Deep within long forgotten shelves in the Royal Archives, Page Turner makes a bizarre and inexplicable discovery: A book marked with a strange symbol and her writing pseudonym, containing complete versions of the stories she never found the time to finish. Confused and intrigued, Page sets out to solve the mystery of the impossible tome. Unbeknownst to her, this discovery will set in motion a chain of events that could change not only her life, but the entire world, forever.
Something a little different: Instead of writing the entire story ahead of time, this story is written... basically on the fly, with no real plan. Instead, plot developments will come, mostly, from reader comments and suggestions. This is not, strictly speaking, a comment driven story in the traditional sense; rather, comments will serve as general inspiration for where the story goes next. In making a suggestion, I may decide to only use part of it, or it may inspire me to take a completely different direction. Some things are vaguely plotted out ahead of time, but other than that, it's an attempt to write something by the seat of my pants, to see how it works out. (Tags will be added as they become relevant.)
As a result, don't expect regular updates. There is a good chance this story will go on long hiatuses, or that it will never be completed. There is also a chance it might end up updating extremely quickly, depending entirely on how I feel. Also, because I've never been a fan of drafts, and this is for fun, don't expect this to be the most polished.
As always, thanks to ScatteredStarlight413 and Roxylalolcat for pre-reading this garbage, along with giving me special beta ideas.
Cover art provided by Roxylalolcat as well.
In Equestria, Sturgeon's Law is named after a hippogriff. But it's no less true.
That or it used to be a mansion and got sectioned off into apartments. Wouldn't be the first city to preserve its historical residences that way.
Definitely an intriguing mystery, this. As for what to do, I'm not sure myself. I don't know enough about the state of the Equestrian publishing industry. I suppose the first thing to investigate would be any metadata in the book itself. Publishing house, year of publication, copyright information... Heck, there's the question of whether or not Page should be getting royalties. Should have gotten? Should will haven get?
I don't suppose there's a copy of Dr. Streetmentioner's Time Traveller’s Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations in the Archive?
In any case, looking forward to more.
I propose that the hooded pony's name is Shillic, or at least, that's what they call themselves when asked. I also propose that the fourth story in the book is actually a record of future events that has somehow made it back into the past, and that Shillic as I have called them may just be Page's future self who wrote the book.
Hmm, what if the hooded pony is Page's future self?
Or a mare who's sort of time-traveling detective and/or bounty hunter who ends up falling in love with her instead of bringing her in?
Or her future marefriend from the future?
Who is actually my OC.Really interesting start. My first thought was that the Archives followed the rules of libraries in Discworld, where knowledge is power ergo a sufficiently large library can tear a hole in reality and access any library from any reality. Which is to say, the book is from an alternate reality. As for what to do next, I'd inquire into the circumstances under which the book was acquired.
It seems as though Page Turner has entered a TARDIS-like space, seperate from the rest of the world judging by the lack of decay. A sub-dimension crafted for some unknown purpose... I propose that Page Turner Finds a space that couldn't possibly fit physically inside the house; such as a meadow, jungle, or massive library that reaches into the heavens. She also ought to meet a new friend there; this story doesn't have enough entertaining characters yet. hmm... some sort of magical construct?
Welp, nowhere to go but forward. Any number of shenanigans could be at work: Time travel, prophecy, alternate realities, metafiction...
Whatever the case, Page will likely find something beyond her expectations. And there's always the question of whether the way back will still be there when she turns around. Even if it is, I doubt this room will show up if she tries to show it to somepony else. But that doesn't mean the next room is abandoned. Indeed, someone may be expecting her...
Good chapter. I'm reminded of the stable time loop situation in the Doctor Who episode "Listen" (EDIT: "Blink"), with the woman in that episode following clues she ultimately left for herself.
As for what the sigil could have revealed, it really depends on how long you want this to go on. For a shorter story, it being the past could work, but for a longer story, something less explosive like a simple hidden room with usual documents would be more appropriate at this point.
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I'm gonna be honest, it's really bugging me, I don't remember that from Listen at all. Are you sure you're not thinking of another episode? It's kind of reminiscent to Heaven Sent but I don't think that's what you're talking about...
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I meant "Blink"
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Okay, yeah, that makes much more sense.
And behind the wall was... Princess Celestia's corpse!
Okay, that's probably too dark. Hmm...
How about the hooded figure, perhaps standing inside some sort of ritual circle?
Hmm... what if the mysterious room is a portal to different universes? Beyond the wall, maybe Page will find a world where her characters are real? That's the magic of the book, you can travel to any of the worlds written in it... just a thought! Looking forward to seeing what happens next
Well, much like Page Turner, I have no clue where to start when looking for a trans-dimensional being. Maybe ask Hermit what the master's hobbies are; Shopping? Bowling? Cooking? anything that might lead them to a specific section of canterlot. That may also get interesting if it turns out that Page goes to a lot of the same places...
Right now I'm wondering if Hermit can exist outside the pocket; He should probably give Page some sort of communication device so he can interact with her over great distances. Not sure what form it ought to take, but I think it'd be cool if it was an earpiece that interfaced with her brain a-la the Focus from Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Over time Page may get the impression that the Mistress knows that Page is looking for her, and is avoiding contact for now. Sorta messing with her by leaving clues, perhaps. knowing what she's going to do even before she decides to do it...
Well now I'm definitely getting Doctor Who vibes. Let's hope this Master isn't, well, the Master.
So, if they have access to any time, any place, then the obvious solution would be to go back and meet the previous owner of this house. Otherwise, learning the history of the house seems like a good bet.
Hmm. The Master’s trail is glacially cold, but it can’t hurt to see if there’s any detectable sign of something anachronistic in Canterlot. Mind you, Hermit may have already thought of that, but we’ve seen how the prolonged sleep mode has left it a touch disoriented.
Failing that, crazy as it may sound, reading the story starring Page may provide clues in its own right. If the Mistress is capable of this much, maybe they knew Page would be looking for them.
Hmmm... interesting. I'm thinking a short amount of time in Twilight's castle doing research probably wouldn't be very productive if the Master is as good at covering their tracks as they seem to be. That said, Twilight might insist on it anyway, just in case. perhaps Twilight has been experimenting with the mirror and falls into an extra-dimensional portal and needs to be rescued, somewhat, but not exactly, paralleling what happens in the book.
Perhaps Page meets someone else on the way to Mesocoltamian territory who just so happens to be headed in the same direction, whose true motives are unknown...
Ah, interesting direction for this. So it's a description of events from another timeline. I wonder how the timelines relate and what the significance is. As for what to do next, she could bring in the canon characters to help, but they have the risk of taking over the story. I'd say she goes to them for help, but then something happens to prevent them from helping.