Unsure of which book to pick, you decide to ask if you can borrow all three.
Spike: “You can. That’s definitely the most use these books have seen yet. I’ll just note down your name…?”
You nod, and introduce yourself to Spike.
Spike: “Trail…bla…zer… Hoof…ing…ton. All done!”
You get “Chronicles of the Nine”, “The Emporium”, and “Yggdrasil”!
You thank Spike, and put the books away in your sidereal bag.
Spike: “No problem. Don’t forget to bring them back when you’re done; these are part of Twilight’s private collection, after all. I’ll send a reminder if we don’t hear from you in a month.”
You nod, and with that taken care of, you bid farewell to the dragon.
Spike: “Alright, see you around!”
After retracing your steps back to the edge of the Everfree Forest, you follow Twilight Sparkle’s directions eastward and across a wooden rope bridge, then make a right onto a natural path that leads deeper into the forest.
As you walk down the path to the south, you notice that blue flowers become increasingly common among the underbrush. After a few minutes, you arrive at a field of poison joke.
Apple Basket: “I reckon these are the flowers Princess Twilight Sparkle warned us about?”
Moonflower: “Yuh uh! I usually jus’ fly over ’em, but how are we gonna get around this together?”
At first glance, traversing the field without touching any of the flowers might be possible — and the fastest way forward —, but also nothing short of a challenge.
To the east is gullied terrain. The muddy ditches are lined with roots and cluttered with fallen trees.
To the west is a river. You can hear the distant rush of shallow rapids from here.