaze. Not since the first time she had met her had the zebra seemed so menacing. Somehow, she found the courage to collect herself and look her in the eyes. “You’re wrong Zecora. Princess Celestia stopped the Spiral before and it will be stopped again. All we have to do is find it and banish it the same way we stopped Night Mare Moon and Discord.”

Zecora shook her head. “The Spiral is no monster, creature, or physical being. It is a phenomenon or even just a presence that you will be seeing. The Spiral is everywhere, my dear friend. Simply look around and you will see it bringing us all closer to our end.”

“There won’t be an end!” Twilight shouted back and tried to regain her confidence. “We’ve been through so much over the years. We’ve stopped countless things that threatened Equestria and this is no different. The Spiral was stopped once before and we will stop it again.”

“Fight if you must, but your quest is futile. The Spiral will win, of that I have no scruple.”

“So you’re giving up, just like that? You’re not even going to try?”

“Twilight, do you know anything about where I am from?”

Twilight waited for Zecora to finish her rhyme, but surprisingly, she didn’t. Instead, the Zebra waited for her answer. Twilight had read about the country that zebras came from, but nothing particularly significant came to mind. Finally, she shook her head.

“This forest is very much like my homeland, a natural state untouched by mortal plans. It was not always that way. In days long ago, we were much like ponies are today. But in those times, the Spiral came, and many, many lives it did claim. For the few survivors that remained, a terrible lesson had been ingrained. From that point on, we let nature be, to do as it would, just like all times, you see. I do not know how ponies delayed their date, but if the Spiral has returned, then your time has come and you must resign to this fate.”

“Zecora…”

“The stories of the Spiral have been passed down since ancient times. I cannot help you, even with my silly rhymes.”

Twilight realized that Snails may have inadvertently mentioned the plight of the zebras already. He had said that another spiral incident had occurred somewhere far away at around the same time.

“I’m sorry if this evokes some kind of bad memories for you but surely something from back then could be seen in a more positive light. Maybe a clue or hint that the Spiral isn’t as all powerful as you think?”

“Do you see this cutie mark of mine? Its spiral shape is no flaw in design. All zebras live with some form of a spiral mark, as a reminder from the Spiral of those days, so dark.”

Twilight had no words. Zecora seemed finished with hers. She had proof, actual living proof that the Spiral had struck her people once before. From generations of stories, they lived in fear of the so-called avenger that was plaguing Equestria at that very moment.

“Go.”

“Huh? Zecora?”

“Please go now, my little pony friend. I must contemplate and prepare for the end.”

“But…”

Zecora turned away. “I’m sorry but I have told you all I can. The Spiral will not be stopped by any pony plan.”

Twilight wanted to argue, but decided against it. The conviction in Zecora’s eyes was answer enough. She lowered her head and turned to the door.

“If we do find a way, I’ll make sure you’re the first to know. You know I won’t give up even at the end.”

Zecora smiled briefly and nodded. She finally returned to her spoiled brew as Twilight quietly left.

Rarity smiled and swatted at a swarm of gnats that had apparently decided to bother her while she waited. “Finally. I was just thinking of going inside-” Twilight barely looked at her and kept walking. Rarity watched her for a moment before she started to follow. “Twilight, what happened? What did she say? Does she know anything about the Spiral?”

“No,” Twilight replied softly. “She doesn’t know anything. She thinks the Spiral can’t be stopped but she’s wrong. Princess Celestia did it once. There’s no reason it can’t be done again.”

Rarity didn’t say anything at first. Twilight didn’t mind if she was quiet for at least a little while to give her time to think. Zecora had to be wrong. She wasn’t wrong about much but there were times when it happened. She had thought the parasprites were unstoppable, but Pinkie had proven her wrong back then. The Spiral may have been powerful but it wouldn’t win. It couldn’t win. Twilight wouldn’t let it.

Twilight sighed. The stream seemed unusually dark all of a sudden. Perhaps she had spent more time in the forest than she thought. It was almost sundown.

“Twilight, do you see that?” Rarity suddenly asked, pointing.

“See what?”

“I don’t think I’m imagining things, but do you see that in the water? Do you see all the little whirlpools?”

Twilight lowered her head and focused on the surface of the stream. She couldn’t say how Rarity had even noticed it, but every now and then, a slight hint of several tiny whirlpools broke the surface of the running water.

“Do you think it has something to do with the Spiral?” Rarity said and cringed.

“In the forest? Why would the Spiral do anything…?” Everfree Forest was what remained of the natural state or so Zecora had claimed. If that were true, then would the Spiral have a presence there? Could it even originate from there? Or was it something more?

The Spiral is everywhere, my dear friend. Simply look around and you will see it bringing us all closer to our end. Twilight was looking around, and she was surprised at what she could see that had some form of spiral. Blades of tall grass swirled into the distinct spiral design. Mushrooms growing on the side of the path had the design on their tops. There were even leaves that blew past them in a sudden spiral pattern.

“This doesn’t mean anything. We’re just being paranoid,” Twilight said, ignoring a spiraling vine hanging from a tree. “If there is even the smallest chance, we’re going to stop this ridiculous Spiral. Zecora may have given up, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Come on Rarity, let’s go back and see if there is anything we can help Apple Bloom with.”