Scootaloo frowned, trying to think of a counter argument but coming up with nothing. However, her mind quickly formulated a new plan! "Yeah! We can do that! We can get the book here and then make a quick stop at the Summer Song Cafe, Merriweather has still got my wagon from that storm. It was getting to full of water so I left it and the other helmets and rain coats there. I forgot to get it when I left in the morning and haven't had time to get it since. We'll get the book, my stuff and be on our way to the Club House and a Cutie Mark for sure!" She declared, stomping a hoof in exclamation. She was pleased with herself for spinning out such a believable lie so quickly, this solved one of her problems quite nicely. With the other two fillies and Gale there Merri wouldn't dare attack her!

GENIUS!

Applebloom canted her head in open confusion as Scootaloo mentioned Merriweather having her wagon.  She got the feeling their friend wasn't telling the whole story again, but set it aside for the moment.  They could grill her for details later.

"Well, maybe we'll get lucky and Babs stopped in at th'cafe for a smoothie.  Too bad we ain't got that Greenwood lady t'help out too.  I bet she could track Babs down no problem." the hayseed mused.  "So y'all wanna split up or stick together and go get th'wagon first?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:47, Sat 18 May 2013.

"Stick together and get the wagon, that way I can pull you girls along and it makes a good spot for the book. Speaking of, we still need to get it!" She declared, breaking the huddle and trotting inside. "Hey Spike, where's all the books on medieval stuff?" She asked, looking at the rows and rows of books and not having a clue where to start.

Seeing the huddle break Gale Trotted inside herself. She spent a minute looking for the rumored burn mark from where Princess Twilight Sparkle had Ascended to the august halls of royalty and casually examining the shelves for books on 'medieval stuff'. One book however caught her eye 'The Complete Horse' By Lady Lorain Bolivia, something about it's gilt lettering and black papyrus cover intrigued her, as well as the fact that it was in a locked glass shelf...

Sweetie blinked at the mention of books again, suddenly remembering their original reason for coming to the library in the first place.  ”Oh… *RIGHT*!”

She darted inside the library at the one speed an excited filly knew how to use, scrambling past Gale on her way to the bookshelves.  She suddenly skidded to a stop as she realized that she wasn’t sure where to find what she was looking for.

Hmm… Some of *RARITY’S* books have got Knights in shining armor and Princesses on the cover…. And she gets them from that shelf up there… Sweetie thought as she looked up at a high shelf, her voice somehow cracking even in her thoughts.  So…. That’s *GOTTA* be where the *REST* of them are!

The small white unicorn trotted over to a nearby rolling ladder, and pushed against it to roll it into place in front of the shelf she wanted to reach, then carefully (or at least what she considered carefully) climbed the ladder till she was nearly at the top.

”Alright… let’s see… there’s…. Ponies and Prejudice no… …. Pegasus Sky?”  She pulled it off the shelf and looked at the cover to see a white pegasus stallion gliding through a heavy rainstorm, his medium-length yellow mane and tail soaked from the downpour. She put it back and kept looking.

”*AH-HA!* … Here we go! … Knightsong…” she picked up the book with the most promising title yet, and flipped it over to see a picture of an elegant, lady-like young red unicorn mare about Rarity’s age wearing an elegant medieval style dress leaning against a very determined looking white unicorn stallion dressed in gleaming bronze armor and holding a fierce broadsword in his magic.  The mare was nuzzling his cheek.

She flipped through the book to a random page and started reading to herself.

… The soft glow of the simple beeswax candle cast a shadowy light into the stretches of the corridor, and yet with every step she felt her heart leap into her chest, heard her hooves clack and echo against the cold stone floor, and felt her knees and fetlocks shake in uncertainty of what she was about to do.  She could hardly believe she had brought herself this far, and yet she still kept going.  It wasn’t long until she found herself at the entrance to his chamber doors.  Sweetie found herself engrossed in the book.  She cast a quick glance from her perch atop the ladder to see that no one was watching her before burying her nose in the book again.

… Once, Twice, Three times she knocked. … There was no answer…  She knocked three times again… No answer.  She could not bring herself to knock a third time; the rejection would just be too much to bear.  With a tear in her eyes she turned to return to her room, accepting that it was her fate to die an old mare, foaless and alone, when suddenly she stopped.  There, standing in the corridor before her was the one stallion who could change all that:  her liege, her lord…. Her Love.  Without thought, he reached out and pulled her into a wordless embrace, kissing her passionately.  She returned his passion, running her hooves though his mane and down his back as he pushed her against the door and…

Sweetie was completely enthralled.  As she continued reading, her cheeks were turning progressively and progressively pinker until they surpassed the tint of her mane and were heading right on into the “red” category.

Scoots wandered about the library, trying to find the book they needed. However, if their ill fated attempt at going after a Librarian Cutie Mark had taught her anything it was that she was rubbish at finding things in a library. And putting things back. Organizing them. Helping somepony find a book. In fact, she should just steer clear of libraries in the future. She was starting to get frustrated by her lack of ability to find the book she needed as she wandered the confusing place.

Her wandering led her over to where Sweetie Belle was, though she didn't realize the little unicorn was on the ladder. She let out a frustrated growl, turning and bucking the ladder away from her, taking her anger out on the inanimate object. "Stupid ladder."

Applebloom scampered on into the library along with her friends, wanting to get things moving again.  If nothing else, they had the chance to see Babs!  They'd have to hurry!  The little filly rushed off in search of useful knowledge amid the shelves, though she ended up getting distracted as Scootaloo shoved a rolling ladder along the row they were at.

"Hey, easy Scoots!  Y'can't just go shovin' things around like that!"  Applebloom objected as she pushed back on the ladder, missing her hypocrisy as she shoved it right back toward her friend.

"Whoa, girls, come on!  Don't... ah, miss!  That book isn't for public viewing!  It's part of Twilight's private collection!"  Spike had been caught up in trying to find the requested research material on medieval weasels and turned about to find the library invaded.  He intercepted Gale Seed as she mulled at the sight of a glass-caged book, quickly putting himself between her and it in case she got any funny ideas.

Sweetie’s little mind was working in overtime as she read, busy forming questions her sister would regret having to answer over the coming weeks.  Unfortunately for Sweetie Belle (or perhaps fortunately for Rarity), her little foray into the realm of steamy romance novels was interrupted as the ladder she was standing on was literally bucked out from under her.

”*WOOOOAAAAH*!!!!!”  She did her best to hold on tight as the rolling ladder flew off violently in a random direction at the hooves of one of her best friends… Only to lose her grip entirely as her other best friend caused to ladder to stop short and change directions.

”*AHHHHHHHH*!!!!!!!”  The little white unicorn and a small collection of romantic novellas flew through the air and landed with a thump against one of the book shelves along the other wall.  Sweetie landed on the ground flank-first with a hard *THUMP*.

She wasn’t hurt, but the rickety teetering of the books above made her duck and cover her head as the entire contents of the Historical section came crashing down on her from above.

A mountain of books shifted and parted to reveal a swirly-eyed sweetie with an open book balanced atop her horn.  ”I’m Okay!!!....” she unassuringly called.  ”Books broke my fall…”

She started digging her way out of the mound of tomes one by one, but stopped when she went to take the book off her head.  She sat there slack-jawed for a moment, re-reading the title of the book that had beaned her in the head:  Medieval Mayhem:  Weasels, Wizards, and Warfare

”Hey guys! …. I *FOUND IT*!!!”  She called excitedly, her entire ordeal now forgotten.

"Tells me mista' librarian, what's this hea' book..." Gale didn't finish the sentence until more than a week later as the young unicorn filly stumbled upon the object of their search. "Heya, tha's mighty 'pressive thea' Sweetie! WoW, the weasel bit an' everythin' I didn't 'spect we would find the 'zact thing, thought we would hafta settle fer' some bland bits 'bout armor and weasel 'natomy."

Scoots was ready to shove the ladder back at Applebloom but paused when she heard Sweetie yelling as she flew through the air. "Sweetie Belle!" She cried out, racing over to check on her friend. Thankfully she was okay, and even better she found the book they were looking for! "Way to go Sweetie! We'll be sure to get our Cutie Marks this time!" She declared, helping her friend up and out of the pile of books. Spike could clean that up later.

"Let's go girls! We'll get the wagon and be on our way!" She said, racing out of the library and waiting outside for her two friends to join her, anxious to retrieve her wagon and be on their way.

While Applebloom was naturally concerned for Sweetie Belle's safety as they accidentally sent her tumbling, she knew the little Unicorn was a lot tougher than she looked.  All that chipperness was hard to knock away, after all.

"Do we really want Cutie Marks for medieval weaslin'?" she couldn't help but mull aloud.  In all the fuss, she'd forgotten why they were actually there in the first place!  Scootaloo was ready to be off like a shot and Applebloom quickly waved to Gale.  "C'mon cuz, let's get a move on!"

Scootaloo waited until her two friends and Gale joined her and then she was off, heading towards the Summer Song Cafe. "It's all good Applebloom! I'll explain everything once we get my wagon and then we can collect all the supplies we need." She said, powering off towards their next destination.


To Summer Song Cafe--->

Leaving off the 'research' and the intriguing book Gale followed the Ponyville CMC out and into town, swiftly arriving at the famed Summer Song Cafe'. Even as she trotted along behind she took the opportunity to familiarize herself with the local terrain, and try to get her bearings. Soon enough this town would be her place of residence, and it would be-hoof her to learn the lay of the land while she could.

To: Summer Song Cafe' --->

<<< From: The Summer Song Café

It was sappy and silly, there was no way even lovestruck Widget could deny that. But this was his favourite time of day. Morning was strong in force, the sun falling down like rain through the panes of glass to flit across the pages of books and the grains of the wood plank floor. Twilight wasn't a morning pony. She never had been and never would be. But he didn't mind. It was always his favourite time of say... seeing Twilight again.

It was a public library, but opening times varied. Out of common good manners, Widget knocked for either Spike, who was surely up and beginning morning chores, or Twilight herself, if she had made her way out of bed.

Widget didn't need to wait long before the front door was pulled open by the diminutive Dragon on the other side.  "Oh, hey Widget!  C'mon in."  he wasn't the least bit surprised to see Widget that morning, punctual as ever.  Spike was in the midst of his daily chores with an apron on his chest, a rag on his head, and a rag that smelled powerfully of wood polish draped over his shoulder.

"Twilight's downstairs.  Just be sure to knock first, okay?" he indicated the basement door, which was shut tight and had a sign taped to it that indicated the same sentiment.  ~Quiet: Calibrations Being Performed~, it read.

He smiled brightly in greeting to the little dragon as he stepped inside the library, stepping carefully to keep prints off the floor in case he was polishing it. "Thanks," he said brightly, "and thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to be careful. Or at least as careful as I can be." He magicked the third piece of coffee cake he'd bought and hovered it down to Spike wrapped in a napkin. He winked at the dragonling, and made his way to the basement, opening the door and stepping down the stairs as quietly as he could while shutting the door behind him.

He moved silently, though he wasn't trying to startle her. It was a delicate balance, really... Down at the bottom door, he opened it quietly and looked inside quietly, expecting to see Twilight hovering over something that... well, needed Calibrations; either a spell book or a potion table. "Twilight?" he said softly, doing his best not to startle her.

Spike, all too happy to have a snack, chirped a quick thanks before he hurried off for the kitchen.  He hadn't really eaten breakfast yet and taking a break from his chores sounded good.  Some coffee was in order!  Plus he might as well set a kettle going for the two Ponies since he knew Widget always brought tea with him.

Downstairs, Widget came upon quite the sight.  The normally well-lit basement was dark save for the flares of violet light that flickered off the walls, casting tall shadows everywhere.  Twilight was at the center of a dense magical circle, hovering inches off the ground with her wings flared and body slack, held aloft by mystical force that her body seemed to exude in gentle pulses.  The circle was made of rings within rings, all carefully rotating within one another in minor, precise movements.  The Alicorn didn't seem to notice her beau had arrived at all - here eyes were wide and unblinking, glowing brightly with magical white light that gave her an unearthly appearance.

"Twilight?" he said softly, doing his best not to startle her.

"Huh?  Oh!"  despite the trance-like state she appeared to be in at first look, Twilight seemed rather attentive and turned her glowing eyes over to Widget.  She blinked rapidly a few times and the glow flickered on and off, though her left eye lit up once again all on its own.  She had to gently rap herself on the side of the head with her hoof to get the light to go out completely.  "Just gimme a second..."

With a soft flare of her horn, the magical rings that surrounded her faded out one by one.  The natural lighting of the room returned to normal when the last of those strange loops of energy had finally vanished, letting Twilight sink back down to her own four hooves on the floor.  "Hwoo... that's always a bit of a headrush."

Widget did his absolute best to not be at least a little freaked out by what he saw down in that basement. This was actually not all that unusual of a reaction from the stallion. By now, he was well used to her... antics. The incredibly powerful magic, the rituals, the preparations, it was all fairly normal by now. Widget was mechanically minded. Despite being a unicorn, magic was definitely not his strong suit. He found it, what Twilight did and loved, positively fascinating, no doubt about that, and understood what she said, even though he was incapable of ever performing such feats himself.

"Heh, you alright then?" Widget said brightly as he approached her, setting down his basket. "That looked like an intense ritual... What sort of spell are you preparing?"

Twilight took a moment to tuck her wings cozily at her sides before she trotted on over to meet Widget at the bottom of the stairs.  "First things first~." the Alicorn said with a smile.  The two of them had been dating for a number of months by that point and Twilight had, to her merit, overcome a lot of the situations that would set her into a full-body blush or make her mane ignite.  There were still times something would fluster her, sure, but overall she and Widget had reached a comfortable point with one another... which naturally brought certain perks along with it.  He'd surely recognize that telling cant of her head as she tucked in to give her coltfriend a welcoming kiss as warm and fond as any they'd shared before.

"Mmm... good morning, Widget." she said as they parted.  Twilight preferred that sort of greeting by far, she'd come to realize.  An affectionate moment gave her one more reason to smile on those cheery Ponyville mornings.  "Anyway, I wasn't preparing any specific spell.  You know how some Unicorns use breathing exercises or visualizations to help focus their magic?  Well, Alicorn magic is... eh... a bit more involved, as it turns out.  I've been integrating the lessons I've learned from both Zecora and Princess Celestia to help me keep my magic well-focused."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Wed 19 Mar 2014.

Ah. Yes... this. The perfect start to any day. Of those perks and bonuses that he had been mentally cataloging before,  this one was far and away surely the best. Any time he was able to kiss Twilight good morning was always the start of a perfect day. He smiled at the tone of her voice, and met her warmth with his own, a pleased sound in his throat. He was quite sure if he got one of those every day, he could find the will to keep on making it to the next day forever.

"Good morning to you, too, Twilight," he replied with a smile once they parted. His eyes were slightly lidded and a look of warm happiness was in them, one that would likely not fade for a good while!

"Oh, I think I get it," he said with a nod of tentative and hopef understanding. "Magic yoga. Or katas. Essentially. Focusing and warming up for the day. I try to do something like that some days, a good mental warm up to knock out the cobwebs before something really important, like new invention testing or a new experiment." He smiled sheepishly. "I should probably do it more often."

He lifted his basket again. "I heard Spike put on the kettle for tea. Ready for some breakfast?" He asked brightly.

<<Restarting Post>>
Seafoam had been mooching about outside the library.  It had been so embarrassing to have to give a book report on "Ponies on a Picnic: Beginner Book 1" So she had to face the current.  It was time to get help.  Bumblebee had said the best place in Ponyville to find books was right here, and apparently the librarian was really nice too. Even so facing a roomful of books was really quite daunting, and so, she dithered.

Finally after circling the door far too many times, she took a deep breath, and knocked.

"Hello?"

Seafoam waited a moment "HELLO!!" she bellowed, except it came out as a shriek somewhere near the ouch part of hearing and several windows cracked.  She ducked behind the bush so often used as a hiding place it actually had "official hiding place - CMC" tied to its root.

Then she crept out again and butted the door lightly with her head.  It opened easily.

She entered, and immediately understood why she needed the librarians help.  She wanted to hide, there were TOO MANY books here.

where could she start looking for help. "Hello?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:04, Sun 28 June 2015.

In the wake of Tirek's assault on Ponyville's citizens, the Golden Oak Library was sadly razed to the ground.  While its roots found a new home alongside Princess Twilight in her castle, the area where the old tree once stood is in the process of being turned into a small park.  There are plans for a statue of the six heroes of Equestria as a tribute to their victory over Tirek.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:09, Sun 28 June 2015.

--> From: The Equestrian Express Train Station -->

(post timeskip)

Starcrasher had walked the same route she knew, the familiar buildings, left at the bakery, there was that fountain in town square... And the library should be just around the corner.

Only it wasn't.

The place was a mess. Not just the library but the entire tree was gone, a pack of overturned ground partially covered by new grass and flowers an indication that whomever had been responsible, they had been thorough enough to remove it down to its roots as well. She paused for a moment as her mind processed this information.

A fly buzzed past.

She shut her mouth, the clicking of her teeth snapping her out of whatever trance had held her.

- "What in Celestia's name happened here?!?"

Here

Here

<sub>-ere

-ere</sub>

In the distance, a group of birds flew off, startled by the sudden burst of sound.

Starcrasher took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do next. Her options were simple, Twilight or Widget. Her mentor or her boss. And her boss was dating her mentor so if she'd head to one she'd encounter the other soon enough as well. Thinking about it, with Twilight being an alicorn nowadays she was probably in Canterlot or away more often these days, so maybe Widget was the better option. Besides, Widget was where she had stayed prior to her leaving on vacation, so it was better to get her bases covered first. She'd see Twilight as soon as the alicorn had time.

--> To: Ponyville Business District - Widget Whatsis' Wondrous Works -->