The crossbow bolt made a sickening thud as it slammed into Sunset’s chest.
“Sunset!” Twilight screamed.
Sunset twitched, then blinked a few times. She turned her head from the enemy and stared at her friends. With a single amber hoof, she touched the still-quivering bolt, looking almost confused.
“Ow,” Sunset said.
Then, as if in slow motion, Twilight watched Sunset Shimmer topple backward and off the side of the Dawnbringer.
“No!” Twilight shrieked.
As one, Twilight, Moon Dancer and Minuette flung themselves forward, each of their horns glowing. Twilight caught her first in a net of magic. The strain was intense, until Moon Dancer and Minuette’s power aided her.
“She’ll be okay… she’ll be okay,” Twilight whispered to herself. “She can’t be—”
“Look out!” Cheerilee cried.
Twilight glanced behind her and gasped as a swirling orb of reddish magic rolled across the deck. Coco and Rara both sprang for it, but they were too slow.
Laughter echoed from the other ship as the crystalline orb erupted in red mist. Moon Dancer staggered… and her magic winked out. Twilight telekinetically clutched Sunset’s figure several dozen yards below Dawnbringer, grunting as she lost Moon Dancer’s support.
The wave of red mist washed over Minuette, who instantly collapsed with a little sigh. Her magic faded just as quickly, leaving Twilight the only pony between Sunset and plummeting into the Abyssian River below.
“I can’t… I can’t hold her!” Twilight sobbed. “Please… somepony help me!”
“Let her go, you little fool,” said a calm and quiet voice. “Don’t worry, by the time I’m done with you… you won’t even remember her name.”
The mist washed over Twilight. Her magic evaporated. As did the levitation field around Sunset.
Twilight Sparkle could only scream as she watched the limp body of Sunset Shimmer fall.
Sunset jerked upright with a scream and nearly collided with a light orange blur. She groaned, her coat matted with sweat and a roiling sickness in her stomach.
“Hey now!” said a mare’s voice. “Calm down, you’re safe! I tell you, you go around, trying to help ponies… and nine times out of ten, you get smacked in the face by somepony waking up from visions or nightmares or something. Jeepers.”
“What in Harmony’s name was that?” Sunset whispered as she blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision. “No, wait… nevermind. Where’s Twilight?”
She licked her lips and squinted as the blurry smear of light orange resolved itself into a few blurry ponies. Her head spun as she tried to figure out which one was real.
“Your friend is fine,” the mare said soothingly as she rested a hoof on Sunset’s shoulder. “Book Light’s just finishing the healing spell on her leg. And your shoulder is all patched up! Relax! You’re both safe. Well, way safer than you were. Not a very high bar there, really.”
“But… the monsters…” Sunset struggled weakly against one of the mare’s hooves—probably the middle mare—but she had about as much strength as a ticked-off paper towel. “The monsters will…”
“Those things aren’t getting through that door, trust me.” The mare laughed. It sounded familiar. She remembered something about a mare before passing out. Someone calling the name... Amber? Something like that. “Nothing gets through that door.”
“What… why?” Sunset frowned, squinting as she tried to focus. Celestia, her head hurt. She promised herself to increase her combat training after the holidays, especially working on her sunfire with the Princess. And maybe get more serious about magical weapon conjuring. And… pretty much anything else she could use in a fight. “Why can’t anything get through that door?”
“Because we aren’t connected to that part of leyspace right now! And who’d want to be? I mean, you were in the Deeps. That’s not a safe neighborhood. For anything.” All of the Ambers shook their heads. “What were you doing in there, anyway?”
“Looking for a book,” Sunset muttered.
“You have no idea how many times I’ve heard those exact words,” Amber said with a laugh as she held out something in her magic. “Here, drink this.”
“What is it?” Sunset asked suspiciously at the three-to-six bottles floating in front of her face.
“Healing potion! A class-six, I think.” She sounded confused for a moment. “Or it’s a strawberry maretini. So easy to get those mixed up.”
Sunset would have glared if she could see straight.
The blurry ponies laughed. “Are you going to let me help you or not?”
“Fine,” Sunset grumbled. “Give it here.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll need to give it to you.” Amber giggled softly. “You couldn’t cast your way out of a wet paper sack right now.”
“Fine.” Sunset’s grumble intensified, but she allowed two or three of the mares to help her into a sitting position. “Just… get it over with.”
“Here comes the pegasus!” Amber cooed as she made little zooming noises and the bottle seemed to fly around in great red streaks. “Open wide!”
“Keep doing that and I’ll start smacking blurs until I hit something,” Sunset spat. “I’m bound to get lucky eventually.”
“Spoilsport.”
“You’re as bad as Moon—” Sunset choked for a split second as the bottle landed in her muzzle. It was definitely was not a strawberry maretini. For one thing, she caught the wonderful taste of peaches upon her tongue as she guzzled the alchemical brew. Sunset’s head swam as she knocked back the entire bottle. Then she settled back down, closed her eyes and let the potion do its work.
“Class-seven, actually,” Sunset muttered, licking her lips as a delightful warmth coursed through her body.
“Hm?” Amber’s voice sounded curious. Sunset heard the clink of glass and guessed she had put the bottle away. “What’s that?”
“It’s a class-seven healing potion,” Sunset said with a sigh, feeling her bruises and aches fade. “Class-sevens require a minimum of four fruits and a touch of white hallows. Class-sixes also don’t heal bruised ribs, and I’m pretty sure I had a few of those.”
“Huh…” Amber seemed to consider this. “Well, that’s good, right?”
Sunset laughed and, for the first time in what felt like days, it was a real laugh. Her eyes popped open and after a moment, her surroundings became clear. She took a deep breath and sat up.
“You feeling okay?” Amber asked.
Sunset nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I think I am.”
Her ‘nurse’ sat on a small stool beside Sunset’s narrow cot. The young unicorn mare gave her an oddly shy smile while she adjusted her teal cats-eye glasses with a flick of her hoof. She wore a dark black-trimmed hooded cloak, hiding a fair bit of her coat, which reminded her of Sunset’s coat with some peach mixed in. Her red and light pink mane was wrapped in a bun pierced by… chopsticks? Nopony used chopsticks anymore since only unicorns and really dexterous pegasi could use the stupid things. Bright mischievous blue eyes danced behind those glasses. Somewhat familiar-looking eyes, though Sunset could say why.
“Where are we?” Sunset asked.
“See for yourself.” Amber giggled and waved a hoof—wearing a strange teal-colored runed hoofband—around.
Sunset glanced around, but aside from the main door surrounded by runes—several of which seemed to be flickering or completely dead now—she spotted no other entrances or exits. She seemed to be at the bottom of a four-story tower, the floor of which seemed to host a multitude of complex arcane glyphs, runes and patterns. A pair of wrought-iron double-helix staircases wound up through the inside of the structure. Sunset wasn’t the least bit surprised when the walls all around them were filled with every kind of book imaginable. More books were stacked haphazardly in piles and atop of shelves. Books lay on tables and chairs and even a few dusty sofas around a big hourglass in the middle of the room. On the opposite side of the tower stood a large counter with a cash register and an odd assembly of magical and mechanical mechanisms Sunset had never seen before. Above them, Sunset caught sight of another level, slightly swaying in some sort of cable rig.
What’s more, Sunset could feel something. There was an intense magical field pulsing through the tower. It gave her a strange feeling of weightlessness—while not actually being weightless. It felt a little like those few times she’d used magic to levitate herself.
The last component of the bizarre view was the odd flying copper discs wandering through the air, each with a floating sphere of three or four dozen books atop them. They seemed to just flit around without any rhyme or reason. They seemed to be light sources for the tower, because Sunset couldn’t see a single window, candle or lamp. The sphere and orb things glowed with a different hue of the spectrum, casting the entire place into a strange kaleidoscope of colors.
“Okay,” Sunset declared. “This… this might get the prize for the strangest bookstore yet.”
“Thank you!” Amber beamed, her tail swishing in delight. “I’ll tell you, it’s a lot nicer than my last bar.”
“Bar?” Sunset asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. “Bar to bookstore? Was it anything like this?”
“Oh, no. Just a place in Manehattan. I’m one of those mares who likes to wander around a little from time-to-time.” Amber waved away the question with a hoof and smiled. “You’ll probably want to check on your friend, right?”
Sunset searched the unicorn’s face for any sort of hidden meaning in the word ‘friend,’ but Amber appeared to be the very picture of earnestness. In fact, the other mare stood and reached out a hoof to help Sunset to her hooves. To Sunset’s delight, she’d been right about the potion. Only a class-seven healing potion could have restored both her health and magic so quickly.
“Why would you use something like a class-seven or even a class-six healing potion on me?” Sunset asked as she got up, frowning. “I… I wasn’t that injured, was I?”
“Why, what’s the problem?” Amber cocked her head to her side. Her glasses slid down her muzzle a bit.
“Uh… a class-six is worth at least three hundred bits?” Sunset said hesitantly. “Class-sevens go for eight hundred to a thousand, depending on components. That’s not exactly easy money to just give a stranger who probably could have made do with a class-four.”
Amber shrugged. “When you bounce around leyspace like we do, money sort of becomes a non-issue. Come on, let’s go check on Book Light and your friend!”
“Wait, at least tell me your name. I think I heard it earlier but…”
The mare giggled. “Oh, just call me Amber. It’s easier.”
“Easier than wh—no, nevermind.” Sunset was not about to protest too much considering what these two had saved them from. “Uh, thanks, Amber. I’m Sunset Shimmer.”
“Pleasure to meet you!” Amber said with a little grin. “Again!”
“Again?” Sunset stared at the strange mare.
“Well, I did levitate you over here. Plus we’ve run into each other a few times here and there over the years. I doubt you’d remember. You were usually pretty busy at the time. Come on!”
Without another word, Amber led the way through a short maze of shelves and stacked books until they reached one of the staircases. With a glance back to make sure Sunset was following her, she trotted up the stairs, humming a merry little tune.
Despite the healing potion still coursing through her body, Sunset felt a headache coming on trying to figure this place—or this mare—out. She decided to focus on the immediate questions. Namely, where were they really and what was actually going on here.
“What did you mean by ‘bounce around leyspace?’” Sunset asked as she peered at the books, seeing everything from Equestrian to Ancient Kirin to Arimaspi. “I’ve noticed leyspace isn’t exactly the nicest of places.”
“Oh, it’s not!” Amber replied as she glanced over her shoulder with a smile. “It’s a crazy dangerous place that could swallow your very soul and leave you a puppet for dark forces that seek to destroy all hope and light in this world and every other!”
Every light in the room flashed, giving a rather strong impression of a lightning strike.
“Amber!” cried a voice from above. “Stop invoking Narrative Causality!”
“Sorry, Professor Light!” Amber called. “Just trying to get Miss Shimmer into the spirit of things!”
“Fillies these days,” said the stallion’s voice. “I’m sure my brother never had to deal with this sort of nonsense.”
Before Sunset could ask another question, Amber continued on with her explanation. “We’re… sort of book bounty hunters! Only sometimes, we hunt the ponies who need specific books! That’s Professor Light’s special talent. Matching books with ponies. But his talent sometimes pointed him to the other side of the world. After a few years of trying to do it by airship or boat or something, he got sick of it. So, he developed this bookstore to travel through leyspace, apparently built out of the pieces of something called a Linking Chamber. It allows us to help pretty much anypony in the world in the blink of an eye!”
She rattled this all off as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“That’s… impressive,” Sunset said slowly, staring at the mare as they continued up the staircase. “And not even slightly insane or impossible sounding.”
“Really?” Amber glanced back at her and smirked. “I was aiming for at least semi-crazy and ludicrous.”
“You’re enjoying this.”
“More than you can ever know, Sunset.” Her eyes glittered and a smirk appeared on her muzzle. “I hope you are too! After all, you’re almost done! More or less.”
That gave Sunset pause. “Who are you?”
Amber just smiled again, though this time, she didn’t answer. Sunset shook her head. Despite the healing potion’s effects, she was still mentally wrung out from the night’s events. The last thing she wanted was to pry at the secrets of a pony who had—apparently—saved their lives. She had to keep reminding herself of that.
Then again, doing that was better than thinking back to that thing in leyspace.
Amber led Sunset up to the raised platform. In the middle of the platform stood two messy beds separated by a large bookcase. Book Light stood over Twilight’s prone form as he used a dropper to administer some bright blue liquid onto Twilight’s broken leg. The dropper and a small bottle hovered beside him while—
Sunset froze in place and stared at Book Light.
Before she had passed out, she had gotten a pretty clear picture of him. Unicorn stallion, brown coat, frizzy white mane, wearing a long navy duster.
Sunset was pretty sure he hadn’t been a deer before.
“Uhh…”
Amber facehoofed. “Professor?”
“Hm?” Book Light didn’t look up from his work on Twilight’s leg. “What? I almost have it. Just a few more drops and it’ll heal it as good as new. The scroll I used should give the same effect as a class-nine healing potion. She’ll need it after whatever—”
“Professor!” Amber snapped in a far sharper voice.
“What?” The deer looked up at them both. He had a large pair of antlers atop his head and a furry white underbelly. Though aside from some shifts in his body shape and the somewhat larger ears, he looked the same as he did before.
“Your tail is showing,” Amber said with a sigh.
“It is not!” Book Light said in a huff as he slammed a cloven hoof down on the platform. “I’ll have you know that… I… oh, tree branches!”
The deer looked up at Sunset with a sheepish grin. “Uh… hello there! Sorry for… my… ummm… current morphological status?”
“What are you?” Sunset demanded. “And what are you doing to my friend?” She planted her hooves on the ground and fired up her newly-renewed magic. “Actually, skip the answers and just get away from her!”
“No need for all of that!” Book Light proclaimed, waving his hooves frantically. “Please! Don’t! I don’t mean you any harm! We just happened to have passed near the Thicket Library Bookstore and I got too close to the Morphology Alteration Application Matrix! Here, let me just finish and I’ll get out of your way!”
He quickly applied a few more drops of the blue liquid onto Twilight’s leg and then backed away. The bottle and the dropper slid over to a small nightstand by the bed.
“I have no idea what you just said,” Sunset growled. “But, I swear to Celestia, if you hurt her, I will tear this place apa—”
“Sunset?” came a weak voice from the bed.
Sunset rushed forward. The deer cringed back, but Sunset didn’t care about him anymore. She dove to kneel beside the bed and grabbed Twilight’s hoof.
“Twilight! Are you okay? How do you feel?”
“I’m… I’m…” Twilight opened her eyes and squinted at Sunset. “I need my glasses.”
Sunset glanced around and spied Twilight’s glasses on the nightstand. She levitated them over to Twilight, dropping them lightly on her muzzle.
“You know,” Book Light said casually. “If you hadn’t been so insistent on reading by candlelight during your first four years at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns after meeting Jade Singer, you wouldn’t be wearing those today.”
Sunset speared Book Light with a glare. He cringed back, grinning one of the most awkward grins Sunset had ever seen.
Twilight craned her neck to look at him and gasped. “Sunset… is that… is that really a…”
“Professor Book Light, as your service, milady!” he said with a sweep of his cloak and a deep bow. “And honored to have the two students of the Princess of the Sun in my humble shop.”
Sunset could almost hear Twilight blinking in shock, then apparently something else caught her attention as she shifted in place.
“Sunset?” Twilight asked quietly.
“Huh?”
“You can let go now.”
Sunset instantly became very aware that she’d been clutching Twilight’s hoof the entire time. She dropped it and took a few steps back as Twilight slowly pushed herself upright.
Twilight tested her formerly broken hindleg, a look of wonder on her face. “It doesn’t even hurt.”
“Ah, the wonders of Radiant Hope’s Fourth Bond of Healing!” Book Light proclaimed. “She’s never failed me yet! I’ll have to chat with her about that someday and thank her. If I ever manage to find the right address. Hm.”
“You’re okay?” Sunset asked, her heart still hammering in her chest. “You’re sure?”
Twilight nodded, looking at shocked as Sunset. “Looks like everything’s here. I’m… I’m not really sure what happened.”
“When we dissociated from that particular spot on the leyline,” Amber supplied, “you both conked right out. It happens the first few times. Nothing to be ashamed of! We kept you both under until your bodies could properly rest.”
Sunset blinked a few times. “Wait… how long were we asleep?”
“About twelve hours, I think?” Amber replied, wiggling a hoof in the air. “Give or take.”
"Oh... come... come on..." Sunset slumped and stared at the floor. “Ugh, we’re never going to find that stupid thing after dawn.”
“What’s this now?” Book Light asked. “Oh, is this in regard to that book you’re seeking?”
“Yeah,” Sunset muttered. “And no private bookstore in Canterlot is going to be open after noon on the day before Hearth’s Warming Eve. I’ve lived in Canterlot long enough to be sure of that. Dumb tradition. Only franchises stay open until the last second. They won’t have it.”
“I’ve never understood that particular Canterlot custom, seems like you should remain open during the time when ponies get most frantic!” Book Light scratched his narrow chin. “Oh wait, that means, you’re looking for a first edition. That explains a few things. However, you still have time.”
“How?” Sunset replied morosely. “How do we possibly have time when half a day has passed?”
“I’m sorry, Sunset,” Twilight said, putting a hoof on her back. “I know how much this mattered to you. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“I know she will… but it’s not good enough…”
“I don’t… understand though,” Book Light said, sounding utterly bewildered. “Why is that a problem? I just told you that you still have time. Dawn in Equestria is still at least five hours away.”
Amber giggled. “Professor, not everypony understands just what this bookstore is.”
“But… they were in leyspace!” Book Light protested. “Anypony who can enter leyspace or at least use a leyline directly as these two have to know its temporal properties! All ‘Out of Circulation’ does is use those principles! Well, not only. There are several principles, of course.”
“What are you two rambling about?” Sunset snarled with a sharp glance up at the buck and the mare. “Look, we’ve had a very difficult night and you just told us we’re back at square one! Dawn can’t be five hours away if we’ve spent twelve hours here!”
“Let’s simplify this.” Amber giggled again, louder and longer this time. “It’s not dawn yet.”
Sunset felt her patience fraying quite a bit faster than before. “And you said we’d spent twelve hours in here.”
“You have!” Amber smiled at them, her eyes dancing. “Twelve hours in here. Emphasis on the ‘here.’”
Sunset looked at Twilight as if maybe she could translate whatever language Amber spoke. Twilight, however, was looking around the shop in wonder.
“This… this is incredible…” Twilight whispered. “I’ve never seen anything like it…”
Sunset rolled her eyes stabbed a hoof toward Amber. “Okay, start making sense. You, not the other one. You. Now.”
“No need for a death glare!” Amber’s giggles shifted into a full-blown laugh. “Time doesn’t work quite the same way in any of the magical side-dimensions of our world. It’s sort of like Limbo. Or most forms of banishment or magical imprisonment. This world is full of magical shortcuts and detours to almost anywhere you can imagine! Always has been!”
“Limbo’s real?” Twilight gasped, her attention back on the conversation.
“What you’re surprised? You were just wandering around the endless bookshelves of leyspace!” Amber laughed again.
“Getting off-topic here!” Sunset growled, her eyes narrowing as her patience reserves were drained rather quickly. “And if you’re about to tell me we’re in some sort of… time machine—”
Book Light burst out into gales of laughter that echoed up and down his enormous tower of books. “Oh heavens no! I’ll leave those experiments to my dear brother, thank you very much! He’ll never get anywhere anyway. No, no, this store can simply move freely along all leylines of the world, major and minor, even if there are actually far fewer exit points than I’d like, safe or otherwise. We move in space, not time. The whole time dilation factor is simply a byproduct of the leylines themselves.”
Sunset blinked at him, feeling that headache come back with a vengeance. Yes, she could technically understand everything he had just said, but trying to process it right now felt like shoving a watermelon through a garden hose. And she was the hose.
Twilight just squealed in fascination, looking like she had about three million questions to start with.
“Translation,” Amber said with a roll of her eyes toward Book Light. “Traveling through a leyline usually takes seconds for what should be weeks, at least back when they were safe to use. You saw that earlier today when you arrived in Jeddahoof. We’re sort of piggybacking off of that property. Time does pass here, but really slowly in relation to the rest of the world.”
“Okay, at least I can understand you without jumping through mental hoops or getting a massive headache,” Sunset muttered, rubbing her head a little. “So, you’re saying that…”
“I’m saying it’s maybe… what? Forty-five minutes after you entered!” Amber laughed. “While twelve hours may have passed in here, only a few ticks of the clock have passed on the outside!”
“By my calculations, dawn in central Equestria is still at least five hours away,” Book Light supplied. “As I said!”
The entire thing still sounded completely insane, but right now, Sunset needed that hope to keep going. So, she took a gamble and decided to believe them. Sunset let out an enormous sigh of relief and smiled up at Twilight, who returned her smile. They might still have time. And if what they were saying about this store was true…
“You said you can move through leyspace and leylines, right?” Sunset asked.
“More or less correct, though they are essentially the same thing. But let’s not get bogged down by such details.” Book Light confirmed with a nod. “Yes, yes. All very fantastic and energetic.”
“Okay,” Sunset shook her head. She still felt exhausted. “First, can you get us to Canterlot. Second, can you get us to someplace called… I think it was ‘The Store?’”
“Sunset…” Twilight said in a warning tone. “I don’t know if you realize what you’re asking…”
“That depends…” Book Light seemed to ponder this. The whole deer thing didn’t seem nearly as important now.
“On what?” Sunset asked, ignoring Twilight.
“Depends on if the friend you made in leyspace seriously damaged my rune locks.” He glared down at the doorway with the dark runes along the edges. “And depends on if you can tell me anything about this ‘The Store?’”
Sunset’s ears fell. “You… you don’t know anything about it?”
“Where did you hear about it?” Amber asked quizzically. “I’ve heard the name… but few outside of booksellers even know that name, let alone its real one.”
“Wait, Amber, you know of this?” Book Light demanded. “Why have you not informed me of such a development?”
Amber had to stand on her tiptoes to whisper something in Book Light’s ear. Sunset glared at them both.
“Oh. Yes. Good reason. Yes, quite good.”
“Somepony want to clue me in here?” Sunset demanded.
“Sunset, we should talk about this if this is what I think it is,” Twilight insisted.
“Do you have any other ideas?” Sunset snapped at her as a red light wandered by the platform on one of the floating discs.
“Well, no, but…”
“Then there’s no harm in listening!” Sunset turned back to Amber and Book Light. “Well?”
“We… can’t get you in,” Amber said hesitantly. “I could show you where it was… well, last time I was there which was a few years ago and it does tend to move unpredictably. But it’s one of those places where you need… basically a referral. Referral from the… right kind of pony.”
“I’m not liking this,” Sunset sighed. “If I get one more fetch quest from you lunatics…”
“Oh, you play O&O, too?” Amber squealed. “We should totally have a game before you leave!”
Sunset gave her a stare so flat it defied geometry.
“Right,” Amber said with a giggle. “Probably not the best time?”
“No.”
“Whispersong would know, wouldn’t she?” Amber asked Book Light.
“Yes, but considering their desired destination, Crazy Talk would be better suited,” Book Light replied, tapping his chin with a cloven hoof.
Sunset found herself mesmerized by the cloven hoof for a moment before she shook herself out of it.
“No, actually,” Amber sighed. “Crazy Talk left for a vacation three days ago. Shop’s closed, remember? He actually asked you to look in on it later this afternoon?”
“Right!” Book Light clapped a hoof on the ground. “I really do need to acquire one of those calendars… and find a way to make it work for leyspace.”
The buck and the mare tossed named back and forth for the next few minutes, but Sunset soon just tuned them out and glanced at Twilight, only to see her glaring at her.
“What?” Sunset asked. “What did I do?”
“You don’t know what ‘The Store’ is,” Twilight said, making it practically an accusation.
“Uh, not really?” Sunset shrugged and shook her head. “But the only reason I know the name is because another of your idols, namely Lost Page, the one who is partially responsible for getting us into this mess, said it right before we were punted halfway around the planet!”
“She… she did?” That seemed to catch Twilight completely off-guard. “Lost Page herself said ‘The Store’ might have a copy?”
“It’s been a long night, so I don’t remember her exact words, but yeah. I think she said it’s our best shot.”
That seemed to mollify Twilight. Not entirely, but at little. “Lost Page wouldn’t ever intentionally send us into danger… despite her… sort of doing just that and—”
“Well, that settles it then,” Book Light proclaimed, cutting Twilight off. “We have a solution, a solution you will not like.”
He smiled brightly at the two mares.
Sunset glowered at the mare and the buck.
“What?” Sunset demanded flatly.
“We have an associate who occasionally might deal with the less-than-entirely-legal side of book trading. Nothing truly dangerous, just… outside the scope of the Equestrian Bookseller’s Association approved works!”
“Do you realize you’re about to announce the name of a book smuggler to the Assistant Lead Archivist of the RCA?” Twilight informed them archly.
“Of course, silly.” Amber giggled. A purple light disc floated past behind her. “But you won’t turn her in. She’s the sweetest old lady you’ll ever find, save for my grandmother. And she hardly ever does smuggling runs anymore! The bookseller, not my grandmother.”
“Though I should note,” Book Light said with another smile. “That’s not the reason you aren’t going to like this solution!”
“Then out with it!” Sunset demanded.
“She’s not in Canterlot.”
Sunset rubbed her eyes. “Where?”
“Cloudsdale.”
For the love of Celestia and Harmony and everything that’s good and righteous in this world…
“She does own an airship. Actually, her bookstore is the airship,” Amber supplied with a bright smile. “And you probably could barter passage down to Canterlot. Anypony wandering around in leyspace has to have encountered something a bookseller might want.”
“I’m… sure we can come up with something,” Sunset muttered. “Can you tell me for sure if ‘The Store’ has this… annoyingly elusive book?”
“A moment!” Book Light proclaimed as his… wait, his forehooves lit up in strange swirling patterns of light? Had they done that before? She’d been so focused on Twilight she hadn’t seen if his antlers had glowed…
“What in the world…” Sunset said, staring at the bizarre buck before deciding she didn’t care.
Sunset sighed as a book rose from below.
“Ah yes, here it is…” Book Light nodded approvingly. “Registrations… bills of sale…”
He went on like that for a bit. Amber just smiled happily at the two of them, occasionally doing gleeful little hops back and forth on her hooves. Twilight stared around in wonder at the shop, even going to the edge of the platform to get a better view. Sunset just sat there, feeling so very tired despite twelve hours of unconsciousness.
Book Light took almost five minutes before he snapped the book shut with a smile.
“Maybe!” he proclaimed.
Sunset facehoofed, but found she was too exhausted to get properly angry. “Let’s just do it.”
“Excellent!” Book Light threw the book over the side of the platform. A light disc—an orange one—caught it and disappeared out of sight. “Though there are two other complications I should mention. First, while Whispersong will almost certainly have the correct sigil, you will need to arrive at your destination by dawn. It is never open during the day. Lastly, anchoring our store may be a tad tricky at present.”
“Anchoring?” Twilight asked as she turned away from her study of Out of Circulation. “What’s anchoring?”
“Anchoring is how we connect to places beyond the shop,” Amber replied.
“Precisely! For example—”
“Oh, here we go.” Amber rolled her eyes with a suffering smile.
“For example—” Book Light said again with a huff. “You served as an excellent anchor, Miss Sparkle!”
“Me?” Twilight pointed a hoof at herself. “How did I—”
“When you unleashed your special talent in an attempt to save Sunset and yourself, you imbued thousands of volumes around you with your personal magical signature. Similar to how every unicorn has their own particular color of magic, you see and while I know it might—” He shook his head. “No sorry, not the time for that. As I was saying, since all volumes that appear in leyspace are intrinsically magical, it caused a rather spectacular chain reaction! The books around you acting as foci may have helped in such a manner, hm. I’ll need to record that location for study later. As I was saying—”
“He tends to say that a lot when he’s rambling,” Amber piped up.
“Quiet you! Miss Sparkle is one of the few who can understand the underlying concept!” Book Light snapped, though it felt more like the snap of a playful puppy than a snap of true anger. “When you unleashed your magic with such results adding to the signature of Miss Shimmer’s magic—which shows quite high on the Coridzoni Energy Scale—it showed up like a beacon on the Out of Circulation’s leyline map! In this case, more like a distress flare! We immediately investigated, as we had no pressing engagements, and thereby saved the two of you and now we’re here and I finally get to discuss this with another bright mind!”
Sunset blinked a few times.
Twilight nodded slowly, processing all of that data.
Book Light looked particularly pleased with himself.
Amber just giggled.
“What’s wrong with the anchor?” Sunset asked in a deadpan.
“Oh, yes. Got all distracted, didn’t I? I do that, you know, get distracted.” Book Light smiled and pointed down at the door. “The damage those horrid shadows made allowed us to seal them out, but will make anchoring difficult. Most bookstores or libraries where we normally anchor—especially in Cloudsdale for some reason—have rather strict locking mechanisms on their transitional bridges to leyspace. Those locks make anchoring especially difficult, sometimes causing a minor external disassociation. Of course, those same mechanisms protect them from the shadows and… other things.”
All the lights in the room flickered again to give the appearance of lightning crashing through the tower.
Amber giggled. Again.
Sunset rolled her eyes.
“Other things?” Twilight squeaked. “There’s worse things in leyspace?”
“You don’t want to know,” Amber interjected, then fixed Book Light with a stare. “And Professor Light here isn’t going to give them any nightmares by telling them all about it, especially after what they just went through!”
Book Light appeared disappointed since he wasn’t going to be able to expound on whatever dire horrors the leyspace contained, but Sunset didn’t really care.
“Fine. We’ll see this Whispersong.” Sunset sighed. “Can you take us there?”
“Please?” Twilight interjected.
Book Light glanced at Amber, who shrugged in response.
“We don’t have any pressing assignments,” Amber replied with a sidelong glance at Book Light. “I don’t see why not.”
“Very well, I shall make—”
“Professor?”
“Yes, Amber?”
“Maybe you should go… change, first?” Amber rolled her eyes.
“Oh, yes, of course! Quite silly of me. I tend to get distracted quite easily these days.”
“No, really?” Sunset deadpanned.
With that, the deer vanished in a blur of teleportation magic unlike anything Sunset had ever seen.
Sunset glanced around, wondering where he’d gone before she glanced at Amber. She pointed upward to another platform just below the top of the tower, a platform Sunset hadn’t seen from the bottom floor. It was a bit smaller than the one they were standing on now, but it was held in place by the same cable system.
“Wait… wasn’t he a unicorn before?” Twilight asked.
Sunset nodded with a sigh.
“So, why is he a deer now?” Twilight frowned, scratching her mane and staring up at the second platform. “He’s… he’s not one of those mythical changelings or something, is he?”
“Oh no, not at all!” Amber snorted, grinning wildly. “He just unearthed a unique part-technological, part-magical device in the depths of leyspace several years ago that allows him to explore the multidimensional possibilities of any persistent sapient life essence sharing a dimensional coefficient plus or minus fifteen from standard—standard being based in this dimensional plane, of course—and then duplicate the biological ‘fingerprint’ of said possibilities onto his innate essence when necessary.”
Sunset stared at her.
“Well, that or when the mood strikes him… or when he’s just bored.” Amber sighed. “He was utterly obnoxious when he turned into a hippogriff for a week. He wouldn’t stop talking about stairs and swooping around. Seriously, there were feathers everywhere.”
Twilight raised a hoof as if to ask a question, only to lower it a moment later.
“Does that sort of thing happen often?” Sunset asked, still trying to process the gibberish Amber had just spouted off. What bothered her was that it almost seemed to make sense.
Almost.
“Hm?” Amber shrugged. “Occasionally? He’s a bit unpredictable. But then again, so’s this place! But it’s fun, right?”
“Uh…” Twilight and Sunset said together as they both looked at each other.
Sunset finally offered Amber a half-hearted, “Sure?”
“Treebranches!” came a shout from above.
“Would you two like some tea?” Amber asked.
“Yes, please!” they answered in perfect unison.
“By the Stars and the Fields, I swear! We have guests, you know!”
The tea wasn’t bad. Actually, it was probably the best cup Earl Grey Sunset had ever had. So good that she could actually think again. Though that capacity seemed to fluctuate a great deal on how much exposure she had to Amber or Book Light.
Twilight looked like she had gone to heaven while drinking her decaf Green Tea. She kept sighing and using an expression that should probably be used in an advertising campaign.
Amber sipped some sort of strange herbal concoction Sunset couldn’t begin to figure out. She kept giggling softly as her eyes darted between the two of them in an annoyingly familiar look. Sunset didn’t try and stop it. She didn’t want to even think about it.
As for Book Light, he was banging away at the strange contraption near the register situated directly above the small tea table. The contraption seemed to be growling at him.
Sunset decided to ignore both the machine’s noises and the odd stallion outbursts. After the nightmare of wandering leyline, she was taking a much-needed break. Twilight probably needed it even more.
“So…” Twilight said as she looked around the bookstore. “If you just hop between leyspace locations, why didn’t Desert Winds just summon you to us?”
“You met that crazy old…” Amber hesitated and stared off into space for a few seconds before shrugging. “You know, I’ve actually known him for quite some time and I’m still not sure what he is. But he can be fun once you’ve had some time to get used to his whole ‘Truth of Things’ shtick. Anyway, as for why he didn’t summon us? Two reasons. First, it’s pretty hard to get ahold of Professor Light. We’ve never gotten any variant of a Message spell to work through leyspace, even though it was kinda made for that. Likely due to systemic corruption, despite what they were once used for. Anyway, now we do mail drops at different points in the world. Even if Winds wanted to get in touch, it would have taken a couple days for us to get a message.”
“What’s the other reason?” Sunset asked. “Even though I’m pretty confident I know the answer…”
Amber grinned. “Because he’s Desert Winds. He’s got this knack. This whole Sight thing with a capital S. He just… knows anyone who walks into his shop. The first time we met, well… let’s just say things happened. We had drinks about it later, though he ended up buying. It might sound a little evil to just chuck you into leyspace without a warning, but… he had a good reason.” She hesitated briefly. “At least to him.”
Sunset and Twilight both studiously avoided one another’s gazes.
“Overcompensating bark shards! Why do you do this every hamster-dancing time!”
“I still can’t believe he—or A.K. Yearling—let us go in there with those… those monsters…” Twilight shivered and stared into her tea.
“A.K. was there?” This seemed to grab Amber’s full attention. “There’s no way she would let you into leyspace without being prepared! I know you had a torch! Desert Winds and A.K. are traditional enough to use an actual torch-shaped object. Enchanted right, these sort of act like loadstones of leyspace, allowing you to subtly move leyspace around you. Or is it the other way around? But as long as you remained focused on your…”
Sunset and Twilight winced in unison.
“Oh.” Amber’s ears went down. “I know I’m prying a little, but… what did you end up focusing on?”
“Feathermarking treebranches of an emancipated bovine! Stop that at once, you infernal contraption! Ow!”
Sunset shook her head. She didn’t want to get into it again. Or ever, really.
Twilight—apparently—felt differently. “Some… personal problems.”
“Did…” Amber licked her lips and adjusted her glasses. “Did either of you feel anything like… a strong sense of hopelessness?”
Despite herself, Sunset glanced at Twilight.
Twilight nodded slowly.
“That’s what got their attention.” Amber sighed, closing her eyes. “Guaranteed way to do it. ”
“But… what were they?” Twilight asked. She leaned forward and settled her empty teacup in its saucer.
“Shadow-cursed bringer of misery and befuddlement! You won’t get away this time! Gah!” His voice suddenly shifted into a much higher pitch. “Would you please stop disrupting my morphological matrix?”
Whatever Book Light was fighting seemed to cackle.
“They’re the reason ponies don’t use leylines to communicate anymore,” Amber said quietly, staring at her own tea. “Them and… the other things previously mentioned.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “At all.”
“Okay fine, I don’t know what they are,” Amber admitted, glancing up at her with a sour look on her face. “Professor Light won’t talk about them. He wasn’t exactly forthcoming after the first time I… saw them.” She shivered visibly and Sunset had a sneaking suspicion Amber had done more than just ‘seen’ them. “He just gave me a lot of cryptic whispers about them being ancient, deadly and to stay away. I decided to listen to him. It wasn’t a hard decision to make.”
“You’ve never tried to investigate?” Twilight sounded utterly shocked at such a horrible breach in inquisitiveness. “Even with all this at your disposal?”
Sunset barely stopped herself from facehoofing.
“After what you saw? After what you heard in your own head? Do you really want to even think about them?” Amber said pointedly, giving Twilight a rather pointed look.
Sunset realized it was the first time she’d seen Amber look dead serious. It was… unnerving. Like seeing Minuette give someone she’d never met an angry glare.
Twilight looked ready to retort, only for her ears to droop. “I guess you have a point.”
“Aha! Victory at last! I knew you’d see things my—ow!” Book Light’s voice shifted again and he let out a sigh. “Very well, shall we call it a draw? Thank you ever so much.”
The machine beeped once.
Book Light trotted down the stairs, looking somewhat smug. The effect was ruined somewhat by him once again being a deer—though this time he had feathered wings in addition to his other deerish traits.
Sunset thought the addition of a blindingly bright blue pompadour for a mane rather suited him.
Amber giggled as Book Light plopped down on a chair. His mane bounced dramatically and he took a hearty swig from his dandelion tea. The mane bounced again as he beamed at his two guests.
“We shall be there within minutes!” he declared proudly.
“What—” Twilight began.
“Pay it no heed, my dear filly!” Book Light proclaimed with an offhoof wave toward the machine next to the register. “A few years back, a critical geode in Out of Circulation failed due to… events. I replaced it with a new geode with the correct thaumaturgical properties. The individual who sold it to me neglect to mention the tiny fact that it had an emotional imprint embedded in it and as it now is rather central to my shop, I do not have any desire to replace it, lest I vex it. It’s a rather ornery thing. And it takes great delight in using any and all of my own magical devices against me for its amusement. And usually… the amusement of Amber.”
A strange raspberry-like noise echoed from above.
Amber twitched slightly as if she was holding back a snort.
“While there are ways… I cannot bring myself to purge it from the system,” Book Light took another sip of tea. “Sadly, even I cannot explain that particular character flaw of mine. Always picking up wanderers and drifts from hither and yon.”
Amber giggled again and Book Light rolled his eyes.
“Are you ever going to tell the truth about that?” Amber asked, her eyes sparkling.
“What?” Book Light smirked and leaned forward. “About our ‘ghost in the machine,’ so to speak, or about how we met? Do you actually want that information public, dear filly?”
Amber held up her hooves in surrender. “No, no. Not in present company.”
“You two have far too much fun with this,” Sunset muttered.
“We usually do.” Amber smirked.
“Anyway, I’m also delighted to tell you that we’ll be arriving in Cloudsdale in a charming all-night bookstore called Counting Sheep! I’ve already checked and your path should be completely clear. Assuming the runes anchor us correctly.”
“‘Assuming?’ What happens if they don’t?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.
“You’ll be slightly off-target and end up in the next closest depository of magical books. Absolutely nothing to worry about. The potential for physical problems is next to zero.”
“We’re going to Cloudsdale,” Sunset pointed out as her ears went flat. “If we’re slightly off-target in a downward direction, that’s something to worry about!”
Book Light raised an eyebrow. “I thought you both were Celestia’s personal students. If Celestia’s personal students can’t teleport these days, I daresay her standards have been slipping greatly.”
Sunset glowered at him.
“Fine, fine,” Book Light huffed. “I will do a minor test to ensure that your exit point does land on solid cloud, as long as you keep yourself properly enchanted.”
“Then, thank you,” Twilight interjected, shooting a look at Sunset. “We do really appreciate it.”
The pega-deer gestured wildly. His mane bounced again. “Out of Circulation is happy to be of service! Of course we would get you to your destination. Was there ever any doubt?”
Amber broke into peals of laughter, banging the table with a hoof. Book Light harrumphed and took another gulp of his tea. His mane bounced yet again.
Twilight snorted. Sunset laughed.
For just a moment, Sunset got to enjoy the amusement of the table around her.
Then she looked at Twilight.
She couldn’t help but see the mare crying her eyes out in those dark, shadow-infested passageways. The vision felt like a dagger in Sunset’s chest. She couldn’t believe it. Twilight had repressed so much…
She wondered if Moon Dancer knew. She wondered if she should tell her.
From the depths of the prison in her mind, a voice suggested keeping it to herself. After all, what good would come of it? Twilight would tell Moon Dancer when she was ready. Was it even her secret to tell?
Sunset almost agreed. She could actually—
“Miss Shimmer?”
Book Light’s voice derailed Sunset’s train of thought. She shook her head and blinked up at the bizarre pegaus-deer thing.
“Are you well?” he asked, his head cocked at her.
“Huh?”
“Your horn, Sunset,” Twilight whispered, staring straight down at the table. “It was… that color again.”
Sunset winced.
Amber and Book Light shared a look.
“Miss Shimmer, would you perhaps join me? I’d like to show you something.”
“Oh no!” Twilight snapped, real anger suddenly in her voice. “You aren’t doing this to me again! You’re not going to talk about me behind my back!”
Sunset winced. However, Book Light didn’t seem off-put by Twilight’s reaction in the slightest. “I had no intention of doing so, Miss Sparkle! It would be horribly rude.”
“Oh.” Twilight ears drooped and she stared at her teacup again, blushing furiously.
Sunset stifled a snort and let Book Light lead her away. They wandered through the maze-like corridors of the bookstore until they reached a spot near the front door. She eyed the damaged and dark runes. The rest of multicolored runes around the portal still glittered with crazy light.
I wonder what I’d see if I tried to open the door right now…
“How long have you been manifesting like that?” Book Light asked without preamble.
“Doing what?” Sunset blinked at him a few times.
“Your horn’s magical aura,” Book Light said patiently. “It’s quite rare for a unicorn’s magic to change color.”
“Oh… uh…” Sunset considered it. When was the first time somepony had mentioned it? Twilight had done it a few months ago when they’d first met. But she vaguely remembered something about the time she’d met Coco and Rara. “I’m not really sure. Maybe a few years?”
“Does it tend to happen when you’re…” he paused meaningfully, “shall we say, ‘distracted’?”
Sunset flushed. “Most of the time.”
“Have you ever seen it for yourself?”
Sunset shook her head, an odd sense of shame welling up inside of her.
Book Light nodded and appeared to consider this. He tapped a cloven hoof on his chin for what felt like an hour—though it couldn’t have been more than half a minute.
“Do you know what causes that sort of thing, Miss Shimmer?”
Sunset swallowed and nodded, unable to look him in the eye.
“I see. Have you by chance told your Princess about this?”
“No!” Sunset cried, staring up at him. “No! I can’t!”
Book Light raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Why’s that?”
“I… I can’t let her think that about me,” Sunset said, swallowing hard. “I don’t want to be like that. Bad things happen to ponies who have color shifts. Especially if those colors are dark.”
“The fact that you fear the results reveals you are likely safe in admitting this to your teacher, Miss Shimmer.”
For a moment, Sunset found herself startled by Book Light’s sudden shift in demeanor. It was almost like he was completely different… whatever he was. It was more than a little unsettling. Then again, maybe it was just the topic at hand. Either way, this Book Light seemed far wiser than he had initially let on. She idly wondered if a pony who could ‘accidentally’ change shape on a regular basis might also be able to disguise their age.
Who are these two? Sunset found herself asking once again.
Still, his statement echoed in her mind. The only response she found inside was fear.
“I can’t,” Sunset insisted. “Please… don’t ask me to do that… and don’t say anything yourself.”
Book Light considered her directly this time, studying her as if she were an abstract painting he was trying to figure out.
Finally, he nodded. “If that’s what you want. But either way, I have a gift for you.”
With that, the two sets of antlers on his head—plus his two front hooves—glowed in a soft white aura. Out of nowhere, a book streaked into Sunset’s chest. She almost dropped it but managed to stop herself at the last second.
“What is it?” Sunset asked. There was nothing on the cover or the spine. It seemed like little more than a bundle of papers wrapped in blue cloth.
“Harmonics,” Book Light replied, his tone a bit glib. “By Unified Chorus.”
Sunset stared at him and then back to the book. “I didn’t think this book still existed.”
“Well, after that dreadful fire, it’s understandable to believe such a thing, but a few copies survived in… random places, you know, here and there.” He shrugged far too casually for somepony who had just summoned a five-hundred-year-old book from the depths of his bookstore. “I’m guessing you know the book?”
“Depends,” Sunset said slowly. “Why are you offering it to me?”
“I thought it might come in useful in future works dealing with harmony magic.”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “How you could possibly know about—”
“Oh, was there something specific you were working on that might need exactly this sort of magical theory to help it function once more?” He grinned. “I believe Amber told you, Miss Shimmer. Matching books with ponies is my special talent. I’m hardly the only one with such a trait. After all, your friend has something similar, though hers is far more powerful.”
“You mean you don’t know about… any project in particular that this might pertain to?” Sunset’s eyes narrowed a bit more. Granted, it wasn’t technically a secret, but she wasn’t about to broadcast the knowledge of the Spire Project to the world.
“Whatever it is you’re referencing, I couldn’t begin to guess what it is, or its nature.” He paused. “However, I do know that it’s important for you to get it right.”
The lights in his towering bookstore flickered in a faint approximation of lightning.
“Professor!” complained Amber from the other side of the store. “Quit it!”
Book Light smiled, but didn’t reply to Amber, instead keeping his attention squarely on Sunset. “No, no. Don’t ask me how I know such things. Just believe that I do.”
“That’s not ominous.”
“Really? Narrative Causality seemed to say otherwise.”
“What is it with that, anyway?” Sunset demanded. “I know that I’ve been teasing Twilight about it for most of tonight, but how is it that your store seems to be powered by Narrative Causality? It’s supposed to be a joke! Basically the idea that plot happens because the plot needs to happen!”
“Ah…” Book Light chuckled as he slipped back into that tone he used a few minutes ago. “Narrative Causality is very real, Miss Shimmer! It’s real in the same way that leyspaces are real. It’s generated by imagination, the very heart of magic itself. And what better way to grow one’s imagination than reading? Somepony who doesn’t embrace the way of books will rarely encounter it, or rarely see it for what it is.” Book Light held out his hooves in an enormous shrug. “Those who live within bookstores, libraries and the like… well, it’s a fact of life. A bit of a strange one… and quite unpredictable… but still, a fact.”
“That doesn’t really clear things up for me. And half of it sounds like those after-school special pamphlets I’ve seen at public schools.”
“The secrets of the universe don’t open to our eyes simply because of one question, Sunset Shimmer.” His eyes glittered like diamonds in the night. “They require far more work than that.”
The entire store suddenly shook, though not a single book fell from its bookcase or stack.
“Ah, we’ve arrived!” Book Light proclaimed. “Miss Sparkle? Why don’t you join us?”
Book Light busied himself with doing something to the runes around the front door to Out of Circulation. Sunset tried to follow his spellwork, but it was so alien—or so advanced—she didn’t have a clue what he was really doing. So, she turned when Amber and Twilight approached.
“Oh yes!” Amber said as her horn burned with light. “I almost forgot!”
From somewhere behind a wall of bookcases, the ornamental torch flew out, still lit. It was followed by their jackets and packs.
“Did you know that once upon a time, torches similar to this were used to hold special things called Bound Stories?” Amber said as they both got their equipment situated. They repacked their Saddle Arabian attire and went with their winter clothes again. “They would create light shows of living stories right before your eyes. It’s really a lost art. I hope ponies find it again.”
Sunset and Twilight both nodded, not quite sure what to make of her comment.
“Dancing rats upon the blockage of a beaver dam!” Book Light exclaimed. “Anchor’s not holding properly. It’ll take weeks to fix these runes. It had to hit the Reddan and Tark runes, didn’t it? It just had to hit them.”
“Wait, what does that mean?” Sunset called just as she finished securing the torch to Twilight’s left saddlebag.
“Weeks here or you spin the wheel of fate, personally, I recommend fate. She’ll be nicer now that you survived a leyspace trip. At least I hope so. Time to unseal the gates!”
“Wait!” Sunset cried again. “I’m not about to jump into a random leyspace portal that could send us plummeting above or below Cloudsdale!”
“I’m not asking you to!” Book Light replied as he did something else to the door. Every rune save for five burned with brilliant blue fire for just a second before fading into little more than scratches in the dark red wood.
Twilight slipped behind Sunset. Sunset couldn’t blame her.
The door suddenly slid open revealing… a short marble passage leaning to an unassuming door?
“What?” Twilight asked. “What am—”
“Ah yes, should have expected this,” Book Light sighed and rubbed his forehead with a cloven hoof. “I did quite a good job of building Out of Circulation, you know. I added a device known among some races as an ‘airlock,’ though the word isn’t accurate at all—”
“It’s a short, secure passage that links the store to a real place in Cloudsdale,” Amber interjected before he could get really started. “It’s mainly when we can’t get a proper anchor. You might experience some strangeness going through the door at the end, but you’ll be fine after a minute or so as your body adapts to the reassociation.”
“So we just… walk through this, go through that door, and we’re in Cloudsdale?” Sunset asked hesitantly as she approached the doorway. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“Wait, we don’t know what we’re looking for with this Whispersong pony!” Sunset protested. She didn’t like that door at the end of the short hall. It looked too ordinary.
“Amber told me while you were talking with Professor Book Light,” Twilight said. “She’s an earth pony who runs an airship on Hurricane Lane. And we just need the current sigil of… ugh… ‘The Store.’”
“Oh.” Sunset’s ears went flat. “Well, okay.”
“It was great meeting you both again,” Amber said with that same shy smile Sunset had seen when she first woke up. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other again sometime.”
Sunset stared at the odd unicorn. She had seen her somewhere before, but she couldn’t remember where or when for the life of her.
Finally, Sunset just chalked it up to one more oddity and looked at Twilight. “You ready?”
“Not especially, but being ready has nothing to do with things happening tonight, so might as well do it willingly this time.”
Sunset still wasn’t sure about this. There were too many unanswered questions, but after seeing Book Light and Amber chat for the last hour or so, she had no doubt that they could probably dance their way around any new question she threw at them. In the end, she didn’t really have much choice in the matter. She didn’t like this, but Sunset was as least positive about one thing.
Neither wanted to harm them.
“Cloudwalking spell should last the rest of the day,” Sunset told Twilight. “That okay?”
Twilight nodded. “Let’s just… do this.”
The spell was simple and within less than a minute, both of them could walk across clouds as easily as any pegasi.
“I think that’s everything.” Twilight hesitated and watched the doorway.
“Yeah…” Sunset took a deep breath. “No sense just waiting here. Let’s get this over with.”
Sunset stepped into the passageway and immediately staggered, blinking her eyes rapidly as she tried to think.
“Sunset! Are you okay? What happened?” Twilight sounded terrified.
“She’s fine,” Amber assured her. “Her body just adjusted to the ambient magic of Out of Circulation and now it’s adapting to regular Equestrian magic again. You’ll both be a little dizzy, but it should fade in just a few seconds.”
“That was… more than a little,” Sunset gasped as she turned back, finally steadying herself on her hooves. She tapped the floor, but it felt like actual marble, not clouds. “But yeah, I’m okay, Twilight. It’s safe.”
Twilight stepped through after a few more words of encouragement. She staggered and nearly fell, but Sunset caught her, though she winced when she did it. As soon as possible, they separated and adjusted their coats. Finally, both of them turned to face the deer-thing and the unicorn.
“Thanks,” Sunset said. “I don’t know if I said it, but… without you, we’d probably be dead. Or worse.”
“Thank your friend!” Book Light proclaimed with an easy smile. “Without her spellwork, we never would have found you in time! Yes, that would have been a bad one, if not for her.”
Twilight blushed and stared at the floor, though Sunset caught a smile on her lips.
“Either way, you’re the one who opened the door and let us in,” Sunset pointed out.
“Well, good timing runs in the family.” Book Light smirked, a glimmer in his eyes. “Please say hello to Whispersong for us. And enjoy the song. Don’t let it put you to sleep though.”
“The… song?” Twilight asked.
Amber rolled her eyes. “Ignore him, he’s being dramatic, as usual.”
Lightning flared in the bookstore.
“Okay, that was just hokey,” Sunset muttered.
“It’s like that sometimes,” Amber replied as she nodded at the two of them. “Well, we should get going. Hopefully, we can get Professor Light back into a unicorn before dinner. He is so picky as a deer, you wouldn’t believe it.”
“Deer simply have more refined tastes,” Book Light sniffed.
“Go prep the dissociation!” Amber gave him a shove toward the strange box near the register.
“Farewell!” Book Light called as he trotted toward the other side of the store. “See you soon! But no more scampering through leylines until you grow up!”
Sunset rolled her eyes but smiled all the same as both Twilight and herself returned the goodbye.
Then, all that was left was Amber, still standing there and smiling at the two of them.
“I never got your full name,” Sunset said.
Book Light chuckled, his weird deer-wings fluttering in mirth just before he turned a corner and vanished from sight.
“Did I not tell you?” she replied, her smile transforming into a far too knowing smirk. “How very rude of me.”
Sunset frowned at her. “So your full name is…?”
“Amber Spark.” Her eyes glinted. As soon as she spoke, suddenly, there was… something odd about her. Almost as if she’d had a subtle illusion spell on the entire time and she had just dropped it. But it wasn’t like the unicorn had suddenly sprouted wings. She looked completely the same… yet different. “It was a pleasure to meet you, again.”
“Thank you!” Twilight replied, apparently missing the odd look Amber had given Sunset. “Hopefully, we’ll see you again.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Amber replied with a giggle and eyes dancing with glee. “I get around.”
With that, the door slowly closed on its own, Amber smiling all the while.
Sunset looked at Twilight and they shared a confused look. Then they turned to face the door.
“You know they never told us where this actually leads.” Sunset sighed.
“Yeah, that… didn’t escape my notice.” Twilight swallowed hard.
“Do you think they want to hurt us?” Sunset asked, even if she’d already made her own decision.
“No. Not at all.” Twilight shook her head. “In fact, I thought Amber specifically wanted to make sure we were okay.”
Even if we’re so far from okay we couldn’t see it with a telescope…
“Should I do it or…?” Twilight began.
“I’ll do it,” Sunset sighed. “Might as well.”
They both approached the door, but nothing seemed to happen that was out of the ordinary. It looked like… just a door. Just neither of them knew where it would lead.
“At least we’ll be in Equestria, right?” Twilight offered, a tiny flicker of hope in her voice.
“Yeah. At least we’ll be in Equestria.”
Sunset turned the doorknob with a hoof. She caught sight of a wall of books beyond, then there was a flash of intense magic. Twilight and Sunset yelped as some invisible force yanked them inside.
All Sunset managed to think before this impact was, Not again…