The Librarian's Torch Retrospective! · 6:11pm Feb 4th, 2019
“Hey, Twi?”
“What is it, Moondancer?”
“The Mirror is on the fritz again.”
“What? What happened?”
“Oh, after Sunset went home, I glanced at it heading to the West Library… and it showed me something… strange.”
“What kind of strange?”
“Like, you without wings, a different cutie mark, me looking different and Sunset was there…”
“Oh, right. That world.”
“Did I see…?”
“Yeah.”
“Am I the only one who thought it was weird we got together here just after that happened in that world?”
“I’m… trying not to think about it. I suggest you do the same.”
“If you say so…”
Welcome to the Blog/Retrospective/Thingy on The Librarian's Torch!
Make sure to read the story first as this contains a ton of spoilers!
Usually, when I do retrospectives, they’re a massive in-depth analysis of my writing process, story development, character motives and more. Well, we’ve got a story here that’s less than 9,000 words, so I’m not going to do that today.
I am going to tell you why I wrote this story though. And it’s actually pretty simple: I needed to be creative.
When I came back to writing after The Quiet War, it took me a long time to get back into the flow of things (I’m still having a lot of trouble, actually). But one of the things I wanted to do before I really launched into my next few stories was to finish my outstanding stories. Namely, I had two stories set in the Unity universe (That’s the one with Bee in it, from Stars Above). Both of them were more or less ready, I was just dragging my feet.
But the next big project I needed to tackle was a rewrite of Tea. This, of course, wasn’t very appealing to me, because it’s huge. I could go back to Each Night I Dream of Home, but I realized that thing needs a freaking outline before I go any further on it. I have a handful of other first drafts, too.
I was surrounded by stories that needed to be edited. And, to me, editing is a very difficult process as opposed to writing. And it doesn’t often let me be creative.
So I broke out of all of that, fled to Scrivener and BOOM decided to whip up a new piece off the top of my head from my three favorite ponies, Twi, Moonie and Sunny. This should come as no surprise to anyone keeping up in Wavelengths (yes, that’s the universe Moonie saw into through the mirror above).
I’ll also mention it’s… ironic I ended up doing a TwiDancer story considering where things currently stand in Wavelengths after the events of A Study on Chaos Theory. Heh. That… honestly didn’t occur to me.
So, I’ve been wracking my brain why I came up with this. Finally figured it out. I came up with a few ideas for silly wacky comedies or adventures… then realized I couldn’t write them. They weren’t interesting to me. I needed something with more substance.
Hence, this. I only had the loosest of ideas. I knew I wanted Twilight freaking out for a few different reasons (namely because I was freaking out for a whole lot of reasons). I wanted an older and much more confident Moondancer. Sunset showing up is Sunset being Sunset.
So, why Sunset and not somepony else? Well, obviously I adore Sunset and I love writing her. But beyond that, she felt right for the scene. More than anything though? Twilight makes a comment how she’s been so close with her other friends for so long that she can practically already hear what they’re going to say. Some of you have friends who might be like that. Twilight never said they were wrong, only that she knew. And… she didn’t want to listen.
So, the rest of the Mane 6 are out, since Twi’s actively avoiding them because she doesn’t want to fess up to her current issues. I could have used Starlight, but she would have seen the signs as well and Twilight wasn’t willing to talk about it with her.
So, we had one last character we could pull in. Well, like I said, it could have been Celestia, but that would have been so much worse, as we all know.
Let’s face it folks: just because you’re older doesn’t mean you’re more mature.
...stop looking at me like that.
...seriously, stop it.
...stop it!
...well, fine, I’m just going to go hide in a box over there and write the rest of this where you can stop judging me with your creep invisible eyes that aren’t actually looking at me but really are looking at me and I’M GOING TO MY BOX.
Okay, I think I’ve got one more thing this time before we get to the special thing you’re all waiting for (assuming you haven’t already skipped down there and read it already). And that’s, of course, La Da Dee.
For those of you who don’t know, La Da Dee, is—in my eyes—the best PMV (Pony Music Video) ever made. Not only do we get the animation genius of TheeLinker, but we also get the adorably fluffy earred artwork of Heir-of-Rick, combined into one of the most touching stories I’ve ever seen come out of this fandom.
I know I wasn’t the only one who was utterly shocked at the destruction of the Golden Oaks Library. And while I appreciate that the show staff took the time to show the emotional impact the destruction of her home had on Twilight, I always liked what La Da Dee did. The chandelier was beautiful, especially with it containing the memory gems. But the introduction of a replacement Golden Oaks Library… that seemed far more fitting.
The fact that her friends did all of this without Twilight ever knowing? That… well, even thinking about Twilight staring out at the new spot where the new Shining Oaks Library would one day stand, with nothing but a sign, a sapling and fireflies…
Just thinking about that makes me tear up.
Since La Da Dee, the Shining Oaks Library has always been in my story lore for any story set in “close canon” to the show. For those who read Spectrum of Grey, there was a brief mention of the library in the first chapter. In fact, when La Da Dee first came out, I wanted to do a story treatment on it, but in the end, I decided I couldn’t do it justice.
Well, this time around, I think I did, just not in the same way I would have done it in the past.
La Da Dee is completely canon for this story, in case you didn’t know. I played a little with the timeline, having it occur only a short time after the girls set up the memory chandelier over the Map. It seemed about the right thing to do, considering the events of the PMV, more or less. Yes, I know La Da Dee is showing a lot of burned books, making it seem like it happened right after the destruction of the Golden Oaks Library, but I needed a bit of leeway there.
Originally, I was going to have the tree much more along than we see in the cover, but ironically the cover changed the look of the tree. I wanted something more poignant, and to see the tree, Moonie and Twi, the tree needed to be smaller than them. So it went from forty feet down to just a little taller than we see at the end of La Da Dee. That being said, Twi did make the comment that in a few months, the magic used to create library trees would kick in and it would grow very rapidly, yet still wouldn’t be ready for another ten years or so.
Finally, if you didn’t know, there are TWO versions of the La Da Dee PMV. I always loved the first and was shocked and thrilled to see them come out with their finale. A major computer crash corrupted a lot of the data, from what I understand.
So, if for some reason, you haven’t seen La Da Dee, here they are. The one direct below is the original La Da Dee, set a very long time ago, of course (and while I don’t remember what the final message of that PMV was, I do know it wasn’t Twilight thinking about her friends after they were all dead since she was an immortal alicorn—and yes, I know that’s an argued point).
The second is the completed masterpiece! (Again, because it’s just that good).
Finally, take a moment to read this, the Epilogue to La Da Dee. I worked a tiny portion of this content into the story.
At long last, time to wrap this up with what you’ve all been waiting for, the Deleted Chapter!
But first, why there’s a deleted chapter. At first, when my editors told me I needed to cut this chapter, I resisted. However, I got pretty overwhelming responses. Not a single person I asked told me to keep it as part of the story. So, I finally decided to go in and read it all over again… and I got it.
As you’ll see in a minute, the original ending of The Librarian’s Torch was comedy. It gets a little bit silly. While I’m sure I could have ended the story right before the Mane 6 show up, I wanted them to finally join forces and go after Twi, to intentionally get some answers out of her. Heck, we’ve seen them all do it before for almost every character!
Sunset and Starlight… well, they could have worked. I know they sound a little similar, but what you’re seeing now isn’t something that went through the same amount of rewriting and editing as the rest of the story, so it’s a little bit rough. Most stuff on the cutting room floor is.
If you have other questions about it, please feel free to ask. If you don’t like it, don’t worry about it, because it’s not actually part of the story! If you love it, then you’re very welcome and I’m delighted you got to see it despite being cut! (Yeah, I’m sneaky like that).
With that, I shall bid you all farewell! I hope you enjoyed this and my return to FimFiction after such a long time away (you know, in a fiction capacity).
Now, on with the show!
Epilogue: Citations
“So… um… Do you think they’re still alive?”
“I hope so. I’d make a great princess, but running a school is definitely not my idea of a good time. Plus the commute would be a pain.”
“I could maybe handle the school. Still, it would be nice to get some help. Didn’t you just recently graduate college on the other side?”
“Don’t remind me. You do not want to hear about the other Twilight’s attempts at building a book golem when she couldn’t carry all of her books.”
“Actually, that sounds amazing. What happened? Give me all the details!”
“Okay, yeah, it was pretty sweet. It all starts when she discovered the Starswirl Decimal System from a book I borrowed and—”
“For the love of Celestia, we’re awake!”
“Drat.”
“It’s okay, I’ll tell you the story another time. Trust me. You’ll love it.”
Twilight lifted her head and blinked when all she saw was parchment. “What the…”
Giggles came from somewhere beyond the parchment. Giggles that were going to get whacked with a book if they didn’t cease immediately, which she had no trouble informing said giggles if she could find her way out.
Finally, somepony beyond the parchment had mercy on her and lifted it in their magic. Twilight’s eyes were too blurry to figure out who it was, especially when twin smirks greeted her on the other side of the circulation desk.
“Sunset. Starlight.” Twilight yawned and tried to stretch… only to come up short when she realized there was another pony on the sofa she’d teleported here last night. Specifically one in a somewhat awkward position for her. It might have been embarrassing… if she were embarrassed. But she wasn’t. So there.
“Can I help you?” Twilight asked dryly—an effect somewhat ruined by a second yawn.
“We were just curious how things went with Moondancer,” Starlight asked in an annoyingly-innocent voice.
“Seems only fair,” Sunset added and a wink. “We did work pretty hard to get you to chill out long enough to get your act together, Twi.”
“Wasn’t I going to fire you, Starlight?” Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes,
“Sunset told you you couldn’t!” Starlight said with a faint cough of panic.
“I did,” Sunset nodded. “I said it. Therefore, it’s completely true.”
“This is what I get for not coming along as a chaperone on your girl’s night with Trixie last week,” Twilight moaned.
Moondancer, who had been nestled against Twilight’s side, finally lifted her head. Her mane bent in some rather odd angles. Her glasses were completely skewed. She’d removed topknot during the night—the scrunchie still lying on the table on top the latest edition of the Starswirl Decimal System—but she still looked as pretty as she had when Celestia had lowered the sun.
Thinking that, of course, brought up other thoughts. Namely, the moment they’d had their first proper kiss in front of the Future Site of the Shining Oaks Library.
A mild blush may have occurred after recalling that.
“Good morning,” Moondancer murmured muzzily and gave her a soft nuzzle against her cheek, one which Twilight couldn’t help but return.
“So?” Sunset asked as if nothing had just happened. “How’d it go?”
Twilight gave Sunset a death glare. It slid right off of her—just as Twilight suspected it might. Sunset enjoyed teasing her far too much. Then again, that could easily be in revenge for the week-long ribbing she’d given Sunset after hearing at Sunset and Twilight’s counterpart’s engagement two months ago.
“Don’t glare at me like that!” Sunset huffed. “I wasn’t even asking you!”
Her eyes slid to Moondancer, who had finally gotten her glasses straight and now wore a brilliant blush which did nothing to cover the large smile on her lips.
“We talked,” Moondancer replied. “And I think she said what she needed to say.”
She blushed a little harder and this time, Twilight joined her.
Starlight sat back on her haunches and clapped her hooves together with glee.
“Oh good,” Starlight sighed. “You have no idea how hard she’s been to deal with here. She’s worn another rut in her office at the School, most of it while mumbling your name!”
“Well, I… did ask for help,” Moondancer said with a shrug. “I think you did it.”
“Even if she did need reinforcements.”
“WHAT?!” Twilight cried, her wings flaring outward and sending Moondancer’s glasses soaring through the air.
“Ow!” Moondancer cried, holding her hooves to her nose.
Twilight, instantly mortified, went to catch the still-flying glasses, but Sunset beat her to the punch, snagged them in her magic and returned them to Moondancer’s muzzle.
“Uh… I-I’m sorry…” Twilight stammered. “T-that’s not how it was… but…”
Finally, Moondancer turned, regarded her for a moment, and started laughing. Sunset and Starlight joined in moments later. It took Twilight almost a full minute before she allowed a vague chuckle to escape.
“You all planned this, together?” Twilight finally surmised with an exhausted sigh. She still sort of wanted to hide, but that felt like it would be too much work right now. Anyway, she was comfortable with Moondancer beside her.
“Sunset was a last-minute addition,” Starlight explained. “Since you were avoiding me. I needed somepony I knew who could actually get through to you besides the girls—who, I should add, are pretty mad you’ve been avoiding them for the last week.”
“If you’re going to blame somepony,” Moondancer continued before things could get too off-topic. “Blame me.”
“Why?” Twilight cocked her head, thoroughly confused. “Why not just do it yourself?”
“Twilight, you couldn’t be in the same room as me for more than five minutes after I arrived,” Moondancer said flatly, though there was a twinkle in her eye.
“Okay, fine.” Twilight mumbled, ears going flat and wings going down.
Moondancer poked her and elicited a small squeak of surprise.
“When you started asking for my help researching library regulations, I figured out pretty quickly what you were doing. And that it probably involved me. Especially when you invited me on the trips.” Moondancer tried to straighten her hair with magic, but it didn’t do much. “But… even though I wanted to say yes, I knew I couldn’t live in your castle, run your library, be there every day with… well, how I’ve always felt.”
“Moondancer, I—”
Moondancer held up a hoof—not unlike what Twilight had tried to do yesterday. Twilight smiled warmly and nodded, letting her new… marefriend? speak.
“But you were always in a rush every time we met and… yes, I could have just blurted it out, but I didn’t want to do that. During all of that… I ended up saying yes anyway when I should have forced myself to wait. So I wrote to a few of your friends about being worried you were stressed out. Everypony responded, of course, but Starlight’s the one who helped me figure it out. Between the two of us… we had a good idea what you’d do yesterday.”
“And so Starlight tried the easy way,” Twilight continued with a glance at the smiling Starlight. “But when that didn’t work…”
Sunset reared up and struck a vaguely-heroic pose. “Sunset Shimmer to the rescue!”
“You’re never going to let me live this down, are you, Sunset?”
“Not in a million years.”
“Yeah,” Twilight gave her a flat look. “That’s what I thought.”
“I didn’t want you secretly resenting me for taking over your library,” Moondancer continued, at least looking a little sheepish. “And I didn’t want to resent you because I was too scared to risk our friendship over something that might be one-sided.”
Moondancer pressed a hoof against Twilight’s chest.
“You’re too important to me to let that happen.”
“And you’re too important to the both of us to let that happen either,” Starlight said.
Sunset just smiled. No smirk or grin, just an honest, real smile. A rare thing from her.
Twilight couldn’t contain the tears and she didn’t even try. With a flash of magic, she teleported both Moondancer and herself out from behind the circulation desk and wrapped Sunset and Starlight into tight hug. Nopony protested.
They managed to last like that for a good two minutes before Twilight heard the thing she’d been dreading since all of this started: the angry flapping of wings. The doors to the library were flung open by the furious kick of a flying pegasus.
“For the record, I tried to warn you!” Starlight said quickly.
“Warn me of… oh.” Twilight’s everything drooped when she saw who stood in the doorway.
“That’s it! No more!”
Rainbow Dash flew above the doorway to the library. Fluttershy flew a few feet behind her, looking very awkward—though slightly miffed as well. Rarity and Applejack stood in the doorway itself, neither looking particularly happy. Applejack looked even less happy, as there was a postcard with Pinkie’s face on it taped to her hat.
“Twilight, you’ve been dodging us for weeks!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “And we’re done waiting!”
“Twilight, dearest,” Rarity sniffed. “I know you often need your space, but we know you are hurting and we refuse to let you wallow in misery without all of your friends by your side!”
“And before you ask about the postcard,” Applejack said, waving at her hat. “Pinkie somehow got wind of this and she’s a mite mad for hiding from your friends. Just like me.”
“Um,” Fluttershy shrugged awkwardly. “Me, too. Everything they said.”
The four ponies locked in a hug slowly slid apart, though Moondancer stayed close to Twilight’s side.
“You know, Starlight…” Sunset said, her voice far too loud. “I’m pretty hungry. You?”
“That’s a great idea. Breakfast?” Starlight replied in the same voice. “Breakfast is a good time to talk about things.”
“My thoughts exactly!” Sunset replied. “Why don’t we all go get breakfast going—all of us—and we’ll wait for Twilight and Moondancer to come on down for a little announcement.”
Both Sunset and Starlight gave the other four ponies a pointed stare.
“And if she doesn’t join us?” Rainbow demanded.
“Then all of us go get her.” Sunset said. The level of malicious glee in her voice was wholly inappropriate. “By any means necessary.”
“Fine!” Rainbow said, then shot another glare at Twilight. “But she’d better be there in ten minutes or less!”
With that, Twilight’s four friends departed—though each giving their own version of a suspicious glance Twilight’s way. A moment later, Sunset and Starlight bumped hooves, laughed and trotted off.
“Don’t make liars out of us!” Sunset called as they left the room.
Three minutes passed before either Twilight or Moondancer said anything.
“Should I cite them for being too loud?” Moondancer asked.
“Let them off with a warning this time,” Twilight said. “But only this one time.”
Moondancer nodded.
Twilight nodded back.
Then they both burst out laughing—far too loudly for the Castle of Friendship’s new public library. A few minutes later, the two trotted after their friends, more than eager to give them the news.
And as Twilight left the Central Library of the Castle of Friendship, for the first time, she left it without any regret at all.
Yeah, best not delve too deep into that particular bit of cross-temporal causality. Though if this Sunset could talk to that Sunset, thing's might go a little more smoothly.
In any case, I agree with your editors. This is not the sort of story that needs a punchline. Still, thanks for sharing the cut chapter. It was a lot of fun, just not what the story needed.
This could easily get put back in. Wouldn't mind one bit.
Good to see you back
It works either way. The ending now is far deeper but there is nothing wrong with a pallet cleansing epilogue. They both have their place though I think I like offering it as a deleted chapter solution best. It really allows the best of both worlds.
In total agreement with my brother Silver. This is the best of both worlds. This story has made both our days oh so joyful. Thank you so much.
5007903
Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, that Sunset doesn't get extradimensional phone a friend until she's at least level 40.
5008042
Thank you! This is definitely the result. I really wanted to show off that chapter, since it was 2,000 words, but if I put it in the story at all, (even with a DELETED SCENE preface), people wouldn't necessarily see that. So, by putting it here, we get to enjoy both an adorable romantic tale and then a bunch of silliness with their friends!
5008057
Yeah, I wouldn't even have the first idea how that would even work!
5008200
But... but... but... well you want a crossover or more Wavelengths because they're kinda exclusive! Yeah! Right! That!
5008085
Thank you so much. I know I keep saying that, but while I might be able to spin stories, spinning comments about people saying stuff like this gets me all flustered and awkward. So thank you for taking the comment to leave the comments. They always boost me higher!
Eh, don’t worry. I’ve got got thirty years experience at being eleven years old, myself.
5008272
Hey! That's my line!
Nice epilogue. I think you made the right call by having it be something separate from the main story. The tones between the story and this epilogue don't match as well as would be preferrable for a single, integrated work.
Both are pretty good, though, so thanks for writing them!
found something to read later.