My Most Faithful Mortifer

by hamishwarfare

Chapter.16 – Two More for Ponyville

Chapter.16 – Two More for Ponyville

The library was peaceful at this moment in time; there were a few ponies quietly reading or working in a few of the more secluded areas. Sunset herself was organising some of the shelves, and since she was already taking books out of them, gave the shelves a clean at the same time. The books were once again suspended in the air, only this time it was a much more reasonable amount; after all there were clients in the building.

So, exactly twenty nine books were suspended around her in a halo; while she levitated a damp cloth along the wooden shelf removing any dust or grime.

With what little dirt had accumulated now gone, her next magic trick was to shuffle her deck of books and place them back in the correct order. From her trolley she levitated the eight books that resided within this section and brought them back to the fold within her halo.

Deliberately keeping her eyes fixed on the vacant shelf and not on what was going on just above her head, Sunset carefully shuffled and organised all the books using her magic and memory. With the deck now shuffled and cut the precious volumes of literature were taken, one by one, from the top of the pile and were escorted, by Sunset’s magical aura, back to their resting places within the bright living wood. They were all in the right order.

Fully satisfied with her work she moved on to the next set of shelves; only for one of her ears to quickly face towards the door as the, now familiar, bump into the library door was heard. It opened moments after to reveal the grey coated, blond haired Pegasus post mare with the misaligned eyes.

“Sunset, I have a letter for you from Canterlot.” Her enthusiastic waving of said letter held in one of her wings was almost endearing.

With a simple levitation spell, the letter left the wing grip of the Pegasus and started to travel over to its recipient. “Ah, thank you Derpy. I’m sorry but I don’t have any mail to send today.”

“That’s ok, Sunset. I’ve still got a few ponies to find anyway. See ya.” The post mare turned to leave, but just after shutting the door behind her a small squeak of pain was heard. Derpy had shut her tail in the door. Again.

A gesture, followed by the raspberry hued colour of magic and the door was opened to free the dirty blond tail. “I’m ok. Thanks for opening the door Sunset.” Was all the reply given, before the tell-tale gust of wind of a pegasus launching into the air. The door to the library shut with a gentle click.

Halting the shelving for the moment, she returned to her main desk. The post marks said the letter was from Canterlot, and the address was written in a style Sunset did not recognise. Turning it over revealed a wax seal that, while familiar to Sunset, she had never seen in person. It was embedded with the Royal seal of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

“Geez, what am I doing to gain the attention of all the Royals? What’s next, Prince Blueblood wants my hoof in marriage?” Sunset muttered quietly to herself as she opened the letter to find out what the princess of love wanted from her.

“To Sunset Shimmer, Librarian of Ponyville.

“Hello to you, I hope your day has been good and that receiving this missive has not affected it in a negative way. I am writing to you to ask for assistance in a small matter of a more personal nature.

“Trixie Lulamoon, the personal student of Princess Celestia, is overseeing next year’s Summer Sun Celebration along with her, assistant, Spike the baby dragon; which is being held in Ponyville. If this is not common knowledge please keep quiet on this matter; though I can’t see it remaining a secret for long.

“They are planning to interview local ponies to work on the celebration and are looking for accommodation for a few days. This is where the assistance comes in; they have requested to stay within the library with you. They are claiming that Trixie and Spike both will be studying in the evenings to keep pace with their assignments and I quote ‘what better place to study than in a library’ unquote.

“If this is too much of a burden I have other options available to me, the earth pony Filthy Rich and his family for instance, but it would be remiss of me not to at least try their preferred choice; and of course their expenses will be covered by the crown.

“If you are in agreement with this situation, please respond to this letter to the address written on the reverse along with any questions you may have.

“Regardless of your answer; thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

“P.S – If you do accommodate those two could you make sure that they are actually studying for at least one hour in the evenings. While they work well together, Trixie is a practical mare and will take any excuse to avoid the books.

Many thoughts were running circles in Sunset’s head once she had finished reading the letter, like the obvious hesitation to write ‘assistant’ when describing this Spike character, or just the general nice nature of the letter itself. But it was the big obvious thing that came to mind that was the problem.

“Princess Cadenza wants me to babysit those two for a few days. Sigh, it’ll be a pain. I don-“

“Sunset darling! I would really appreciate your assistance in somethiiiiing.” Came the sing song voice of the porcelain white mare with a rich purple mane; her friend Rarity.

Looking up, Sunset found Rarity walking towards her with all the confidence of someone who does not take no for an answer. Honestly one of her friends arriving at this moment was useful for Sunset; they could give her a second opinion.

“Sunset, I’ve got a matter back at the boutique that only you yourself can help me with.” Rarity said again now that they were eye to eye; she had even pulled of a small pout and a set of puppy dog eyes.

‘Huh, this must be really important.’ “Ok Rarity, actually I’ve got something that I could use a second opinion with as well. Umm, let’s see just give me a second to inform my patrons that the libraries amenities won’t be available for some time and then we can be off.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m closing the renting service of the library. Ponies can still use the place but won’t be able to take out a library book that I’ve not signed off on. If anything worse than that starts to happen, Owlocious here will come and get me.” as she was saying this to Rarity, Sunset placed a sign on her desk stating the same thing, just with less words.

She went to the four ponies that were currently in the library and informed them of the situation, before escorting Rarity out of the door and towards the Carousel Boutique.

---

Ten minutes later and Sunset had wished she had asked Rarity how she could be of use to her; if she’d known she would effectively be a life size doll for the seamstress to dress up, she would have turned her down.

“So Sunset, there was something you wanted a second opinion on?” Currently Rarity was pinning some rather pleasant fabric around her; it was the third piece of fabric as Rarity could not decide on the best colour to complement her coat.

“Hmm, Oh yeah. You see, I’ve been asked to host two ponies for a couple of days at the library. It wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but I’ve also been asked to make sure that the ponies I’m looking after actually do some studying when they’re here. I’ve never taught anyone before; I don’t know if I’d be a good teacher.”

“Well darling, you certainly know your stuff. I’m assuming it’s magic that they’re learning” Sunset nodded “Then who better in town to teach them? Honestly if you had a little more free time, I’d ask you to teach Sweetie Belle for me; just not in quite the same way as you were taught.”

“Chuckle, yeah I don’t think many ponies want to learn the way I did; can’t deny its effectiveness though.”

“Very true, both your magical and physical prowess is something else. But anyway, I take it you don’t know the two who are coming?”

“I know of them, but never met them in person before.”

“Oh? Now this sounds interesting; is a friend asking you for a favour? No, that can’t be it, there would be less hesitation. Hmm, wait. You are in contact with Princess Celestia, is she asking you to host someone?”

Sunset was pleasantly surprised. “Not Princess Celestia, but Princess Cadenza. I’m impressed Rarity.”

“Well it pays to have an eye for details. If that is the case then you must be hosting somepony who is overseeing the Summer Sun Celebration next year. I’ve heard they’re planning to have it here in Ponyville; if that is true then they would most certainly have ponies come to talk to the Mayor and others about preparing it. Hmm, but what’s this about studying, and teaching? I can imagine anyone on such a committee would be out of school already.”

“It’s Trixie Lulamoon who I’d be hosting, along with her assistant Spike.”

“Princess Celestia’s personal student? My my, you are getting very close with the Royal family aren’t you?”

“Sigh, yeah. All I’m waiting for now is a marriage proposal from Prince Blueblood and I’d have the who- YOUCH!”

“Oh sorry dear, I’m afraid my magic slipped there.” Nothing about the apology sounded real.

“Rarity what they hay, I was trying to make a joke about, wait. You want Blueblood, don’t you? You stab me as soon as I mentioned him marrying me. You want to marry Prince Blueblood.”

“Well, can you blame a pony? He’s so handsome and sophisticated and an actual Prince! Who wouldn’t want that piece of stallion?”

“Well you can have him. I’ve already got too much attention from the Royal family for my liking already.”

“Ah, more of a mare girl are we? Worry not I don’t judge, it just means more stallions for me.” The Cheshire cat grin was obvious in her voice; Sunset didn’t even bother to acknowledge it, though she did feel her cheeks heat up a little.

“I don’t know to be honest; I’ve never really noticed anypony in that way. Anyway, we’re off topic, do you think I should let them stay with me? Princess Cadenza wrote saying that they could easily stay with the Riches if I declined; but Trixie did ask for the library.”

“Well, do you honestly mind that much? I mean, a little generosity goes a long way; if you do this for them, then maybe they’ll invite you over and this dress I’m making for you won’t go unappreciated. Speaking of, I’ve narrowed it down to three main colours; this deep rich and luxurious carmine red, this soft and sophisticated heliotrope purple, or how about this exotic and calming Persian green?”

“Well, I do have a soft spot for purple.”

“Darling, we’re grown mares, we’re not supposed to have favourite colours. Oh, but yes, perhaps start deeper to offset the coat, travelling lighter, maybe highlights, matching flame trimming? No, wait. Yes! Oh, Ideaaaaa!” Rarity had dashed off out of the room, most likely to gather her sketch pad and a pencil; leaving Sunset standing there with, of all colours, orange fabric pinned to her frame.

Sunset waited all of an additional ten seconds before a simple teleport got her out of the trapping fabric, and then an additional minute for Rarity to come back from wherever she went to. She didn’t return. With a shrug of her shoulders Sunset made her way back to the Golden Oak Library.

The walk did help focus her mind on the situation, and honestly Rarity was right. While a slight pain, and would certainly hinder her excursions into the Everfree Forest; having the Royal family be in your debt, even such a minor one, is a far greater boon. “No, I can’t think like that. Rarity has the better idea; a little generosity out of the goodness of my heart will give me more in the end.” Determined on her course Sunset sped up her return, she had a letter to write.

---

“I can’t believe everything about our plans working out. I mean we don’t even have a guard escort or anything?” Came the happy, if surprised, voice of the small dragon sitting across from Trixie.

Currently the two of them were sitting in their own compartment of the train car as it trundled happily across the country side heading down the southern rail to Dodge City. They weren’t going that far, their actual stop was one of the earlier ones, but the train itself would continue on without them.

“Well, of course. Who would dare to oppose the Princess’s personal student and her fearsome assistant? Seriously though, it’s Ponyville. I doubt anyone there even steals candy from little foals.”

“Well there was that report from Rambling Rock Ridge.”

“What report?”

Spike’s eyes widened larger than saucers, “Forget I said anything, please! I wasn’t supposed to hear anything; but Cadance and Shining Armour were talking about it as they were watching me one evening.”

“Well you’re going to have to tell me now. Come on Spike, I promise I won’t tell anypony whatever it is you heard. But it could be useful to us to make sure we’re safe.”

“Sigh, all right; for our protection, but please don’t say a word to anyone. And I mean anyone, not just anypony. Apparently there was a huge Diamond Dog den under there; with signs of ponies being captured, including a set of bloody hoofprints. Of the whole pack less than a dozen were found alive; I don’t know about all of them, but a lot of the bodies had inconsistent but fatal wounds from a cave in. Shining is almost certain that the cave in was a cover up; hiding a mass murder, if not a genocide case.”

Trixie’s eyes were as wide as Spike’s were a moment ago. “What about magic signatures? Anything like that, to say if a pony did it?”

“I don’t know, they never said anything along those lines; but I’d guess from their frustration that they couldn’t get anything like that.”

“When was this? Do you know when it happened?”

“I don’t know that ether. But I overheard them at least two, three weeks ago and they were frustrated then; so I’d guess it happened well over a month ago. I do know they think whoever did it was a group from out of town, and have probably long gone by now though.”

That part of the news spread relief throughout Trixie’s body, though there still was a hint of tension in her shoulders. “That’s good to hear, but we’ll both be a little on guard just to be certain, we’re on our own after all.”

“What about who we’re staying with? I bet she could help us if we were in trouble.”

“Who, Sunset Shimmer? She’s the town’s librarian Spike. Please, I bet even you could take her without using your fire.”

“Well she did agree to let us stay with her and to offer you some advice on magic. Even Aunt Celestia was favourable with the idea of us staying with her when she found out.”

“She’s probably over fifty and has read all the publicly available books on magic. She may have useful things to say to me on the theory of magic, but I doubt anything else.”

“Well looks like we’re about to find out. I think the next stop is Ponyville.”

---

“Sunset Shimmer,

“I am writing this letter to you to thank you for housing my student and her friend Spike during their time in Ponyville; I hope you all get along and possibly even become friends.

“As a personal request, could you act to protect them both should the need arise? After all there was that incident in Rambling Rock Ridge recently that my guards are still on edge over. Whoever did such a heinous thing to so many living beings was a professional of extraordinary talent; and one who I hope had a justifiable reason for such an act. I would have preferred such a threat captured and relocated.

“I have also been informed that you have graciously offered to give my student a pointer or two in magic during her stay. While I very much appreciate you offering to give Trixie a helping hoof; keep in mind she is a civilian and as such has not had the experiences you have had to go through, nor the requirements of some of your more effective spells.

“They shall be with you on the afternoon train of the twelfth. If you could be so kind as to meet them at the train station with your friends and welcome them to Ponyville, it would be greatly appreciated.

“Yours sincerely,

Princess Celestia

P.S – While Spike is indeed a dragon and does require gem stones in his diet, a few days without them won’t harm him in any way, so do not fear in the expense of catering for a dragon.

Sunset snorted at that post scrip addition from Celestia’s message. Rarity was gracious enough to show Sunset her gem hunting spell; a quick trip to the quarry and she had over a week’s supply of gems for the little dragon.

The bigger issue was that Princess Celestia knew what she had done to that pack of Diamond Dogs, and Sunset couldn’t decide if it was praise or a stern talking too. Sure she sounded disappointed in her actions, but at the same time she praised her talents and professionalism. This was certainly a letter she couldn’t show to her friends. This was a side of herself that they did not need to know.

In the end she shrugged her shoulders and left it as a mixture of the two; good job on removing the threat, but next time be quieter about it. Sunset was sure she was missing something obvious, but it escaped her.

Then there was that comment about Trixie being a civilian; she was personally trained by Princess Celestia, she was not a civilian. However, this might be a test to show a gentler side. After all Princess Celestia knew everything Trixie was taught; if she suddenly starts firing off Searing Lances everywhere, she would know who taught her those. Not that Sunset would teach her such a prestigious spell. ‘Hmm, well whatever I teach her will depend on what she knows. Perhaps just to look at spells another way? I’ll figure it out after I see what she can do.’

At this moment in time she was waiting at the train station for the afternoon train to roll up, along with her friends. When they heard it was a personal request from Princess Celestia herself, they all more than happily came with her; if for their own personal reasons.

“I’ve never met a baby dragon before, Sunset. I hope he’s as sweet as your book says he is.”

“He’s a dragon, Fluttershy. I bet he’s super cool and can breathe fire! It’s a shame he hasn’t got any wings, I wanna see how well I do against one; bet I’m faster than any dragon.”

“Rainbow, this is not a competition! This is the prelude to the Summer Sun Festival. Both Spike and Trixie Lulamoon will be here interviewing ponies to help setup and work the festival. If things go well for me, then I may be invited to assist them in decorating the Grand Galloping Gala one of these days.”

“Rarity, you might not be asked to decorate Ponyville, let alone the Gala. But there ain’t no way they’ll not ask the Apple family to help with the catering. Between our ciders to our apple pies, they can’t say no to at least something.”

“I just can’t wait for them to get here! I’ve got their Welcome to Ponyville surprise party all set up and ready for them at the library. There’s even some gem encrusted cupcakes for Spike. Thanks for the tipoff Sunset but I already knew. Oh, but thanks for supplying the gems. It’s not a proper Welcome to Ponyville surprise party of it doesn’t contain super-duper tasty cupcakes for one of them.”

“Not a problem Pinkie; as their host it is my duty to look out for them where I can, and these small gestures will go a long way with that. Anyway judging by the attitude of the staff around the platform, I’m guessing the trains almost here.” Sure enough a whistle was heard just out of sight, clearly indicating a train was inbound.

---

“Aurgh, finally! Two hours sitting on a train; it feels good to finally be able to move around properly. Now where’s that long in the tooth librarian; she’s supposed to meet us at the station. Don’t tell me she’s going senile as well.” A few ponies got on the train at the station, but apart from that there was no sign of the librarian; just a group of mares around her own age hanging about.

The pink one of the group’s head suddenly zeroed in on the two of them, and was obviously about to launch herself right towards them; were it not for one pony who put a hoof in front of her to stall the charge. She was a tall and athletically built unicorn with an amber coloured coat; the most striking thing about her was her mane and tail. For all intense and purpose they could have been on fire and no one would have been able to tell the difference. Her mane even flickered like fire when the wind caught it.

“Hey Trixie, I think I recognise her. I saw her at Donut Joe’s a good while ago. Yeah, that’s right. I was with Shining and he showed me my mum’s favourite donut. If I remember right she was waiting for a train to Ponyville.”

“And this is interesting why?”

“Well, she must be at least a little important if Shining was checking her out.”

“…Spike when we get back to the castle I think it’s time you asked your granddad about the birds and the bees. Maybe even Princess Cadance.”

“Well whoever she is, she’s coming this way.”

“Huh?” Sure enough, the tall amber mare was heading right towards them, with a slight smile on her face.

“Hi, you must be Spike and Trixie Lulamoon. My name’s Sunset Shimmer and I am the librarian here in Ponyville. I hope you had a pleasant journey here. I was asked by Princess Celesita to be here for you with some of my friends; they’re right over there if you want to meet them. We’ll take you to the Golden Oak Library where you can freshen up. I’m afraid it may be a little, humble, compared with what you’re probably use too.”

Trixie had stopped listening early into the introduction. “You’re the librarian of Golden Oaks Library?”

“Umm, yes. I just finished introducing myself to that effect. Would you like me to assist you with your luggage?” Without even a change in her posture, the luggage that sat next to the two travellers was suddenly glowing a deep raspberry pink and was floating in the air. “Come on now, follow me and I’ll introduce you to my friends. They’ll all be happy to assist you if you need help.

“Here we have Rarity, seamstress extraordinaire,” the purple maned unicorn bowed in greeting. “Beside her is Rainbow Dash, fastest sky clearer in Equesria,” the blue coated Pegasus waved a wing at the two. “This is Applejack, of Sweet Apple Acers,” the blond maned earth pony tipped her Stetson in greetings. “This is Fluttershy, a timid soul who loves animals,” the yellow Pegasus poked an eye out and said a small hello. “And last but not least, the party pony to end all party ponies, Pinkie Pie.” The pink earth pony was positively vibrating with excitement. “Excuse the introductions, but some of them asked for their own personal one.” Sunset clearly felt these personal introductions where not needed, but went along with them for her friends.

---

Trixie didn’t know how to handle all this so simply went with a polite hello. A few hooves where shaken, a hug from the Pink pie pony; and they were all wondering through the small town towards the library.

She did notice that Spike was staring intensely at the pure white unicorn with the purple mane, Rarity if she remembered correctly. ‘No not intensely, ooh has someone’s got a crush?!’ As for everypony else, they were acting more like tour guides, pointing out nice places, and where they would most likely be setting up the stage for next year. Honestly it was a little too much for the first day; all she was looking forward to was a hot bath, a good meal and a quiet night.

“And there’s the Golden Oak Library. Not the biggest library by far, but I’d imagine one of the strangest.” The group of mares and a baby dragon had just walked through the centre of town, and had finally reached their destination.

“Sunset, that’s a tree. A very big tree I’ll admit…with a balcony, and windows, and a door sticking out of the trunk. Wait, are you actually saying that the name of the library is literal?”

“Pretty much, yeah. It’s a living, magical, oak tree. We’re into fall, and the leaves are all still in place; just turned into bold reds and golden yellows. Apparently it’ll stay like this until spring where the leaves turn back into vibrant greens. I’ve not been here long enough to see it myself, but so far I can believe it. Well, are you ready?”

“Oh, yes I was just thinking of having a quiet evening.”

“Ah, about that. Well, Pinkie’s got a little surprise for you.”

“Oh, is that so. Wait, where is she anyway? I’ve not seen her for a little bit.”

“She ran on ahead to get your surprise ready. So why don’t you go on in with Spike and I’ll go help her out.” Trixie was a little sceptical, but Sunset’s face didn’t move at all; it still had the gentle half smile on it and appeared to not have a care in the world. Honestly it could have been a princess mask for all Trixie knew.

With a slight shrug of her shoulders, Trixie walked up to the door along with Spike and Sunset right behind them. She opened the door to the library.

“SURPRISE!”

“Yeah, when I said a little surprise, it’s more like a quarter of the town here to welcome you two to Ponyville. This is your ‘Welcome to Ponyville Surprise Party.’ Oh, and before you say anything this, apparently, is normal; even I had one.”

Trixie just let out a small groan.