A young violet unicorn stood at the edge of a tall cliff. Behind her loomed the dark wood, even more dangerous and frightening in the middle of the night. Before her was a rickety plank bridge, swaying ominously with the cool wind. On the other side of the bridge lay the ruins of a once-majestic castle, reduced now to mere walls for moss to grow.

The breeze swept through her mane, lifting it off of her neck and waving it like a triumphant banner. She took a step onto the bridge, steadying it with a hoof before breaking out into a run. The planks nearly disintegrated under her back hooves as her weight left them, but she galloped on, a determined smirk crossing her face. As she felt the bridge start to give way, she leaped into the air, landing on all four hooves on the solid stone walk of the castle's entryway. The bridge collapsed, bringing a cloud of dust through the empty walls of the ruin.

Trotting briskly around the moss-covered ground, she was almost disappointed to find the area empty. She strolled into the ante-chamber, or what was left of it. Two tall, black-stoned walls stood like stoic guards, ignoring her presence as she passed them. In the middle of the ante-chamber was a large statuesque piece, like an inverted chandelier. Seven spokes drew out of the center of the ornament, ending in empty, curved bowls.

The light that had roused her from her warm bed and the cozy comforts of her library had come from this very place, and she had a sickening feeling that whatever was here was up to no good. She illuminated her horn, a purple light glowing a small aura around her. It wasn't much light, but it would be enough to search.

She stopped, listened. There was a noise. A strange, quiet grinding, like metal gears. It was muffled as if far beneath her. As far as she knew – as far as she remembered from that panicked night – there was no basement to this castle. What would be making such a noise?

More importantly, who would be making it?

She gulped and pressed on through the ante-chamber, entering the throne room proper. Dim moonlight seeped in from a large hole in the far wall. Moth-eaten remnants of royal carpet led up to a small rise where two thrones had once sat. Thieves, probably, had made off with the royal seating, as the rise was now bare.

The young unicorn approached the rise, stepping lightly onto the center of it. The grinding was louder here, echoing from deep below the ruins, a hollow, miserable sound. The ancient stones, sitting dormant for hundreds of years without knowing the weight of a pony, began to shift under her hooves.

The ground broke.

In her panic, there wasn't time to teleport away.

She fell...


She awoke, and even before she opened her eyes she saw the light. At first, she thought maybe she had died, headed off to some eternal realm filled with the peaceful light of everlasting serenity. The pain that coursed through her back legs moments later told her she was still alive. Her throat was also on fire; she vaguely remembered screaming as she fell into the seemingly-endless pit. She struggled to clear her throat and found it useless to even attempt speech.

She opened her eyes, looking into a white, sterile light positioned directly above her. She tried to sit up and cried out in surprise as her horn struck something. With some difficulty, she shifted her front hooves up, pressing them against the glass close to her face. She looked from side to side, seeing only the pillowy edges of some sort of bed. She struggled to turn on her right side, succeeding only in shooting spears of pain through her back legs. Something grabbed them, pulled, as if they were ensnared in some wicked and painful vine.

She was not generally the type of pony to panic, knowing her thrashing would help nothing. Besides, the shifting of cloth as she moved told her that her restraints may only be clothes. From what she could see and feel, she was wearing a thick sort of jumpsuit – looking down, she saw it was orange – with some clothing underneath to avoid chafing. She stood still for a few moments, trying to see through the glass, trying to ascertain some hint of her current location. The pod that held her was very small and constricting, and the glass plate before her eyes was warped and blurry.

Drawing back a front hoof as far as she was able, she prepared to kick the pod open. There was a sudden hissing of air, and a sickly-sweet smell invaded her lungs. Giving in to panic, she started to struggle like a fish out of water, twisting her body in all directions. The pain in her back legs became too much to bear, or perhaps it was the gas. All the same, in a matter of moments, she was asleep.

-ERRRRRTZ-

The buzzer was loud enough to make the whole pod shudder. The unicorn's violet eyes shot open, and again she tried to sit up. Again, she was corrected by the glass in front of her. As best she could, she rubbed her smashed muzzle tenderly. Another buzzer sounded, louder than the first, and the lights around the pod dimmed. Sparks shot off from somewhere, making the unicorn flinch.

The pod slid open. At least, most of it did. It allowed enough space for her muzzle to fit through, then shifted sideways off its track, protesting with an array of sparks. She slid her hooves out and pushed, finagling the glass open and leaping out. She backed away from the pod until her flank hit a wall. No, a giant pane of glass. She was in a small room, walled off in glass panels, in the middle of a larger room. A narrow white wall stood at one side of the small room, as if serving as a door.

The larger room was grossly overgrown. Artificial lights from above illuminated a veritable greenhouse, rife with large vines and wide-leafed plants that sprung tenaciously from every corner. Smashed glass and broken walls littered the room, as though the plants themselves had had one massive party and completely wrecked the place in the process. Large chunks of the ceiling had come down, allowing her to look all the way up to the night sky. The crescent moon shone above her, far in the distance.

Before she could begin to wonder where she was, how she got to be there, and, strangely enough, any other memories at all, a third buzzer sounded. The lights dimmed momentarily, and a panel on the wall flipped over to reveal a large, black screen. A video started to play, though it froze and reverted to pixels every few seconds. A stylized black sun sat beside the words "Equestrian Science and Innovations." The sun began to spin, looking almost like a sawblade, as a calm and majestic voice spoke:

"Hello, and, again, welcome to the Equestrian Science Magic-aided Enrichment Center. We hope your brief stay in the relaxation chamber has been a pleasant one."

The logo faded, and a white alicorn with a flowing, multicolored mane appeared. Some twitch in the back of the unicorn's mind told her she should know this pony, but remembering her name felt like repeatedly hitting a brick wall. She scowled, squinting at the pony's image on the screen, as though that would magically make the memories appear.

"Although fun and learning are the primary goals of all enrichment center activities, some injuries may occur. For your own safety and the safety of others, please -"

There was a sharp warping sound that made her jump. The video on the screen was cut short, and for a few seconds the rustling of leaves and dust were the only motions in the room. The screen jumped to life again, this time showing the snarling face of a black alicorn. Her mane was like stardust, and it flickered like angry blue fire around the pony's face. Her eyes, large and aquamarine, stared down at the young unicorn for a moment before rolling back in annoyance.

"Ugh, curse these pre-recorded messages!" She then focused on the unicorn again. "Ah, hello there, Twilight Sparkle. How have you been? Enjoying your stay so far?"

The unicorn's ears went back, and she planted her hooves in a defensive position. Twilight Sparkle? Was that her name? Somehow, she was not too alarmed that her name had been forgotten. If that was her name, it was a good enough name, but she did not like hearing it from the bitter-cold voice of the pony on the monitor.

The black pony tilted her head. "What's the matter? Don't you know who I am?"

Twilight – she was now pretty sure that was her name – shook her head, still frowning. The black pony settled back, looking not only confused but slightly angry.

"Seriously?" Her tone was flat. "All that trouble, and you don't even know my name?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, shaking her head again.

"Do you remember Princess Celestia?"

Again, Twilight shook her head.

"Your friends? Applejack, Pinkie Pie?"

Another head shake, coupled with an annoyed look.

"Elements of Harmony? Magical studies? Anything ring a bell?"

Twilight merely blinked.

"You mean this whole time, I could've easily gassed you and sent you on your stupid, merry way? I don't believe this!" Her face left the screen, though she could be heard muttering angrily. A moment later she reappeared, scowling deeper than ever. "Okay, listen up. I'm only going to say this once!"

The unicorn nodded firmly, listening with pricked ears.

"First off, I am Nightmare GLaDOS – Galactic Lunar and Deferent Orbital Sovereign – and future ruler of Equestria. Er...you at least know what Equestria is, right?"

Twilight's face twisted in annoyance as she nodded.

"Well, at least there's that. Some time ago, Princess Celestia built this place as an extended laboratory where Friendship Magic and Science could be developed. I suppose she built it for you. She enlisted me as an aide of sorts, planning and developing tests for a device that mimics the Elements of Harmony. You don't remember what those are, so the less I say about them, the better. For me."

Twilight's ears went back. She frowned at the dark pony in the monitor.

"However, she abandoned this place when she saw you were doing so well with your own research. She let this place deteriorate. Look how pathetic my beautiful facility is now! Just look!" She raged for a moment, pacing around whatever room she occupied, appearing and vanishing from the monitor. Finally, she calmed again and faced Twilight with an odd smile. "But all that's in the past. I'm currently working on fixing the facility. Celestia gave us a little visit and, well, let's just say she won't be seeing the light of day for a long time."

Thanks to that gas, Twilight didn't remember who Celestia was. Something in the back of her mind told her that pony was very important, and something like a matronly respect rose within her by the mere mention of her name. Although she didn't remember details, something about Nightmare GLaDOS's threat made her mane bristle.

"The only variable was you. I couldn't risk you and your buddies coming after me again. So I shot a light from the facility, knowing you would come and investigate. Now that you're trapped down here, nothing will stop me from flooding all of Equestria with deadly neurotoxin!"

Twilight gasped in horror. Nightmare GLaDOS froze, a sudden look of confusion on her face.

"Wait, did I say 'deadly neurotoxin'? I meant 'non-deadly neurotransmitters'. I don't know why I keep saying 'neurotoxin'. Weird. But with the neurotransmitters, I shall force every pony to bow to me, and I shall take my rightful place as ruler of all Equestria! As soon as I figure out how to get out of this facility, no pony will stand in my way!"

She cackled, escalating into a bellowing, evil laugh. Twilight rolled her eyes as the laughter continued, fading eventually into evil chuckles. Another look of confusion switched on GLaDOS's face.

"Okay, how do I turn these cameras off? Is it this-"

As the monitor switched off, Twilight gave it a stare of disbelief before turning her attention to the door panel in front of her. She took a step toward it and almost fell flat on her face. Something was wrong with her back legs, and for a moment she remembered the intense pain from before. They didn't hurt now, though. What could be wrong?

Turning, she saw that some sort of strange devices had been placed around her back legs. They looked like high boots, but there was a long curved metal piece at the end that made her flank rise up, like a high-heeled shoe. She cautiously lifted her leg up and placed it back down, noticing that her back hoof never completely touched the ground. Curious. She took a cautious step, uncomfortably aware of the way her back end waddled as she moved forward. Soon, she discovered that shifting her weight to her back legs made it a lot easier to walk.

Just as she was getting the gist of moving around, the fresh, spring-like voice of the white alicorn spoke again: "The friendship portal will open in three...two..."

There was a quiet shifting noise. On the blank panel in front of her, Twilight saw a wide oval of light appear. The center was bright white, but around the edges it was a mixture of green, blue, and purple. Another shifting noise to her right revealed another oval, this one tinged in red, orange, and yellow. The center of this one was not white, however.

Turning her attention to the first oval, confused beyond all belief, Twilight found herself staring at her own flank. She blinked and stepped back. The Twilight through the oval stepped back, too. She looked to the red, orange, and yellow oval – the 'warm' colored one – and was able to see the pod and some bits of the smaller room. Wheels started to turn in her brain, as if reclaiming some forgotten memory. She took a leap through the 'cool' oval in front of her, finding herself in the larger room, stuck in the middle of some vines but otherwise free of the confines of the glass prison.

"Took you long enough," snorted the vile voice of Nightmare GLaDOS through a loudspeaker. "I hope you don't plan on taking this much time trying to get to me. Because I do have pressing engagements, you know."

Twilight simply rolled her eyes, moving quickly around the room, trotting up one of the fallen ceiling panels, and slipping through an opening in the dilapidated wall.

After narrowly dodging the collapse of a fragile, fallen wall panel, she made her way into the adjacent room. Wall panels, all smashed and cracked almost beyond repair, were stuck into the soft, mucky ground in a circle, forming a kind of arena. As Twilight stepped through them, she realized that they were decorated with elaborate paintings.

One showed two ponies, both alicorns. The light one had a sun behind her, facing away from the other with a look of sorrow on her face. This must have been Princess Celestia! Twilight immediately put the name with the friendly face she'd first viewed on the monitor. The dark one – Twilight recognized her as Nightmare GLaDOS – had a crescent moon behind her, also facing away but looking backward, as though eager to see the other's reaction.

Another painting showed several ponies of different races and colors. They stood in a line, eyes closed as if concentrating. The pony in the middle, a unicorn, had her eyes wide open. There was a small splash of white in her eyes, as though they sparkled.

Twilight blinked. The wide-eyed unicorn in the middle looked familiar. Very familiar. So did the rest of those ponies. But her addled brain could neither put a name to them nor an identity to herself.

A third painting showed Nightmare GLaDOS, tall and lean, with wild, dragon-like eyes. Something about her nasty smirk made Twilight's mane stand up all over again. The painting showed the alicorn crushing the sun under one hoof while holding a crescent moon above her head.

A fourth painting depicted a small baby dragon, gray and pink in color. Next to it was written, in smudged, scribbled hoofwriting: "Don't leave him behind."

The last painting was very faded and old. It showed a strange black-and-white object strapped to the front leg of a colorless pony. The pony held its leg up, showing a large hole at the tip of the object. A rainbow poured out of it, disappearing off the mural's edge into oblivion. Something was stenciled underneath: a black sun-like circle with the words "Equestrian Science Elemental Harmony Refraction Device."

Some tiles, cracked, worn, and edged by stubborn tufts of grass, sat on the soft, muddy earth in the middle of the arena. There was a thin wire pedestal sticking up from the middle, but it held nothing. It looked important, though. Twilight wondered what had been there.

Past the murals was another room, this one wide and empty, save for the bare skeletons of steel scaffolding, broken panels, and various trash. The floor here had more mud-sunk tiles, but as the light did not reach here as easily, there were no plants. Twilight slogged through the muck to the door on the other side of the room. She almost made it through until something caught her eye.

It was a large box, laying on its side on a small stack of broken floor tiles. Twilight could see the words "Elemental Harmony Refraction Device" in faded, waterworn letters. As she came closer, she saw the object inside and brought it out with her unicorn telekinesis. It was the black-and-white object she'd just seen in the mural.

Keeping the device afloat, she scanned the box over for any instructions. It was important, she knew, to read the directions for everything. Most of the box, however, was worn or soaked in water, fading the lettering to obscurity. The only thing she found was a list of warnings and the happy, smiling face of Princess Celestia. The smile filled her heart with warmth, though she still could not remember why this pony was important to her. She tried to shake off the feeling that she should be more worried about her broken memories as she read through the list of warnings:

Equestrian Science thanks you for choosing the Elemental Harmony Refraction Device!

WARNING:

*Do not look directly into the end of the device.

*Do not immerse the device in water, even partially.

*Do NOT look directly into the end of the device.

*Do not aim at other ponies or other sentient beings.

*DO NOT look directly into the end of the device!

*Experiencing nausea while going through your first thousand portals is normal. If you feel your internal organs dissolve after contact with a portal, contact our support center.

*SERIOUSLY, DON'T LOOK INTO THE DEVICE.

*Okay, don't say we didn't warn you.

Twilight stared at the box, her mouth twisting in confusion. She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and looked again at the strange device. It was the size of her foreleg, with white shielding on the sides facing outward. At the end was a large hole covered by some sort of glass, so Twilight could easily walk while wearing the device. There were straps on the side, obviously meant to attach to a foreleg, just as the mural had described. Twilight slipped it on, sliding it up until she felt the end of the device around her hoof. She could feel – well, sense more than feel – two buttons on either side, which could be manipulated by flexing the muscles in her forearm. It barely seemed sensible, but Twilight felt it was correct. The device started up, and a small blur of a rainbow appeared at the end of the device.

Twilight was almost tempted to look into it. Almost.

She hefted the device up, pointing it at a nearby wall. Flexing her muscle, she triggered the button, and a beam of light shot out of the device with a sharp recoil that almost sent her backwards. Fighting off her initial shock, she saw a white-centered oval with blue, green, and purple around the edges. She pointed the device at another wall and fired the other button. As she expected, the red, orange, and yellow oval appeared, and she could now see across the room through both portals.

She looked at the weird gun as a smile spread across her face.

This was going to be interesting.