Twilight Sparkle, Librarian

by Raryn

The Record of All Things - Part 3

Twilight Sparkle: Librarian
The Record of All Things - Part 4
By: Raryn

---

Twilight and Golden Spade stared at each other for a few seconds before Golden opened her mouth to say something.

“What?”

“I left it lying on a table and went out to a welcoming party my friends threw,” Twilight looked down and grimaced before she continued. “Somepony stole it while I was out.”

Golden went silent as she placed her front hooves beneath the table and heaved with all her might.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” she shouted as the table twirled through the air over Twilight’s head.

The improvised projectile landed with a thunderous crash, which set off another table, and another, and another. Twilight winced slightly with each crash as the destruction dominoed its way around the room. Golden didn't seem to notice the cacophony around her as she was far too busy violently shaking Twilight.

“That book holds the truth of many of the lands greatest and most dangerous legends! And you let it get stolen!”

“I’m sorry!” Twilight shouted as her words became muddled by the shaking. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Apparently!”

“Excuse me,” a voice said behind the two of them.

“What!” Golden snapped as she turned and found herself face to face with the owner of the inn, a large brown earth pony stallion with a cutie mark of a filled glass wearing a green vest.

“You two! Leave this instant, before you end up breaking anything else, or I break you.” Twilight and Golden looked around at the shambled mess that had formerly been a nice inn; tables and chairs were broken and strewn all around.

“Uh... sorry,” Golden said as she let go of Twilight.

Twilight took a moment to gather her wits and pulled free a piece of parchment and an inkwell and quill. With a flourish of magic, she quickly wrote down something and floated the note over to the innkeeper. “This should be enough for the repairs sir. Just take this note to the bank. Sorry about the whole mess.”

The innkeeper gazed the note over then nodded his head as he grabbed it and stuffed it into a pocket in his vest. “Now get, both of ya.”

The two quickly made their way out of the inn lest they incur the wrath of the innkeeper. Once they were some distance away, Golden once again grabbed Twilight about the shoulders and began to shake her.

“You blockhead!”

“I know that! Please stop shaking me!”

Golden, once again, stopped shaking Twilight. “So what now? You got any idea what happened to it or any idea who stole it?”

“I wish I did, but I can’t focus on that right now.”

“Why?”

“Got a mission already.”

“Wow, two days in and you’re already gearing up for something. So what is it? A small time magical artifact unearthed? Or perhaps some creature menacing a village?”

“I’ll tell you when we get to the library,” Twilight said as she began to head off. “So no wandering ears can hear.”

“Fine with me,” Golden said as she fell in step behind Twilight.

~~~

“I still just can’t believe you left it lying around like that!” Golden Spade shouted as she and Twilight entered the Grand Equestrian library. “Didn’t the note tell you how important that thing was!?”

“It did,” Twilight replied. “I know, I was stupid and I’ve said I was sorry about leaving it out like that a dozen times already.”

“Ugh! I still feel the need to give you a few smacks about the head.”

“Please don’t. I don’t need my mind addled anymore, and I don’t think I could afford it if something else wound up being broken.” Twilight walked over to one of the tables in the central atrium of the library and motioned for Golden to take a seat while she did as well.

“So, about that mission of yours?” Golden said as she sat. “It’s not an easy thing is it?”

“You know of the Record of All Things?”

“Yeah, one of the greatest and most powerful artifacts from pre classical pony history... wait a minute, don’t tell me that—”

“Yep.”

“Ouch, even Bookworm had trouble with that one.”

“What? You mean Bookworm had to deal with the Record?” The thoughts in Twilight’s head began to whirl at that. If Bookworm had gone to the Record, then his adventure would be recorded, thus if somepony wanted to get the Record, the easiest way would be to get his journal. Twilight groaned at the thought.

“I know the feeling,” Golden said as she placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Well, actually, no I don’t. I never had to deal with saving something from somepony who had the knowledge on how to get it.”

“So my first mission’s a failure from the start...”

“Now I didn’t say that.” Golden stood and walked over to the other side of the table, right next to Twilight. “No, they just got a head start on ya is all. We just gotta get you into motion.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight stared at the other mare with a dumbfounded look. “All the maps point to the thing being weeks of travel away. And I’m sure that whoever took the book knows how to get there faster than that.”

“Time for me to teach you of a little secret of our order Twilight.” Golden grabbed one of Twilight’s front legs and dragged her off as she ran towards the stairs. “I’m sure you’re gonna like this.”

“What are you talking about and where are you taking me?”

“I’m sure that Bookworm had one somewhere. The room’s up on the top floor right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Twilight pulled herself away from Golden’s grip. “How about I take you up there instead of the other way around?”

“Sounds good.” The two mares made their way up to the hidden room at the back of the top floor of the library and once it was open, Golden dove in and began to search for something. “Now where is that stupid thing?” she muttered to herself as she sorted through mounds of papers and books. Twilight stood by the door and watched as she rummaged through the room. Having no idea what Golden was looking for she decided it was best for her to just stay out of her way.

“Here it is!” Golden shouted as she pulled herself out of a large pile of papers and charts with what looked like a piece of wood.

“That looks like a piece of wood,” Twilight said bluntly as Golden brought over what she’d found.

“This ain't just any piece of wood. Take a look at what’s on it.” On the wood was carved an intricate design of many interlocking circles, each one inscribed with symbols and weird letters. As Twilight looked at these, she realized that what she was looking at was some sort of magical device, the symbols and letters were the language of written magic, and she recognized several of them.

“Teleportation magic!?”

“Exactly. This little baby here’s a teleport node that’ll take you to the central hub for the order’s mass transport spell matrix.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight stared at Golden, slightly dumbfounded.

“The order’s been around a real long time, remember? We’ve gotten good at getting ponies where they need to be. Though, this one looks like it’s in need of a little work. Don’t worry; I should be able to get this thing working in no time.”

---

Once she had secured the book that she had been tasked to steal and fled from Ponyville, Trixie took a moment to catch her breath out of sight behind a large rock just off the side of the road. As she sat, she pulled her prize from her saddle-bag and gave it a look over. It was old, very old; she could feel the history of the thing just by holding it. As she began to open it, a soft pop sounded behind her, startling her and making her drop the book. She spun quickly and there, lying on the grass, was a letter similar to the one she had received telling her to steal the book.

Trixie reached out with her magic and opened it.

To the Great and Powerful Trixie:

Let me first offer you congratulations on a job well done. As to how we know, you do not need to know that. We knew that you would be able to pull off such an important job as that one, and as such, your compensation of another thousand bits has been safely and securely delivered to your residence.

Now onto the next order of business. Your next assignment will be much harder than this one, but we are sure that you’ll be able to complete this one as well. You will need to travel to a forest just on the outskirts of Manehatten, once there; you will find an old shack. For the first part, all you need to do is enter and let your magic flow into the house. After that, you will need to consult the book, look for an entry dealing with something called “The Record of All Things” and follow what it has to say and retrieve it.

As with the previous assignment, once you have successfully retrieved the record, a new message will be sent, detailing further assignments and compensation.

Now, get going post haste. You need to find the record before those who guard it do and stop you.

~A

“Great, another book that Trixie must acquire...” She grumbled as she picked herself up and began her run towards Manehatten.

~~~

As the sun began to set again, Trixie slowly approached the old building described to her in the letter. It had taken her all through the night and the day to get here; she hoped that whatever was going to happen wouldn’t need her to do any more running.

She slowly opened the door with the key that had come with the letter and let her magic light the interior. She gasped at what she saw inside, every surface was covered with intricate designs of magical symbols and lettering. While she hadn’t spent too much time on classical magic, she did recognize some of the symbols.

“Long distance teleportation magic,” Trixie said softly in awe of the magic of the building. She let her magic expand from herself and out into the building. The designs began to glow softly as the magic slowly flowed into them. Suddenly, Trixie felt a pull at her horn as magic began to pour from her, causing the symbols to glow ever brighter. Then, with a blinding flash of light, she felt herself pulled violently from where she was.

As the light faded, Trixie rubbed at her eyes and horn to ease the pain of her sudden exertion. Taking a look around, she found herself to be in some kind of terminal, similar to something she’d seen before in the larger towns of Manehatten and Fillydelphia with their transit systems, only instead of trolleys and trains, there were rooms set with teleportation circles.

The circle she was standing on was enormous, easily big enough to accommodation dozens of ponies. Layer after layer of runic text rippled out from where she stood in the center like ripples in a pond. The runes themselves were etched into granite the floor and inlaid with silver. This system had been built to last, and no expenses had been spared. Trixie just stood there in stunned silence as she imagined the immense ley-crystals that must be buried underneath each pad, acting both as ethereal anchors and a target for the teleportation matrix above. And that was just one node of the entire system.

Th-this is incredible, Trixie thought to herself. I've never seen anything like this before. No, I've never even heard of anything like this. It’s like something fit for the princesses, but then why is it here? Somepony else must have built this place. And whoever I’m working for must be related to them somehow.

Trixie shook her head, effectively clearing her thoughts. "When this is over I'm demanding a raise. Whoever this 'A' character is, I’m sure he can afford it."

“Aha, here it is,” she said as she found an entry on it. “Hum… blah blah history, blah blah danger, oh! Untold powers… hum, here we are, location. The kingdom of Gilded Trees far to the northwest beyond the frozen northern wastes.” Trixie wandered through the terminal, looking at the signs for the rooms, each one had the name of a city or a region, though as she walked, the signs began to show fewer words and more pictures and began to show the effects of many years. Soon, she came across one that appeared to be blank. She let more magic flow into her horn to give her more light to see by, and there, faintly visible, was a pair of crossed golden trees over a golden crown.

“Gilded trees indeed.” Trixie entered the room and with a similar process to before, gave her magic to the magical symbols before vanishing in a flash of blinding light.

---

“And there we go,” Golden said as she passed Twilight the, now slightly better looking, teleportation node. “Good as new. Well, as new as I can make it without a good set of tools anyways.”

“So what do I do with it?” Twilight asked.

“Just power it up. Ya know, use your fancy magic on it and all that stuff.”

“Just that... wait, if it’s powered by magic, how do earth ponies and pegasi use them?”

“No need ta think on that.” Golden waved a hoof in the air, dismissing the question for the time being. “We have our ways. Now, go on and charge it up.”

Twilight focused her magic on the wood and soon felt it begin to radiate with magic as the symbols glowed softly.

“Just like that, Twi,” Golden said. “There that looks ‘bout ready to use. Now, what this thing’ll do is it’ll teleport you to the central hub for the order’s transport. Once there, ya just gotta find the right portal. Each one should have a sign that says where it’s going.”

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“’Fraid not. Got my own mission to handle and all that. Hope ya come out of this thing alive.”

“But—” As Twilight began to protest, she felt a forceful pull on her horn as the glow turned blinding. She felt herself soaring through the air for a moment before coming to a stop and falling onto her face as her legs found ground again.

“Ouch...” she said as she regained her footing before the sight of where she was left her speechless. She stared at the central hub of the Hidden Stories’ teleportation hub with the look of a filly finding that she had gained her cutie mark. The place was filled with history; it was in the architecture, in the lighting, in the very air itself. She could have spent days searching for the secrets of this one place alone. But then, a flash of light from her saddlebag reminded her of her duty. She brought free her journal and gazed at the most recent passage.

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Just look at this place! Look at architecture, that has got to be pre-pony kingdoms workmanship. Oh I could just spend days on end here trying to find out the secrets of this place. But that’s for another time. I have a mission, a very important mission. The Record is long off, and whoever’s after it has a giant lead on me. Golden said this place is the central transport hub, so the further I go, the older the spells should be. The one I’m looking is one of the oldest, set behind a sign with the faded crest of the fallen kingdom.

“Thank you again journal.” Twilight nodded her head and sped off past the multitude of rooms, noting the destinations of some. It seemed to her that there was one here for each and every city and major location in Equestria as well as many that she did not know. She soon found the room she was looking for: a sign with a faded representation of a pair of golden trees over a golden crown, just as her journal had said.

She remembered how she had powered the portal teleport node, and sent her magic into the symbols of the room. “Here goes nothing,” she said as she found herself pulled once more into a blinding light.

Author's Note:

Once more, a shout out and thank you to my editor AntiquatedAnnomaly for all his help.