Daring Do and the Hand of Doom

by Unwhole Hole

Chapter 3: Keeper of Tomes

The sun was just barely rising, risen across the sky by Celestia’s divine magic. On a normal day, Twilight Sparkle might have reflected on that fact- -but this was no ordinary day. For the past three months, Twilight had been tasked with managing the overhaul of the entire Canterlot Regional Library System. This meant redistributing, reorganizing, and reshelving not just every book in her own Ponyville library but- -but Celestia’s divine permission- -to catalog and integrate the Royal Canterlot Library itself as well.

Which was why this day in particular was of such great importance: it was rebinding day. A great number of fiction works of little to not historical provenance had arrived in the last shipment in absolutely horrible condition; they were bent and broken so badly by decades of use that Twilight felt ashamed for their sake. In order to ready them for the residents of Ponyville, Twilight- -as the responsible leading member of the overhaul operation- -had taken it upon herself to carefully separate the pages from the spines of the books and reattach them into new bodies.

It was, in her opinion, the most thrilling thing she had done in months. In fact, it was so exciting that rather than waking up well-before the crack of dawn, Twilight had just stayed awake through the whole night. For three days in a row. Technically, it stood to reason that as an alicorn she did not actually need to sleep; Celestia had, after all, gone exactly a thousand years raising both the sun every day and the moon every night. Of course, Twilight would hardly dare to compare herself to Celestia, but even if she had wanted to sleep it would have been impossible with the thoughts of the joy of rebinding the piles and piles of pages that lay downstairs.

Twilight completed yet another book and admired her work. She giggled. “Another spine-tingling adventure!”

“Sure looks like it,” said a voice inches away from her head.

“GAH!” Twilight cried out and fell from her chair. As she did, her wings spasmed involuntarily, flapping violently but producing no lift. The effect of this was that they trapped her on the floor, flapping violently and causing her to spin on her back like a wounded junebug.

“On no, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to surprise you!”

“WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY CASTLE!”

“The door was unlocked!”

Twilight let out a tirade of foul language concerning the rumps of various Princesses, herself included. When she finally got her wings under control, she stood up briskly and glared at the interloper into her book-ridden domain. Her gaze of disapproval only lasted for a moment, though, and faded when she realized who she was staring at.

A long gasp escaped her. “A.K. Yearling! In- -in my library! Right here! In the flesh!” Twilight’s wings suddenly pompfed outward violently, tipping several books onto the floor. Twilight caught them in her magic but blushed heavily. “Heh heh…sorry…”

A.K. Yearling gave her a slightly admonishing look, which only caused Twilight to blush harder. “Still getting used to them?”

“Yeah. It’s not easy. They’re so feathery. And ticklish. But- -but you don’t need to know that last part! You didn’t hear that!” Twilight’s eyes widened and she gasped. “And you didn’t hear me swearing just now, did you?”

“Not a bit.”

Twilight nodded solemnly. “Good. Because that would be horribly embarrassing.” She laughed awkwardly. “But- -you’re really here, in my house…just standing on my floor…do you want tea or something? I can make tea. SPIKE! GET TEA!”

“No, no, that’s not why I’m here,” said Daring Do, wincing at how awkward this conversation was becoming. “I’m here because I need help.”

Twilight’s eyes grew so wide that A.K. Yearling was beginning to grow uncomfortable. “You want…my help?”

“It’s nothing serious. But I’m looking for information on a certain subject. For research sake. But it’s not something that’s easy to find. I figured the first place to start looking was with you and your library.”

Twilight squealed with joy. “A.K. Yearling wants to see MY library! It’s just like I dreamed it would be!” Twilight cleared her throat. “Not that I have dreams about you. Or books doing… never mind.” Twilight sighed. Then, with a shout that made A.K. Yearling take a sudden step back: “SPIKE! FORGET THE TEA! GET ME MY CARD CATALOGS! AND THE CARD CATALOG FOR MY CARD CATALOGS!” She then smiled at Daring Do. “Right this way! We’ve got a double date with Dewey and his glorious decimal system!”

Twilight laughed so hard at her own joke that she snorted. A.K. Yearling winced. She knew that Twilight was trying, and she supposed that was what counted.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here!” laughed Twilight as she led them through stacks upon stacks of books, some fully reshelved and organized but with others in boxes.

“It looks like you’re still in the process of moving everything. If this isn’t a good time- -”

“Oh, no, it’s an excellent time! It is a little bit of a mess, which is a shame on my part- -you should see it when they’re all on the shelves and perfect, it’s amazing- -but I know exactly where every book is.”

“You…do?”

“Of course! It’s my library. I’ve spent WEEKS organizing and reorganizing these books. It’s what I do when I get stressed. One time, Rarity tried to set me up on a date, and I got so nervous I completely rearranged my reference section!”

“Oh. O…kay. I hope the date went well.”

“Oh, there was no date. I missed it. Too many dictionaries. I have them in seventeen languages! And that one thesaurus…the heavy one…”

A small figure suddenly came around the corner. A.K. Yearling actually gasped when she realized that the figure was in fact a tiny violet and green dragon. An enormous pile of boxes were perched in his claws; the stack was so high that he kept nearly losing his balance.

“Twilight!” he called from behind the pile. “I got the catalogs you asked for!”

“Thank you, Spike!” Twilight levitated the boxes from his grasp, organizing them into a neat grid in the process. A.K. Yearling was able to get a good view of Spike for the first time.

“Cadence’s tail,” she whispered. “He IS real!”

“What?” Spike looked up at her, confused. “Well I sure hope I am. It would be hard to take naps and stuff if I wasn’t.” He paused, then stroked his chin. “Or would it…”

“I- -I’m sorry! I didn’t think you actually existed!” She turned sharply to Twilight. “So the stories are true? You actually did hatch a dragon? And you make him work for you?”

“Well, I don’t make him.”

“That’s what she tells herself,” muttered Spike.

“But…yeah. He’s a dragon. I mean, that’s not new to you. I mean, the dragon’s treasure in Daring Do and the Iron Key- -”

“That one was fifty meters tall and spit enchanted fire. This one is…small.”

“Rarity says size doesn’t matter.”

Twilight blushed, and A.K. laughed awkwardly.

“Sure, Spike,” said Twilight. “No, about that tea…and could you find Starlight? I’m going to need some help with the books.”

“I can try,” sighed Spike. “But I’m NOT going into Trixie’s car again! Last time I found her in there, I saw…” He shivered violently. “Never mind.” He began to trot off before waving. “ Nice to meet you, Mrs. Yearling!”

“Ms.,” noted A.K., but by then Spike was already gone.

“Isn’t he cute?” asked Twilight. “And yes. I totally did hatch him. With magic. When I was five.”

“You’re lucky. Usually baby dragons try to take down pray at least three times their size after hatching. It’s a defense tactic. And half of them are venomous.”

“Ven…” Twilight opened a box and flipped through the index cards inside. “That isn’t referenced in my section on dragon biology. I’ll have to ask Ember…”

“So,” said A.K. “I was actually wondering. With this whole library project, is it just books?”

“Is there anything in life other than books?”

“Yes, but that’s not what I mean. I mean old documents. Records, archives.”

“Oh. Sure, I suppose. Those are a little harder to reorganize. They’re normally in the basement of the castle, in what used to be the secure dungeon. I wanted to use the space for expansion so I had all the archives transferred out to a new building out near Gelding Grotto. Terrible name for a grotto, by the way, but it actually has a historical reason. See, there was a stallion, and- -”

“I’m familiar with the story. I was just wondering. I mean, aren’t some of those documents are classified, aren’t they?”

Twilight shrugged. “If they are, it doesn’t really matter.”

“It doesn’t?”

“They’re all old. Which gives them some level of research interest, but politics change pretty quickly. Apart from Celestia, the government administration is completely different. Any threats they were dealing with back then are either dealt with or lurking…meaning I’ll have to get my friends and deal with them in a year or two, I guess, but documents aren’t going to help with that.”

“Oh.” These were not the answers that A.K. was hoping for.

Twilight suddenly giggled and stamped her feet. “OH! I still can’t believe you’re here! Before we start- -I know it’s a lot to ask, and I don’t want to seem desperate- -but can you sign my Daring Do books? I have a full set! First editions! And SECOND editions!”

“Sure. If that’s the cost for helping you, I’m fine with it.”

Twilight laughed. “Ohh! Rainbow Dash is going to be so jealous! Just wait until I tell her you’re here!”

“About that.” Daring Do leaned close to Twilight. “Actually, I’m very busy with a new case. I’d rather not have Rainbow Dash getting involved in it.”

“But she’s your biggest fan! Even bigger than me, and I would totally preen you right now if you let me!” Twilight winced. “…and that thought came out as words.”

“It’s too early in the planning phase. Just boring research right now that she wouldn’t find interesting anyway. And I’m very busy. Time is of the essence on this one, Princess Sparkle.” This was of course not true; although A.K. had a sense that other forces were working against her with regards to Dulcimer’s artifact, she was not explicitly aware of any rush. She knew she was just trying to make excuses and be persuasive. This project had already shown itself to be perilous before she had even started in earnest; the last thing she needed was a sidekick to get in her way- -and into danger.

Twilight was about to protest, but was interrupted by a sudden surge of blue light that manifested in front of her without warning. A.K. jumped back in surprise, having no idea what was teleporting into her vicinity- -only watch as a pale lavender-colored unicorn dropped to the ground.

“Starlight!” cried Twilight. “There you are! So Spike actually managed to find you this time?”

“No. I found him. It’s not hard. There’s a spell for it. It’s kind of a minor curse, but it’s not malicious. Generally.” She turned toward A.K. Yearling. “Oh. Hey there…um…I don’t actually know if I should call you Yearling or Do.”

A.K. glared at Twilight. “Really? Do you just tell everypony who I am? I mean, the whole point of having a secret identity is that it’s supposed to be SECRET.”

“But it’s Starlight! She’s my disciple!”

A.K. raised an eyebrow. “Your what?”

“She means student,” said Starlight. “Learning about friendship and all. But for the record, it’s kind of obvious who you are. I mean, you just put on a hat, shawl, and big glasses. That don’t even have glass in them. I mean, what idiot would fall for that?”

“You’d be surprised.”

Twilight chuckled awkwardly.

“So, yeah,” said Starlight. “I was just having breakfast. Then I popped over to let Rainbow Dash know that her idol was here.”

A.K. Yearling and Twilight looked at each other, wide eyed.

“You did WHAT?!” demanded A.K.

Starlight seemed confused. “Did I do something wrong? I mean, Rainbow Dash is your biggest fan. I don’t know why, to be honest I always thought your stuff was kind of ‘meh’. But I mean, she likes it…and I figured this was a friendshipy thing to do.”

“Well, it certainly was,” said Twilight. “But we also need to consider Ms. Yearling’s privacy and her wishes when we do things like- -”

Twilight was interrupted by a sudden, deafening boom. Both her and A.K. ducked while Starlight nonchalantly summoned a shield bubble. A gust of hurricane-force wind seemed to tear through the castle and the library, pulling books and papers off the shelves behind it and leaving a distinctive rainbow-colored contrail.

A.K. was sure that she was going to be tackled, and braced for the inevitable impact. It never came, though; instead, the air before her suddenly seemed to materialize as a blue Pegasus with a distinct rainbow-colored mane and tail. Her violet eyes were wide with excitement, and she stamped on the floor excitedly, almost as though she was dancing.

“OMC!” she cried. “You’re here! You’re actually HERE! In Twilight’s library! With the books, and in Ponyville, and RIGHT HERE!” Rainbow Dash nearly squealed. “I can show you Ponyville! I can show you my house, and my memorabilia collection! I can show you my ROOM! You- -you can sign my books! Can you do that? Is that something you do? Twilight! Did you hear that Daring Do is here?!”

“My books!” cried Twilight, scampering around trying to collect the various volumes and texts that Rainbow Dash had knocked from their shelves in her haste. “My precious books! They’re out of order! OUT OF ORDERRRRRRRRRR!”

A.K. sighed. “Hi, Rainbow Dash,” she said.

Rainbow Dash squealed. “Oh my CELESTIA! She said hi to me!”

“Of course I did. We’ve known each for, what, two years now?” A.K. looked up at Twilight, trying to find help, but Twilight was obsessed with picking up her various spilt books. So, instead, she turned to Starlight. “Is there anything you can do about this?”

“Sure. Hold on.”

The whole atmosphere vibrated, and A.K. Yearling immediately felt a headache spreading through her forehead. She closed her eyes, wincing in pain, and when she was opening them she could have sworn she saw numerous lavender unicorns converging into a single body. The entire library had been neatened and the books- -not just the ones that had been unshelved by Rainbow Dash’s boisterousness, but the uncategorized ones as well- -had all been properly organized.

“What did you just do?”

“Several things,” said Starlight, dismissively. “Part of it was a time spell. A minor one. Really more of a stasis field.”

“A stasis field!?” cried Twilight. “When did you learn to do that?!”

“Probably about six years ago. It’s not hard. But if you start tasting metal, you might want to get to a doctor.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” grumbled A.K. She was not a fan of magic, especially the more severe types. Her line of work had required her to develop a certain sensitivity to it; sudden spells made her nauseous. It was immediately apparent that this unicorn would have had no awareness of magical sensitivity whatsoever.

“Well…that was…nice, Starlight,” muttered Twilight, clearly uncomfortable, either because she had been upstaged or because she had not had the joy of putting the books back on the shelves. Twilight cleared her throat. “So. Ms. Yearling. What exactly was it that you were looking for?”

“I need information on the Exmoori.”

The entire room fell silent. Rainbow Dash watched with anticipation but clearly no glimmer of recognition in her eyes. Starlight, likewise, only barely seemed to recognize the word. Twilight, however, uttered a small gasp.

“Well,” she said. “That’s not a request I was expecting.”

“Do you have anything?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether you’re interested in breezie-tales, pure conjecture, or tertiary- -or even quaternary- -sources. That’s not something I’ve researched thoroughly. I don’t think anypony has.”

“So you know what they are?” asked Starlight.

“I know the word. And I know it’s not exactly considered standard equinpology. Frankly, the consensus is the Exmoori never existed.”

“What do you know, then?” asked A.K.

“Only that they were, supposedly, a race of northern ponies. Not unicorns or Pegasi or earth-ponies, but something different. No one knows what exactly. But…well, to be honest, I’m pretty sure they’re just a legend.”

“Do you have any citations to back that up?”

Twilight’s eyes flashed. A.K. Yearling had clearly struck her mark.

“No,” she said, slowly. “But I’m trying to think where I can find them.” She opened several of her card catalog boxes and sifted through them. After only a few seconds, her eyes suddenly lit up.

“You found something?”

“No, but I had an idea! I don’t have any books about the Exmoori, but I know where we could find them!”

“Where?”

“Well, if there’s ANYWHERE that arcane knowledge like that would be, it would be in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Royal Canterlot Library! I haven’t even STARTED to go through that one yet, but Starswirl was the most brilliant mind in pony history! If there’s anything in Equestria about them, it would be there!”

“Canterlot’s half a day’s trainride form here,” noted A.K., already feeling her rump aching from having taken a several-days trip from Southern Equestria already. “I don’t know if- -”

“It’s just to Canterlot,” said Rainbow Dash, perking up. “I can get there in at least half an hour. Less if I break the sound-barrier! Which I totally can! If you want a certain book, I can just pop over and- -”

“That won’t be necessary!” said Twilight. “Starlight, can you watch the castle while I’m gone?”

Starlight nodded and stepped back knowingly. A.K. looked around, confused, but having a very bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

“I’ve never tried this before on this scale,” said Twilight. “But I’ve done the math for three ponies, and it should work. Hold on to something. And make sure there’s no flies around.”

“Wait,” said A.K. “What are you- -Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash had clamped herself around A.K.’s legs. This interrupted A.K.’s train of thought just long enough for her not to notice the charge rising around the Princess’s horn.

“NO!” she cried. “Princess, wait- -!”

She did not have enough time to protest. The space around her suddenly exploded in pink-violet light, and the ground beneath her disappeared as the teleportation spell activated. A.K. Yearling was sucked out of reality into nothingness.

This was not entirely unfamiliar to her- -and she despised the sensation. There was a brief moment of lag in the process, one that for less-experienced mages often was drawn out to billions upon billions of years with disastrous mental consequences. Twilight was quite clearly experienced, though, and although the transmission phase only lasted a trillionth of a second, A.K. Yearling was conscious of floating through a horrifically familiar void. It was the space outside reality, the emptiness that the spell slingshoted them through- -and the expanse whose far shores could only hope to ever be crossed by grave cosmic Conjunction.

Yet, in this void, she was sure she felt something. Something was moving alongside her, a dark shape that moved on its own accord outside of the spell- -and one that was watching her with unseeable but terrible eyes.

Then she struck a cold marble floor- -hard. The wind was knocked out of her, as well as the several muffins she had eaten for lunch. Rainbow Dash, who had landed on her hooves beside her, was dizzy for a moment but otherwise unaffected. Twilight Sparkle, however, wavered and collapsed onto the ground.

“Daring Do! Twilight!” cried Rainbow Dash.

“Whoa…” moaned Twilight. “That was…not fun. I think the power calculations were off…I don’t think it’s a linear conversion after fifty kilometers…oh…I feel kind of weak…”

A.K. Yearling finished retching and lifted her head. “If you EVER do that to me again, I will punch you right in the wings!”

Rainbow Dash gasped in horror; Twilight, not being a Pegasus, did not appear to grasp the gravity of the threat.

“It was just a teleport spell,” said Twilight. “For three ponies…long distance. And I’m an alicorn, so- -”

“An alicorn! Exactly! Teleports are harder for Pegasi! Especially ones who have previously gotten shoved through unstable Celestia-kicking portals!”

Rainbow Dash gasped. “The Tower of Ducks!” she whispered, and Twilight immediately went pale.

“I- -I’m sorry!” she stammered. “I didn’t realize- -I haven’t read that one since I was a filly, it didn’t occur to me- -”

“Just- -just forget about it,” muttered A.K., standing slowly and wobbling as Rainbow Dash helped her. Another wave of nausea swept over her, and she groaned. “I’m getting too old for this…” She shook her head. “Where are we, anyway?”

“The Canterlot Library,” said Twilight, still clearly ashamed of her lack of consideration. “The Starswirl Wing isn’t far. Can you walk?”

“Of course I can walk.” A.K. pushed Rainbow Dash away. “Just get me to the book.”

Comments

[Opium4TmassS]

Once again I am entertained by your stories and cant put this down until it is finished.

[Starlight Nova]

If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?

[Davidp1522]

What an amazing section. I dont think ive seen a "im to old for this shit" sceen done so well

[Minevera]

“Just- -just forget about it,” muttered A.K., standing slowly and wobbling as Rainbow Dash helped her. Another wave of nausea swept over her, and she groaned. “I’m getting too old for this…” She shook her head. “Where are we, anyway?”

[AppleTank]

Man, Yearling is real beat up, isn't she?

And Glimmer is apparently the only Sane guy

[Sypher]

“But she’s your biggest fan! Even bigger than me, and I would totally preen you right now if you let me!” Twilight winced. “…and that thought came out as words.”

Gosh, it's night and day between this Twilight and the Twilights of your sci-fi stories -- I love it.

Also "OMC" is the most adorable phrase ever and I'm surprised I haven't seen it before.

[Brony4Lyfe]

Yet, in this void, she was sure she felt something. Something was moving alongside her, a dark shape that moved on its own accord outside of the spell- -and one that was watching her with unseeable but terrible eyes.

Finally getting around to reading this, and out of curiosity, is this void similar to the place traveled through in This is the Last Train Car?