> The Royal Librarian > by Dimensional Librarian > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1 and the Current Times > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booksalot was in the middle of reorganizing the books within his library, when one of Celestia's royal guards walked up and said "Mr. Booksalot, Princess Celestia has requested an audience with you." "Please inform her that I am busy." Booksalot told the guard not caring to look in the stallion's direction "Plus, she should know that I am typically in here working. If she wants something bad enough she can come here." "It's um... It's actually an audience with you and Discord" the guard told the librarian who then looked down at him with his fire red eyes. "Celestia wants to speak with me and the Draconequus? Am I right?" Booksalot asked him slowly coming down. The guard nods yes starting to get scared by the slightly elder unicorn in front of him. Booksalot then smiles at him warmly before stating "Okay then I'll be there in five minutes." "Yes Sir" the stallion says then leaving the library quickly. Booksalot sighs with a heavy heart thinking "Why do I scare some ponies so?" He then shrugged the thought away and went to make sure his purple mane and tail were tidy enough to stand before the Princess. Booksalot normally will get so caught up in his work that he will forget all about grooming and basic hygiene. Once he was satisfied that his appearance was up to par he then noticed his cutie mark and studied it momentarily for probably the ten thousandth time that week. "Such a strange mark an open book in a ring of fire, oh well." He thought before finally heading out to get to the audience with Celestia and Discord. Discord had received a letter from Celestia requesting he come see her right away. Using his magic he then teleports right into Celestia's hall and smiles as he says "Good afternoon Princess!!! You're as lovely as ever" "I don't have time for your antics Discord" Celestia tells the draconequus strictly "I actually need your help" "My help!?" he asks curious and full of himself "Oh how wonderful" he chuckles. Booksalot then enters the hall and bows toward the Princess. He then smiles, "You summoned me, Princess?" "Yes I did" Celestia says with a smile at her Librarian "I actually need you and Discord to go and see about claims of a mysterious house and pony in the Everfree Forest." "You're wanting me to be a librarian guard dog?" Discord asks in a disappointed manner "No she wants us to work together because we are two of the smartest beings currently living in Equestria that Celestia has knowledge of" "What are you talking about, Booksalot?" Celestia asks slightly confused at what her Librarian had just stated "Nothing to worry your little head about" he says chuckling "Anyway, I promise to bring knowledge to the ponies of Ponyville so that their fright of the unknown will end" Discord then laughs and says "Au revoir Celestia." Discord then picks up Booksalot and teleports them to right outside Fluttershy's cottage, leaving Celestia slightly confused and mouth open about to ask them another question. Upon their arrival, Booksalot tumbles out of Discord's grip and almost growls as he says, "You know I would I have really liked to go and let Zilla and Gypsy Rose know I was going to be leaving." "Oh, don't worry about those two mares, one's a changeling and the other a bat pony from the future," Discord says with a shrug "I still think they should know what I am up to." "Oh... um.... Hi Discord," a soft and kind voice says from behind the two arguing males. They both turn and look at the shy mare everypony knew as Fluttershy. "So uh... What are you two doing here?" she asks slowly gathering what little courage she had. "Fluttershy! What a wonderful surprise!" Discord exclaims happily "Well actually me and my new pal, Wordsaton." he then picks up Booksalot in a friendly manner so Fluttershy knew he was speaking about the very agitated Booksalot. "It's Booksalot, you Draconequus fool" Booksalot corrects him. "Whatever" Discord says then dropping Books "Anyway Fluttershy me and him are about to embark on a grand quest for Celestia to see what's going on in the Everfree Forest" Booksalot does a facehoof and grumbles "we're not supposed to go telling everypony about Library business" "Oh you don't have to worry about me telling anypony" Fluttershy says happily and proud "I'm also glad that the Princess sent somepony to see why all the animals are scared, even the Timberwolves". At the mention of Timberwolves Booksalot's memory was stirred. One so deep and hidden within his aged mind that when it finally came to light he started feeling light headed. Holding his front right hoof up to his forehead he let out a tiny moan, but before Fluttershy could ask what was wrong with him his front left leg gave out on him and caused him to fall to the ground hitting his head and going unconscious. > 2 and his Lost memories > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day was sunny and bright, just the way Booksalot liked it, perfect for reading or a stroll with his parents. Now Booksalot was only just out of school and him and his parents were walking near the Everfree upon this day. Taking a look around with his ruby red eyes Booksalot grinned and thought, "I've gone my whole life a blank flank and look at me now. I'm out of school and have quite the education to boot." An even wider grin spread across his face as his thoughts continued. "Now I just need to ask Fria Quill to marry me and I'll be the happiest Stallion alive.". Having noticed that the typical worrisome chatter from his parents about his still blank flank was silent, Booksalot came out of his thoughts and looked around confused. "Mom? Dad?" He asks, yet was only answered by the wind. His typical curious nature caused him to look around for clues until he noticed a few feet behind him was signs of a fight that went into the Everfree. Booksalot then picks up a twig with his magic and looks at it, quickly noticing magic upon it from a Timberwolf. Letting out a gasp he slowly turns towards the trees to his left hearing growling. Staring out from the trees were two large glowing yellow eyes of a Timberwolf. Booksalot quickly racked his brain for any information on the creature but came up blank "Celestia save me" he mutters in false hope. The Timberwolf then lashed out and took a hold of Booksalot's front left hoof. Letting out a scream of pain Booksalot's horn flared up a dangerous red as he suddenly did a spell that caused the Timberwolf to burst into flame and run yelping into the woods. It was at this point in Booksalot's life his cutie mark first showed. But as distraught as he was Booksalot didn't care about his cutie mark finally showing up, his parents were dead, and he didn't want to remember it like this. Booksalot then remembers a spell that burns different memories together. "It's Dark magic but I don't want to remember it like this" he mutters to himself starting to cast the spell his horn catching on fire and instead of pulsating outwards the magic was going inward toward his head. As he was doing so a small filly with a dark green coat and cutie mark of a shattered question mark climbed down from a tree and ran off deeper into the Everfree Forest to find the adults she knew had actually escaped from the Timberwolf. It was then at this point Booksalot finished the spell and fainted on the spot from the exhaustion. "Come on faster, faster" Booksalot urged the hot air balloon he was in as it slowly approached his destination, the Rainbow Factory. After all his research, about what happened to his special somepony Fria Quill, it all lead to this factory. What seemed like eons later, the hot air balloon reached a point he could jump onto the clouds. After quickly casting a walk on clouds spell Booksalot listens to the air and hears the steady and almost musical, pounding of the dreaded machine deep within the factory. "I'm coming Fria" he says as he charged in through the doors, ignoring all the security pegasi guards that tried to stop him by simply side stepping them. Booksalot is soon surrounded in a cross section of hallways. "You have no where to run Unicorn. Now why don't you just come with us, and we'll figure this all out?" One of the stallion pegasi from around Booksalot calls. "No thank you, Murderers" Booksalot says "I know you'll just take me to your pegasus devise, and feed me to it. Well I'm here for one mare and I'll leave." "And who is that?" the pegusas asks. "Her name is Fria Quill, She is a purple pegasus her cutie mark is of a quill writing Fria in flame. She is a writer and my fiancée" Booksalot growls. The pegasi all chuckle and say "Never heard of her." before rushing at Booksalot, trying to catch him off guard. Booksalot gracefully teleports around the pegasi, and keeps rushing down the hall. Pausing, for a half second, to make sure he was at the right door he then barges into the room and watches in horror as the machine comes down drove its deadly knife into the gut of Fria Quill. Booksalot's heart then shattered, similar to fine china hitting the floor, every memory he had of Fria came flooding into his brain making the heart break even worse due to all the happy moments they had shared. He then starts screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" in rage as he runs toward her, Fria looking over at Books weakly and mouths out "Sorry Love" as she then falls from the machine's hold. Booksalot then caught her and sent a spell at the machine causing it to catch on fire and burn as he held Fria and whispers "No, hold on Fria we......We can fix this" the end of his sentence breaking into sobs. Fria then gave Booksalot a warm smile before weakly saying, "Books, my sweet loving Books, you know that's a lie." She then wrapped her front legs around him to give him a hug. Booksalot hugged her back tightly while tears blurring his vision and rolling down his face. Booksalot kept holding Fria close to his body even after he felt her's go lifeless. As he cried his horn flared with its ruby red light and started massive spells of Bale fire underneath the factory, the heat causing the clouds to slowly evaporate and machinery to explode and burn. The pegasi workers were all rushing to escape the place before it finished burning to the ground. As the fire burned and evaporated the factory Booksalot had also put a protective spell around himself and Fria, to lower them safely to the ground. Once on the ground Booksalot let out a wail of sorrow knowing that it was over and he would now have to bury the one he loved. It was now the day of the Royal Wedding of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor but, while everypony else was out getting ready to celebrate Booksalot was in his library wanting to ignore the love in the air. To keep himself distracted and busy he set about going over a checklist of books and artifacts that had been miss located in the large labyrinth of a library. "You never make it easy do you?" he calls out to the building filled with books, tomes, and scrolls. Following a mental map he had Booksalot soon found himself in a room he hadn't been in since Fria's death. He then took a deep breath and slowly let it out saying "Fria's Writing room." Slowly walking forward and noticing the dust on the desk on books around the room he mutters "I'm sorry I haven't kept it clean". He then picked up an image of Fria Quill and smiles a small tear starting to form in his eye, Booksalot then felt enchantments on torches he placed at the entrance of the public part of the library activate. Then quickly putting his list and the picture of Fria into his saddlebag he headed for the front curious as to why somepony would be at the library instead of the wedding. Once he reached the circular desk Booksalot took of his saddlebag and set it behind the desk and smiled at the mare that had entered before "Good afternoon Ma'am, How can the Library assist you today?" The mare looked at him and smiled "Oh I'm just getting ready" "For the Royal Wedding?" "Something like that" she says her smile turning into a wicked grin as the sound of the force field shattering filled the air. The mare in a burst of Changeling bale fire changed to her true form of a changeling commander her eyes having a purplish tint to them as well as her wings. "I'm Commander Zilla and I'm taking this Library for my Queen." she hisses Booksalot let out a sigh and almost without thinking his fiery protective spells for all the shelves and the outer walls of the library went up preventing any more changelings from getting in. "This is going to be harder than you think Commander" he tells her matter of factly Zilla laughs at Booksalot and says "You're just an old librarian, I'm younger and stronger than you" She then jumps at Booksalot easily getting over the circular desk and sending them both rolling along the floor, toward the back of the Library. When they reached the back wall Booksalot kicked the changeling Zilla off of him and into the protective spells shielding the book cases causing them to flare up and burn her back. Letting out a shriek of pain and annoyance Zilla landed on her hooves and hissed out "You charred my wings, you insolent Bookworm." "No the shelving did that" Booksalot said chuckling at her annoyed state. "if you calm down then maybe I'll show you where the books about burns are" Zilla jumped at him again getting annoyed that she didn't already have the library in the name of her glorious leader Queen Chrysalis. The two then resumed fighting using all sorts of ancient fighting forms including Tea Pon Do. Booksalot smiled at Zilla with a warm almost loving smile as he thought "This is the first pony since Fria that has gotten me moving like this." "Actually she's a Changeling not a pony." "She still makes my blood burn and rush through my body" "Whatever...." Zilla jumped back from Booksalot and then fired a bold of green magic at him trying to stun him. Booksalot simply deflected the spell with a flaming shield spell before turning it into a rope and expertly weaving it through the holes in Zilla's legs. Then tying bowlines, figure 8, as well as half-hitches and many other different knots that not many ponies knew, Booksalot connected the other end of the rope to the ceiling and suspended Zilla into the air. He had moved so quickly Zilla hadn't even registered the fact he had a rope of flame before her world was then turned upside down. "What the hell?" she cried out in alarm and pain. Before either of them could do much else there was a ground shaking "BOOM" as a wave of Love Magic came flowing across Canterlot throwing all of the changelings away from the city except for Zilla due to her being tied up by Booksalot's magic. Booksalot chuckles and lets the protective walls of flame around the shelves and the building dissipate as he walks over to the swinging Changeling "So it seems like we have two options here. One I turn you over to the Royal Guard and the Princesses." He then uses a hoof and makes Zilla look him in the eye "or you can stay promise to work for me and I'll keep you fed." Zilla let her mind quickly work it could be seen clearly on her face as she thought "This pony must be crazy to keep me around. But, he bested you and is willing to take care of you. Yeah but why what would he have to gain from it all." Zilla was so busy with her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that Booksalot had let her down gently and was using a mind reading spell until he joined in on her thoughts "I lost my special somepony a long time ago and want her back." "WHAT? GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" "Nah, I kinda like it in here." Booksalot then smiles at her as he starts to look around her mind "Fine I'll work for you" Zilla cries out cowering as Booksalot sees her memories and that she was telling the truth "Good" Booksalot tells her as he brings over his bag and shows her the picture of Fria Quil "This is who you have to be" > 3 gets Back to the Action > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booksalot awoke with a small grown and held a hoof up to his head "I hate suppressed memories." He then took a glance around to find that he was no longer outside of Fluttershy's cottage and was instead inside an elegant room with the walls, floor, and ceiling looking to be made of crystal. "I'm either somehow in the Crystal Empire or..." Booksalot had started to say when the door burst open with an explosion of confetti and streamers. "Or in Twilight's Castle of Friendship." he ended with a sigh as Pinkie then entered taking a breath to start speaking in her typical long winded prattling. "Stop that party train this instant" Booksalot said in a commanding tone forcing Pinkie to stop and look at him sadly. "Now Could you please just go and let your friends know that I'm leaving now?" "Oh but you can't leave now I just got the party ready" Pinkie complains before perking up "And Twilight already knows your up" "Yup that I do" Twilight says walking into the room happily "So what's wrong in the Everfree that Celestia sent you over me?" "Not a friendship problem" Booksalot says with a groan before muttering "I'm going to kill Discord first chance I get" "That's not very nice Mr. Grumpy Pants" Pinkie says with a half smile half frown on her face "What did Ol Discord do to you?" "Well, He's clearly gone off to do something we were suppose to do together" Booksalot says getting up and lands on his front left leg harder than he though "Sweet, bloody, Celestia that hurts" "I know a few healing spells" Twilight puts in as her horn starts to glow "No thank you" "And why is that?" "Because I have a job to do that doesn't involve the Elements of Harmony" Booksalot then quickly taps Twilight's horn with his right hoof stopping her flow of magic and forcing her to cringe in pain. "Sorry about the pain Twilight but I must be...." he was then cut off by Pinkie Pie "I am not letting you get away with that" Pinkie exclaims ready to attack Booksalot "Pinkie its fine let him leave" Twilight says rubbing her forehead "its obvious he doesn't want to be here. So we aren't going to hold him" "Thank you Princess" Booksalot then heads out the door and past the other three Element Bearers without a word. "You could be nicer to them." "I know but I'm still upset about not being able to have the Elements in the Library." "Whatever just hurry up Discord needs your help and your going to like what you find." He then stops and looks around he was currently halfway out of Ponyville and let out a sigh muttering "You're never clear are you" before continuing on his way. Discord, had left Booksalot in the caring hooves of the Elements of Harmony as he continued with his mission from Celestia. As he walked through the Everfree changing what he thought needed changing for a few moments before changing them back, Discord noticed a strange quiet had descended around him. "Helloooooooooooo!" he calls out then listens intently for a reply. Upon not receiving one he shrugs and mutters "Oh well what can you expect from an old forest who's inhabitants are scared of a story." There is then a strange sound similar to metal components sliding and locking into place, Discord takes a look around and realizes that he is surrounded by mostly Earth ponies with the occasional Pegasi or Unicorn in the mist, all wearing strange outfits that kept them from being distinguished apart. Before Discord could think of much else he feels two sharp pricks to his posterior, upon examination he sees that he was his with Tranquilizer Darts "Not.....Fair..." he slurs out as he falls into the net the strange ponies had already had set up one lifts his hoof up to a com piece in his hear. "We have Draconiquees Discord, found in sector Pinkie." There is then a pause as he listens to the pony on the other side before he sighs and says "We're three to the left of the Show Verse now go ahead and sent the hut so we can put him in questioning" A small hut that resembled the homes in Ponyville appeared near the group with a small "Pop!" the stallion in charge nodded and said "Alright take him to the first room and lock him to the table before having your nights off" the rest nod and then take Discord inside to the room they were told and lock him to a table that emitted a strange magic that would stop Discord from using his own. Booksalot was now inside the Everfree taking his time slowly limping along following the fire spirit he summoned to track Discord. He stopped noticing that it had stopped in a clearing and looked around confused. "What's wrong my friend? Did the big mean Discord teleport across Equestria?" When the spirit nodded no Booksalot then looked around and saw the small signs that many ponies had been here moments ago curiosity getting the better of Booksalot as it always did he whispers "Reveal what you can Spirit." The floating flame gave a nod before expanding itself and swiftly flying around the clearing searching. It then bumped into something that neither it or Books could see so it formed itself around the structure revealing the hut that Discord had been taken into "Good work, now rest" Books tells the fire spirit as he uses is magic to open the door of the hut breaking the illusionary spells placed upon it to conceal it, it then appearing to the unaided eye as the spirit returned to its home. Booksalot looked inside and saw a rather unspeacial sight. The room was almost bare except for a couch and an end table, the wallpaper was pealing, and an enchanted light slowly flickered to life and buzzed with the hum of old magic. Booksalot then stepped inside and shut the door behind himself before speaking to himself "What good does anypony have to gain from hiding a place like this? Oh come on Books, you should know this somepony would only hide something that looks bland and boring if their was something more behind it." He then stops his monologing before it could really get started as he noticed a feint red light from the bottom section of the back wall. "Ah, "what light through yonder window breaks?"" Booksalot slowly walked over to the wall and watched the light blink slowly. He then used his magic and pulled the wallpaper back from the light and saw a small control panel with two switches and the red light. Flipping the switch the light goes green and a computerized female voice says "Hello and welcome to Dimtec Safe House number thirty-three. I do hope you enjoy your more than likely extended stay with us." There is then the sound of gears coming to life with a 'CLICK.......CLICK........CLICK.......' each one getting faster. Booksalot looked around curiously and slowly started to say "What the Hay is go -- " his sentence getting cut short as the floor opened up beneath him and gravity took hold. Letting out a cry of alarm as he fell Booksalot fell silent as he hit a slide which then roughly dumped him into a much brighter room than the one had had left. "Uhg..." He mutters slowly rising to stand up and holding his left hoof to his head "Someponies should learn to make traps nicer on older ponies." "We would but our research has found that Equine bodies are surprisingly more resilient to a beating than other body types." said a strange voice from behind Booksalot. "Now, slowly turn around sit and raise your front legs into the air." With a sigh Booksalot hangs his head and starts to do as he was told finally looking at the owner of the voice as he sat down he beheld a strange sight. Before him stood a human male standing at a good seven feet tall and quite possibly a head and a half taller than the slightly elderly tan unicorn. In his hands was a simple bolt action rifle. Being held in a way that told Booksalot this bipedal before him knew a thing or two about a fight. The man was wearing all black with a distinquised logo on the shoulders that was a D and a T interlocking in a strange way. "Wh......Wha....What are you?" Booksalot says > 4 Now Let us Explain > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The bipedal had taken Booksalot to a small room with a single door a table and a mirror in one wall. The man's weapon had disappeared during the short walk to this room and he was now sitting in a chair on one side of the table and gestured to the other chair "Go ahead and take a seat and we'll get started." He said in a tone that said he was slightly full of himself. Booksalot rolled his eyes as he went over to the other chair and sat it in staring at the sentient being across from him as they hear the lock on the door slide into place. "Thinks he's better than everything else and locked us in a room together.... I really don't like this guy" Booksalot thought as he kept a deadpanned expression on his face. The man then leaned forward and said "Now, Booksalot, we do have some matters to discuss involving the Library and Princess Sun Butt up in Canterlot." Booksalot's jaw dropped not only had this thing known his name but it referred to Princess Celestia in a way that only Discord ever had. The man chuckled seeing the look upon Booksalot's face and said "My name is Joe Dimtec, and you my fine Unicorn friend have just found the Equestrian Headquarters of Dimensional Technologies." Joe then stood up and headed for the door opening it outwards as he started speaking once more "Now you see most call us Dimtec for short... " Booksalot then scrambled to his hooves and quickly followed so he wouldn't be left out of the tale. "Now as our name implies we deal with dimensions and technologies that are related to them. But we are more of watch service now than anything." They then entered a large room filled with computers, large monitors, ponies of every species, as well as more bipedals like Joe. Upon the screens were many different realities of Equestria. Taking a quick glace around Booksalot noticed a war happening against King Sombra, to a Zompony Apocalypse in quite a few of them ranging from typical Equine like Booksalot was used to, to the bipedals which he now remembered the term "Human" fit the description of them from an old theory book. Booksalot's mouth hung open as he looked at Joe with wide eyes muttering "This can't be real. There is no way this could all be happening right now." "Multiverse Theory ever heard of it?" Joe asks with a grin continuing after getting a nod from Booksalot "well that's what's happening right here right now is happening in hundreds of versions of Equestria as well as other dimensions." Joe then turned to leave this room expecting Booksalot to follow when an alarm started blaring causing all heads to turn toward a very youthful looking pegasus mare. "What's going on Woman?" Joe asks. "Sir we have multiple Deception signals sprouting up near Equestria in the Hub Dimension." says the mare after giving her console a look over "I am dispatching Anti-Con Troops right now." "Good" Joe says with a smile "keep me updated so I know if I will have to go in myself. So as you see Booksalot we do quite a bit but I want to show you the Library." Then turning to leave once more as things settled down. Booksalot followed him eyes wide in wonder. "So why are some of you human and the others ponies?" Books asks "Because not everyone likes walking around on all fours all the time." "So you came from another world?" "Yup and we're here to stay." Joe then stops next to a door and flicks his fingers in front of him at things only he could see. "Now I think your friend Discord has finally calmed down you can see him." he then walks into the room next to him and looked through the glass at the adjacent room which held the Lord of Chaos. Booksalot followed Joe and stared at Discord curiously as he only sat in a room with a depressed look on his face. "What did you do to him?" Booksalot asks "We did nothing but lock him in that room. The room syphiens magical energies and whatnot to rinder powerful suspects powerless." "So what do you plan on doing with him?" "We'll give him a memory wipe and let him go in a bit. Actually no we won't. We'll just let him come and go as he pleases" Joe says as two unicorns come into the room with Discord and undo his cuffs and explain that Dimtec was letting him go. Joe then lead Booksalot back into the hallway. Upon seeing the elderly unicorn Discord picks up Booksalot and starts getting over dramatic. "Oh Booksie, These ponies are just monsters. They kept me locked away and th..." Discord gets cut off short as Booksalot slaps him with his right hoof. "Whatever was that for?" "To shut you up you idiot now put me down. Gently" Booksalot sighs at Discord complies then takes a look around and realized they were all now standing in a well furnished living room with the Everfree forest outside the windows. "How did we get here?" "Science, I don't have to explain s*BEEP*" Joe says then looks down the hallway further into the home at the sound of the beep calling out "A little late on that one Jimmy. One more time and your fired." "Okay then" Booksalot says unsurely "come on Discord we need to tell Celestia that theirs nothing to worry about from this hut" "Sir yes Sir" Discord says suddenly being in a Class A Navy Uniform and standing on a small sail boat "Race you Booksie!!" He then sails out the door cackling the whole way. "Its Booksalot you over grown Omnipotent Goat." Booksalot calls after as he follows Discord. Joe chuckles as he watches them leave before turning to look directly at you the reader. "Okay, look I know this story isn't what you expected and that I'm currently breaking the 4th wall. So what this author is doing a ton of crappy build up and descriptions I'm already bugging him about it now why don't you guys say something in the comments section everyone at Dimensional Technologies will appreciate it if you do. Also before I change into my pony form and go beat up Decepticons we have access to everything and the author and well me can only make use of it if we know about it. Because trust me our super computer is a stubborn piece of *BEEP*. Thank you Jimmy. That doesn't like to tell us information until seconds before it happens because it doesn't want us to interfere to much." Joe makes mocking air quotes with his fingers before shrugging. "Any who just so we are all on the same page here the author and me would really appreciate help on story and funny references to make." Joe then turns and pulls a needle out of seemingly no where injecting himself in the arm he turns into a brown unicorn wearing the same jacket he was previously and a cutie mark matching the one on his jacket. After shaking his pony body loose Flutterbat and Timberjack walk into the room "Hello Ladies. Nice weather where you just came from?" Flutterbat nods and softly says "Why yes it was. And I also like that I didn't have to harm anypony, well at least anypony that wasn't good." Timberjack chuckles and nods as well "It sure is nice to actually have a better meaning in life for these abilities of ours." "Good, now I do believe that if you two head to the Library and hang out their the new Librarian will be arriving shortly." The two supernatural mares nod and then head down the hall deep into the facility starting to chat away. > 5 and the Unknown Library > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booksalot slowly woke up the next morning with the sun shining in his eyes from the window. Groaning and blinking his eyes repeatedly, he remembered the events that had taken place at Joe Dimtec's hut, and noticed a hoof and wing wrapped around him. As he begun to feel the satisfying heat from the second body, he could not help but chuckle softly as he spun around into the mare's grasp. With a loving smile he gazed upon the slender sleeping purple figure, "Good morning love I wish I could stay, but I need to attend to the library." As Books began to rise, he felt the mares grip tighten. "You're always in that stupid library," the mare mutters sleepily, "I can never get you in bed for feeding until I'm really low on energy." She opens her eyes and looks at him with her changeling green eyes before kissing him lovingly on the lips. "I'm just lucky I was able to get you here last night," she whispers in his ear playfully. Books chuckles and gently nuzzles her cheek before crawling out of her grasp, "I'm sorry Zilla, but my job requires a lot of time. Not to mention, the fact that you over exaggerate how low your magic levels are." The pegasus gives him a sheepish grin before bursting into green flames as a changeling with deep purple eyes. "What can I say, your probably the most passionate stallion I know" Zilla explained as she stretched her wings. Turning to Booksalot, she quickly morphed back into the pegasus, Fria Quil and took flight. "I'll get your breakfast and bring it back." Booksalot sighed as he trotted through the hall that connected his simple Canterlot apartment with the Library of the Two Sisters. Once in the library, Books got to work re-shelving books that Celestia and Luna had recently returned. "Lets see "Life of Pony", "Equestria Games", and... "Fifty Shades of Hay"! What would drive one of them to read this!???!" he muttered "And besides I thought I hid this one so no pony would find it." When Booksalot put the books back on the shelf, his ear flicked as he heard gears clicking behind the shelf. He began to wonder, "what is that" and with a final click, the shelf slid back and to the left, revealing a sloping staircase. "Interesting....." he mutters starting to descend the steps. As Fria flew in behind him her eyes began to widen. In the end, she simply followed the elderly unicorn downward. As the pair walked down together a random pony was watching them on a screen at the Dimtec HQ. The stallion let out a soft chuckle before turning to the man next to him who was wearing bright rainbow clothing before saying "Sir, the Librarian has found his Library. Should I send out the Artifacts?" "Go ahead." the man states in a voice that spoke of age and wisdom beyond his years. "And be sure that Detective finds her way to him as well." When they reached the bottom of the staircase Booksalot's eyes widen at the sight of a room larger than anything Equestria had filled with shelves and shelves of books and artifacts. "It's...... So....... Beautiful." he says slowly trotting forward in awe. Booksalot then noticed Flutterbat and Timberjack sitting, in what one could say was a the town square of the Library, and reading books. "What are you two doing here?" "Oh.......Well.....Joe told us to come here to help you out." Flutterbat says with a shy smile at Booksalot and Fria "It's nice to meet you and your marefriend." "Ya shouldn't just assume things like that Flutters" TImberjack says putting her book aside "Well it is true" Zilla tells them before turning to Booksalot "Now who is this Joe and why would he be sending you Mares and a Library?" "I meet him yesterday and I have no idea about the rest of this" Booksalot says trying to stay on her good side "Ah believe Ah can help with this here problem" Timberjack says standing and walking over return the book on the shelf "Me and Bats are here to assist in keeping the Library safe as well as help retrieve more items to be stored here." Just then a shelf slides to the side similar to the way the one upstairs moved when a dark green pegasus mare with deep dark blue eyes and a slit taken out of her right ear tumbled into the middle of the group. She had a two toned grey mane, that was a bit shorter than Rainbow Dash's, that was roughed up from living on the streets. She seemed a bit smaller than the average height and seemed thin from undernourishment. With a cutie mark of a question mark broken into four pieces and a broken heart in place of the dot. The small green mare paused to collect her senses after her small fall, shaking her mane and blinking in confusion, before her eyes focused on the group in front of her. Her face turned to one of even more confusion and her ears leaned back slightly. Her mouth opened before shutting again as she looked around the rest of the room, somehow getting more confused as she slumped over and flicked her tail around her to take up less space. Booksatlot stared at the mare before asking "Okay I'm assuming that you aren't with them" nodding his head at Flutterbat and Timberjack "So who are you and how did you get into my Library?" The mare looked up at him with a curious gaze, then down at the floor. She paused a moment, likely in thought, before giving a small shrug. Probably more to the second question then the first. "I really hate being ignored like that" Books said at almost a growl as the shelf replaced itself behind the mare. Flutterbat walked next to her with a kind, yet toothy, grin "its alright we won't hurt you." she states softly. The mare looked back at Flutterbat, she seemed to tense more at first, but after a moment of silence she sighed and relaxed. "I'm sorry..." She mumbled as she turned her head to look at the floor next to her, ears leaned back but still perked enough to listen to everything going on. "What for Sugarcube?" Timberjack asks as the timber wolf parts of her start to slowly fade. "Looks like the sun is rising in our world Flutters." she states as Flutterbat started changing back to a normal pegasus. The mare, not yet giving her name, watched them curiously for a moment. Her ears had perked in interest to gather information and her head tilted slightly before. Books quickly cast a glance at the Applejack and Fluttershy now standing in his library. With a sigh he then looked at the still mysterious mare "Alright listen I'm a very forgiving kind of guy but, could you please tell me your name?" he asks as his horn lit ruby red casting a simple spell that made most sentient beings become open books around Booksalot and trust him. "I feel bad about doing this but I hate not having answers" Books thinks to himself. The mare relaxed suddenly and looked up at Booksalot, ears perked. "Sorry, I'm Toxic, Toxic Smoke." She stated. Booksalot let out a relived sigh "Thank you. Now do you happen to be looking for something Toxic?" As Booksalot spoke Fria noticed his horn and desided to leave his breakfast on a nearby table. Then leading Fluttershy and Applejack away so she could speak with them she thought "I hope he doesn't have her say to much". The mare, Toxic, Looked around. "To be honest, I don't know why I'm here. But I am in the midst of looking for a small artifact." As she finished her explanation she looked at Booksalot curiously. "You look rather familiar." She stared at him for a few silent moments before something clicked. "Ah like a few ponies I met a time ago. Escaped a timberwolf with no training or experience. Lucky pair they had been." His eyes momentarily went wide as he heard what she had to say. "What. Did. You. Say?" he asks her in a voice that told most that the user was angered to the point of staying calm. As he spoke he slowly rose off his hunches to stand over Toxic and add to the intimidating effect. Toxic looked up at him. "Well, it's just you look like them." She said again, in a slightly softer tone. The smaller mare, spelled to stay relaxed and trust him, calmly looked off to the side, trying to recall what happened all that time ago. "You look like the young stallion who was walking with them prior, too." With a heavy hearted sigh Booksalot's horn flared up causing his book protection spell to activate on all of the shelves near by. "So your saying that my parents weren't killed twenty-two years ago by a Timber Wolf?" he asks his spell on Toxic strengthening as flames burst forth from his horn and flared in his eyes. "And that I have mourned for Nothing?" the last words coming out as a growl. Toxic looked at him and pinned her ears sadly. "You thought they had died?" She asked softly. "No, they had escaped..." "Where are they now?" he asks her with a sigh realizing his fury was for naught. As he calmed the flames around the shelves and his horn died down the same time Books also sat down. "Could they really be alive?" he thinks to himself. The green mare shrugged. "I have no idea. I followed but they entered a hut. I left, leaving them to their own life." "Me and Joe are having a talk later" Booksalot growled as a sudden flash happened next to them and Discord and a purple bat pony appeared. The bat pony mare giggled and playfully nudged Discord "Oh Discord if it wasn't for the fact you have a think with a special somepony in the future I would be all over you." She then looked at Booksalot and Toxic Smoke as Discord chuckled and disappeared. Tilting her head curiously the purple mare stared at Toxic and softly asked "Mom? Is that you?" Toxic looked around and then behind her, trying to find the mare she was speaking to, only to realize it had to be her. She turned back to the bat pony and blinked. "Uh... pardon?" She asked, almost at a whisper. > 6 and a Meeting of Many > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The bat pony's face lit up with recognition as she then tackled Toxic into a hug "It is you!" she exclaims happily. Her eyes then widen with shock "Where are the manners you taught me" she then lets Toxic go to shake her hoof "I'm Gypsy Rose your daughter." Booksalot let out a sigh and muttered "Yeah I'll let you two get reacquainted as time changes itself. Plus, I need to reorganize this whole new Library to my standards." Books then turns and leaves the two mares. Toxic gave a grunt as she was tackled but hadn't moved, even after the bat pony shook her hoof. Only after Booksalot left did she move. She sat slightly hunched over and looked at Gypsy. "Uh, h-hello Gypsy..." she hardly managed words, still slightly shocked. Gypsy lets out a nervous chuckle noticing the silence falling over the area. "So... Uh... I'm from the future. Your future to be exact... " She lets out a sigh "I'm not making any since am I Mother?" Toxic immediately shook her head and gave a nervous laugh herself. "Heh, I don't think much has made sense lately." She looked at Gypsy for a moment. "So... I'm a parent?" She asked in slight disbelief. "Never would have thought." Gypsy nods and smiles at Toxic "Just can you try to not be so distant while I'm still a filly?" she asks "Because as soon as I'm fully grown I'm here and its to late for us to bond then. Otherwise your an amazing mother" Toxic pinned her ears back, slightly saddened. "W-well thank you..." She paused. "So when you get older, i never get to see you again?" She asks, slight worry in her tone. Toxic hadn't the attachment with Gypsy yet, but it still tugged at her. "Not that I'm aware," Gypsy answers with a shrug "I've been here for almost four years. So, I guess I am slowly making my way back to seeing you. Just the long way around." Gypsy then stands next to Toxic and wraps a hoof around her "Don't worry Mom, it'll all turn out okay." Her eyes then widen with a thought "Oh, Have you meet Auntie Zilla and Uncle Books?" Toxic shook her head, not quite accepting the hug, but not pushing Gypsy away either. "Not that I am aware," She nodded to where Booksalot and the others left. "Just them really." She paused. "Never did get their names though..." "Oh well the stallion that just left is Uncle Books" Gypsy says "And if there was a changeling or a purple pegasus that was Auntie Zilla. Who else was here?" Gypsy then looks around noticing that she was in a library different than what she was used to "And where is here?" Meanwhile in a nearby Art Gallery a cream coated unicorn with darker marks in her coat, brown eyes, a cutie mark of an pencil and paintbrush with a horse shoe, as well as a gold and brown mane that was always seen tied in a side braid. This mare was currently looking around with a wide grin on her face at all the ponies appreciating the art signed "Painting Aurora". Turning to her cousin, a yellow coated pegasus, with dark blue eyes, a cutie mark of a compass on a chain, and brown mane that she kept tied into a bun. "Isn't this just great Mia?" "I must agree with you on that Paint" the one revered to as Mia replied. "Hey, since everything is going okay over here I'm going to go check out the Library of the Two Sisters I've wanted to visit it ever since it's librarian convinced the Princesses to open it up." Paint nods, "Sure I'll catch up in a bit," she then goes to talk to an a light brown unicorn, with hazel eyes and a dirty blond unkempt mane. He wore a coat that covered his cutie mark but Mia just shrugged and let her cousin be as she headed toward the Library of the Two Sisters. Upon reaching the library she wanted Mia slowly pushed the door open and took a look around taking note of all the torches lining the walls. "One would think that the Princesses would update the lighting in a library as valuable as this one." Mia mutters to herself as she starts trotting through the shelves looking for books that she would ask about borrowing for her library. As she trotted along Mia then noticed the absence of anypony actually in the building with her "Uh.... Hello? Anypony around?" "Sorry," came the deep voice of a stallion. A moment later a black coated pegasus with a white muzzle and white wing tips, his cutie mark is half a sun and half of a snowflake, and his mane and tail matched with alternating sections of white and black. "I am Flaming Snowflake and I only just arrived myself. Are you looking for somepony in particular?" "I'm actually looking for the librarian." Mia tells him holding up a few books that she had under her wing. "I wanted to ask him about a book exchange." Flaming nodded in understanding and turned using his wing to tell Mia to follow "Alright I think he is in the new section of library he just discovered." "New section?" Mia asked as she followed Flaming Snowflake to a bookshelf which he then used a wing tip to move a book slightly before the shelf slid back and to the side quickly. Mia's eye's widen at the sight of the sloping stairs. They only get wider as Flaming leads her down them and into the large library below "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!!!!" Mia then took flight and started zooming around the Library taking in everything that she could. After a few moments Mia flew into Booksalot's side, as he was working on re-shelving with his magic, causing all the books within his magical grasp to fall around the two librarians as he slowly turned and glared at her asking "And who exactly are you?" "I'm Mia," she says slightly shying away from the angry glare Booksalot was giving her. "I was just looking around for the Librarian." Mia looks Books up and down "And I'm guessing your him?" "That would be correct." Booksalot says with a sigh as he goes back to re-shelving the books with his magic. "What is it that you need Mia?" "Well uh........" she starts when Flaming lands next to her and deadpans "Dude, she just wants some books that her library can have for a little while." "That could be arranged," Booksalot starts as he turned his attention to the shelves around him "but you can only take books from the Library of the Two Sisters. Not this one." As he spoke Mia looked at him confused before asking "Why is that?" "Because this is The Library" stated a disembodied voice with a chuckle as Discord slowly appeared on top of a shelf looking down with a cheshire grin "its so special it has books and scrolls from the beginning of time." Mia jumped back at the draconequus' sudden appearance. The voice of Gypsy Rose then comes from around the corner saying "So you see Mom ever since I've been in this time line Booksalot has been looking after me like an uncle that's why I call him Uncle Books." Gypsy and Toxic then come around the corner and see Booksalot and Discord both standing above the cowering Mia while Flaming Snowflake just stood to the side. "Oh Hey guy," Gypsy says waving a hoof at the group before noticing Flaming Snowflake. "IT'S DAD YAY!!!" Gypsy then suddenly has Flaming tackled to the ground in a hug as the sound of him facehoofing himself is heard echoing off the shelves > 7 and the Alvinailey Fortress > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the momentary exchange that happened in a far corner of the Library, Booksalot managed to have Discord go home, Mia was given some spare books for her library, while Gypsy took Toxic and Flaming out to a cafe in Canterlot so she could catch up with them. Fria flew around the shelves of the Library before spotting the ruby red arua of Booksalot's magic. She smiled and flew down landing next to him while simultaneously changing to her natural form of Zilla the Changeling. "You know you could have been nicer to them." Booksalot glanced at her out of the corner of his eye but said nothing as he kept working. The two then fell into an awkward silence before Books breaks it first "I'm sorry Zilla I guess I've just gotten a little stressed due to everything that has come to light." Zilla opens her mouth to respond *THUD*. The sound of a large book hitting the floor somewhere nearby in the Library drew the attention of both of them. Booksalot quickly trotted over to the end of the shelf and looked into the small open area that was meant for reading and they saw a large book that seemed like it had newspaper clippings sticking out of its many pages. "What is it?" Zilla asked walking up next to Books. "It looks like a clippings book." Booksalot then grabs the book with his magic and opens it seeing all sorts of strange news articles with and about creatures strange to his knowledge. He finally stopped at one that had an image of a grand fortress with the title reading "Alvinailey Fortress Finished in time for the Dragon War!!!" Booksalot and Zilla look at each other curiously before going to continue reading the article. "The Alvinailey Fortress has been completed by our master Alicorn Carpenters, Stonesmiths, and Enchanters. But this amazing feet of science and magic wouldn't be possible with out the help from "The Shimmering Ones" . They are the true masterminds behind the creation of this Fortress which is to stand tall and firm against the incoming Dragon Hordes. The Fortress has been measured to be easily eight miles wide and even a mile and a half high at it's longest and highest points respectively. It is full of catacombs and many halls and rooms to hold a in-numerable number of ponies. With this Fortress finally built we have to hope that its enough to stop the Dragon Hordes once and for all. So with help from "The Pony of Flame", we should be able to easily fend off all and any attacks." "This is from hundreds of years ago!" Booksalot exclaims in realization as he looks into Zilla's eyes "From before Celestia and Luna's parents being born!!" Booksalot then starts quickly trotting toward the staircase to head up to his apartment with the clippings book in tow. "This has to be one of the greatest mysteries in Equestrian history ever and its not silly Daring Do figuring it out and ruin the perfectly good artifacts. Now about these "Shimmering Ones" and "Pony of Flame", I'm going to have to do some research it'll probably be somewhere in The Library and not the one of the Two Sisters." Zilla giggled as she changed into Fria Quill and followed Booksalot up the stairs. "Calm down Sweetie, it's just an old newspaper," Fria found Booksalot already at his desk with the clipping book open to the article they had read and with hundreds of papers and notes already on his desk and flying around him in his magic. As she walks over the front doors to The Library of the Two Sisters opened revealing a tan unicorn wearing an trench coat and a large cocky smile. The unicorn started trotting forward towards Booksalot. Right as Fria opened her mouth to say something Booksalot beat her to it saying "What do you want Mr. Dimtec? I'm kind of busy trying to figure out about this ancient fortress." Joe Dimtec then chuckled "Why look through old notes and papers that I put in that Library of yours when you can go and figure it out." Everything in Booksalot's magical ruby red aura stop as he raised an eyebrow and looked at Joe quizzically. "That's right Booksalot that fortress isn't in this dimension its in another one. Also you have the Dimensional Library its basically what you normally do here at the Library of the Two Sisters but on the scale of all dimensions and realms." "Fria, watch the libraries for me will you Honey?" Booksalot says with a smile growing on his muzzle as he neatly put everything away and cut off his magic to follow Joe through a portal that had appeared leading into the Dimtec HQ. Joe lead Booksalot around the HQ working on leading him to the right Mission Control room so that he could get more information. As the trotted along Booksalot noted that there seemed to be a lot more Equines than the last time he was here. Books shrugged as they stopped in front of a door "Here you go Booksalot," Joe said "Just head right in there and you'll find what you need." Booksalot opened the door to find the main Mission Control room was a mess. It looked like something out of a space exploration movie where something goes wrong and everypony trying to solve the simple problem of a missing rifle. In the mist of all the chaos of running, flying, and teleporting ponies as well as the flying papers and flash-drives being thrown, Booksalot slowly trotted along. With a sigh he looks around and says "For a group that's suppose to know everything you guys can be so stupid at times." A random pegasus that looks like Derpy stops and chuckles "Hey sometimes we like to get paid for doing diddly squat," before continuing to panic with the rest of the ponies. Booksalot gave another sigh and calmly left the chaotic room and headed for the Dimensional Door that would allow him to go and look for Alvinailey Fortress and apparently a rifle that Dimtec lost. in the right dimension. > 8 and the Alvinailey Fortress (Part: 2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booksalot had left the Dimtec HQ a while ago if the sun of this dimension was anything to go by. He gave a calm and collected look around in remembrance as he started to recognize some land marks. The Timberwolves watched the elderly unicorn trot along the path going deeper into the Everfree but didn't attack because they learned long ago to beware "The Pony of Flame". "Even though I've never been here I feel like I have." he muses to himself as he came into a clearing and saw the slightly aging sight of Alvinailey Fortress. With a dejected sigh at not having bent sent to the time the fortress was in its prime, Booksalot continued forward and up the staircase that lead inside of it. "Well, at least this way I don't have to deal with anypony trying to stop me and keep me out as I study." As he walked he took in everything on the walls and sides of the staircase, while unbeknownst to him the Timberwolves followed him carefully planning revenge. "Alright since I'm here I want to look for anything about "Shimmering Ones" and a "Pony of Flame"" Booksalot said aloud as he then stopped next to an open doorway and squinted at the tiny and old writings from The Alicorn Era. "Time is but always a fleeting thing. We have lasted here at this Fortress for far longer than originally thought, mostly do to the persistence of the Dragons. They were slightly stronger than we first perceived, but, it is now time to reveal our hidden weapon and allies. Continue through these halls and you shall find the Alicorn Hoards. They are mindless drones to be commanded by Grand Commander "The Father of the Sun and Moon". Him along with "The Simmering Ones" and "The Pony of Flame"." "Dang it the rest is worn away." Booksalot says to himself in defeat as he stared to hear the growling of Timberwolves around him. "So we fight once more?" he chuckles out as his horn flares up with magic. Quickly acting upon a sixth since Booksalot jumped to the side and fired a ball of flame right where he had been standing moments before hitting the Timberwolf hard on the side and forcing it to skid slightly. The sound of more wolves growling came to his ears as Books locked eyes with the one he had so far scored a hit with, "Want more?" He asked cockily before summing a bonfire at the wolf's feet causing it to yelp out in pain and jump out of the flames with parts of its wooden body chard and a few with flames still hungrily licking away. Before Booksalot could finish off the Timberwolf before him a second slammed into his side throwing him against the wall. Acting quickly his horn flared brightly as his inter aura changed to flame so suddenly that the Timberwolf that was still holding him against the wall exploded into the sticks it was made of. Booksalot then teleported up onto a high ledge leaving his flaming form, he watches as countless more Timberwolves fill the hall and surround the fire wearily. When Books is satisfied and believes that they are all there he casts a spell at his flaming form causing it to quickly expand and then combust instantly destroying all the Timberwolves. Teleporting back down and making sure to land on three of his legs to keep his front left in the air Booksalot looked around at his handiwork with a smile. One last Timberwolf watched him for a moment longer before jumping at him going for the favored leg only to be swiftly turned to ash by the unicorn's fire magic. Booksalot chuckled as he slowly limped away from the smoldering ashes of the last Timberwolf. With his next step as he entered the next room sent a shot of pain stabbing through his front left leg. Cringing in pain and hissing through his teeth his horn flared ruby red and summoned matching colored flames around his leg in the shape of a cast. Sighing in contentment at getting some relieve off his old wound Booksalot finally looked around to take in the room. One of the first things he noticed was all the statues of Alicorn warriors as well as statues of humans in armor. Quickly trotting up to the closest statue of a human Booksalot looked it up and down before finding the plaque which read "In honor of Nenton. The only Shimmering One to fall to the Dragon Hordes in our final defense." Looking up at the statue once more Booksalot noticed that if the weather in this area wasn't so consistently harsh then it would have detected a seemingly youthful human. "So Humans have been in Equestria for a long time? I'm going to have to talk to Joe about this development." he stated to himself as he then turned and noticed a statue of a plain unicorn. Upon closer examination Booksalot noticed that the statue depicted a stallion that was about his age he couldn't tell size due to the slight enlargement of proportions due to it being a statue. The next thing to be noticed was the cutie mark, half of it was worn away but what could still be seen slightly reminded Booksalot of his own. He checked the other side but it was completely gone on that side. With a sigh he then went back around to the front of it and found the plaque starting to read it "In honor of the "Pony of Flame". A pony from another time that came to help us and stuck with us till the end. Kept deep in the Catacombs is the artifact that helped us win the war locked away so only he can ever retrieve it from its eternal resting place. "This is just getting stranger and stranger." He muttered to himself and he stepped back from the statue and looked up at its weathered surface. Then taking a look around the room Booksalot noticed one of the Alicorn Warrior statues where moved and a sloping staircase being revealed. Books was about to head toward the steps when Twilight Sparkle flew by and down the stairway. Dropping his face into a scowl Books turns and heads into the next room muttering "This place just became ruined thanks to her."