Drocsid

by flutterspin

Library Magic

Library Magic

---

Persistant Pinkie Pie interrogated my preferences in anything that blew by her mind. What's my favorite color? Blue. What's my favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate Chip. What was my favorite vegetable? Onion. She circled around me with an abundance of energy.

When there was a break in Pinkie's questions, Applejack grabbed the opportunity and said, "You never answered my question from earlier."

I asked, "What question?"

"Where are you from?" Applejack replied.

All the months I stayed in my house, the specific question of where it was partaining to the rest of Equestria never came up. My mother's house lied somewhere north from Ponyville, but I never carried a map to see where my house was inconjuction with hers. I simply chose a direction and walked until I came across a nice spot to settle.

I picked a beautiful place to call home far away from civilization. The sounds of nature developed such a relaxing atmosphere. Like the chimes that played in the wind where I lived before, I spent hours listening to the melodies of the birds. My little house resided inside a dead tree, intertwined with another tree full of life. I stripped the inside remains of the tree and carved two separate levels. The bottom level acted as my bedroom and the top level directed as my study room. Although the top of the tree decended to the ground, the adjacent tree's branches provided my needs for shade and shelter.

Despite my intentions in discovering my new home, I felt ashamed to make mention to it in front of Applejack. The only project I completed was an uneven chair formed out of fallen branches. Even the window was merely a hole in the wall. Instead of describing all the details, I simply stated, "I live in a treehouse."

Pinkie said, "What a coincidence. So does Twilight."

My legs slowed to a halt. "Wait, Twilight lives in a treehouse too?"

Pinkie replied, "That's what I said."

My legs propelled onward. "So that's where we are heading?"

Applejack said, "You can see the top of the tree from here."

The closer we walked to the library, the more beautiful it became. Unlike my decaying home, the tree was vibrant and alive. Green leaves covered the top. Delicately designed windows encased in multiple portions of the tree. Two balconies stretched out from the tree's branches.

When the entire tree came into view, I asked Applejack, "This is a library?"

Applejack grinned. "This is where Twilight Sparkle lives. There are all sorts of books inside."

"Does she welcome all kinds of ponies?" I asked.

Applejack responded, "You betcha'."

Before we could knock, a baby dragon swung the library's front door wide open. He gripped a small purple bag hanging over his left shoulder filled with art supplies. His quick motions suggested he had other things on his mind. "Oh! Hi Applejack. Hi Pinkie Pie. Hi other pony."

Applejack said, "Slow down, Spike. Where are you rushing off to?"

"I'm on my way over to Rarity's. Her and Sweetie Belle agreed to try out some new fabrics." Spike browsed through his bag. "They told me to pack some dye, along with some other things. There is supposed to be a surprise waiting for me when I arrive."

Applejack pointed inside the house. "Is it alright for us to go on inside?"

"Twilight wouldn't mind." Spike glanced into the house and back towards us. "She has been busy working on another one of her crazy experiments all morning. I better get going."

"Tell me how the surprise went!" Pinkie Pie said.

Spike walked off and waved farewell. "I will."

Watching a baby dragon leave a pony's house with a small bag strapped over his shoulder definitely wasn't the first unusual thing I've encountered today. I've encountered one of the Elements of Harmony. I watched a wagon literally explode in pieces. Even the magnificence of Ponyville's own library was a marvel in itself. I must have accepted the fact that anything was possible at this point in time.

Once the three of us meandered inside, the vast spectacle of amazing things in the main room boggled my mind. Shelves chiseled along the interior walls held an abundant supply of books. A nicely carved ladder leaned near the staircase. A few books were scattered on the floor. A large wooden head rested on top of a small platform above the round table in the center of the room. Different sized vials containing mixtures of bubbling liquids rested on the table.

A tear rolled down my face. The room reminded me of the first time I found a nearly identical library in my young years. My peers usually poked fun of my unusual behavior. So I fled to a place they never visited. A place of solitude. A place filled with books.

"Maybe if I added... No, that won't work."

Twilight Sparkle was preoccupied with her work. She levitated a red quill above a small ink container next to a parchment by the staircase. She inscribed different elemental combinations while carefully reading a chemistry compendium that rested on top of a book stand. Twilight mumbled in her search for a solution.

Intrigued by the experiment, I accidently fumbled over a small book on the ground. The sound alerted Twilight.

Twilight placed the quill down into the container. "Spike, is that you?" You know how dramatic Rarity gets when you..." She turned around and was startled by our presence. "Oh Applejack, what brings you here? Weren't you selling apples in the market today?"

Applejack tapped the ground and tugged on the saddlebag's strap. "Well, fancy you asked."

Twilight stepped towards me. "And who might you be?"

"This is..." Pinkie Pie briefly paused. "Oh silly me. I never found out your name."

I hesitated in my response. My role model stood in front of me. I always envisioned it in my head, but never believed it possible. "Hi. I'm Twi... I mean... Twilight, I'm Moonlight."

"Nice to meet you. Are you here visiting Ponyville? Did you need my help with anything?"

Applejack grabbed hold of the strap and placed the bag on the ground. She pulled my book out and gave it to Twilight.

Twilight looked at the book's cover. "What's this? Elements of Harmony? Where did you get this?"

I said, "That's actually my book."

Applejack said, "I found it laying next to-"

We were interrupted by the sound of one of the vials fizzling over onto the table. Twilight quickly dropped the book on the floor and rushed over in a panic. "No no no no no. My vial! What did I do wrong this time? Let me see. Where did I leave that green book?"

Twilight's book rested near the top of the stairs. It floated over next to her. Twilight grabbed hold of the book and laid it on the ground. She turned over a couple of pages. "Oh, thank you."

Bewildered by her statement, I asked "Thank who?"

Twilight looked at me and smiled. "You, silly. You are the only other unicorn in the room."

"U.. Unicorn?" I stuttered.

My hoof shook as I placed it above my forehead. I felt a small circular cone poking through my mane. I searched for metal, glass, water, anything that casted a reflection. "Do you have a mirror somewhere, Twilight?"

"By the bed."

The mirror confirmed it. A horn protruded from my head. I continued poking it in disbelief. "No. It's not possible. There is no way." I turned and faced Twilight. "So, that was me? I levitated the book?"

Twilight mixed a couple of the vials together in attempt to settle the chemical reaction. "You don't know? Didn't you concentrate your magic on the book?"

"Yes. Maybe. I don't know. I mean. I didn't know I was a unicorn."

Pinkie Pie said, "You didn't know you were a unicorn? I could have told you that?"

Once the bubbles stopped pouring out of the vials, Twilight approached me by the mirror. "What do you mean?"

I meditated over the situation and touched the mirror. "The last I remember... I was a pony. Just an ordinary earth pony. No magic at all."

Twilight Sparkle's reflection appeared in the mirror next to me. "You mean you somehow transformed into a unicorn?"

Applejack said, "You were a unicorn this morning."

"It must have happened before I arrived in Ponyville when I heard Discord's voice," I stated.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "This again?"

Pinkie Pie asked, "What happened?"

Applejack said, "Moonlight believes he heard Discord's voice."

Twilight leaned forward. "Is this true, Moonlight?"

I walked to the center of the room and gazed at the book on the floor. "I don't know. It sure sounded like him." I picked the book off the ground and retraced the event this morning. "I wish I could remember more. There was the voice. Then the book shocked me. I was pulled into the emptiness of space. Then I saw Applejack. Could I have been transformed and then teleported to Ponyville?"

Pinkie Pie said, "Sounds mysterious."

I watched Twilight place her hoof on her chin. "What are you thinking?"

"Why does what you described sound so familiar?"

Twilight Sparkle walked to a bookshelf and browsed through various science books. She grabbed one off the shelf with her magic and flipped it open.

I stepped by her side and peered at the book. "You heard this before?"

Twilight gradually turned the wrinkled pages one at a time. "When I was a young filly, science and mathematics fascinated me. I also had a keen interest in learning more about magic. After I became Celestia's prodigy, I eventually grew to understand how to control my magic."

I asked, "What does this have to do about me?"

"Not too long ago, I stumbled across this book in my studies: Predictions and Prophecy. It acts as an appendix to the history of Equestria." Twilight pointed at a notation on the current page. "Here's something. Temporal Dimension - see Obscure Unicorn History page 87."

Applejack asked, "Do you have that book, Twi?"

"I believe I gave that book to Spike to read. I wonder what he did with it."

I said, "We can help you look for it."

Pinkie Pie checked downstairs in the basement. Twilight searched in around the beds. Applejack shifted through the books on the shelves. I glanced at the crevices and nooks on the floor.

Pinkie Pie popped her head out from the stairwell. "Not down here."

Twilight stretched her leg underneath the bed. "Not here either."

I pulled myself out from beneath a square table. "Do you think it is on the roof?"

Twilight walked up the stairs to the balcony above the treehouse. She returned with the book. "Found it. It was by the telescope by Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy."

We huddled together as Twilight placed the book on the table. She opened it and turned over to page 70. "This chapter revolves around the many mysteries of Starswirl the Bearded. Inserts of his journal are stored here." Twilight flipped through until she reached page 87 and read the account.

I entered my study room today only to notice a peculiar pegasus hiding behind one of my bookcases. The pegasus was cowering in fear. I asked her questions in an attempt to find out what she was doing there, but she was too terrified to respond. She kept muttering the same words over and over, 'I just want to go home.' When I asked for a name, she responded with 'Sumica'. She had green hair and a deck of cards for her cutie mark. When I returned from patrolling the room for any suspicious behaviour, she vanished without a trace.

Applejack asked, "Is that it?"

Twilight reviewed the rest of the account. "It just goes on in explaining possible theories of the incident, such as space distortion, conjuration, and time travel."

I lowered my head. "That doesn't explain much."

Twilight skimmed over to the next page. "The chapter ends with how he passed the knowledge down to Clover the Clever, one of the founders of Equestria. We would have to obtain his journal inside the Canterlot Archives for additional information."

I said, "Thanks for trying, Twilight."

"If I recall correctly, his journal described in more detail of his investigations in alternate teleportation methods without the use of unicorn magic."

"Can I visit the Canterlot Archives?"

Twilight shook her head. "The archives are in Canterlot. You would need special permission from the princess."

Applejack flicked her hat back. "Time travel? Space distortion? Sounds like a bunch of science talk to me. And you understand all of this, Moonlight?"

"More or less."

Applejack asked, "What about you, Pinkie?"

She just smiled and replied, "I have no idea."

I grabbed hold of the book's side and turned the page back to review the account once more. "You think Sumica turned into a pegasus the same way I turned into a unicorn?"

Twilight said, "There is no telling."

Pinkie squeezed in from the other side for a look at the account. "I wonder what her cutie mark stood for."

I frowned at Pinkie's statement and glimpsed at my flank. I bore no cutie mark.

Applejack nudged me in the shoulder. "What's the matter?"

I plopped down on the ground. "I'm never going to get a cutie mark."

Twilight reassuredly said, "Don't put so much emphasis on a marking. Ponies will treat you the same, with or without a special talent."

I leaned against my hoof and played with a small pebble on the floor. "That's what I'm afraid of." I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Discord did me a favor."

"If it makes you feel better, I can petition a letter to Princess Celestia. Maybe she can help shine some light on the situation," Twilight remarked.

Hope poured into my eyes. "Really?"

Twilight said, "We'll have to meet up with Spike. He's probably at the Carousel Boutique by now."

Applejack walked to the door. "I'll leave my saddlebag here, if that's alright with you Twilight."

"Sure."

Pinkie closed the book and noticed my book still on the ground. "What about your book, Moonlight?"

I came up next to Applejack. "You can just leave it, Pinkie. I have a feeling I'm going to be returning back to this place real soon." As Twilight walked up next to me, I examined the lab on the table. "What about your experiment, Twilight? You just going to leave it?"

Twilight smiled. "It's fine. I was trying to find a mixture that would keep our drinks cold throughout the day. Zecora helped me with some of the herbal ingredients, but it still isn't right. There is still too much carbination."

Pinkie said, "I just use ice."

Comments

[midnight void]

pinkie pie, you are so random

[Andy Grey]

i like it so far. i've got this hunch that moonlight is maybe a little bit self insert. mostly because you seem to have really great insight into his thoughts and he feels really genuine. anyway great story definately deserves more publicity.
(also i noticed you used sumica in the story)