Aguamelon away from home

In a dark hallway surrounded by old bookshelves, the atmosphere was oppressive and dusty.

"Achoo!" sneezed Lia, surrounded by a cloud of dust.

"Bless you," Kit responded immediately from up ahead, carrying a large flashlight over his head.

"I'm going to get sick... how much longer?" Lia complained.

"Not much, I think..." Kit replied, looking at the map he was holding in his hands.

The siblings had entered the large underground section that corresponded to the forbidden section of the library. Getting through the doors, heavily guarded by padlocks, hadn't been complicated since they now had the master keys from the librarian Aguamelon, giving them free access to any part of the library.

However, the path to the main rooms of that area was, to say the least, torturous for Lia. Cobwebs, moldy books, heaps of empty boxes, and puddles of water—or some other unsanitary substance—blocked the main hallway. But above all, there was the smell... that unbearable smell of decay.

Lia had no idea what could be causing that smell, similar to that of a dead animal. She hadn't seen any remains along the way, but with the dim light they had, it was hard for her to be sure. Another thing she didn't understand was how her brother didn't seem to care about that stench and eagerly moved ahead of her.

Maybe he was already used to such disgusting things...

"Ughhh... let's continue," Lia said with a fake smile, making a great effort to control the nausea devouring her from within.

Kit shrugged and continued on the path. The siblings advanced through the long hallway until they finally reached a more illuminated area. With their eyes clouded by the sudden brightness, it took them a moment to recognize the place.

The hallway they had entered was just one of six that made up the forbidden section of the Golden Half library. In that large intersection, the entrances to the other five hallways opened like dark, indecipherable cavernous mouths. In the middle of the intersection, large black rocks were scattered in a cordoned-off circular area. Among those enigmatic stones, a large white pedestal rose above everything else.

Above, on the high ceiling, a large chandelier of white crystals illuminated the place with a gloomy light. Accompanying that light, thin waterfalls of water dripped from the ceiling leaks, giving the place a mysterious and dark atmosphere.

"Woww," murmured Kit, excited about what could be the adventure of his life. Without thinking, he began to explore the place.

Lia, by his side, didn't feel as enthusiastic. When she learned about the existence of a forbidden section in the library, she imagined something similar to the forbidden section of the great library of Canterlot: large storage rooms of books, threatening armor, and hidden mysterious objects. All old, but clean and orderly.

The reality was entirely different. The place where she was now resembled more a catacomb than a library; she wouldn't even be surprised to find a pony skeleton by the side of the path. Everything was a mess... was what she was looking for really here?

"Lia, come! Look!" called Kit to his sister, who was staring at the destroyed books scattered on the floor.

"What...? What is it?" Lia was startled and immediately went to her brother.

Kit, who had climbed the short staircase leading to the pedestal in the middle of the rocks, was now jumping excitedly, pointing to an old low wooden lectern hidden behind the pedestal.

"Could this be it?" Lia exclaimed excitedly upon recognizing the curious piece of furniture in front of her.

"Yesssss, it sure is! It even has that weird name!" Kit responded, jumping with enthusiasm and pointing to the golden label at the base of the lectern.

What Kit and Lia had found was none other than a 'Readingdoscope'.

Throughout Equestria, there were very few of these incredible magical artifacts. Created in a more imaginative era, 'Readingdoscopes' had served as teaching tools, creating pocket realities where the reader could enter a book and live its written story firsthand. They were very popular tools among scholars and sages in the past, but with the rise of new technologies and the complexity of manufacturing these devices, 'Readingdoscopes' fell out of use and were almost forgotten.

So few operational examples remained in Equestria that they could be counted on a pony's hooves. The most famous of them was in the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest.

Lia smiled from ear to ear. The unpleasant journey she had to take to get there had been worth it.

"What are you waiting for? Get it out!" she ordered her brother impatiently.

"Oh, right!" Kit immediately pulled out a comic book.

Igniting the magic in her horn, Lia, without hesitation, took the comic and pushed her brother aside. Excited, she placed the comic on top of the 'Readingdoscope'.

A sudden magical light enveloped the lectern, removing the dust around it. Faint vibrations began to travel from its base, like an old device coming back to life after a long time.

The siblings, thrilled, watched as the magic began to flood the comic, making its pages glow. The atmosphere was filled with tension, growing more intense with the light emanating from the comic.

Lia smiled with satisfaction; it was just as they had described. Soon, her greatest wish would come true!

Responding to Lia's wishes, the comic suddenly opened, and a beam of light revealed a crack between its pages, like a portal to another world.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! It works!" Lia exclaimed, jumping. "Gacha World is ours!"

Her brother, no less enthusiastic, jumped beside her, infected by his sister's excitement.

"Let's go, we have to enter before...! Huh?" Lia didn't finish speaking.

Without warning, the intense light of the 'Readingdoscope' went out, and the entire magical atmosphere disappeared as if a giant had blown it out.

The siblings, stupefied, silently stared at the now motionless and ordinary lectern.

"Ho ho," Kit exclaimed, surprised.

"No, no, no, no," Lia shouted in anguish, jumping onto the 'Readingdoscope'. She quickly took out the comic and placed it back in its spot.

The 'Readingdoscope' began to shine again, but then it suddenly went out.

"Maybe you're putting it wrong..."

"Of course not! I'm putting it right! Did you do something before? Did you hit it?" Lia turned angrily towards her brother.

"No, no, I didn't do anything to it, really. Well, it had a stone on top and dead insects, so I thought you didn't like those things and..."

"Ahhh!" Lia exclaimed, frustrated, trying to control herself. She took a deep breath and began to think quickly. Ignoring her distracted brother, the filly started to circle the 'Readingdoscope', looking for any damage on the artifact. She didn't believe Kit had accidentally broken it, but it could have had some previous damage...

As she examined it, she noticed that the 'Readingdoscope' was, in fact, in very good condition, but she also noticed something else.

"Was that there before?" she asked suddenly, interrupting Kit's long-winded speech.

"Uh... yeah, that was already there. They're just chains," Kit replied, noticing the chains that bound the lower part of the artifact.

"Huh?" Lia, suspicious, lit up the chains with the light from her horn to see them better.

The chains, which at first glance seemed ordinary, suddenly glowed with a bluish tint. Between each of their links, there appeared to be a glowing... magical connection.

Lia extended her hoof and touched them.

"Yikes!" The little unicorn jumped back, thrown away.

"Lia, Lia, Lia, what happened?" Kit was scared and immediately approached his sister.

"Nothing, nothing, it felt like electricity..."

"Are they electric chains?" Kit asked, surprised.

"No... they're magical," Lia replied, understanding the purpose of the chains.

Lia's good intuition began to shape what was really happening. That 'Readingdoscope' was operational, but precisely because of that, to prevent misuse, the elders had probably sealed it with enchanted chains that dissipated magic.

Lia was sure; those chains were blocking the magic of the 'Readingdoscope.'

"Of course, that's it. Kit! Those chains are magical. They're breaking the magical flow of the 'Readingdoscope.'"

"Ahhhhh," Kit responded awkwardly, looking at the chains unsure of what to do.

"We need to cut them!" Lia continued, frustrated by her brother's slow thinking.

"Sure! Leave it to me. I'll cut them like butter," Kit replied confidently. Immediately, the young colt pointed his horn at the chains and, after some exaggerated expressions of concentration, launched a sharp beam of magic at the chains.

The chains glowed for a moment and then... nothing.

They hadn't even warmed up.

A smiling Kit nervously looked at his sister. "I think they're a bit tough, hahaha..."

"I noticed," Lia replied indifferently. She looked around. She wasn't going to give up; there were many things around that they could use to break those chains...

In the basement of the Golden Half library, that pair of siblings continued with their reckless and dangerous mischief.