“Aaaaand… done!” Cadance announced to herself, closing the large book that sat on the desk, “That’s section four done, which leaves just sections five and six.”

Moving the book over to the side, where a few more sat, Cadance then looked at the other side of the desk, where a much larger pile of books was.

“Getting there…” She said, her smile faltering a bit, but it soon returned as she scribbled some more notes into her notebook.

Gathering information about the Crystal Empire was hard, with almost no outside sources, and no previous research projects, every piece of info had to come from the empire itself. That didn’t mean it was inaccurate, but since Cadance was not the most studious of ponies, that made it all the more difficult to find and compile everything.

She had started by dividing everything into different categories, ranging from culture to tradition to even differences in language, everything was important to know in order for her to continue to rule the empire. Currently she was working on history, and thanks to a good recommendation from Twilight, Cadance was able to finish that section quickly.

A knock on the door resounded throughout the bedroom, eventually reaching the study and interrupting her thought process.

“Come in!” Cadance called out, not taking her eyes off her notebook.

The sound of the crystal doors opening along with hurried steps came from the bedroom, then a crystal pony appeared in the doorway to the study.

“Your majesty,” The advisor bowed, “I’m just here to remind you that the welcoming committee is scheduled to arrive soon, and that your appointment with the stylist is in an hour.”

“Oh, thank you very much.” Cadance replied, turning to look at her, “I’ll be out in just a moment.”

The advisor nodded, bowed again, then quickly scuttled back out of the chambers.

“Right,” Cadance said to herself, looking back towards the finished pile of books on the desk, “I’d better put you all away.”

The books gave no response as they were lifted in her magic, then she floated them over to one of the bookcases at the other end of the study.

“Let’s see…”

Sliding several books over to the side, she cleared enough space on the shelf to slot her own books in for later. However as she did so, a slight clicking noise came from behind the shelf. Confused, Cadance leaned down to see what happened.

“Oh no.”

A crack had appeared in the back of the bookshelf, running along the crystal surface, and as she pulled the books back out she was able to see it had even spread to the shelf below. From the looks of it the structural integrity of the whole bookcase was now questionable at best, though Cadance was in no way a crystal expert, at least not yet anyway. Still, it would have to be replaced soon, lest she want to store her books in a pile of shards.

She ran her hoof along the surface, and a loose chip was pushed back, causing it to fall out the back. She frowned, that shouldn’t be possible, for the bookshelf was flush with the wall, or at least it should be. Pulling away and looking at the side, Cadance reaffirmed that there was little to no space between the bookcase and the wall, yet there was some behind it. Was there something behind this bookcase?

Their suite already had one secret compartment, what are the chances of another? Though Cadance stopped herself from getting her hopes too high, as she got a detailed look at the floor plans of the suite when it was retrofitted, and there was no space for an entire secret room.

With that in mind she stepped back, then carefully pulled the bookshelf away in her magic, making sure not to scratch the floor, she’d leave that to the worm. When there was just enough space for her to walk behind it easily, she stopped, then moved around to see what was behind it. Cadance had expected another hidden storage space, with possibly a few secret things stowed away, or maybe just a hole in the wall that was meant to be covered up. What she did not expect was the unlit, narrow corridor that led away from the study.

She gasped, her hopes quickly rising, “Secret room!” She exclaimed,

Not wanting to waste another moment, Cadance grabbed a crystal lantern from the wall and delved into the tunnel. It was rather tight, seeing as it was hidden between the walls, and she found herself pulling her wings closer to avoid rubbing them against the sides. Eventually though, the tunnel ended, leaving Cadance in a dark, musty room, which was certainly odd for the empire. That must’ve meant that something uncommon was kept here.

Her smile only growing, Cadance brought the lantern forward to illuminate the whole room.

Newly disturbed dust lingered in the air, which made the fact that everything else was covered in it all the more obvious. Towards one side of the room were several bookshelves, though they were far from filled, with books only lining about a third of the space, and only another quarter occupied by several jars or containers of some sort. On the other side of the room, a large desk sat, adorned with several mysterious artifacts, at least from what Cadance could tell, and at the end of the room, there were a couple larger items, along with a large discolored panel on the wall.

Seeing as how she saw the bookcases first, it was the first thing Cadance went to inspect. However any hopes of finding and reading some forbidden secrets were soon lost as nothing was comprehensible in the slightest. From what little books that did have text on their spines at least, the language was completely alien, and to Cadance it just looked like a bunch of strange symbols. The other contents of the bookshelf weren’t much better. Several jars were simply empty, and most of them were unlabeled, with those that were being written in the same language as before.

Except for one.

Moving past all the mystery materials or specimens, Cadance instead chose to focus on one particular jar, seeing as how she could actually read it. “Swammwyrm”, whatever that meant, was clearly scribbled across the label on the jar, and on the inside, suspended in some mystery fluid probably meant to preserve it, was a Swammwyrm. It was about the size of a snake, though a bit shorter and thicker, taking up nearly half of the jar space, and having to curl up to do so.

Its flesh looked pale, though it had some brownish-blue highlights at several points, including a large blue mass at the tip of its tail, but due to the discoloration of the fluid it was hard to tell for sure. Large eyes dominated its head, but Cadance could see a set of small mandibles underneath. The creature as a whole was strange to look at, Cadance had never seen it or anything like it before. Her gaze lingered for a moment, before moving on.

Instead of going to the second thing she noticed, she decided to go for a more straightforward approach, and went to examine what was at the end of the room. Closest to the bookshelves was a large globe, encased in a wooden frame. One thing that was immediately obvious among the beige and brown cartography though, was that it was not Equus, made evident by the lack of Equestria, or even their continent as a whole. Cadance spun it around a bit to make sure, but was only met with more of the unknown language, along with unrecognizable oceans and landmasses.

Moving to the next item, Cadance was confused to find a simple telescope, it was supported by three legs, and was pointed at the darkened panel on the wall. It was certainly an odd place to set up a telescope, the only thing you’d be able to view was the wall…

Unless…

Cadance took a step back to look at the whole wall. The black panel covered most of it, but there was an obvious trim around it, where the “normal” wall continued away from it. She traced it with her eyes, before finding an irregularity, off to the side there was something sticking out of the wall. It looked like a switch of some sort, so Cadance moved over and flicked it. Light then flooded the room, as the once opaque crystal panel turned crystal clear.

Giving a small gasp, Cadance went to look out the newly revealed window. It appeared to be lined up with the front of the castle, allowing her to see all the way down the main street and towards the Southern entrance to the empire. At this time of day, the street was bustling with activity, more than usual actually, considering what was happening today.

Cadance gasped a bit louder this time, realizing just how sidetracked she had gotten. She frantically looked back and forth, but there wasn’t anything to give her an accurate reference of time. Then she stopped, brought a hoof to her chest, inhaled, then exhaled. Her advisor had said an hour, she had an hour before she had to be anywhere, not accounting for travel time or earliness factor.

Still, there was no way that she had spent that much time yet, though she should probably get going soon. However her curious mind got the better of her, and not wanting to leave anything unknown, Cadance stopped to look at the spread of items on the desk first, but not before quickly going over the standing mirror in the corner.

The desk only held a few items, and going from left to right, there was a collection of more jars, only two of them were filled though. A calligraphy set, with what looked like a couple of crystal styluses and some long dried out ink. There was a deep red covered book, with a lighter lining and a blue teardrop on the cover. Finally, at the end of the desk there was a small chest, closed, but not locked.

Taking a quick glance over everything, Cadance noted that the larger of the two filled jars held a bunch of dead insects, which by the looks of it… probably weren’t dead when first put there. The other jar appeared to only have a small pile of ashes, though their coloration was off, ranging from brown to a pale purple in some places. She was surprised to find the jar was warm to the touch.

The calligraphy set wasn’t as interesting however, as it was extremely similar, if not identical to the ones being used in the empire right now. Cadance should know, she had one in her study at that very moment, though she typically used a more modern pen and pencil for her work. What was interesting though, was how the set was related to the book.

Like all the others on the shelf, the red book was written in the same unknown language, save for a strip of yellowed paper pasted underneath the original title. Cadance could only assume it was a translation of sorts, though the translation in itself didn’t mean much to her either. Her limited knowledge of the Crystal Empire's script only helping slightly.

Wæter þōþor

“Wayter popor?” She attempted to read aloud,

Lifting the cover, she was only met with more of the strange symbols and text, though their organization was strange to say the least. As opposed to a traditional prose, with sentences and paragraphs, the words appeared to be arranged more geometrically, with lines bridging the gaps between them, forming odd shapes and patterns. This continued onto the next page, then the next, and Cadance could only assume they filled the whole book.

They almost looked like spell sigils, though she couldn’t tell for sure. Although somepony who probably could would be arriving very shortly.

Cadance smiled at the thought, and she closed the book, but before she could move onto the chest, another knock resounded throughout the suite, echoing all the way down into the room she was in. It seemed like it was designed that way, though she didn’t pay much mind to that.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, “Time to go.”

She glanced at the chest for a moment, before sliding it forwards for later. Then she turned and began walking quickly back through the corridor.

With the secret room still fresh on her mind, Cadance didn’t pay much attention to the empire around her as she travelled. That didn’t mean it wasn’t attention catching though. In preparation for the games inspector, all the crystal ponies were trying their hardest to make the city look as good as possible, which mainly meant cleaning and polishing every surface. On a sunny day like today however, it was almost a double edged sword, and Cadance found herself squinting from the brightness. Any more and it could be considered a hazard, but she wasn’t worried, it was just about midday in the middle of summer, so it wouldn’t be getting any brighter. Thankfully the empire was situated so far from the equator.

As seen from the hidden observatory, the streets were alive with activity from crystal ponies and non-crystal ponies alike, though that wasn’t very surprising. Ever since the train line was extended to the empire and opened to the public, tourism was steadily on the rise. Along with it came a massive influx to the economy, but that was all planned, Cadance was just happy to see it working so well. It was no wonder why they were nominated as a host for the next Equestria Games.

All they had to do now was win over the inspector, which given how today was going already, would be a piece of cake.

A smile on her face, Cadance continued the rest of the way to the spa so she could go get her ceremonial headdress done. Having just discovered it only a few days ago, it seemed fitting to have it today. Everypony was doing their part, so she would do her’s, besides, it gave her a free excuse to use the spa, not that she really needed one to begin with.

Soon enough the building came into view, its crystal dome roof making it stand out against its surroundings. Pushing open the doors, Cadance was met with the dazzling interior, and she was greeted almost immediately by the ponies inside.

“Ah princess, welcome.” One of the masseuses bowed, “Are you ready for your appointment?”

“Just about,” She answered, “Is everything ready here?”

The masseuse shook her head, “Not quite, the head stylist seems to be running a bit late, though we’re ready to get started on some of the other things.”

“What time is it?” Cadance asked, regretting not checking earlier.

“About five after.”

She winced, turns out she was a bit late as well, but considering so was the stylist, it was probably alright.

“Should we begin?” The masseuse continued,

Cadance thought for a moment, “Yes, we want everything to be as good as we can get it, if my headdress can’t be done until later then so be it. We still have to prepare for-”

The doors opening behind them interrupted her, and they both turned to see who it was.

“There are my girls,” Cadance announced, a big smile on her face.

Twilight, along with the rest of her friends, filtered into the building, coming face to face with each other.

“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Cadance started.
“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Twilight mirrored.

The others continued past them as they finished the charade, each with varying levels of amazement, ranging from none at all to… well…

“Everypony step back!” Rarity announced, “I need air.”

Cadance chuckled a bit, then walked up to her, “Go ahead and try whatever you like, it’s all complimentary for the welcoming committee.”

“Oooh,” They all gazed around the room,

“That over there is a crystal mud bath,” Cadance explained, pointing over to it, “It relaxes your body and rejuvenates your coat. Now I realize it can be kind of strange to climb into mud, but if you’ll just give it a chance I’m sure you-”

“Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie interrupted as she swung past, dangling from one of the hanging lights

“Pinkie no!” Twilight exclaimed, but it was too late.

She released from the light, soaring through the air, and looking to land dead center in the pool of crystal mud. They all prepared for a splash, except for Cadance of course, but none came, as the pool simply absorbed the impact, rebounding slightly like jello. Pinkie then sunk all the way in, resurfacing only a moment later.

“Ah… So relaxing,” She said,

“Honestly,” Twilight began, only to be stopped by Cadance,

She brought her hoof to her chest again, inhaling, then motioned for Twilight to do the same. She did so, and together they exhaled, smiling lightly. Cadance then turned to face the rest of her friends.

“Now go ahead, have a good time while I get my ceremonial headdress done.” She said, moving over to one of the styling seats.

“Ceremonial... headdress?” Rarity asked, looking up from the facilities she was using.

Cadance smiled, then began imparting what she had discovered, “When meeting with important guests, it was tradition for the royalty of the Crystal Empire to weave crystals into their manes in a very specific way. I’ve heard that the Games Inspector is known for doing her homework. She'll certainly be expecting my look to reflect the importance of her visit.”

The others all looked on with interest, but before anything else could be said, the door was thrown open, its bell ringing loudly.

“Your highness!” A messenger exclaimed, “Please excuse the interruption, but I have two pieces of news for you. First, the head stylist has the flu and won't be able to make it for fear of you catching it, too.”

“Oh.” Cadance said, “Well that explains that. I hope she gets better soon.” She turned to look at all the employees present. “Do any of the other stylists here know how to do the traditional royal ceremonial headdress?”

A variety of negative responses came back, along with a good amount of humming and hawing

“Sorry your highness, but no.” A coherent answer eventually came back.

“Oh.” Cadance repeated, she quickly did her breathing exercise again, “It’s okay, it’s just a… small detail we could probably omit.”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Rainbow Dash butted in, “You're trying to land the Equestria Games here. There is no such thing as leaving out a small detail!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight began again, only to be stopped a second time,

“I suppose... I could give it a shot.” Rarity said,

“Oh Rarity, you would do that for me?” Cadance asked,

“Way to step it up, Rare!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed,

It was then that a couple of the other stylists brought over a chest, which appeared to have all the materials necessary to do the headdress, along with a scroll. Cadance pulled it out, causing it to unravel across the floor, and she gave the top a quick once over.

“Oh good, it looks like we have all the precise instructions right here.”

Rarity just stared at the extended length as it continued to roll across the floor, stopping just before her hooves, “Oh my.”

Cadance bit her lip in realization, “Are you sure you're up to do this?”

Rarity’s expression turned stern, “Working on the hair of royalty on such an auspicious occasion is the opportunity of a lifetime! I will give it everything I've got!

Twilight visibly relaxed at this, “See? No worries,”

“Besides, the Games Inspector isn't expected for several hours.” Rarity continued, picking up the scroll and rolling most of it back up, “I should have plenty of time to figure out exactly how to... do... this…” She trailed off, reading it more closely

“That's wonderful!” Cadance said, then she looked back to the messenger, “Though you said you had a second bit of news for me?”

“Yes, quite. The Games Inspector, Ms. Harshwhinny, will be arriving on the next train.”

They all gasped.

“What!? You couldn't have told her that first!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, getting right up into the messenger’s face, “That's like fifteen minutes from now!”

Panic quickly began to descend upon the room, Pinkie Pie began pacing in place, while Applejack rushed to the doors, trying to make sure that nopony arrived any sooner than they thought. Rarity was busy reading the long list of instructions, while both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovered in place, with very disproportionate levels of hysteria. Cadance just stood there, a bit slack jawed at the revelation.

She shook her head, right as Twilight appeared to get on top of things.

“How long before Cadance is ready?” She asked Rarity.

“Hmmm... I'm sure to find some shortcuts here somewhere.” She responded, quickly going over the rest of the scroll.

“Can you have her back at the castle when we're done?”

“I think I can do that.”

“Okay, we'll be fine.” Twilight continued, taking a note from the messenger and reading it, she then turned to the rest of her friends, “Everypony, just be on the lookout for the pony with the flower print luggage.”

They all nodded, and quickly began filtering back out of the building, with Twilight closing the doors behind them. Cadance smiled as they left.

“Right then,” Rarity began, setting the instructions to the side, “Should we get started?”

“Yes, right away,” Cadance answered, laying down on the seat once more, “I don’t think we have another moment to lose.”

“Okay!” Rarity exclaimed, turning to address all the other stylists, “I need brushes, ties, water, dryers, clamps, combs, curlers, and for the love of everything sparkly, I need crystals! Pronto!” She demanded, clapping her hooves together for emphasis.

They all spurred into action at the command, and as everything was being gathered, Rarity pulled out her own measuring tape.

“So how does it start?” Cadance asked, trying to sound hopeful.

“Well first I need to measure your mane.”

“Oh I hope it isn’t too long,”

“The design actually accounts for that,” Rarity explained, pulling up several parts of Cadance’s mane and marking down the measurements, “It’s dynamic, meaning the centerpiece can be adjusted for several different lengths, with any extra being worked in down the back.”

“That’s good,”

“At least that’s what I think this says.” Rarity admitted,

Cadance frowned, looking up at her, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well…” Rarity began, and she pulled up the scroll again, “This text is pretty archaic, I can read it, just not very well.”

“Can’t one of the crystal ponies read it for you?”

“Probably, but I need space to work, and I don’t think I can get this done in time if I were constantly asking what meant what. I’ll just have to get through this on my own.”

“Okay… So how is my mane length?” Cadance changed the subject,

“Good, it looks like there’s just enough to fit into a medium piece”

“I’m only a medium?!” Cadance sat up in surprise, pulling her hair out of Rarity’s grasp, “Oops, sorry, but how big is a large?”

“It doesn’t quite work like that,” Rarity said, grabbing her mane again, “Though I wouldn’t recommend growing your mane out any longer, unless you want to go for the ‘afro’ look.” She floated the scroll over, allowing Cadance to look at the diagrams for the different sizes.

“Wow.” Was all she said,

Silence then fell over them, giving Cadance a moment to think, save for the slight distractions from her mane getting pulled. From what she could tell, Rarity was sectioning it off based on either location or color.

“Y’know,” She started again, “Since I’ve got you here, I have a couple of questions I’ve wanted to ask.”

Rarity didn’t immediately respond.

“Are you okay to talk? Or do you need to focus.” Cadance asked,

“Hmm? Oh sorry, but um… I’m not too sure yet, I’ll let you know if I need silence though. What did you want to ask?”

“I take it you don’t style other pony’s manes often?”

“Not really no, other than my own and my little sister’s of course. Though she isn’t usually one for conversation while I do it.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Definitely, she’d much rather brush it and be done with it. I practically have to strap her down when I work on it.”

“You don’t force her do you?”

“Oh goodness no!” Rarity exclaimed, “She knows how important it is to get it done, and while she doesn’t do it as much as she probably should, I know she’s asked me to do it for her a couple of times. She says it’s an unnecessary hassle most of the time.”

“It is a hassle most of the time,” Cadance said, “Though I wouldn’t call it unnecessary,”

“You said it,” Rarity agreed, “My sister’s only a two tone, I can’t imagine working with a tri-color mane every day, much less somepony like Rainbow Dash,”

“How does she manage?”

“She doesn’t. The only time I’ve ever seen her do anything different with her mane was when we went to the gala, and even then I pretty much forced her to do it to better fit the dress I made her.”

“The Grand Galloping Gala? I stopped going to those a while ago.”

“I can see why, the one we went to was an absolute calamity.”

“They all are.” Cadance said, laughing a bit.

Rarity joined her for a bit, then she went back to working on her mane.

“Do you get your mane styled often? Being a princess and all.” She asked

“I usually do it myself, though on special occasions, like this one, I typically get a professional to do it.”

“Well thank you for letting me do it this time. Though I have to know, do you straighten or curl at all?”

“I don’t,” Cadance said proudly, “It’s all natural, though I remember a few times when I tried to change it up.”

“I’m so envious,” Rarity said, “But please continue.”

“When I was younger, I used to simply tie it up in the back, and there was that one time I tried to braid it.”

“And how well did that work?”

“Not very, three colors does not mean your mane is braidable.”

“I would imagine, now hold on for a moment, this part doesn’t look very easy.”

Cadance paused, and glanced up to see what was happening, but she wasn’t able to see much. “What do you have to do?” She asked

“I think I have to interlay this lattice with your hair, the only problem is it doesn't look like it’ll fit.”

“What do the instructions say?”

“Just that, ‘Interlay the lattice with the sections.’ Nothing else,” Rarity said, “I’m going to try it now.”

“Okay…” Was all Cadance said,

Several moments passed, and while she wasn’t able to see Rarity work, Cadance could feel what she was doing. Something pressed into the back of her head, which she could only assume was the lattice, then she felt Rarity begin to try and weave her mane through it. An egregious amount of pulling soon followed, enough to the point where she started wincing, and the hints of tears began to form in her eyes.

“Do you have to pull so hard?” Cadance asked, trying not to sound harsh.

“Sorry dearie, it’s just that I… Can’t… Seem… To…” She trailed off, voice straining from effort.

Cadance winced as her mane was pulled particularly hard, then set under tension, causing quite a bit of discomfort. Rarity then stepped in front of her, a multitude of styling equipment and crystals floating in her magic around her.

“Uh oh…”

“Uh oh?” Cadance repeated, “What happened?”

“Oh, I'm so sorry... It's just... oh so complicated.” Rarity laughed nervously, “I can fix it!”

“Fix what?!”

“Well, I-I figured out why the lattice wont fit, I was looking for shortcuts and I thought step twelve was optional! But it's not!” She held up a mirror.

Cadance’s face dropped as she looked at the mess atop her head, “Fix it please!”

“I will!” Rarity said frantically, “Just as soon as I figure out how…”

Cadance started to hyperventilate, but stopped herself. She took a shaky breath in, held it for a moment, then let it out. “Can you start over?”

“We don’t have time for that,” Rarity replied, “Though I think I can take the lattice out and actually do step twelve.”

“Okay,” Cadance nodded, “Do it then.”

“Alright… Let me just… untangl-Unweave!” Rarity quickly corrected herself, “...your mane from the lattice. Give me a moment.”

She stepped back and began to work, though Cadance didn’t feel anything change, not even the tension. That was until it got even worse, she grit her teeth, and hoped that whatever Rarity was doing was working.

“So…” She began, trying to ignore the pain, “Did you know I found out about the headdress only a couple of days ago?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and when the nomination came through, I figured it would be a good idea to try it. In fact, I think I even saw the game’s inspector at the library, ‘doing her homework’.”

“Did you talk to her at all?”

“I didn’t get the chance, and I wasn’t completely sure either, but she did end up picking up several of the books I dropped off.”

“You were borrowing books from the library? I didn’t take you as an avid reader, though it isn’t like I know that much about you anyway.”

“I’m usually not actually, but when you come into rule of an empire you know practically nothing about. It certainly helps to learn a few things about it.”

“That makes sense.” Rarity said, then she fell silent for a moment. “So what’s the weirdest piece of history or trivia you’ve found so far?”

“Oooh… Good question.” Cadance replied, thinking for a moment “I think I’ll have to go with the yule log.”

“Yule log?” Rarity repeated, “What’s that?”

“I’m sure you know that wood isn’t very common in the empire right? Or at least it wasn’t. So towards the end of the year, it was tradition for families to go out and get a log. They would then bring it into their homes, and care for it like a pet, keeping it warm with blankets, giving it food and water, even playing with it.”

“That sounds… Really odd.” Rarity commented,

“That’s not all. They would do this for thirteen days, or the ‘yule period’ in hopes that at the end of it, the log would give them presents, such as candies or toys.”

“Presents at the end of the year? That sounds an awful lot like Hearthswarming.”

“It does,” Cadance agreed, “But the crystal ponies don’t celebrate Hearthswarming, the yule tradition comes from something completely different.”

“Really?” Rarity asked, “What would they do with the log afterwards?”

“They’d burn it,” Cadance answered simply.

“Oh. Why would they do that to something they cared so much for?”

“I’m actually not too sure. I think it has something to do with keeping their spirits up for the Crystal Heart, or maybe just to keep warm. The tradition probably stems from a time when the temperature in the empire wasn’t so constant.”

“Huh…” Rarity said, “Are you going to get a yule log this year?”

“I just might.” Cadance laughed, “Though I’d have to explain to Shining why I’m keeping a chunk of wood under the bed.”

Rarity laughed for a bit as well, but then she abruptly stopped, something Cadance noticed.

“Is everything okay?”

“No. This isn’t working.” Rarity admitted,

“Is the lattice stuck or something?”

“Pretty much, I really jammed it in there.”

“Well how are you going to get it out?”

“Not by just pulling, that’s for sure.” She stepped back around, and a lot of the tension was eased. “Okay, new plan.” She turned to one of the other stylists, “I need the smoothest, slickest, most sudsiest conditioner you can find. I’m going to try and slide it out.”

The stylist ran off, and Rarity began moving Cadance over to the salon sink.

“We’re going to see if this works before resorting to drastic measures.” She said, “Now just lay your head back and hope.”

“Okay…” Cadance replied uneasily,

“When was the last time you conditioned?” Rarity asked, turning on the water.

“Just yesterday, I was hoping to skip anything like that today and just get the headdress done.” Cadance explained,

Rarity laughed nervously, “Funny, how that works.”

By the time her hair was sufficiently wet, the stylist had returned with the conditioner. Rarity then used a generous amount, and began working it into her mane. Cadance could only watch and hope as she worked. Partway through however, the bell above the door ringed, and Rarity looked up and gasped, before disappearing from view. One of the other stylists soon took over, and Cadance wasn’t able to see where she went, she was only able to hear the muffled conversation from across the room.

“W-What are you doing here?”

“We finished the welcome committee song and we just wanted to introduce Ms. Harshwhinny to–”

“No, no! Princess Cadance isn't ready. Something's gone terribly wrong!”

“I need to speak to the Princess.”
“You can't! You mustn't! She's in the middle of a delicate conditioning rinse that must go perfectly if there's to be any hope for her hair!”

“Come on, how bad can it be?”

…

“Imagine her mane turned into a porcupine.”

“Oh.”

“Please! I will bring her back from the brink of tragedy, but you have got to buy me some time! There's no other way!”

The door was slammed, and a moment later Rarity returned, taking back over.

“Was that Twilight?” Cadance asked, still not able to see, “Can I talk to her?”

“Oh she just left, they finished the song and dance, and now she’s going to try and buy us some more time.”

“Are they done already?!” Cadance asked, “I need to get out there.”

She tried to sit up, only for Rarity to push her down.

“With your mane looking like that? Not a chance. We’re just going to have to hope I can fix this in however much time we have left.”

“Wha-” She stopped, a slight frown on her face, and she laid back down, “Alright fine, how is the conditioner working?”

“It’s…” Rarity trailed off in concentration, and Cadance felt her hair get pulled in every direction.

Rarity then sighed, “...not.” She finished, “I’m going to need some scissors.”

Cadance’s eyes went wide, “Are you going to cut my mane?”

“I was actually going to cut the lattice, but if you want me to preserve it then I can cut your mane instead.”

“Cut the lattice.” Cadance replied quickly. “I’d rather go out without the headdress and an intact mane than with it and an uneven one.”

“There’s actually a few spare,” Rarity said, beginning to rinse her hair, “I was just hoping to salvage this one. At least your hair looks nice”

“Well if we’re out of time…” Cadance reminded

“Yes I know, now just hold still for a moment.”

Rarity brought the scissors to the back of her head, and with a single snip and a snap, the rest of the tension was immediately released, and Cadance’s bunched up hair flopped back down.

“Alright. Let’s dry your hair and start over from step twelve.”

She nodded, then sat back up, spreading her mane out so it would be as fast as possible. Thankfully the sections were still tied apart, and as a ridiculous amount of hair dryers sprung into action, her mane was dried in what was probably record time. Rarity then moved over and began working on the back again, this time actually doing step twelve.

“How are things in Ponyville?”

“Oh you know…” Rarity gave a bit of a laugh, “Reforming villains, vengeful rivals, clone invasion, the works. Though it’s actually been a bit quiet recently, which makes me a bit worried.”

“Yeesh,”

“You should come visit sometime, before half the town gets destroyed again of course.” Rarity suggested,

“I actually have been meaning to, but I’ve been having a hard time finding enough free time to actually do so.”

“You’d need what? Almost a full day free to visit?” Rarity guessed,

“If I were taking the train, yes, although I have… other forms of transport, but those have their own issues.”

“Well what’s keeping you busy?”

“Running the empire mostly, though I can usually fit an hour or two off on most days. Still, that time usually gets eaten up by more personal affairs.”

“I know what you mean, we all had a hard time figuring out our schedules just for this visit. We had to get Spike to sit for all of our pets, at once.”

“Sorry about that.” Cadance said,

“Oh no, it’s an honor to be here, don’t think you were hassling us in the slightest. We all wanted to come, it just isn’t the easiest to find the time.”

“Mmm,” Cadance nodded, “And did you say Spike was petsitting? Do you think he could…?” She trailed off intentionally.

Rarity took a moment to get what she was insinuating. “I think that would be a little too much, even for him.”

“Oh well,” Cadance smiled, “Though I have been having trouble finding a petsitter for him,”

“Can you even petsit the um… worm?”

“More or less. He’s usually fine on his own, for the most part. The real trouble comes when it is time to feed him.”

“What does…” Rarity trailed off, and she audibly gagged, “What does he eat?”

“Love actually, like a changeling.” Cadance responded, she tried to look back again, “Are you alright?”

Rarity gave a sigh of relief, “Yeah, it’s just that I’ve heard rumors of what happened at Canterlot.”

“Oh, yeah, that was… not a good day. You know I was right in the middle of it?”

“I can’t imagine. Though it wasn’t like we were in a very good place either.”

They both fell silent as thoughts and memories came back, almost none of them good.

“There was one more thing I wanted to ask.” Cadance eventually said, “About Twilight.”

“Well if you’re asking me then it probably isn’t something you want to bring up with her directly.”

“You’re right. If I asked her then she’d probably deny it, I just need to know for sure.”

“What did you want to know then?”

“Do you think she’s afraid… of the worm?” Cadance asked,

“The worm?” Rarity repeated,

“Yeah,”

“I can’t say for sure, the topic doesn’t exactly come up very often in conversation.”

“Mmm,” Cadance said, “Well what do you think?”

Rarity paused for a moment, “She’s never talked about it, and it’s not like I pay attention to her every move whenever the worm is nearby. I don’t rightly know, you might just have to ask her directly. Sorry.”

“Hmm,” she contemplated,

“Where is the worm? I kind of expected to have seen him by now.”

“Shining Armor is keeping him busy,” Cadance answered, “I didn’t want him to interfere with the welcome, just in case.”

“You don’t think he would do you?”

“Not on purpose, that’s for sure, but he kind of has a habit of making a mess of things. As long as Shining is with him then it should be fine.”

There was a crack of thunder outside.

“Well that certainly wasn’t ominous.” Rarity commented,

“Right,” Cadance said, “How’s the headdress coming along?”

“Great!” Rarity responded cheerfully, “Everything’s fitting together nicely, and I think I just need to do a few more finishing touches before we can get you dressed up and out of here.”

“Oh good. Then hopefully we can meet the inspector at the castle like we planned,”

“Hopefully,” Rarity repeated, “And… Done!”

“It’s done?” Cadance asked, “Can I see?”

“Take a look,” Rarity said, smiling as she walked around holding the mirror up again.

Cadance gasped, “Oh… Rarity, it’s beautiful!”

“I know darling,” She beamed, “Now let’s get you changed, quickly! I don’t know how much time we have left.”

“Yes of course,” Cadance quickly got up, immediately noticing the absence of her mane in its usual spot. She didn’t dwell on it though, and rushed over to the privacy screen to get dressed, where her outfit was already waiting.

“Oh my!” Rarity gushed, “That dress is glorious! Was it made here?”

“Of course,” Cadance replied, putting it on, “Though it isn’t exactly tradition, I want to look my best, and be as authentic as possible. Everything it’s made of was sourced directly from the empire, including the crystal fabric.”

“Crystal… fabric…?” Rarity was agape, “Where can I get some?!” She demanded,

Cadance giggled, “I can get you in touch with the producer if you’d like.”

“Please do so!” Rarity begged,

The sound of the bell ringing interrupted them however, and Rarity stepped back to see who had entered while Cadance finished. She smiled, then moved away from the privacy screen.

“Wonderful news, look! Princess Cadance, better than new!”

She stepped out as well, ready to greet Twilight and the rest of her friends.

“Princess Cadance?” Somepony said from the other side of the spa, “So, this is where you've been!” They all looked at her, “I will have you know this is by far the worst welcome I've had in all my years!”

Cadance stopped, flabbergasted, “I-I can't believe it... What was wrong with your welcome?”

“There wasn't one!” The newly revealed Ms. Harshwhinny exclaimed,

“What is going on?” Cadance demanded,

Rainbow Dash stepped to the front of the group, “Princess, we gave our welcome to the wrong pony, left the right one waiting at the station, and completely ruined everything.” She admitted,

Pinkie Pie held up a half eaten pastry “Cinnamon bun?”

“When I was a little filly,” Rainbow Dash continued, “I wanted so badly for Cloudsdale to win the Equestria Games. But it didn't happen. So I thought I could make up for that disappointment by helping the Crystal Empire win the chance to host the Games. But it looks like I ruined your chances instead.”

“Not so fast, speedy.” Another pony joined the conversation, standing next to Ms. Harshwhinny

“I just finished hearing about how this pony was just treated to the warmest, finest, most fabulous reception she ever had.” She began,

“Darn tootin'!”

“Courtesy of these fine ponies right here.” She continued, gesturing towards the group, Cadance looked at them and smiled, “Which, in my expert opinion, amounts to the first ever unvarnished, unrehearsed, and unbiased appraisal of a potential host of the Equestria Games. Which can only mean one thing…”

They all anxiously awaited the answer.

“The Crystal Empire will be the next host of the Equestria Games!”

“YES!” Rainbow Dash shouted, flying up into the air.

The others began cheering as well, and Cadance just smiled, happy that it all worked out.

“This calls for a party!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “In the spa! A sparty! Cinnamon buns for everypony!”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Cadance said with a laugh, “But thank you, everypony. I knew I could count on you girls to get this right.”

“We almost didn’t,” Applejack said,

“Don’t sell yourself short. Despite the mixup, it sounds like you all did a wonderful job. Now, shall we go to the castle and make the announcement?”

A variety of affirmative responses came from the group, and they all began heading out of the spa. Cadance did too, though she stopped for a moment.

“Hey Twilight.” She called out.

Twilight stopped, “Yes?” She asked,

Cadance walked over to her, and lowered her voice, “Come see me when we’re done, there’s something I’d like to show you”

Twilight nodded, a curious expression now on her face as she followed Cadance along with the rest of her friends.

A train rolled to a stop at the train station, allowing several ponies both off and on. On one car in particular though, the door remained shut. Then it started to rattle, and eventually being thrust open as a small purple form rolled through.

Spike collapsed on the ground in a heap, gasping for breath with tears in his eyes. Following him, three fillies rushed out of the train car, along with a multitude of animals.

“Told’ya Spike,” Applebloom said, very nearly stepping over him, “We didn’t come all this way just to not look around.”

He caught his breath, and wiped a tear from his eye, “Come on guys! We’re not even supposed to be here. We need to get back on the train and back to Ponyville before anypony notices.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo chimed in with an eye roll, “Wonder who’s fault that is.”

“Besides, I don’t see our sisters anywhere, it’s not like we’re going to get caught.” Sweetie Belle finished,

“You don’t know that!” Spike argued, trying desperately to wrangle all of the pets, “They’re here somewhere, what do you think would happen if we ran into them?”

“We’re not going to run into them,” Applebloom waved off, “And more importantly, what are you going to do to stop us?” She asked smugly,

Spike looked around, realizing he was already having trouble enough with the animals, much less the three fillies.

“Alright, fine!” He relented, “Look around, enjoy your crystals, but you have to stay at the train station, and keep a low profile. When the time comes, we’re all going to get back on that train when it leaves for Ponyville. Okay?”

They each shared a glance, before looking back towards Spike.

“Your terms are… acceptable.” Applebloom decided, “Now let’s go check out the gift shop!”

The three of them ran off, giggling, while Spike let out a sigh of relief. Relief that would not last very long, as Angel quickly weaseled himself out of his grip, dropping to the ground and of course, immediately running away.

“Hey!” Spike shouted, attempting to give chase, only for the rest of the critters to slow him down, “Stop that bunny!”

Not many responded to the plea, and those that could weren’t fast enough to help, Spike could only watch as Angel weaved in and around the crowd and baggage. He grit his teeth nervously, and began frantically looking around for anything that could help him. Spying a crystal post off to the side, he quickly ran over to it and tied all the other leashes to it.

“Sit tight,” Spike said, before dashing off as well.

He was not able to navigate the crowd quite as well however, having to push through gaps and avoid larger obstacles. By the time Angel had made it around the corner, Spike had only just pushed through the crowd. He quickly got off the platform and turned the corner, only to be met with the sight of nothing.

“Where’d you go…?” Spike asked aloud, squinting his eyes.

Something landed in the grass behind him. Whipping around, Spike met Angel’s gaze, and they stared at each other for a moment.

“Angel.” He said,

Angel cracked his neck, then got into a ready stance.

“It’s just you and me, Slick,” Spike said, doing the same, “Let’s do this.”

A crystal tumbleweed rolled between them.

Spike dove forwards, intent on catching the bunny. Angel expected this, and ducked down low, causing Spike to sail overhead, catching a mouthful of grass and dirt a moment later. He grunted, and looked up, only for Angel to jump on top of him, and disappear back around the corner.

“Not so fast!” Spike exclaimed, quickly getting up off the ground.

He turned the corner, and seeing Angel just a few paces away, he dove once more. This time he slid across the crystal floor, slipping in between some poor pony’s legs, and catching up to the bunny in an instant.

“Gotcha!” He shouted, snatching Angel from the ground.

He squeeked, and started thrashing around, but Spike held his grip.

“Now listen here buddy.” He ordered, “I don’t like you and you don’t like me, but it’s my responsibility to care for you while Fluttershy’s away. We’re not even supposed to be here right now, and if it wasn’t for you we would still be back in Ponyville. So will you please work with me here so we can both go home happy?”

Angel twisted around to look at him, then scowled, and bit down on his finger.

“Pfft, you’re going to have to try harder than that.” Spike said, though a single tear still appeared in his eye.

Angel rolled his eyes, then wrenched one of his arms free and pointed at his tail.

“Oh,” Spike realized, his face dropping, he quickly pulled the curlers free. “Sorry.”

With a huff, Angel just crossed his arms, but didn’t make any more attempts to escape.

“Good, now let’s get back to-”

A large shadow passed over them, causing quite a few ponies in the crowd to gasp. They both looked up, right as it disappeared overhead, accompanied by a slight breeze. Both Spike and Angel looked at each other for a moment in confusion, then they heard a scream, one that they recognized.

“Uh oh,” Spike said, and he began rushing back through the crowd.

It was a lot harder this time, considering some of the ponies were actively moving away from the disturbance. Eventually though, they made it to the end of the station, and saw what happened. Sitting there, coiled up off the end of the platform, was the worm, its head hovering just above three cowering fillies. Off to the side, all of the other pet’s leashes were taught against the pole in an attempt to get as far away as possible.

Spike observed the scene for a moment, then he felt Angel struggling in his grasp, also trying to get away from the worm.

“Wait!” He called out, running up to the group.

Each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders peaked their eyes open to look at him, then they dashed forward to tackle him.

“Spike!”
“Help!”
“Save us!

They landed in a heap, with Spike underneath all of them.

He grunted, “Calm down will you? I know this guy.”

They all stopped and stared at him, even the critters.

“That’s the worm, he’s friendly… I think.”

“You sure about that?” Applebloom asked, still not getting off.

Spike just shoved them off, “He saved me back when the Crystal Empire was first freed.” He got up and walked over to the worm, “In fact, if it weren’t for us, I don’t think the empire would even be freed.”

“Woah,” Scootaloo was the first to stand up,

“Yeah I know, we’re kind of like its saviors.” Spike gloated, nonchalantly inspecting his claws while leaning against the worm’s curls.

It then lifted up slightly, causing him to fall flat on his face.

“So he’s like, your friend or something?” Applebloom asked,

“Something like that.” Spike said through grit teeth, he got up again. “Though he’s impartial to most ponies, I guess dragons too. He really only listens to what Princess Cadance tells him.”

“Is he her pet?” Sweetie Belle wondered,

The worm let out a single chirp, causing everybody except Spike to flinch.

“I wouldn’t put it that way.” He said,

“Does he know any tricks?” Scootaloo asked,

“Uh…” Spike began.

“Sit!” Applebloom commanded,

Strangely enough, the worm humored them, and lowered itself back to the ground, curling up again.

“Roll over!” Sweetie Belle tried,

Despite it being mostly curled up, the worm laid its head on the platform, and rolled, its curls twisting around in the grass behind it. Sweetie Belle giggled.

“Speak!” Scootaloo finished.

“H E L L O.” It spoke.

They all stood there for a moment in shock, before the three fillies got excited smiles on their faces.

“What else can he do?!”

“The next host of the Equestria Games is... the Crystal Empire!” Cadance announced from the castle’s balcony.

The crowd cheered, the streets literally lighting up with magic, filling the Crystal Heart, then being dispersed throughout the whole world.

“Congratulations, Crystal Ponies!” Cadance finished, taking another moment to gaze out at her subjects.

Smiling, she then turned and left the balcony, followed by Ms. Harshwhinny and Shining Armor. Inside, Twilight stood there expectantly.

“Please stay as long as you’d like,” Cadance began, “As thanks.”

Ms. Harshwhinny held her hoof up, “I’ve already done my job, and I got to do it at the spa. Besides, I would like to catch the next train home.”

“Very well,” Cadance nodded, “Shining, would you please accompany Ms. Harshwinny to the train station?”

“Oh I don’t need you to go that far, although I would like some help leaving this castle.”

Shining Armor nodded, “This way then.”

They both walked off.

“Now Twilight.” Cadance said,

“You said you had something to show me?” She asked,

“Something I think you’d like, now follow me.”

Cadance began walking in the direction of her bedchambers, with Twilight soon following.

“What is it?” She asked,

“I can’t just tell you,” Cadance said, “That’d ruin the surprise, though I will say I need your expertise.”

“My expertise?” Twilight repeated,

Cadance just nodded, and continued down the corridors.

It didn’t take long to get to the royal suite, but by the time they got there, Twilight was beginning to look worried.

“Uh Cadance? How long is this going to take?” She asked, “I don’t want to miss the train with my friends.”

She looked at her, “Don’t worry, it won’t be long, and besides, I’ll cover any travel expenses should you miss your train.”

“It’s not that, I’m worried about leaving Spike alone with all our pets longer than expected.”

“Oh,” Cadance said, “Then this way, quickly.”

She led her into her study, and while Twilight paid some attention to the bedchambers, she gawked at the miniature library that Cadance used.

“This is incredible, you have all this to yourself?”

“And your brother,” Cadance reminded, “But yes, all these books are mine, except for the few library books on the desk.” She gestured to them, only for her eyes to go wide.

She quickly floated the wine bottle and glass into a drawer and closed it, hoping that Twilight didn’t see what it was.

“What was-”

“Don’t worry about it,” She interrupted, then cleared her throat, “What I wanted to show you is over here.” She pointed to the out of place bookshelf.

“Is that…?” Twilight began.

“A secret room,” Cadance answered, “I found it earlier this morning.”

“What’s inside?”

Cadance smiled, “Well let me show you.”

Entering the tunnel between the walls once more, Cadance led Twilight all the way down into the secret observatory. The entire time looking back to try and gauge her reaction. The panel on the wall seemed to have automatically shut off, but the room was still lit on account of the lantern Cadance had left in here. That let Twilight get a good look at everything in the room.

She was speechless.

In a similar fashion to Cadance, she inspected everything in the room, starting with the bookshelf, she frowned at the language, muttered ‘Swammwyrm’ at the jar, and tried to pick out a few books to read. When that went nowhere, she moved to the globe, spun it, looked at it for a moment, then went to the telescope. Cadance flicked the switch on the wall while she was looking through it, causing Twilight to jerk back in surprise. She smiled at the action, only to frown a moment later when Twilight did it again.

“What did you see?” She asked worriedly.

“The-nothing!” Twilight said quickly, before moving over to the mirror.

Her frown only deepening, Cadance went to look through the telescope as well. She was only met with the view of a clear sky, but after moving it around a little, she spotted something.

Flying around in the air, was the worm, which was normal, but what wasn’t normal were the several forms that appeared to be clinging to the back of it as it flew. Squinting, Cadance zoomed in a little, and did her best to track the worm’s movements. Now more clear, she could see the forms of Spike, along with three fillies and a multitude of animals on the worm’s back.

“Huh,” was all she said, then they flew out of the telescope’s viewing angle.

“This stuff isn’t Equestrian is it?” She heard Twilight ask.

“I don’t believe so,” Cadance answered, avoiding what happened in the telescope, “I don’t think it’s even from this world.”

“That’s… Unbelievable.” Twilight responded, closely inspecting the jars on the desk, “How did it get here?”

“I think it would be better to ask, where the empire went when it disappeared.” Cadance said, looking up.

Twilight paused in thought for a moment, contemplating the meaning of what she said.

“I certainly didn’t expect all this when you said you had something to show me.” She eventually said,

“That’s not all,” Cadance smiled, she moved over to the desk as well, “Look at this,” she pointed at the book.

Twilight looked at the cover, then the pasted script below it.

“Wat-er thothor,” she read,

Cadance did a double take, “You can read it?!”

“Just the translation,” Twilight said, “It’s in Old-Equestrian.”

“What does it mean?”

Twilight thought for a moment, “Water Sphere.”

Cadance frowned, trying to read the translation again, “Huh, so what does Swammwyrm mean?”

Another pause.

“Mushroom worm.”

They both looked at the specimen on the bookshelf again, before going back to the book.

“Here, this is what I needed your magic expertise on.” Cadance said, flipping it open.

“Oh… that expertise,”

“Yes, now look at this. It looks like spellcraft right?”

“You’re right.” Twilight said, inspecting the text on the pages, “In fact, this looks like the beginnings of any basic spell, but without knowing what the words mean then there isn’t much we can do with it.”

“Oh,” Cadance said,

“Wait a minute,”

“What?”

“Look,” Twilight pointed out, “See how the lines cross onto the next page?”

“Yeah?” Cadance asked, confused,

“The spell keeps going,” She flipped a few more pages, “I think it spans the whole book.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means this is a spellbook,” Twilight said simply,

“Really.” Cadance said sarcastically,

“Not like that,” Twilight waved off, “I mean this whole book is a spell. This is dangerous.”

“Is it a combat spell?” Cadance asked,

“I don’t know,” Twilight said, “But it’s dangerous because anypony could use it.”

Cadance nodded a bit in understanding, “Well yeah, if it’s really basic then…”

“Not like that either,” Twilight continued, “It’s dangerous because the book does all the spellwork for you, meaning not just you or I could do it, but literally anypony who picked up this book could cast the spell, as long as they have enough magic.”

“Even… non-unicorns?” Cadance tried,

“Even non-ponies,” Twilight added on, “That’s what makes it so dangerous, but also revolutionary.” She began to rant, “I mean, stuff like this has been theorized for hundreds of years, but never actually done. The fact that this is here right now is awe-inspiring, and the fact that it came from another world makes it feel like cheating. If this knowledge were to get out to the public, then it would change the way magic is both used and thought of entirely.”

Cadance frowned at the explanation, “So… what should we do with it?”

Twilight stopped to take a breath, “I-I don’t know. Part of me wants to study this, maybe try to replicate it, but another part is telling me it’s not fair, and that now just knowing it’s possible means I shouldn’t work on it.” She began to hyperventilate.

“Twilight,” Cadance said, nudging her. She then went through the motions of her breathing exercise, prompting Twilight to do the same. “How about this, we’ll keep it here for now, and think about it for a while. It’s not going anywhere.”

“Okay,” She paused to take a deep breath, “That sounds good, let’s do that.”

“Good,” Cadance said, closing the book, “Now let’s get you out of here, I believe you have a train-” She abruptly stopped, feeling a slight tug on her magic.

“Cadance?” Twilight asked,

She just stared at the book as its pages began to glow blue. “Uh oh,”

There was the sound of splashing water, and a bright blue sphere shot out of the closed book. It traveled across the desk, dripping water all across it before bouncing off of the chest, knocking it down. The ball then raced up and hit the ceiling, bouncing off again and heading towards the bookcase.

“Woah!” Twilight exclaimed,

It hit the shelf, causing it to rock back and forth, thankfully not enough to fall over.

Then it hit Twilight.

Specifically in her leg, passing through it, and knocking it out from under her.

“Gyah!” She cried out, falling to the floor hard,

That spurred Cadance into action, and she dove underneath the desk for cover, pulling Twilight under a moment later. Together they watched and listened as the water ball continued to bounce around the room, water dripping from wherever it went. A couple of jars were knocked off to the side, they shattered on the floor, thankfully most of them were empty, except for one. They didn’t have time to think about that however, as the ball impacted the mirror, cracking it and causing it to rotate along its axis.

For several moments, the water ball continued to wreak havoc upon the room, knocking stuff over, breaking things, dripping water everywhere. Then it simply popped, a larger amount of water splashing around where it once was. Still, the two waited for a few moments to make sure it was over, then they crawled out from under the desk.

“Oh my goodness!” Cadance exclaimed, not wasting another moment, “Are you okay.”

Twilight’s face was scrunched up from pain, and she held her foreleg close to her, “I think so, that just really hurt.”

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I didn’t know it was going to do that!” Cadance calmed herself down with the breathing exercise, twice actually. “Can you walk?” She eventually asked,

Twilight carefully put her foreleg on the ground, then winced as she tried to put her weight on it, but she didn’t pull it back up.

“I can,” She said through gritted teeth.

“Alright, then let’s get you to your friends, then I’ll see what I can do about cleaning up this mess.” Cadance said, looking around at the room,

Twilight just nodded, then began to hobble towards the exit corridor with Cadance following closely behind. Then they stopped, a noise behind them catching their attention.

Turning around, they were both able to see the cracked mirror in the corner rattling wildly, the strange ashes from the jar rising up and seeping into it. Darkness then began to creep in from the edges, travelling faster through the cracks, eventually making it to the center, enveloping the whole surface. The mirror then jerked, and shot off of the floor, tearing away from its frame and floating mid air, bouts of shadow shooting out from the back.

“What the-” Was all that was able to be said, as a moment later multiple dark orbs flowed out from the mirror.

Cadance had only a moment to react as they began to approach her.

She blasted the closest one with magic, shattering it, only for the next one to fly at her. She ducked low, but not low enough, and the mass of dark energy grazed the top of her headdress, breaking it. Several woven locks of her mane dropped down the side of her head, but Cadance remained focused. Charging up her horn more, she shot three more of the orbs, shattering them as well. A few magenta blasts came sailing from behind as Twilight joined the fight, though her first few shots weren’t able to completely destroy the orbs that they hit.

A few more blasts, and about half of the energy was destroyed, though the rest were coming around fast. Cadance watched as they traversed the room, carving through anything in their path, leaving only scorched indents in their wake, she could only assume the same thing happened to the top of her mane. Angry at the thought, she shattered a few more, but there were too many.

Pulling up a shield, Cadance waited for the energy to hit it, only for them to literally eat right through it. She gasped, and leaped forwards, dodging the incoming orbs. A quick turn around revealed Twilight had upped her blasts, and she shattered the remaining orbs. With them all gone, the mirror began to vibrate, but Cadance wasn’t going to let it do anything more.

“Shoot the mirror!” She commanded,

Twilight didn’t need to be told twice, and together they unloaded onto it, knocking it back against the wall and cracking the once smooth black surface. They were not able to destroy it however, and more dark energy was soon released from the mirror. Cadance didn’t let up though, and she shot the mirror again, only for the magic blast to get absorbed, with seemingly no effect.

The lesson learnt, both she and Twilight went back to shattering the orbs as quickly as possible, doing their best to avoid them whenever they got close. When they were cleared a second time, the mirror was left vulnerable again, and once again they blasted it, the crack becoming even more pronounced. By the time more of the orbs were released, the mirror was barely able to stay aloft, yet it was still not down.

“Come on!” Cadance complained as she dashed around with what little space she had, breaking more of the energy.

Twilight was not as mobile however, and as several of the dark orbs surrounded her, she wasn’t able to shatter them all. She yelped as one flew just above her, then she tripped trying to avoid the next. Cadance turned just in time to blast the third, but she quickly realized it wouldn’t be enough.

Grabbing Twilight in her magic, she pulled her across the floor and out of harm’s way, then she cleared up the remaining orbs. The mirror rattled again, and they both turned to attack it.

Twin beams of magic pierced right through the shadowy surface, going all the way through and coming out the back of it. What was left of the mirror simply floated there for a second, before it dropped to the floor, snapping in two from the weakened structure.

They both let out a sigh of relief. Relief that would once again, not last, as Cadance felt a breeze begin to pick up in the room. Turning around, the edges of her dress and the tips of her mane and tail began to get picked up in the rush of air. Twilight soon noticed it too, and when the spellbook on the table blew open, its pages flipping wildly in the wind, they figured out where it was all going.

The glass shards from the jars began to slide across the room, towards the remnants of the mirror, it was pulling them in.

“Hold onto something!” Cadance exclaimed, and she rushed forward towards the corridor, grabbing hold of the crystal frame. Twilight did the same, and they braced as the wind picked up even more. The remaining jars on the desk began to inch off of it, and so did the spellbook, and by the time books were being torn out of the shelf, Cadance began to feel more pull sideways than downwards. Her hind legs lifted into the air, but she held strong, she had practice… sort of.

Twilight did not, and she was down a hoof. This was made evident as she slipped, leaving her with only one leg holding the frame.

“I can’t hold on!” She desperately called out.

Cadance strained to look at her, right as her other hoof gave way. Acting fast, she grabbed Twilight in her magic, immediately feeling the pull. Thankfully her training had paid off, and she was able to hold their position, though it was unclear as to exactly how long or how hard. By now the desk was beginning to scrape across the floor, which is when Cadance realized something.

“The chest!” She exclaimed,

Looking around, she was able to see it still caught on the side of the desk, the one that was quickly approaching oblivion. Reaching out with her magic once more, she grabbed it, adding even more to the strain on her magic. She just hoped she could hold out long enough.

The Swammwyrm jar was pulled out of the case, it then dropped to the floor and shattered, only for the specimen to be pulled into the mirror as well. The now empty bookcase then overturned, and slammed into the floor, before being dragged across it. When the desk finally touched the mirror, a loud cracking noise came from it as it was stretched and contorted, forcing it smaller so it could fit. A horrible end to whatever else got sucked in.

Cadance began to feel the stress, and started to plead for it to end soon, but it simply would not, and soon enough she felt herself slipping.

“No no no no no no!” She yelled, thinking desperately for anything she could do to save them,

Just as she was about to let go of the chest, it stopped. The darkness that was pulling them in poofed into a shower of sparkles, and the suction left.

Cadance fell to the floor, causing her to drop what she was holding. Twilight then hit the floor for the second time, and the chest popped open, a folded piece of paper sticking out. They both took a moment to regain their senses, before Cadance turned to see what had become of the room.

Everything was gone, save for an embalming fluid-stained bookshelf, and a quarter of a desk, which now tapered off to a single point.

Twilight picked herself up, and looked over the room as well.

“Maybe that’s not the only reason why it’s dangerous.” She said,

“It’s all… gone.” Cadance said, “Everything.”

Though she was the one that said it, Twilight looked even more disappointed at the loss, then she shook her head.

“You said something about a chest?”

“The chest yeah,” Cadance said, looking down for a moment, “Wait a minute. The chest! I saved it!” She exclaimed,

Twilight gave her an odd look.

Cadance quickly walked over to the chest and pulled out the folded paper, which was unfortunately the only thing in there. Holding it up, she began to unfold it, and unfold it, and unfold it until it was nearly the previous size of the desk it once sat upon. She laid it across the barren floor, smoothing out the edges so they could see it better.

“Oh… My… Celestia…” Cadance trailed off.

Clearly drawn across the massive sheet of paper, was an anatomical diagram of the worm, or at least a type of worm, but the similarities were unmistakable. Large mandibles, large size, spines along its body. What was most interesting however, was the text at the very top, acting as a title of sorts.

Jörmungandr

Megascolex-Assimilatus

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Couple things.

For one:
Readers that are more of the studious type beware, as there is a rift in the Calamity Wiki/Wikis. As of right now, the first search result in google is:
https://calamitymod.fandom.com/wiki/Calamity_Mod_Wiki
This is the Fandom wiki, which means it is maintained by fans exclusively, so the information on there is no longer trustworthy.
A while ago, the Official Calamity Wiki was moved to:
https://calamitymod.wiki.gg/wiki/Calamity_Mod_Wiki
An important distinction, so if you ever see something on the wikis that doesn't look accurate, make sure you're on the right one. The same goes for the regular Terraria wikis.

Second:
It has come to my attention that a majority, if not all of the Official Out-of-game Calamity lore has been axed, and is no longer canon. So as of right now, the only official canon lore can be found in-game. As you might guess, this makes it difficult for me to write since I'm missing canon details on major characters and events. So what am I going to do? Break canon. That's right, I'm sticking with what I know, so this story is no longer canon until further notice. You can find the archived lore here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14H0fmHigzvTxbQ1ipWOhD9bpN-49tN6cCs6Jb4QZRLw/edit#
Just be careful where you look.

So language is a thing. I spent a bit of time trying to find the right translations for the "Old-Equestrian" text, which is just Old-English. As some Terraria players might guess, "Wæter þōþor" or "Water Sphere", is a translation for "Water Bolt" an iconic spellbook from the Terraria world. Veteran players might even guess that "Swammwyrm", which literally translates to "Mushroom worm", is supposed to be a "Truffle Worm", also from Terraria.

Lastly, for those who might be confused about the mirror fight, you might draw similarities to one of the sentinels from the prologue, and you would be right, because they are the same entity. The difference in abilities is because of mod updates, because when the prologue was written that was how "The Ceaseless Void" fought. At the time of this writing, the mechanics have changed a bit, I've also come up with an in-universe reason for that, so look forward to it.