//------------------------------// // A Library Out Of Time // Story: Starlight Saves Equestria With Custard // by hawthornbunny //------------------------------// Twilight arrived back at her new home in a flash of green light, floating the two books alongside her. In the center of a wide, carpeted circle she stood, surrounded by comfortable beanbags, wooden tables with reading lamps, and beyond that... books. Shelves upon shelves of books. They ringed the entire circumference of the huge, circular room, broken only by hallways leading off to other rooms filled with more bookshelves and more and more and more books. She let out a heavenly sigh, collapsing back onto a beanbag and looking up at the domed ceiling, which was lit with the constellations of the night sky. She'd modelled this place after her beloved Golden Oak Library, but only in general shape and wood aesthetic. Her old tree had nothing like the size and space available to her here. Indeed, there was nothing in Equestria like this place - because this library wasn't in Equestria. She'd carved out a nice little pocket dimension and shaped it to her will - it had been a lot of effort, but it was worth it for the library of her dreams. Her confrontation with Starlight had been more exhausting than she had expected - not because of the magic, she had plenty of that to spare - but she had really hoped that Starlight would come around to her. She understood perfectly why Starlight had fought back, of course - she knew she would have done the same in her hooves - but she'd really hoped that Starlight would be able to see that there was no getting out of this. Sometimes, the day just couldn't be won. It was sad to think that Starlight would start out her new bookish existence angry and miserable. Twilight really hoped that the grimoire she'd chosen would cheer her up and make her see that Twilight really wanted her to be happy, like all of her books. Even the angry kirin, once Twilight found a better place for her. She lifted herself up off the beanbag and summoned a clipboard and quill, making a note to shelve the nirik's book for now and transfer her at some later date. Starlight, on the other hoof... Twilight at least wanted to get her settled in. A good onboarding now would save potential anguish down the line. She rolled off of her beanbag and trotted lazily to a table, opening the tome and flicking through its pages with her magic. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, Starlight thought. Being crushed to a sliver of living ink hadn't hurt as she feared it might, and now that she was here, she could see what Twilight had meant about the merits of being in a book, as opposed to merely reading it. Even though her book was closed, Starlight was not hampered - she felt herself unconstricted, free to move within the confines of her pages, able to see her neighboring words and fellow illustrations as clear as day. Stepping from one page to the next was an unsettling leap the first time, but quickly became a part of her new repertoire of mobility. She did not walk, as such, but rather re-illustrated herself in a jerky stattaco from place to place. She saw spells laid out before her, some of which she recognized from her studies, but most were new to her, ancient rituals yet to be rediscovered. She could go to them, touch them, be part of them in ways that just didn't make sense in three-dimensional biology. Sunburst must be having a blast right now, she sighed. She page-hopped, taking in some of the sights of her new home - diagrams of elegant spell matrices, drawings of artifacts so old they were relics even when this book was written - it really was a beautiful book indeed. Twilight had clearly gone out of her way to find the one that was just perfect for her. If she was on the outside, she'd love to own it. She exhaled airlessly, and jerkily brought a pointy-limbed hoof up to touch her horn. Let's test the water. Concentrating, she cast a simple beam spell. Jagged scribbles stuttered around her horn for a few moments, and eventually a bold black line streaked out, bouncing haltingly off the sides of the page until it hit a wall of text, which shuddered slightly before returning to normal. Good, that works... "That won't do anything to the book, but I'm glad to see you figured out how to cast spells," came Twilight's voice from... somewhere. Starlight couldn't pinpoint it. Eventually she managed to focus her attention outward, off the page, and became aware of Twilight's enormous presence looming over her from the outside. "It took me a while to figure that out when I first used Haycart's Method." Starlight focused on a drawing of a diadem and managed to enclose it in a wobbly aura, levitating it until she was able to place it on her head. "I do like the book," she admitted, posing in her new jewelry. "I'd love to stay and read it." Twilight smiled wanly. "I know you hate me right now. But I'm going to do everything I can to let you enjoy yourself here, anyway." "And where is 'here', exactly?" Starlight asked. "Let me guess - pocket dimension, right?" "Right!" Twilight beamed. "It's got all the space I'll ever need, and if I ever run out, I can just extend it." Starlight blasted an enormous cone of ink into the opposite page, reducing a paragraph to syllabic rubble and shattering an exquisite drawing of an amphora. "It sounds lovely." "The damage from your spells won't stay," Twilight told her. "I'm sorry, Starlight. You can't magic your way out of this. That's not how the spell works. You're part of the book now. Any magic you cast is within the context of your book." "How many creatures have you got trapped here?" "I stopped counting after a while. Tens of thousands at least," Twilight told her. "Each one in a separate book. I haven't quite figured out how to let two people share one book, yet. But, hey - " she gestured to the shelves all around her - "I'm in the perfect place to figure it out!" she laughed. "And I've got all my friends here to help me too. If we work together, there's nothing we won't be able to achieve!" Starlight grinned bitterly, charging up her horn. "Why do you have to be so adorable when you're evil? I almost feel bad about what I'm going to have to do." Twilight rolled her eyes. "I really admire your confidence, Starlight, but there's a point at which you're just deluding yourself. You're here to stay now. The only way out of that book is through me, and I'm not letting you out. That's the honest truth." "I believe you believe that," Starlight agreed. "You do know I've got Star Swirl in here too, don't you?" Twilight added. "If you were counting on a rescue, you'll be deeply disappointed. Honestly, you were the last pony I was really afraid of." "I'm flattered." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, Starlight. Do your thing. Let me know if you need anything from me." "Just one thing," Starlight said. "Your forgiveness. Also, brace yourself, because this is going to hurt a lot." Starlight vanished from the page in a circular poof of smoke. Twilight blinked. Then her mouth fell open. "What have you done-" Bang! Above the Map table, there was a pop of light which grew into a seething void in the air, fierce winds jostling the crystal pennants above as a pony was ripped violently through space and reality. Starlight was torn from the void, hanging in the air for a moment as the book spell peeled away from her, almost throwing up as her biology reasserted itself in a none-too-organized way. She tumbled heavily down to the table, landing headfirst into a bowl of custard. The last custard in existence. It had never tasted so sweet. Starlight groaned and staggered off of the table, bowl-on-head, flinging yellow droplets all over the floor as she connected herself back to the Map. "Harmony!" she cried. "Do it now! Send everything you've got!" The walls and floor began to pulse with pure light as harmonic energy funneled into the castle from its roots, converging on the center of the Map table. Starlight tilted the bowl down to shield her eyes as the energy gathered in one place, a rainbow of power whirling and mixing dizzyingly into a sphere of pure white light. There was a moment of calm and silence, then all of Harmony's power was unleashed in a single colossal burst into the dimensional void. Nightmare Sparkle simply stood as the harmony beam washed over her, feeling the agony of her power being torn from her very soul. Tears streamed down her face as the harmonic energy became a wave that washed over all her books, which began to slide and pop off of their shelves, disgorging their occupants in bursts of white light. At least it wasn't damaging the books. Harmony was nice like that. The Nightmare let out a wailing scream as the last of it was purged, leaving a frazzled purple alicorn tottering on unsteady hooves. Her head lurched giddily as she caught glimpses of ponies, pegasi, unicorns, hippogriffs, all hugging each other, finding their friends, panicking, laughing, chattering... The custard. Twilight realized. Of course it was the custard. Her head tilted back, and she keeled over onto a beanbag. "So, how much longer?" Twilight brushed some confetti off of her horn and tried to sweep it off of her hospital bed. Her coat and mane were still unnervingly pale, but she'd improved a lot over the last few days. "Two more days, they think." "Seems excessive," Starlight opined. "I mean, not that I think you should skip recovery or anything! I just... from what I read, Princess Luna was up and about after a day or two." "You hit me with the raw unfiltered energy of the Tree of Harmony," Twilight pointed out. "Treehouse of Harmony," Starlight corrected. "Tree... it's still a tree. Point is, it's not the same as the Elements. Less of a chisel, more of a sledgehammer." "Eheheh," Starlight said, rubbing the back of her mane and blushing. "Well, you know me. Subtlety's not my strong suit." "I'm glad," Twilight said, smiling. "Thank you so much, Starlight. I... I just can't bear to think what could have happened if you hadn't saved me," "Hey, it's what you did for me," Starlight pointed out. "Being able to return that favor is all the reward I need." Twilight nodded quietly. "Yeah." Starlight tilted her head in concern. "Still feeling it?" Twilight winced. "I just... it's... it's not the guilt. Well, it is the guilt, but you know, I'm dealing with that. Celestia and Luna both had a lot to say about it." She sighed. "I... I miss it." "Miss what?" "The library that I made. I... I was so happy there. There's still a tiny part of me that..." she gritted her teeth. "That wishes you'd failed. I hate it. I hate myself for thinking that." "I didn't get a good look at it," Starlight admitted. "The dimension started falling apart after you were removed from it. I think it's gone now. But from the way you described it, it sounded like heaven for you." "It was," Twilight said sadly. "I think these feelings are just a natural part of the nightmare recovery process," Starlight suggested. "I know it feels bad, believe me, I've been there too." "You've never turned into a monster." "Nooo... but I do know what it's like to have to give up something that you want more than anything. It really hurts. And it was you who got me through that," Starlight reminded her. "Remember that, if nothing else." "Thank you," Twilight said, with a weak smile. "I should probably be writing all this down, actually. We'll likely have to go through this at least two more times." "Why two?" Starlight asked, looking puzzled. "Flurry." "Oh. Yeah. Forgot about her," Starlight said. "Although Sunburst thinks Flurry Heart already went through her Nightmare phase while she was teething. I think he may have been joking though." Twilight laughed, as a nurse trotted in to see them. "Princess, you should get some rest now," the nurse advised. "Where did all this confetti come from?" "I'd tell you, but I don't want to get her in trouble," Starlight said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Twilight. Oh, and I forgot, I've got a gift for you." She dropped a rectangular gift-wrapped package on the bedside table. "No pressure. Open it when you feel up to it." "Thanks, Starlight. For everything," Twilight said. "See you tomorrow." Twilight laid back in her bed as the nurse tidied up and left her to rest. She tried to relax, but found her idle thoughts kept going to the dark, uncomfortable places she was trying to avoid. Sighing, she turned to the bedside table, eyeing the gift Starlight had left. Definitely a book, she noted. Am I ready for books again yet, though... She tossed and turned a bit more, before finally reaching over and picking the package up. She stripped off the wrapping and looked over the cover. Custard Through The Ages, by Sweet Sherry. Twilight smiled. I'm ready.