It was springtime in Equestria. Colorful array of birds flew freely in the wide blue sea above, chirping cheerfully with one another. Cute and cuddly critters frolicked happily in the grassy meadows while the sun bathed Ponyville in its warm glow. The sound of hoovesteps filled the streets as ponies went about to their activities.
Meanwhile, Ponyville’s library, also known as Golden Oaks Library was a large building that was built inside of a hollowed out tree. Its still living leaves waved as they were touched by the soft spring breeze, the soothing sounds of rustling filled the area. The library had its windows and doors wide opened as thick clouds of dust emitted from it. The sound of sweeping and the occasion coughs can be heard from inside when suddenly, a staccato of crashes followed, resonated throughout the building.
“Spike!” a purple unicorn yelled, her magenta streaked mane bounced as she turned her head to look at the accident. Her brows furrowed, looking at the large mass of fallen books.
“S-sorry, Twilight,” a young purple dragon with green spikes apologized, nervously scratching the back of his head. “I-I was about to fall and I couldn't do anything but to grab onto the bookcase,” he explained, stuttering.
Her glare softened and she giggled, smiling. “Oh, Spike. It’s fine, at least you’re okay,” she chuckled. Then her brow furrowed once again as her horn lit with a bright purple glow, levitating a fallen ladder, setting it into its rightful place. Twilight groaned, rolling her eyes as she looked at the dusty floor. “Ugh,” she grunted. “We’ll never clean this library if this keeps up,” she complained to nopony in particular.
“I’ll grab the broom from the broom closet,” Spike offered, walking towards upstairs.
“Yes, Spike. Thank you,” she sighed, smiling at his offering as he quickly waddled upstairs. Her horn glowed again, organizing the books back into their respective shelves and suddenly stopped on one particular book. Her gaze froze upon a mysterious book where she discovered when the incident of the ‘Pinkie Hurricane’ was brewing at the time. She rose a suspecting brow, inspecting the book.
Curiosity took over as she opened the book, flipping the pages rapidly. A smile tugged on her face upon seeing the book's contents, discovering many unheard legends inside and also outside of Equestria. “Legend of the Mirror Pool, Mirror of Fortune...” she mumbled under her breath, skimming through the book.
“What’s that book about, Twilight?” Spike asked, walking towards her with a broom in his clawed grip.
“It’s a book filled with legends and mythology that I never heard off,” she explained, sounding amused as she quickly shuffled through the pages. “Wait,” she spoke suddenly, stopping at a page. She gave the page a suspecting eye as the bottom half of it was ripped off. Only the title and small amount information were still legible.
“What is it?” Spike asked, looking over her shoulder as curiosity struck him as well. He tiptoed on his clawed feet to get a better look at the book.
“It says, ‘The Legend of the Porcelain Pony’,” Twilight explained, her curiosity peaked. “The Porcelain Pony was an artifact that was sculptured by a group of sage unicorns from the forbidden materials that were acquired from the zebra kingdom one thousand years ago,” she continued, her eyes latched onto the book. “It was said that the artifact would grant anypony immortality by touching it. But there’s a catch,” she explained, looking at Spike.
“What’s the catch?” Spike asked, excitement crept into his voice, his eyes widened. Twilight turned, looking at the page once more.
“The pony’s soul would be imprisoned inside the Porcelain Pony for all eternity,” she answered, her eyes widened in shock, reading the last passage. A cold chill was sent into both of their spine, shuddering to the thought of being trapped for all eternity.
“D-do you think it’s real?” the little dragon gulped, stammering in fear.
“I don’t know. It was right about the Legend of the Mirror Pool. If so... maybe,” she answered, staring into the distance at a nearby wall, her thoughts in motion. She gave another shiver, levitating away the book and looked at the petrified dragon. “But, don’t worry, Spike. I’m sure it’ll be okay,” she assured him, smiling.
“Yeah,” he nodded, a grin tugged onto his face. “Oh,” he gasped, handing her the broom. “Here you go,” he offered. The broom levitated from his hand by a purple glow. “I’m going to find Owlowiscious to help me clean the windows,” he called out, running half-way up the stairs.
“Be careful now,” she called back, smiling at his faithful assistant's eagerness.
Finally, evening had arrived in Equestria. The wonderful village of Ponyville glowed under the moonlit sky. Array of stars filled the night sky, painting it with its beauty and wonders. Ponies were preparing for a peaceful night of sleep, their dim lanterns flickered in the cool night air.
Twilight and Spike followed by Owlowiscious, lazily sprawled in the main room of the library. Their brows beaded with sweat, chest heaving rapidly, trying to catch their breath. The library walls and floor twinkled in the slightest source of light and reflections can be seen on the polished wooden floor, its surface was absence of dusts.
“I-I think we did a great job,” she commented, panting while she looked at the wooden ceiling.
“Yeah,” he nodded, trying to catch his breath and Owlowiscious hooted in agreement.
“How about you make dinner and I’ll put away the brooms?” she suggested, her hooves shook as she tried to stand up.
“Sure,” he panted, handing her the broom. “You can help me, Owlowiscious,” he said, looking at the tired bird. Owlowiscious flapped his wings, hooting happily. With that, Twilight’s horn lit, levitating the broom from his hands. She turned and started trotting upstairs with a smile on her face, listening the excited mumblings of Spike on the dinner menu.
The dark room bathed in purple light as Twilight walked towards a lone door. The knob jiggled, and the door swung opened by her magic. As she put away the broom, she suddenly froze, hearing an indistinguishable sound. She heard somepony was whispering, but the source was unknown. She slowly walked around the room; her eyes darted in every direction, frantically searching for the source of the ghostly whispers. Then, her eyes widened, finding the source of the sound. It was in the broom closet.
She trotted closer, her horn increased in intensity, inspecting the closet with a suspecting eye. Her gaze stopped as she looked down, noticing a panel on the far left corner of the closet floor. Curiosity struck her for the second time that day and she hesitantly reached the panel. A push of a button later, she jumped, letting out a frightened squeal. The the wall inside the closet let out a screech, slowly sliding open as she listened to the rusty gears' screeches. Her thought raced as she looked into room presented in front of her. Twilight's eyes widened as she never seen such room before and inside was pitch black. Inside the room was darker than any kind of darkness she ever seen in her life. Why is there a hidden room in the closet? she thought frantically, searching for an answer.
She filled her lungs with cool and fresh air, slowly calming her frantic state. Then, with a stroke of determination, she stood back up. Twilight cautiously approached the black room, poking her head in while her body was still well outside. Her horn let out a bright purple glow, then her eyes widened. “Gyaa!” she screamed, jumping backwards as a dark silhouette of a pony stood in the middle of the room.
“W-what’s wrong?” Spike called from the floor below, hearing the his footsteps climbing up the stairs.
“C-come here,” she called back, carefully standing up with her horns lit with high intensity, preparing for an attack. She quickly jumped backwards when the room suddenly lit. She frantically turned to look and saw Spike was switching the lights on. She let out a relieved sigh, comfort slowly washed over her.
“What’s wrong, Twilight?” he asked, approaching the panicky mare with worry plastered across his face.
“Look,” she said, pointing at the dark silhouette in the hidden room.
“Gah!” Spike screamed, jumping behind her, his eyes widened. “W-what’s that?” he asked again, his body shivering at the eerie sight.
“I don’t know,” she answered, shaking her head. Her eyes glued onto the mysterious form, feeling more and more curious. “And I’m going to find out,” she muttered, taking careful steps into the room while her horn lit with high intensity, bathing the room with its glow as Spike followed closely behind her. Then, both of their eyes widened upon seeing the mysterious form.
It was a figure of a unicorn pony that was made from porcelain. The porcelain pony was in a standing posture with a smile sculptured across its face. Its eyes were opened, staring into the distance. Even though it was a statue, its eyes radiated with life. Although it has a face of a pony, it has neither mane nor tail, making it looked like a well sculptured mannequin. Its clean surface reflected by the glow of Twilight’s magic, giving an illusion that it was glowing. She stood next to it; the doll was almost the same size as her.
“I-Is that the porcelain pony?” Spike asked, tightening his grip on her legs, hiding in fear.
“I don’t know, maybe,” she mumbled as she was mesmerized by the sight. Even with the missing mane and tail, the porcelain doll was radiating with life. She reached out a hoof to touch it.
“What are you doing? Don’t do it!” Spike yelled, pulling her tail in effort to drag her away.
“Don’t worry, Spike. It’ll be okay, I promise,” she assured him, giving him a smile. Spike frowned at the thought, but hesitantly complied, believing in her words. Then, he loosen his grip, her tail flowed off his clawed fingers.
She cautiously reached out her hoof, remembering the legend from the book that she read prior that day. Her hoof lightly touched the porcelain pony; its surface was incredibly smooth, revealing the high level of craftsmanship of the unicorn ponies who made it. While she was inspecting the artifact, a whisper came into her mind. "Give... me...," it whispered. Suddenly, she felt a shock jolted through her hoof, quickly retracting it. “Ouch,” she grunted, gingerly rubbing her numbing hoof.
“A-are you okay?” Spike asked as worry crept in his voice, eyes glistened in tears.
“I-I’m fine,” she whispered, smiling at the worry dragon. “Let’s get out of here before something bizarre happens,” she suggested, trotting towards the exit. Without any argument, he nodded and hopped onto her back. Twilight let out a magenta glow, closing the door behind her with a soft click, trotting towards downstairs.
Dinner was quiet than usual. The eerie experience and discovery shook both Spike and Twilight, causing them to eat their dinner in silence. The cheerful sounds of crickets filled the kitchen.
“So, are you excited for camping tomorrow?” Spike spoke suddenly, breaking the silence.
“W-what?” she asked, confusion plastered across her face, looking at him.
“You know, the camping trip that Applejack invited us to,” he explained, eating a spoonful of oatmeal.
“Oh,” she gasped. “No, I don’t think I’ll be going tomorrow,” she sighed, staring at the untouched bowl of oatmeal in front of her, a frown tugged on her face.
“Why?” he asked, disappointment filled his face.
“Because... you know,” she mumbled, nodding towards the general direction of the broom closet.
“Oh, we need to do something with that ‘thing’ huh?” he asked, as fear creeping into his voice once again.
“Yeah,” she yawned, her eyes were half-opened, staring into space.
“How about you go ahead to bed and I’ll clean up,” he offered, the chair creaked as he jumped off, approaching the sleepy unicorn.
“That's nice, thanks,” she yawned, jumping off her chair and trotted upstairs with her head hung low. Twilight was clearly exhausted from the whole experience and spring cleaning. Spike shook his head, smiling as he picked up the untouched oatmeal. He frowned upon looking the meal. “Too bad it’s a waste. It's even her favorite oatmeal too,” he mumbled, walking towards the sink.
Twilight’s bedsheets creased as she tossed and turned in her bed, trying to find solace. Sweats started to bead on her brow and grimaced, her mind was assaulted by ethereal force. “Give... me...” a voice whispered. “Give... me...” it whispered again.
“Gyah!” Twilight screamed, sitting up on her bed, her eyes were bloodshot as sleep never arrived. Her chest heaved rapidly, her eyes darted to every dark corner of her bedroom.
“H-huh? What’s wrong?” Spike mumbled groggily from his bed basket next to her, rubbing his eyes from sleep as he looked at the frantic pony.
“It’s... it’s just a nightmare,” she breathed, her eyes darting to the slightest of movements. Her ears perked, listening intently for any sound. But she heard nothing... just silence. Twilight clutched her chest, filling her lungs with cool night air to calm her frantic mind.
“Are you okay, Twilight? You seemed jumpy,” he asked with worry in his face, slowly approaching her bed.
“It’s okay. You don’t need to wor—“she was cut off by a loud thud resonated through the walls. Then another thud followed, then another, then another. Finally, they heard a door was kicked down. The door of her bedroom swung opened, the porcelain pony stood menacingly under the door frame. Black smoke flowed from its nostrils and opened mouth, eyes dripping with dark ooze.
“Run!” Twilight yelled with the top of her lungs, jumping off the bed when a chair was enveloped by the porcelain’s doll purple magical aura, crashed where she sat. Spike hastily hopped onto her back and she galloped past the mannequin monstrosity.
“It’s sealed shut!” Spike yelled, trying his best to open the front door, pulling it with his might. Twilight scanned the area; her heart throbbed so hard, she could even hear her heart beating with her own ears. Her eyes darted all over the place, finding an exit as her breathing getting more and more ragged. “What do we do? All the doors and windows are magically sealed,” he said frantically, looking at her for an answer.
“W-we have to destroy it,” she explained as her mind raced, running out of ideas.
“H-how?” Spike stuttered, tears welling up in his eyes and his pupils were large as saucers, breathing heavily in panic.
“You’ll have to distract it, while I try to find something to smash it with,” she explained, her eyes locked into the kitchen, eying a hammer that sat near a toolbox atop of the kitchen counter.
“What?!” he yelled, looking at her with his eyes wide opened, shocked about the thought of him being the bait. Then, a loud thud resonated throughout the main room, both of their heads turned to look. The porcelain pony stood still on the bottom of the stairs, looking absentmindedly at Twilight. Its horn lit a purple magical aura, levitating chairs and tables off the floor.
“Now!” She yelled, dashing towards the kitchen. Spike, in fear, ran towards the monster, hoping he would distract it. But the porcelain pony gave him no attention. A barrage of furniture flew towards Twilight in high speed, intending to stop her. Twilight's horn let out a magenta glow, enveloping some of the furniture to stop them from hitting her, but some managed to escape from her magic clutches. A table struck at her side, pain exploded as the table traveled in deadly speed, flinging Twilight across the kitchen.
She gasped deeply as air was knocked out of her, coughing as she gingerly touched her side. Her head turned as something caught her attention. It was the hammer! Her horn let out a magenta glow, enveloping the hammer with it and looked at the porcelain pony, intending to end its wrath.
“Aaaaah!” Twilight let out a cry, galloping in high speed with the hammer in tow. The porcelain menace horn began to light for a defensive move but... it was too late. Twilight struck a critical blow, shattering its horn into bits and pieces. It let out a blood curdling screech that echoed inside the room. Without hesitation, she struck another blow, shattering its hooves off, its porcelain torso dropped onto the wooden library floor with a loud thud.
Spike slowly approached behind her, taking a careful peak at the fallen enemy. “I-is it over?” he asked, trembling in fear.
“No,” she answered simply. “Turn around, Spike, I don’t want you to see this,” she panted, looking over her shoulder where he stood. Spike nodded solemnly and turned to his back.
Twilight looked down towards the shattering porcelain pony in its eyes. “Give... me... back..,” it whispered, slowly crawling with the stumps of its hooves towards her, more and more smoke flowed out from the broken hooves. Twilight bent down and whispered back.
“Thank you for giving me your body. It’s been a few hundred years since I was stuck in that porcelain prison. Thankfully, you are foolish enough to trade places with me by touching the porcelain pony,” she silently giggled, with a wide grin on her face. She stood back up; smirking down at the screeching porcelain pony, ooze flowed out of its eyes as the hammer floated high above its head for one last blow. Then, she mouthed, “Goodbye, Twilight.”
Crash
