//------------------------------// // Twilight In the Library // Story: The Alicorn Academy // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// “A haunted library?” Minerva whined. “More dark and spooky for us. I don’t like it.” Brimstone shrugged and kept eating, stuffing his face back into his salad bowl, while still trying to be well mannered and refined. “Well, we know ghosts are real. We’ve seen them. I’m not so sure what’s so bad about a haunted library though.“ Hoodwink said, trying to levitate a spoonful of soup. “We’ve only been home one day, and I’m still tired. My sleep is all messed up.” Minerva stuffed a roll into her mouth and chewed halfheartedly. “I think that it is intentional.” Brimstone said, lifting his head, salad dribbling from his chin. “I suspect that our teachers want to see how we perform under pressure and less than perfect conditions, to see where we make mistakes, so they can get a better idea of how to shore up our weaknesses.” “Huh?” Said Hoodwink, yawning. Ivy said nothing but kept eating. Her tail extended a napkin to Brimstone, who took it and nodded in thanks. “Ivy, you’re awfully quiet. You OK after eating that weird metal?” Hoodwink asked. “I’m fine. Just tired. Been really tough the past few days.” Ivy paused. “And I miss my family.” “I miss my mom.” Hoodwink agreed. “I miss all of my family. I don’t know if they miss me.” Minerva said. “What an awful thing to say.” Hoodwink said. “I’m sorry Winkie, but you don’t know them. I know they love me, but they get involved in their pet projects and I’m forgotten for days at a time. My nanny has to look after me. Well, she was my nanny. I’m gone now. I bet they let her go.” Minerva poked at her plate with a hoof. Hoodwink fell silent and ate her food. “My mother sometimes disappears for days.” Brimstone said. “And now you are going on adventures with her.” Minerva replied. Brimstone buried his muzzle into his soup and began to slurp. The companions fell silent, trying to eat, each reflecting on their thoughts and their growing fatigue. Luna and Twilight had heaped praise upon them, and Celestia had heard a glowing report about their first lesson. Brimstone had discovered upon his return that he had been moved out of his mother’s quarters and had a private room near the fillies, a tiny student cubby made for one. It had been an awkward moment for him. The events of tonight loomed before them. They were returning to Vanhoover, into the city proper this time. There was a haunted library. The details were non existent, there was simply an appeal for aid from the librarians, who claimed their library was haunted. Vanhoover, the city of gaslight. Equestria’s maple syrup provider. Along with syrup, there were also distilleries that made maple whiskey, maple sugar, and all manner of maple goodness. It was also the region of Equestria that grew the most potatoes, rivaling Ponyville’s apple production. But they weren’t going to see the gaslights. Or try the maple syrup. Or eat potatoes. No, they were going to visit a haunted library and try to get down to the bottom of whatever was going on there. Brimstone raised his head from his soup, muzzle dripping. “I really want to go back to bed. My mother is going to have Celestia lecture me if I screw up tonight.” He said, a fearful tone in his voice. “Celestia’s lectures are awful. I’d rather go to the moon.” He said, slumping. Ivy’s tail snatched up a napkin and wiped Brimstone’s face. He waved a hoof at the annoying appendage as it squeezed his nose. “That was my napkin.” Minerva said. “Sorry,” said Ivy, “I wasn’t even aware it was happening until afterwards.” “We’re totally horned.” Brimstone muttered. “Brimstone! Your mouth! Fillies are present!” Minerva scolded. “What happened to the refined and cultured colt I know?” Hoodwink stared at the door, saying nothing. Three heads turned in silence to see what Hoodwink was looking at. Luna stood in the door. “Oh, I am so horned right now. So very horned.” Brimstone said. “No point holding back now, I’m dead anyway.” Luna stared at her colt a a moment, and then entered the room, looking at each of them in turn. “You all seem tired.” She stated. There was a series of nods. “Such a pity.” Luna said. “I expect the very best from you tonight.” “We’ll manage.” Ivy said, confidence in her voice. “I’m sure we will make plenty of mistakes for us to learn from.” Luna looked at Ivy strangely and then nodded. She turned her head towards Brimstone. “By the way, Brimstone, I am very disappointed in you.” Brimstone slouched down low on his cushion. “I was fatigued and I misbehaved.” He said. “It does not excuse my behaviour but I offer it as an explanation.” “If you impress me tonight, I will allow you time to recuperate, rest, and write letters home to family and friends. If you arouse my ire, you will not like the consequences. Am I clear?” Luna looked at her students, her eyes narrowed, her ears forward. “You impressed me a great deal last night. All of you. I want to make sure that it was not a fluke.” Luna turned and began to leave the room. She paused as the door. “We will be leaving shortly. Twilight will be by soon to collect you. Prepare yourselves. It wasn’t long until Twilight arrived. All four foals were waiting in the hall near their rooms, sitting on a sofa and a chair in a small study nook. Hoodwink had her cloak. They were all yawning. All of them seemed miserable. “Come on, all of you. Time to go.” Twilight said, coaxing them into action. They fell in behind her for the long walk from the school wing to the castle proper, and then to the garden exit, where there would be a chariot awaiting them. They walked in silence through mostly empty corridors, guards occasionally saluting them as they passed. A group of maids paused in their work cleaning the floors as they continued ever onward. Twilight couldn’t help but notice that little hooves were dragging. She remembered her own time in school, going through something remarkably similar to this. “My faithful students.” She said, addressing the foals following her. “If you can make it through this night and do your best, I will personally take you all out to Pony Joes for all of the donuts you can eat.” “Are you sure about that Twilight?” Ivy asked. “I can eat a lot of donuts.” “I’m positive.” Twilight assured. Ivy picked up her pace. It wasn’t long before they reached the garden exit and strode out into the garden. The chariot ride was long and bumpy. There were high winds this night, and a great deal of turbulence. Two male lunar pegasi pulled the chariot tonight. They did their job wordlessly, slamming their bodies forward through the wind, towing the chariot along through the air. Luna flew ahead of them, her head low and nose forward into the whipping wind. Twilight was in the chariot with them, trying to comfort them in the bitter cold. They huddled around her for warmth. It was a miserable ride that ended in rain. A drenching rain and freezing fog hung over the city of Vanhoover. The foals were thoroughly miserable. They stood in the alcove of a library, staring at the doors of the library proper. The doors were locked. A librarian had given them a key, and then hastily departed, begging them to not open the doors until he had left. Luna dried them, casting a quick and simple spell. It lifted the foal’s spirits slightly. None of them knew what to expect beyond the doors. Twilight moved forward with the key held in her magic. She unlocked the doors and entered. Twilight’s mouth hung open. In the center of the room was a tornado of books, swirling and spiraling around. “Would that be a vortext?” Brimstone said in a very low voice. “Brimstone!” Luna hissed. “For shame. I raised you better.” Brimstone hung his head. Twilight strode forward. “What is going on here?” she said. “This is a library. A place of learning. Whatever is causing this, I demand that it stops right now!” A large tome flew out of the tornado of books and slammed into Twilight’s backside, nearly knocking her from her hooves. Twilight stood there, silent, one eye twitching alarmingly, her wings fluttering. A hoof stomped. “Mother,” said Brimstone, “I believe you prevaricated.” “I did what?” asked Luna, surprised. “You assured me that words could not hurt me.” Brimstone said in a matter of fact tone. “Silence Brimstone!” Luna commanded. Minerva walked forward cautiously, taking in what she saw, not sure if she could believe what she was seeing. A book flew out from behind a bookcase stealthily, the flat part of the cover striking her backside. Minerva let out a very unladylike yelp and stood there, tears flooding her eyes, trying to regain her composure. “My bottom…” She whimpered. The book flew away to join the others. Brimstone strode forward. “Try that again you pulp trash clop novel!” He shouted. Several books took offense and swooped. Brimstone stood his ground. He stomped and kicked at the books as they flew in, but one flew past his defenses, striking him in the head and knocking him to the floor. “Get up.” Luna said, her tone cold. “Do not make noble gestures unless you are willing to pay a pound of flesh for them.” She ducked as a book swooped past her head. Brimstone struggled, his legs kicking, flailing around on the floor. He finally managed to get his hooves under him. Minerva helped him up, ducking as a book buzzed her head. “Good Brimstone.” Luna said, her voice warming slightly. “Where is Ivy?” Hoodwink shrieked. “Quick lesson,” said Luna, several books bouncing off of an invisible shield, “when looking for Ivy, always look up first, and then check the ground second.” She turned on the tornado of books with an annoyed glance. Twilight’s magical shield was getting pounded on all sides. There was a loud thump somewhere above them followed by an angry sounding growl. Ivy’s head hung down from the top of a massive bookshelf. “They keep trying to spank my bottom!” She snapped. “Good thing my bottom is covered in metal.” “Mine isn’t.” Minerva said, tears still in her eyes. “I won’t be able to sit down for a week.” Hoodwink was dodging the incoming books. “Ivy, help me!” Keep them off of me for a moment.” Ivy scurried down from the bookcase and stood near Hoodwink. When a book came near, she whipped her tail around and spanked the book before it could spank her. Hoodwink’s horn glowed orange. Nearby, a study table began to wobble and shake. After a moment, it lumbered forward. Hoodwink took refuge under the table as it trundled forward toward the whirling storm of books. “I need a distraction!” She shouted. Minerva broke from the group, rushing to the edge of the room where there was a door. She touched her horn to the door frame and then pushed the door open. She entered the door… And exited on the other side of the room, on the other side of the whirling book storm. Several books dove for her. She retreated through the door and emerged elsewhere, causing the books to halt in midair, trying to find the vanishing filly. Books swooped down and thumped the table, causing Hoodwink to shout with alarm. She cowered under the slow moving table, reaching the center of the room. The books came at her in a storm of fluttering and flapping pages. Minerva had a huge flock of books trying to catch her as she danced between doorways, bouncing all over the room. Ivy was back up on top of the bookshelves again, leaping from shelftop to shelftop, trying to figure out what was causing this mess. Beneath her, Brimstone moved with her, looking upward, following her lead. “What is the plan Ivy?” He asked, watching for books. “Try to find whatever is causing this. A ghost?” Ivy returned. A book slammed into Brimstone’s backside. He paused in place. “A veritable symphony of tactile stimulation.” He announced, the side of his face twitching in a manner similar to Twilight. “Male offspring of a female diamond dog.” “What?” Asked Ivy. Brimstone did not reply, but resumed moving. Ivy’s tail whipped out a supersonic crack as one of the perverse books tried to paddle her backside. The book fell to the floor, stunned. “Thanks Ivy’s tail!” Ivy shouted. They both drew near the book storm. Brimstone rushed forward through the swirling books and took refuge with Hoodwink under the table. He carefully peered outward and upward, ducking his head back under as a book drew near. Ivy’s tail cracked again, another book dropping to the floor. Twilight looked very, very disturbed. “A library is a place of order.” She said, her voice odd and wavering. “It is a bastion of calm. A place of soothing quiet for the introverted and the intellectual.” The side of her face twitched, the corner of her eye jittering up and down. The constant stream of books shattered her shield finally, or Twilight’s concentration broke… Either way, the consequences were the same. A book whompled Twilight’s backside. Twilight shrieked in anger, raising her shield anew. “My plot!” She cried. Ivy realised that a moment of sacrifice was at hand. “Let them come.” She said to her tail. Ivy leapt from the bookshelf and landed on the table, causing Hoodwink to shriek. The swirling books all swooped in unison, raising up to attack the brazen invader. As she lept, she saw something that looked like a nest in the lights hanging from the ceiling. Ivy raised her armored backside up high. “DO YOUR WORST!” She challenged. The books swarmed down in a stream to give her the paddling of a lifetime. “There’s something that looks like a nest in the lights near the ceiling!” Ivy shouted as the books descended. The first book struck Ivy’s backside with a deafening “WHOMP!” sound. “That all you got?” Ivy demanded as the book bounced away, stunned, falling on to the table. A very large genealogy codex broke off from chasing Minerva and zoomed toward its fallen brethren. It was as large as a foal and over a foot and a half thick. Ivy sank her talons and claws into the table and braced herself. There was a thunderous crack as the flat of the book collided with Ivy’s backside. It actually hurt. A fat tear formed in Ivy’s eye and rolled down her cheek. It had nearly ripped her from the table. “None of us can reach the light fixture!” Minerva cried. “I see it.” Luna said, taking to the air. No books followed her. It seemed that the books prefered the challenge of assaulting Ivy’s armored backside. A stream of books slammed into Ivy’s bottom in rapid fire, each one slamming and falling away in rapid succession. It was really starting to sting back there. Scales were falling away. Luna examined what appeared to be a nest. It was, in fact, a nest. Something swooped near her and screeched. It was a fluttering flapping book with the head of an owl and two owl legs protruding from the bottom. It flew near Luna, trying to drive her away from the nest. Ivy yowled as the books were wearing down her armor plating and finding tender flesh. Minerva ran from the cover of the doorways towards her suffering friend. “I’m coming Ivy!” Brimstone came out from under the table and leapt up onto the table. “Plant our plots together!” He shouted. Minerva jumped up onto the table, her hooves clattering, trying to avoid books. One eluded her kicks and slammed into her already stinging backside. “Oh, oh, I wish I knew swear words!” She stammered, tears streaming from her eyes.” One book took a cheap shot at Brimstone’s head and nearly knocked him from the table. “Illegitimate offspring!” Brimstone swore as he backed his backside against Ivy. Minerva joined in and Hoodwink shot out from under the table. She blew a raspberry at the books and jumped up on top of the table with friends, squeezing her self in. “I ain’t gonna poop right for a week!” Ivy said, slipping into an Apple family drawl. “I know the feeling” Minerva said. Luna glared at the troublesome book owl. It fluttered around her head trying to protect its nest, its book cover wings and pages flapping wildly. “There will be order!” Twilight shouted. “Chaos is not accepted in the library!” She cried, her mental state slipping further. “Everypony must behave, even the books!” The books circled the foals, trying to take cheap shots at their heads. Brimstone reared up and kicked a book away that nearly struck Hoodwink. A book became wedged in Ivy’s antlers. She shrieked in alarm. She shook the book free after a few tries. “Can you be reasoned with?” Luna asked the book owl. The owl screeched and fluttered, irate and unreasonable. Luna felt a moment of seething rage as a stray book struck her royal bottom. She held her reaction in check, but only just barely. It felt like the moon had new craters. She hovered, unsure of what to do. The book owl was something she had never seen or heard of. It was a unique creature. Or at least very rare. It had a nest. And in the nest, there were eggs. Future young. “Books must behave!” Twilight shouted. “Books are objects of reason!” “We seemed to have disturbed you owl.” Luna said, feeling a twinge of pity mixed with rage as her bottom stung. Luna’s horn flared. And everypony found themselves back in the alcove, the doors shut. “What is happening?” Minerva asked, rubbing her backside against the wall, trying to make the sting go away. “I have made a decision.” Luna said. “The owl is only trying to protect its young. We were in the wrong. I shall have to speak with the librarians. Something else will have to be done. I suppose we shall have to wait until the eggs hatch and the young are raised before the library reopens. Perhaps avian specialists can better deal with the owl. Maybe Fluttershy can reason with it. But we shall leave the owl in peace, go home, and soak our backsides in a comforting bath.” “The books are misbehaving…” Twilight muttered. “Twilight, be still. The nightmare is over.” Luna said in soothing tones. Twilight stood there, twitching, her face contorting. “Every librarian’s nightmare…” Twilight stammered. There was a loud hooting from within the room and the sounds of fluttering books. Brimstone winced hearing the noise. “My backside was never paddled.” Hoodwink said gratefully. Three foals and two alicorns shot her envious looks and furious glances. “My farts are going to sting, like they do when I’m molting.” Ivy whined, reaching back to rub her bottom. “I do believe the books have very nearly finished breaking the crack in my plot.” Brimstone said, his crimson eyes still watering. “Words hurt me. My mother lied to me. This has not been a good night for me.” Luna reached out and gave Brimstone a quick hug. “I want to go home.” Minerva whined. “The owl will be dealt with. Meanwhile, I believe all of you deserve some time spent resting. We’ll be leaving shortly.” Luna said, wanting desperately to reach back and rub her own backside. “I am going to eat my weight in donuts.” Ivy said, rubbing her backside.