Down a few halls and up one flight of stairs, Spike only stops once to check inside a room, but quickly exits and continues on. He eventually leads you and the group into an empty room and rushes over to a gray tarp covering a massive form. Without any flair, he pulls the tarp off to reveal a giant machine! It’s got tubes! And cylinders! And beams! And-and little… stick thingies with circles! It’s all bursting with purple/pink magic! And at the center of it all is… A portal?! This must be it!

Spike is beside himself, “I can’t believe this! It’s been running this whole time! There’s the book up there!“ He points to a stand at the top holding a brown book with a picture of a sun on it- Princess Celestia’s cutie mark! Spike spins around to face you, “You said she’s been gone three days?!“ He grabs hold of his face and drags his cheeks down, “Oh, man! If Twilight found out about this she’d be furious!“ Spike closes his eyes and begins pacing back and forth doing a mock impersonation of Twilight’s voice, “Don’t you understand the repercussions of blah blah blah?! Alternate dimensions are not a playground for yakkity yak yak! The very idea of-“ He stops abruptly and opens his eyes to the group of ponies staring at him.

Spike exhales slowly, seeming to have calmed down, “Look. Twilight’s been under a lot of stress lately, and there’s no doubt this would be the straw that breaks the mare’s back. You’ve got to get in there, find the two ponies, and get them home! I’ll try to cover for you as long as I can, but eventually Twilight is going to figure this out! She’s already been freaking over the book being missing!” You and the others nod slowly in understanding, but Spike jumps with impatience and points to the portal, “Don’t just stand there! Go!“

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon break into a sprint and vanish into the portal first, with Blossomforth right behind them. You hesitate for just a moment, then run toward the machine. The closer you get, the more blinding the swirling, pink light becomes. Eventually you’re forced to close your eyes. You take two gallops more and jump.

But your feet never touch the ground.