//------------------------------// // Knowledge is Power // Story: Order and Chaos // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// As Twilight stepped through the portal, she looked around to take in her surroundings, only to yelp and leap forward as the portal nearly closed on her tail. "Eeyikes!" she murmured worriedly as she checked for lost tail hairs. "So much for going back to check with the girls...or check on Spike..." As she turned to look around once more, her eyes widened as all thoughts of her friends left her mind. Black towers stood stark in bright green light, arrayed all across the realm in complex patterns, connected here and there by paths of magic. No sun nor moon shone, the light coming from the sky itself and the sea below and between the towers. And covering the walls of the tower she stood atop - and all towers she could make out details on - were uncountable thousands of books, scrolls, and lorestones. Her delighted shriek echoed over the entire realm. "Oh my gosh, look at them all! There must be knowledge beyond counting in this place! I could spend decades, no eons, just trying to find my way around here, let alone learning everything recorded here! This is some sort of paradise! Oh, where should I start? Should I just grab a book and start reading? No, I need to be methodical. One tower at a time, top to bottom and clockwise? But all those stairs! I need to find the card catalog first! Or- "Perhaps start by asking the head librarian," a disgruntled voice growled from behind and above her. With a startled but suppressed yelp, Twilight leapt into the air and spun around. She found herself facing a floating creature that was a mass of shadows, eyes, and tentacles...and several of the eyes were looking at her with disdain. "S-sorry for the noise," Twilight squeaked out quietly. "It's just...so many books!" The figure sighed theatrically. "Yes indeed. Quite the point of pride for me." The figure swept forward. "I...there must be millions!" Twilight squeaked out. "123,456,789,0AB to be exact," the figure explained. "Zero-A-B?" Twilight repeated. "So that's a minimum of base 12..." Her face screwed up in concentration. "Base 25, actually," the shape corrected. "Much more efficient once you get to these volumes-" "But that's more than two and a half quadrillion books!" Twilight squeaked out in surprise. "2,587,007,151,703,386 to be exact!" She began to hyperventilate from excitement. The figure turned a couple more eyes her way. "Quite the quick mental calculation you made there," it observed idly. "You might actually be worth talking to for a few minutes after all." The shape turned so the majority of its eyes were pointing in her general direction, giving the impression of facing her. "Hermaeus Mora, Daedric Prince of Knowledge. Now who are you, what are you doing in my realm, and am I wasting my time? Seriously, with the 'Oblivion Crisis' falling through, I have so much reorganizing to do, and quite a bit of the predictive libraries will have to be shifted into historical fiction if not completely scrapped. And of course that's his fault, not that I can do anything about that anymore, and why haven't you answered my questions yet?" Twilight jumped back in response to that snarled demand. "I-i-i'm Twilight Sparkle!" she stammered quickly. "Discord said I had to find an artifact-" "Oh, of course it's him!" Mora snarled as his tendrils writhed angrily. "He thinks just because he's Daedric King now he can tell us to drop everything for one of his games! Of course, he can...but that's still no excuse! Does he have any idea how much work I have to do here? In addition to all the reshelving, I need to make several new towers to hold the knowledge that will be coming in from all those other worlds he's letting us look into!" The writhing became less frenzied and more...unsavory. "So much delicious knowledge..." "So...he's been good for you overall, then?" Twilight asked carefully. "I mean, that 'Oblivion Crisis' thing...wars aren't really good for librarians, are they? Or libraries for that matter. No time to read if you have to dash out to fix something, or constantly getting interrupted..." "Yes, I suppose you have a point there..." Mora admitted ruefully. "And all those new books coming in!" Twilight crowed eagerly. "I mean, I can't imagine having time to read all these as they are, but I get the feeling you're some sort of ageless eternal being who's been around for a long time, so you probably have-" "Collated them all myself," Mora confirmed. "Even constructed most of them after personally harvesting the information." "So new books must be wonderful for you!" Twilight insisted. "Finally, something new to read!" "Yes, I suppose you're right there," Mora allowed reluctantly. "As frustrating as it is to admit, I suppose Discord's changes have...overall been an improvement." All eyes locked on Twilight. "But if you tell him I said that, I will make you regret it. I have an entire tower dedicated to torture methods, both physical and mental, including ways to keep the victim alive through it." Twilight let out a startled meep. "D-duly noted..." She paused as she noticed a small cabinet - small enough she could easily clutch it in her forelegs - that she hadn't seen before glowing. "What's that?" Hermaeus Mora turned. "What? Why is my card catalog...why that bastard!" "Huh?" Twilight inquired curiously. "This is the artifact that Discord sent you to find for this 'game' of his, and the conditions for its revelation and acquisition was getting me to admit his reign has been an improvement!"Mora snarled angrily. "Well, too bad! This Card Catalog lets anyone who holds it remotely access all the properly sorted knowledge in my Realm, and that Knowledge is mine! I'm not sharing!" "What?!" Twilight demanded angrily, her eyes going hard. "But that's not what a library is for! A library is for sharing knowledge freely with anyone who seeks it!" "Well too bad!" Mora snapped back. "My realm, my rules, and I say membership only, and I'm not giving out membership cards willy-nilly!" "I won't stand for it!" Twilight roared in fury. "If it's your realm and rules...then I challenge you for this Realm and that card catalog!" Hermaeus Mora burst into laughter. "You? Challenge me? I'd like to see you try. Test your mettle against-" Twilight's eyes glowed white, her mane and tail bursting into flame as her coat turned white from the sheer amount of magic she was releasing. "...oh, wait...you're from Discord's world..." Mora murmured softly. "That means you don't use magicka...oh bugger..." A massive explosion rocked the entirety of Apocrypha. Twilight giggled like a filly as her new crown sat crooked on her brow, the precious card catalog clutched in all four legs like a favorite plushy. Hermaeus Mora sighed as he crawled out of the crater he'd been blasted into. "Well, can't win them all. Should have expected this after Discord. Cursed Cranko..." He floated back into the air. "Guess I'm out of a job, then." "Not really," Twilight corrected. "I mean, I'm still mortal. I wouldn't have time to read half these books, let alone organize them. I need you to do that for me, especially since I'm likely going to be busy in Equestria." "So...Assistant Librarian, then?" Mora groaned. "Well, better than nothing. At least I'm number two." "Four, actually," Twilight corrected again. "You'd be number three assistant." "Number three?" Mora demanded angrily. "Who would you rank above me, Hermaeus Mora, Daedric Prince...well, former Daedric Prince of Knowledge?" "Well, Spike's been with me forever, and I couldn't displace that little dragon for anything-" "Dragon?" Mora interrupted. "Well, yes, I'm not about to step on a dragon's toes...especially not one that doesn't need magicka. I'm arrogant, not suicidal." "And then there's Owlowiscious, my nocturnal assistant," Twilight concluded. "He's number two. Flew in one night to catch a scroll that blew away." "An...an owl?" Mora demanded. When Twilight nodded, he exploded in fury. "I'm subordinate to a fucking owl?" Twilight giggled and blew Hermaeus Mora a raspberry as a portal opened, sucking her into the Shivering Isles. Hermaeus Mora lifted his tendrils skyward. "CURSE YOU TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" he howled to the uncaring heavens.