NiktoBarada

Tongue Twister was trotting back to her wagon after visiting the Post Office to see if she had any mail. There were a few job offers that she'll sort through later. She stopped short. There were posters on her wagon ! It had only been a few minutes, and somepony had plastered advertisements on her wagon ! She sighed. "I hope it's not another 'Buy One for the Price of Two !!' sale on widgets ..." she groused to herself as she took down the posters to read them more closely. She quirked an eyebrow upward as she read the notices. "A self proclaimed 'Master of Evil' plans to set off into the Badlands to look for an unspecified relic ? With a departure date changed four times. On a notice written by hoof. And only later decided to 'grant' some sort of incentive to actually go ? That's - a disaster just waiting to happen ! Throwing together a quest like that will usually end in failure; heck, even quests with weeks of prep can end in failure. Most likely, we'd have to send a search and rescue party after him. And 'unspecified relics' can be troublesome. Nine out of ten magical disasters happen when some unfortunate goober finds Something That Should Not Be Found. Hmmm - we could potentially save Equestria from a disaster by going along to keep an eye on things. Well, at least we can write that on the Expense and Reimbursement forms for STAR ... 💲" With that, she put her mail inside a drawer in the wagon and adjusted her heavily enchanted gear : the blue and silver Second Chance cloak to hide her altered wings, her saddlebags, and the four necklaces she'd taken a habit to wearing. Three of them look normal - the 1st place medallion for winning the Running of the Leaves, a small Klein bottle full of a smoky blue liquid, and a good luck scarab necklace she bought while on a 'mission' in Saddle Arabia. The fourth necklace, on the other hoof, was by no means normal. It was a small, roughly cubical thing that looked like somepony was carving something they'd never seen before, without watching what they were doing. It was a Fair Play charm from Tenochtitlan. She put on the harness and pulled her wagon to the northwest exit of Ponyville. "Let the madness commence !"

Dark Core's misadventure sounds like a disaster in the making, and TT (in good conscience), simply can't let that happen. So she'll help where she can. Also curious as to what's going on, and roving equinologists are notoriously curious/nosy ...

Tongue Twister pulled her Vardo into Ponyville. Even after a few days on the road, she was exhausted from a horrible job in Saddle Arabia. So here she was at the Ponyville post office, to see if she had any new job offers in the mailbox. The pickings were very slim, but she wasn't desperate for funds just yet. She had other things to do : go to Las Pegasus to file a report. STAR might want to know that one ancient horror has been sort of dealt with. And she'd heard a rumor that someone was going to search the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Hope they got someone competent at surveying and archaeology - the last thing anypony needs is for a group of 'brave, stalwart adventurers' to go rampaging through the ruins, ripping it apart looking for treasure, only to have the whole thing collapse just as they 'heroically' escape.

TT thought for a bit. "Yeah. We can just stick a light crystal on the front of a helmet. That should do. Always has before. But there's no way to trail a safety line. So somepony's got to squeeze through the crevice to the end." "That somepony would be you." the younger employer stated, "That IS what you were hired for, is it not ?" TT glared at him for a moment. "Yes, it is. And being the most experienced with this sort of thing points to us going in as well." She thought for a bit. "If we're not back two hours from now, carefully search for us." she stated, before heading in. One hour forty two minutes later : "By the seventh Ring of Raggador, that was HORRIBLE !" Tongue Twister exclaimed as she wobbled into the camp, quite dirty and roughed up. "Did you find a way through ?" the elder employer asked. "Yes." she replied. "And fortunately, nopony else will have to go through that !" she exclaimed as she pulled out a piece of chalk. "Behold ! The Villain's Shortcut !" she stated before whirling once counterclockwise, drawing a perfect circle. Then repeating the action to make a smaller circle inside the previous one. Then drew a few arcane symbols at various points. The elder employer tilted his head at the circles and asked "A thaumaturgic circle ? Where did a pegasus like you learn something like that ?" "We're a linguist." TT replied, "We study ancient languages. Ancient folk wrote about a lot of subjects. Many different cultures had many different ways of using magic. And our dad is a curio merchant that likes to collect strange items and bizarre spells. So we grew up around oddball and forgotten magic." With that, she rummaged inside her vest and pulled out a large glowing crystal, and placed it on one of the symbols. Then reared back and crushed it into dust, causing the rings and symbols to glow. "That gem must have been worth a thousand bits !" the younger employer shrieked. "Fifteen hundred actually." "And you DESTROYED IT ?!" "Yep." "WHY ?!" "To activate the transport circles." Tongue Twister replied, "All types of magic have advantages and disadvantages. The First Magics were versatile : you could do virtually anything you could imagine, as long as the results could be sufficiently defined. The disadvantages are the magic is inefficient, slow, and rather expensive. For somepony that needs to use magic several times a day, it's not worth using that style of magic. But, for normal shlubs that only need a special effect once or twice a year at most, it is, well, adequate." "Was it truly worth the expense to avoid the crevices ?" "We'll let you decide that for yourself !" TT stated with a smug grin as she walked forward, hopped up into the circle while pulling her hooves together, then 'VOOP !'. She dropped through the ground. A few moments later, she and her employers were in a large cavern the size of a buckball field, dimly lit with illumination crystals. The only things in the room were a heavy ornate door in the middle of the wall, the twin of the transport circle TT drew, and two other larger transport circles at each side. "This is a staging area." TT stated as more workers vooped in, "Constructed so workers and equipment could get here without the massive hindrance and delay of the fissure path. Those two other circles were drawn a few millenia ago. Transport circles only work in pairs; one here, the other on the surface. Once work was done in here, all they'd have to do is destroy the matching circles topside, and there is no other way in except the hard way." Her employers looked about. "What were they protecting that needed this much effort ?" the elder inquired. "Not sure. The way to the ACTUAL vault is through those doors." TT replied. "Wait - the ACTUAL VAULT ?!" the younger shrieked, "Then what is all of what we've gone through ?" "The outer perimeter of defenses." TT replied, "The actual vault is the standard cut and dressed stone architecture common to the era." With that, the group opened the door and went inside. It was a small landing with a narrow ledge on this side of a large pool of bubbling, glowing green slime that was brighter than daylight. On the opposite side was another landing, with what looked like huge piles of golden coins and treasures on each side of a door. Above the door acting like a billboard was a dark blue rectangle with gold hieroglyphs, which couldn't be read due to the glare and sheer distance. "Manaluxia algae." TT noted. "Instead of using sunlight like normal plants, it uses ambient mana. The visible light is essentially just a waste product." "Is is dangerous ?" a worker asked, grimacing at the smell that just wafted from the pool. "Not exactly." TT replied, "The algae grows a very thick, slimy coating of mucus around itself. Swimming in it is even more unpleasant than you'd care to imagine. It is very tiring, and with the glow coming from all directions, it becomes hard to tell which way is up. You couldn't see more than a fraction of an inch before your eyes in there. The slime is also mildly digestive." she continued, "You'll develop a rash a few days after exposure. And most of your fur will weaken and fall out. It's not deadly, but very, VERY annoying to deal with. So try to NOT spend any time in the slime pool if you can help it." The younger employer looked confused for a moment. "You said the light it emits is just a waste product. But to get a glow this bright ..." "Yep. We're facing major league magical power." TT interrrupted.

"Well, any ideas about how to get past that seal ?" her younger employer inquired after TT had been investigating an instant photo of the seal for a few minutes. "Despite its immense size, it's just a cylinder lock." she replied, "The key used to fit in that triangular recess right there. But they broke the key off inside the lock ! To ensure any tomb robbers would have a difficult time proceeding further." Her elder employer mused for a bit. "You say it's just a cylinder lock ? Meaning that if the cylinder the lock fit inside could be turned, the lock would open ?" "Yes." she replied, "But getting enough leverage to turn the cylinder in such cramped space will be rather difficult !" "Well, if all that is required is simply turning a cylinder, we should have enough unicorns to do the job." the younger employer stated. "Ah. Good point." TT stated, before asking how far away they could stand and still do the job. Turned out that, with enough lighting, they could all see down to the alcove and just make out the lock. "Do you suspect yet another trap ?" the younger employer inquired as she was still snooping around that seal. "This would be the perfect place for one." TT replied as she retrieved a tool she bought from a dentist friend - a small mirror on a short, thin rod. Just the thing to look behind close or tight corners. "Yep. One more trap." she stated after a few more moments of checking. "There are four very large springs behind this seal. As soon as it's opened, the restraining bars retract, and the springs shove the seal violently forward, shoving anypony standing in the way either down the shaft, or crushing them into the opposite wall. So NOPONY MESS WITH THE LOCK UNTIL WE GET UP THERE !" Once safely on the surface, she stood back while the unicorns in the group focused on turning that cylinder. After a few moments of turning the cylinder with great difficulty, the trap activated, slamming the gigantic metal seal into the opposite wall with enough force to make the ponies topside wobble a bit. Tongue Twister was listening, waiting to hear the sound of the the seal falling into the pit; but all got quiet once the echoes died down. Looking down the shaft showed the seal was embedded in the wall. True, the stone was one of the softest stones, but it was still stone. She headed back down the shaft, and into the alcove where the warning seal used to be. There were four holes on the back wall where the springs powering the trap used to be, and on the ceiling a crack just big enough for a pony to fit inside. "That would be the way to the vault." TT stated, "In order to find the way in, you have to set off the main trap." She investigated a bit, and found the route was truly horrible - the shaft was just barely wide enough for a pony to squeeze through, without a millimeter to spare. No room to flap wings. Or even turn around. And since it meandered in slow curves, there was no way to see what was ahead, so no way to teleport. No way to tell where an unexpected sound came from. Or what made it. Or how badly echoes are altered - a gust of wind could sound like breathing right behind you. No way of knowing how far the shaft went; could be in there for minutes or hours. And with no light, it would be home to any number of spiders, scorpions, centipedes, snakes, or other vermin ready to scamper unseen over your hooves. Or drop on you. There don't need to be any traps in the tunnel, since the intruder's own instincts, paranoia and claustrophobia are the traps. The tunnel will give you the willies so badly that no one would willingly venture into it. "You going to have enough room to use a light crystal or a safety line in there ?" the elder employer asked, looking to Tongue Twister.

Two days later TT was writing down all the measurements she'd taken in her journal, and organizing the rolls of film she'd taken (to be developed later when she had the equipment and time to do it right. The other workers were pulling out buckets full of sand - the quarters were too tight to take more than a little at a time. It was a primitive measure to ensure ponies would have a really hard time reaching the vault proper, but an extremely cheap and effective one. She noted the laborer's safety line on the floor. Not tied to anything. TT sighed. She warned them there might be more traps, but no pony seemed to listen. Suddenly, the worker at the bottom of the shaft screamed, and his safely line began rushing down the hole ! TT just mananged to grab it with her teeth and brace herself for the slide - hooves don't get much purchase on polished stone floors. She managed to catch herself at the lip of the shaft and hold on for a few moments for help to arrive. "What happened ?" she asked the fortunate worker once he'd been pulled up. "I don't know !" he replied while still catching his breath from the fright, "I just relayed up another bucket of sand, then the floor fell away !" Tongue Twister turned on her lamp and tried to look down the shaft. She didn't see the bottom where it should be. So she rummaged through her satchel and pulled out a flash grenade. She centered it in the shaft, then let it fall as she began counting. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Four seconds. Five - then a flash of light. "Hmm. Distance roughs out to sixteen feet times seconds, squared. Sixteen times twenty five is four hundred feet. More or less." she stated, "The safety rope was only a hundred feet." "So ?" her younger employer asked. "It was another trap." TT replied, "A drop shaft at the bottom of the access shaft. Any worker not tied off would have fallen three hundred feet. We wonder if the bottom of the trap is just sand, stone, a pool of acid, or has metal spikes ..." "WHY do you want to know that ?!" "Morbid curiosity." TT replied as she scribbled a few more sentences into her journal. "I thought you were an expert at this sort of thing !" another laborer stated, "You OBVIOUSLY missed a trap !" Tongue Twister glared at him. "Did we ? Why do you think we insisted on everypony going down the shaft to dig wear a safety tether ? Floor collapses are very common, even if they weren't a purpose-built trap !" Her employers glanced at each other before the elder spoke up "Perhaps you should investigate the site further ? Ensure there are no other traps ?" "Well, that is what you hired us for. Be right back." she replied as she jogged outside, to return a few moments later with a large rectangular suitcase. She opened it. Inside were two crystal balls on a velvet pillow - one bigger than a pony's head, the other the size of an orange. Both had one half painted flat black. She took the smaller one in hoof and held it aloft, moving it around while watching the scene in the larger crystal. It was displaying what the smaller crystal 'saw'. "A remote viewing crystal set ?" the elder employer asked, "Didn't know there was such a thing." "Well, it's a moderately difficult spell, with exacting material components." TT replied, "It's a niche item, so not many ponies would know about it." she continued as she put on a pith helmet, then carefully stuck the smaller crystal into a clamp mounted on the helmet. She lit up an illumination crystal and carefully rappelled down the shaft. About a hundred feet down, she encountered a ring of stones where the floor used to be. There were deep alcoves opposite each other. The one to the back just had old ropes and the dusty remains of chisels and hammers partially buried in sand. The other alcove led to a pair of doors made from a pale greenish-gold metal. The doors were sealed with a pair of thick bars going through a gigantic disk. There was a symbol on the disk. Her employers yelled down to her, asking if she knew what that symbol was. She climbed back up to tell them. It was the sigil of the Unnamed God, Keeper of Secrets and Mysteries. The ultimate 'DO NOT ENTER !' sign. "There must be something really valuable down there !" her younger employer stated with a flicker of greed in his eyes, "Why else go through all this trouble ?" "To protect ponies from something dangerous." TT replied, "A vault can hold many things. Sometimes, it's riches. Other times, it's death and misery." "A vault, you say ?" he asked as he mused about riches beyond imagination. "Yes, a vault !" TT answered. "Most constructions like this are either tombs, temples, or vaults. Temples are places constructed for worship. As such, usually every square inch is decorated with iconography. There is no sign of that here. A tomb is the final resting place of some creature's body. As such, they are usually decorated with stories of the entombed one's life, prayers to the dead and so forth. There is no sign of that here. That leaves vault." she continued, "A place to keep very valuable or very dangerous things. Although at this point it's hard to tell which it is." The younger employer sighed. "Daring Doo never had to deal with stuff like this !" Both Tongue Twister and the older employer sighed. "I keep telling you that those Daring Doo stories aren't real !" the elder said. "Well, that's not entirely true." TT replied, "We've spent most of our career studying the languages of the Tenochtitlan basin. Many of the places in those books exist. So did many of the artifacts. We've seen them, but had the sense to leave them alone. Since, you know, they don't belong to us ! The point isn't that the stories are made up or overly exagerrated - it's that Daring Doo isn't an archaeologist. She's an adventurer. A completely different thing !"

She waved her hoof to dismiss the tulpa, and it dissolved back into mist. And for a very brief moment, it formed into something truly terrifying, but who would care about such things ? She looked down field, estimating the distance, and she continued to muse to herself. TT smiled as she set up the device to toss a pumpkin at the bullseye while quietly singing a song for the Nightmare Night season. She managed to get the angles right, but didn't quite know how strong the launch springs were - the pumpkin hit the target, but well below the bullseye.

"Perhaps." TT replied after a bit of thought, "But after that encounter with Hou Shuren, we may be too foul and toxic for even you." "As for a candy treat ..." she rummaged through her satchel to see if her dad packed any treats (instead of eating all of them). She found a large bag, looked inside, and grimaced. He'd packed animated gummy critters. The candy insects and spiders will animate and skitter away if out of the bag for more than a minute or so. Generally grabbing a piece of candy to take back with them when they returned. "We'll be getting to earning some candy now !" she stated while shoving that bag back into her satchel and backing towards the pumka pults.

TT mused a bit at Luna/'Nightmare Moon' 's question. "Wandering merchants do need to protect themselves from all sorts of things." she finally replied, "Not sure if we have anything for vampire ponies with us ..." She rummaged through her satchel and pulled out a few packages of salt and pepper that you find in at a fast food restaurant. "Well, salt is good against certain kinds of ghosts, but not vampires. We doubt this is sufficient even against a ghost sensitive to it.." she stated. She briefly examined a sphere the size of an apple, with a slide switch and numbers in a ring around its middle, but put it back in - pretty sure a grenade designed to release smoke that irritates the eyes and nose would really be the best thing to use in a friendly crowd. "Ah ! We got it !" she exclaimed before taking a few deep breaths and placing a hoof on her Klein bottle necklace then concentrating for a moment. Thick, dark smoke poured out of the odd bottle and formed a diffuse cloud around TT. Every once in a while, a tiny portion would condense into an eye, which would look around before dissolving back into mist. Occassionally a strand of mist would condense into a long mouth filled with shark-like teeth, only to vanish again. "Would this be sufficient defense against a mere vampire pony ?" Tongue Twister inquired smugly.

"For unique, one of a kind items, you pretty much have to take what you can get." TT replied with a shrug, "So 'no refunds' is sort of standard practice. If a customer notices something wrong with an item, dad will most likely give a discount. But once the sale is made, any and all problems are then the buyer's responsibility. As they say : Caveat Emptor - 'Let the buyer beware.' So far, nearly all of the creatures that bought an 'Alicorn Amulet' from dad are in prison. They tried something nefarious, believingthey were nigh invincible. They weren't. And so were readily caught and arrested. Apparently, the fact the amulet was a fake does not diminish the intent behind using such a thing very much." TT listened to the instructions of the pumka-pult. There were a row of bullseyes set up quite a few dozens of yards away. And nothing behind them - the last thing anypony would want is a stray pumpkin launch splattering against their house. Or going through a window and splattering all over their living room !

Upon seeing Luna, TT bowed her head for a moment to show respect to one of the ten most powerful beings in Equestria. Upon hearing Star Crusader's statement, TT's left ear twitched and her smile tightened a bit. "We can assure you that both this Deck of Calamity and this Alicorn Amulet are merely museum quality replicas." TT stated as she retrieved it for Nightmare Moon/Luna, "We can say that because we used to work in a museum, making replicas ! Dad has five more amulets just like that one in a drawer back in his shop. The profit margin on that item is, well, monstrous ! Put it in a case without a price tag and, within a month or two, a few minutes before closing time some pony in a hooded cloak points to it to buy it. It costs twenty bits in material to make half a dozen 'Alicorn Amulets', and dad would sell one for ten bits or so, but they never ask how much it costs ! They just toss a huge bag of bits on the counter right after dad says 'the amulet can grant great power, but such power comes at a terrible price.' And hey, if they want to toss a big bag of bits his way, he is certainly not going to stop them ... !"

TT listened as the teenager conversed with the 'minions' of Nightmare Moon. She seemed to know one of them. Upon Sehkmet's question, TT replied, "In all honesty, all that we could offer her dark majesty in this case are some antacid tablets. To ease her stomach from eating such a spicy meal.", indicating Moonlight Glitter. "I must say that the detail on your Sehkmet costume is top notch ! Museum quality ! You a member of Blueblood's entourage ?" she asked Star Crusader. But, if you're looking for esoteric or exotic items, we at Caveat Emptor's Discount Emporium specialize in exotic and esoteric items !" Tongue Twister announced melodramatically, "Strange and unusual gifts for the strange and unusual creatures in your life. Such as : " she states as she rummages through her satchel to find items to show off. A candle made from smoky blue wax, in an elaborate candleholder with an inscription in an unknown language around the rim "A Neighpalese Candle of Illumination." A heavy silver torc necklace with a sea green cabochon, "A Melodian Voice Tuner." "Geniune imitation glowpaz, in various shapes and sizes !" A golden disc with a grinning stallion and the word 'YES !' on one side, and a grumpy scowling unicorn's face and the word "NO !" on the other, "Dither's Disc of Divination." A coin-sized disc, made of darkest blue crystal, with the word 'Caput' on one side, and 'Cauda' on the other, "Rattail's Disc of the Heart's Revelation." A deck of playing cards, with the tattered pack displaying an unknown language, "The Deck of Calamity. Its cards bring random misfortune to all who dare deal from it. Perfect for folk who like to live dangerously. Or a thoughtful gift for ponies you really don't care for." A polished oval of smoky quartz, about the size of an apple, "The Wandering Eye gem." TT looks through it, and all can feel like someone is watching them from the balcony behind. (If anyone looks, they'll see an eyeball of black smoke looking at them. Which vanishes the moment TT stops looking through the gem.) A medallion made of grey metal, shaped like a broad pair of wings and a unicorn stallion's head and neck, a blood red gem in the center. "An Alicorn Amulet." she states with a roll of her eyes before dropping it back in the satchel. A twisted piece of wood with two prongs at the top (longer than the satchel it was pulled from). "Starlight's Staff of Sameness. Now, if this were an actual artifact, it could rip the cutie marks off even an alicorn's flanks, stripping them of all special powers, skills, and abilities. Those wares exotic enough for ya ?"

TT was outside Canterlot castle, doing some finishing touches to her costume. It was a rather short trip from her parent's home, where she'd spent a few days catching up with what had been going on - an unfortunate side effect of spending weeks (or MOONS) researching obscure languages in obscure places was becoming totally out of touch with current events. Now reasonably up to date, she was going to the Nightmare Night party as a Manechurian curio merchant. She hid her altered wings under a heavy, wide dark blue cape with silver embroidery that went in a wide spiral, looking like a turtle's shell. It was a minor magic item - a Second Chance Cloak, made by Manechurian folk magic. Held closed by a ying-yang clasp. Underneath the cloak, she'd put on a white vest with many visible pockets (and twice as many hidden ones). One of her mom's uniforms when she was a cardsharp in Las Pegasus. TT had even more trinkets and knicknacks in her satchel - her dad, being a curio merchant, added the stuffed full satchel as a last minute touch. Plus he had some stock he wanted to get rid of, so why not accomplish two tasks at the same time. Of the four necklaces she was wearing, two were minor magical items : a small Klein bottle enchanted to make any liquid inside it glow faintly, and a Fair Play amulet made by artisans from the Tenochtitlan basin. It was rather ugly - like the sculptor started carving a jaguar, then changed his mind halfway through to make a pony, and while trying to fix it accidentally carved a sort of frog-like thing that flowed into coiled up snake. Sort of. The other two were the first place medal of Ponyville's Running of the Leaves, and a luck amulet from a vendor in Saddle Arabia that she picked up on a STAR mission. Or believes she did. The fine silk Winged Slippers almost didn't clash with the rest of the outfit. But then again, a wandering merchant without a wagon would have to carry all their esoteric goods on their person, so the clutter made her more authentic. After all, even the largest backpack can only contain so much ! And it is much easier to display and sell your wares if they are within reach. *** "A rather large turnout." she noted to herself as she looked about, wondering if anypony she knew was here. She noted that at least two groups of ponies had coordinated their outfits : one group of three looked like the snowpony Olaf, Anna, and an Elsa (being portrayed by a grumpy unicorn stallion). It looked like the filly dressed as a snowpony had horns AND wings - must be the newest alicorn. Not sure of what; need to investigate later. The other group was a small pantheon of Neighgyptian deities in nigh perfect, museum quality costumes - the judge of the dead and protector of tombs Anubis, the lioness-headed Sekhmet, and the feline-headed Pasht ('Night Huntress with sharp eye and pointed claw'), a small colt dressed as a pharoah, and an actual sphinx ! Who cast a glorious illusion of a primordial deity. "Glad that's an illusion ..." TT mused to herself, "Primordial deities showing up is never a good thing. They're either evil, and want to destroy everything. Or they're good, and want to make the world better by destroying everything and rebuilding it from scratch." she recalled from the plots of many stories over the ages. "Those must be Prince Blueblood, his wife, and his other wife, and his son there with the sphinx." she figured once she recalled what her mother had quizzed her on earlier. The sphinx seemed to be watching over the little earth pony 'pharoah'. "Oh, right ! Blueblood became a dad recently ! Dang ! I really need to spend more time in Equestria if I needed mom to tell me that !" she noted as she wandered into the courtyard to see what sort of festivities had been set up.

Upon entering the opulent lobby, TT was faced down by an indescribable eldrich entity glowering down at her. "WE HAVE A LIBRARY CARD !" she shrieked at the hulking thing, rummaging around in her mane before pulling out the card for the Wanderer's Library and presenting it. The thing looked at her for many tense moments. "We had an unfortunate meeting with an unpleasant ancient sorceress who decided to use us for an experiment. That's why we're not like we used to be when we got the card." The thing looked at the card for many tense moments, before giving it back to her and shuffling off. TT had noticed that the Abomination in her head had been very quiet, for quite some time. "What IS this place ?!" it finally inquired. "The Wanderer's Library." TT replied to the voice in her head, "An extradimensional space that is the seed of ALL knowledge in ALL universes. It has a copy of every book ever written anywhere in the omniverse. Every book that will EVER be written. And some that never will be - due to a universe being erased. There are an infinite number of bookcases of unknowable length. There is no ceiling, for the shelves extend hundreds of miles high. It would take a lifetime to read even one shelf in one bookcase. If knowledge is power - BEHOLD INFINITE POWER !" she continued, laughing maniacally in her head. Abomination was actually boggled trying to imagine what could be learned here, before noticing that Tongue Twister (the host) was looking for something. "Ah ! The next issue of the Power Ponies graphic novel series is in !" she thought to herself as she grabbed at copy and sat down in one of the comfy beanbag chairs nestling in an alcove. "WHAT ?!?!" Abomination exclaimed, "You have access to INFINITE power, and you're wasting time reading a COMIC BOOK ?!?!" "It's a graphic novel." TT sniped back. "WHO CARES ?! Why aren't you utilizing this library to its maximum advantage ? You could become nigh omnipotent with the knowledge in here !" "Omnipotence is boring!" TT noted to it, "There are no worthy challenges to a being that can literally do anything by simply wishing to. Besides, I'd never know a moment's peace. Once other creatures realize what power I have, they'd either try to take it for themselves, or eliminate me to stop me from maybe, possibly using it against them someday. And the more power I'd need, the longer I'd have to research to get it. I figure a few decades might be enough. Assuming those in the outside world don't increase in power at an equal or greater rate. Besides, I am a Nothing." she continued, "Thanks to the curse of En P'e Ce, I am simply not allowed to do anything useful or important. Or anything at all really, if it would draw attention or glory away from a 'more important pony'. And ALL ponies are considered 'more important ponies' when I'm around." Abomination raged and cussed, for being essentially a manifestation of Shuren's dark magic inside TT's mind, she could do nothing else. An hour later, while putting the graphic novel back, she ran into an older, storm cloud gray mare with a blue and white mane and glasses - Tongue Twister ! And another older, storm cloud gray mare with a blue and white mane, wearing what looked like a silver body suit - Tongue Twister yet again ! Tongue Twister 1 noted the other two looked a bit older than her, and thus inquired "So, we surmise you two are from the futures ?" "Yeah, I'm from a time about twenty years ahead of you." TT 2 stated. "Your present is ancient history to me." the eldest TT 3 stated to TT 1, "I took the Nap Eternal, and woke up about a thousand years later. I think. This hydrargyrum is fascinating stuff !" she continued as the silver outfit she was wearing slithered about her for a moment. "Ohhhhhkay." TT 1 replied flatly, "So, why are you two here ? Trying to alter the timeline for our mutal benefits ?" All three laughed at that joke. "Nothing so grandiose." TT 2 stated, "Just trying to catch up on some light reading. Things are so chaotically wonderful in my time, I can hardly find a quiet place to study !" "How so ?" TT 1 inquired, while TT 3 looked confused. "Decades of peace and unity." TT 2 stated, "The lessons of Friendship took root everywhere !" "Really ? Not like that when I'm from." TT 3 groused, "The magic of friendship was nothing but a memory of old, nearly forgotten stories." "How bad was it ?" TT 1 asked. "Pretty bad. Unicorns lost most of their magic. And spent most of their time being gloomy, living among the trees for some reason ..." Both TT 1 and TT 2 snorted at that amusing image. "But it wasn't just the unicorns that lost their magic - pegasi lost the ability to fly !" TT 1 and TT 2 gasped in horror and took a step back. "What happened ?" TT 2 asked, "Everything was so wonderful in my time !" "I don't know." TT 3 shrugged, "Very few intact records remain. All that is known are just vague folk stories. Like how only the pegasus royal family could still fly. Turns out they were faking it for generations." TT 2 looked heartbroken, until TT 1 reminded her that TT 3 was from A future, not necessarily THEIR future. TT 2 rubbed her forehead. "Multiple universes and time shenanigans are SUCH headaches ! I'm - just going to go over there and browse some feel-good literature." she stated as she wandered off. TT 1 watched her leave and, once she was out of earshot, asked TT 3 why SHE was there. "I was looking up anything available on ancient Equestria - ie, YOUR time." TT 3 stated, "And I just ran into the middle copy of us by the Neighponese graphic novels. She remembered that you might be here too, so we went looking for you." TT 1 sighed. "I'm not even going to try to think about any of this." she stated as she walked off, "Be you later !" TT 3 smiled and waved back as she turned to the stacks. After a few hours of light hearted reading to calm down, Tongue Twister headed for the exit, but upon leaving, was overtaken by a brief sensation. It was like her body was being shifted, and everything tasted sort of harpsichord C3# purple for an instant. "Not this again !" she groused to herself. "What 'Again' ?" the Abomination asked - once he managed to pull himself back into shape. "That was a dimensional reset." TT stated, "Someone must have tweaked reality while we were in the library. We were outside the universe when it was changed. So now we no longer quite fit. That sensation was reality making us fit !" "How could you POSSIBLY know that ?!" "I read a lot of speculative fiction." TT stated calmly with a mental shrug, "As well as theoretical thaumaturgy. And anything else any pony hired me to translate into a different language over the years." "But what did you mean 'Again' ? You've gone through this before ?" "Hard to say." TT replied in her head, "Anyone inside a universe when its tweaked would have no way of ever knowing it happened. The only reason I noticed this time was because we weren't in the universe when it happened. And given the sheer number of powerful unicorns, alicorns, ancient and forgotten magics (and magicians), the odds that THIS was the only alteration is astronomical !" Tongue Twister sighed heavily. "Since there is no way of knowing how big a change has been made, NOW we have to check some records to make sure we still actually exist in this new universe ! As a pegasus mare Equinologist with a linguistic Talent. And still the daughter of Caveat Emptor and Shady Dealer - a unicorn stallion and a pegasus mare respectively. I may have to quite literally find myself !"

Site : edge of the Petite Desert, Saddle Arabia "Are you SURE you got your measures right, Miss Twister ?" the younger unicorn growled, " There is absolutely NOTHING out here by this giant outcropping of rock except this outcropping of rock !" "Perhaps the Saddle Arabians didn't want anyone to find whatever they built out here." TT replied, "We still don't know exactly what project they were working on. Could be a tomb for a king they wanted to forget. Or a vault to contain something too dangerous to be in the world. So hiding it makes sense." "Or it could be like the underground city of Derinkuyu" the elder chipped in. "Yes. We suppose it could." "Darrin Kuya who ?" "Derinkuyu was an ancient city built underground." TT began, "It was inhabited - more or less - until a few centuries ago. Had eighteen levels, and they estimated it could support around twenty THOUSAND ponies. And you'd have difficulty knowing they were even there, given that the city was intended to be a sanctuary from the constant battles back then. But an undertaking like that required two factors to be true : little to no rain, and volcanic tuff to dig into. Care to guess what this outcropping is made of ?" she finished with a smile. The younger unicorn looked at the small hill - it was nearly two stories tall. If it were hollowed out, several families could live in there in near complete secrecy. "Okay, I'll admit there COULD be something here." he replied snidely, "But if the ancient Saddle Arabians didn't want it to be found, how are we supposed to find it ?" "By looking and listening very carefully." TT replied as she started gently tapping on the hill, taking a few steps, then doing it again. After about fifteen minutes, she found a spot that sounded different. Careful examination revealed a seam - there was a hidden door big enough to let the average Saddle Arabian through. And given that the average Saddle Arabian was nearly twice an Equestrian pony's height, it was one really big door ! It took some digging, a lot of rope and quite a bit of pulling, but they managed to wrest the door free. Turned out it wasn't a door - the lack of hinges, a lock and a doorknob meant it was a plug meant to seal the entrance so no one could ever get inside. At the end of long squeeze, the group entered a large perfectly hemispherical chamber over one story high. The ceiling had stactites, and the floor was smooth tile set in a pattern of many concentric rings. "This - doesn't make any sense !" TT noted, "No one tiles a floor like this ! The difficulty in cutting all those curves for a site that no one is ever supposed to see makes no sense !" "Maybe there is something special about this site then." the younger unicorn stated as he wandered about inside, before stepping on a loose tile. "Oh ho ! A secret door perhaps ?" he stated, before powering up his aura to lift it. "WAIT ! DON'T MOVE THAT TILE !" TT yelled at him from outside the room, "It is most likely a trap !" "Oh ? How do you figure that ?" he asked in a condescending tone. "You see those stalactites on the ceiling ?" "Yes. So ?" "Stalactites only form in limestone caves, from the action of water over millions of years. This room was carved a few thousand years ago in VOLCANIC rock. In a desert." He thought about it a moment, then carefully backed out the chamber. Once safely outside, he used his telekinesis to lift the stone - it was indeed a hinged circular door that blended in perfectly with the floor pattern. But once lifted far enough, long spikes erupted from the centers of the other circles. Then the 'stalactites' broke free, crashing down to crush anyone not impaled on the spikes. Everypony sighed with relief, but TT could hear the faint sound of sand falling as flakes of some black substance fell from the ceiling. "It's not done yet !" she exclaimed as a few laborers tried to get in; they backed out just before large, heavy spears were spring propelled from the ceiling to imbed in the stone floor (seems the stalactites were crafted to hide the chambers). After a few tense minutes, she carefully went inside and looked around. "That should be the last of the traps in here." she stated while examining one of the spears. It was of the highest craftponyship, and not the least bit tarnished after a millenium or two. Or dented or scratched from embedding itself an inch deep in solid stone ! She noticed a slight, oily discoloration along the blade - the darn thing was poisoned too ! "Well, they sure didn't want anyone in here !" TT noted to her elder employer, "We're not even inside the vault yet, and the traps tried to kill us five times already !" "Wait ! FIVE times ?" the younger inquired, "I only counted three attempts ! The spikes from the floor. The ceiling dropping. The spring propelled spears. That's three !" "The spears were poisoned. That's four." "Not sure that counts as a seperate attempt. But what's attempt five ?" "We suspect those black flakes are what's left of an alchemical mixture after centuries of drying out. We think it was supposed to be a mist. Any pony have a glass and some water ?" One of the workers found the requested items, and TT used some tweezers to place a single flake into the water. The flake instantly dissolved, turning the water a pale slime green. Thinking a moment, she placed an apple she had in her pack on the ground, then carefully poured the mixture on it. The apple began to dissolve and melt into a puddle. "Is that - alchahest ?! The universal solvent ?" her elder employer asked. "Almost. Probably an incomplete formulation, meant to only dissolve organic materials. Like skin, bone, blood, hair, paper, etc. This formulation is very weak. Probably a millenium beyond its expiration date. All the traps would go off, then the victims would be dosed with alchahest and cleanly dissolved. No corpses to stink up the place and attract scavengers. Which might lead to the entrance being discovered. And no real clues left behind. This was a very neat and tidy death trap !" "Well, I'm SO glad you approve !" the younger employer snarked, "How can you be so casual about all this ?" "We've been doing this for years." TT replied with a shrug, "This is towards the higher end of security that we've seen though. On a scale of one to five, this is about a four. Most vaults rate about three, maybe three and a half. But, then again, this is just the entrance. We suspect there might be more and even worse traps inside the vault proper." she continued as she wrote all this down in her journal. "This might make a great dungeon for an O & O adventure ! But we'd really need to tone it down ..." "So where is the vault all these traps were protecting ?" the elder employer asked. "Probably down that shaft." TT replied as she pointed to the door the other employer had opened. The door was covering a shaft wide enough for two ponies to barely squeeze in - but it was completely filled with sand ! The younger employer groaned. "It's going to take days to dig all that sand out of there !" "At least." TT replied. "That is a standard blocking technique though. They worked from the inside out, blocking the way in as they went. Thus the entrance is the last way out, and the last thing to be blocked. Be thankful that it is just sand - some pyramids have their hallways blocked off with massive granite or basalt blocks three or more meters thick !"