Chapter one
A Brand New Day
The morning light shone throughout Equestria, bathing all it touched in Celestia's morning beauty. As the magnificent, life-giving, yellow orb crept up into the sky, it's light shone upon a small little town, nestled between a dense forest, and a large mountain range, with an equine-made stream snaking its way through the village. Sitting in front of the town, next to one of the very few roads that connected this village to the rest of Equestria, was a small wooden sign that read, "Welcome to Ponyville"
As the morning light shone over the village, it's inhabitants awoke, basking in the morning beauty, and thanking Celestia for such a wonderful day. The morning light slowly worked its way across Ponyville, and soon, it reached a building that everypony knew well, the Ponyville Public Library. The sun shone in through the windows of the hallowed-out tree, and in the early morning beauty, our protagonist awoke, ready to begin a new day.
Bookworm hit the ground as he fell out of his bed, as he threw the mangled bed sheets off of him, he blindly reached for his glasses. At last, his hoof rested on something that felt like a pair of rectangular-lensed spectacles. Bookworm put the glasses on and started to put the sheets back on his bed.
His room was rather simple, it included a wardrobe set up next to his bed. As well as a bookshelf taking up most of the far wall. There was a desk on the opposite wall from his wardrobe, and his bed was in the far left-hoof corner of the room (if you are looking in from the doorway). A large, moon-patterned rug sat in the center of the room, and next to the desk, there was a closet which Bookworm used to store his things. His bed was a two-pony bed, no, Bookworm wasn't in a relationship, he just liked the comfort.
Well, the room was simple compared to the room he used to sleep in.
After he made his bed, Bookworm walked down the hallway to the bathroom, he didn't bother knocking, Twilight was like a sister to him, he knew that she was still fast asleep in bed. Bookworm entered the bathroom and started up a hot shower. As he waited for the shower to warm up, he took off his glasses and splashed some cold water on his face. Bookworm wasn't blind without his glasses, but they helped him see. He looked at himself in the mirror and tried to move his mane out of his eyes.
Bookworm was an orangish-green unicorn colt, although many teasing stallions had said that he was built like a mare. His mane was black with white ends, and was more unkempt than the library during one of Twilight's study sessions. His tail shared the same qualities as his mane, except it was cut rather short. Bookworms eyes were a light blue, and he had a splash of freckles across his face. Around his neck, he wore a silver-chained amulet, with a gold sun on it, set in the center of the sun, was a perfectly circular, orange fire ruby. This amulet was given to him by Celestia, as a gift when he left Canterlot. Bookworm wiped the sleep-crud out of his eyes and looked down to his flank. There it was, the symbol of who he was, what it meant to be him, and the single thing that defined his past, present, and future, his cutie mark. His cutie mark was rather interesting, it was an open book with a purpleish-blue hardcover, the spine of the book faced outwards, and it consisted of exactly 3,000 pages.
Bookworm left his glasses on the counter and stepped into the shower, he cringed slightly as the almost scalding hot water hit his coat and skin. But he soon relaxed, feeling how the hot water both woke him up and relaxed him. As Bookworm cleaned himself off, he heard the sound of Twilight waking up, and then the sound of Spike being shaken out of his sleep by Twilight. Bookworm finished washing himself off and, using his magic, grabbed the bottle of shampoo and squeezed some out onto his right hoof. Putting the shampoo bottle back on the shelf, he proceeded to wash his mane and, when he had finished, enjoyed the shower for a bit before turning off the water. Bookworm stepped out of the shower, dried himself off, put on his glasses, and went downstairs to eat breakfast, and begin his day.
After breakfast, Bookworm picked up a list of things for him to do. His day wasn't completely packed, and Twilight knew it.
"How about you take the day off? You did earn it, watching the library while the Doctor and I were off on an alien planet."
Twilight was a lavender unicorn mare, with a very neat-cut mane and tail, both of which consisted if various shades of purple. Her flank was adorned by a five pointed, pink star, surrounded by a bunch of smaller stars.
"Uh, gee, thanks, sis." Said Bookworm, "But, I still think I'll do some of these tasks today," Bookworm motioned towards the list of things to do. "I mean, some of these house calls really need to be done,"
"Okay, whatever you want, lil bro." Twilight said teasingly as she hugged Bookworm and then went to checking the Library's inventory.
As bookworm stepped outside, he looked back into the Library and said to Twilight,
"Y'know, I'm three months older than you."
Author's Note
The scene at the end is taken from the pages of my life. There is a girl I am friends with, and she always considered me her little brother, since we look a lot alike. Despite the fact that I am 3 months older than her, and I am taller.
Chapter two
Making house-calls
"Okay, first stop, Sugar Cube Corner." Bookworm read off the list of places he needed to go to retrieve overdue library books. Bookworm walked into the cheerfully decorated sweet shoppe and was immediately greeted by a pink blur that almost knocked him to the ground. Once Bookworm's eyes refocused, he got a better look at the bouncy, pink, hyper pony standing before him, "Hi, Pinkie Pie!"
The first thing that Bookworm thought of, every time he saw Pinkie, was bubble gum. Yes, bubble gum. Pinkie was a bright pink mare that never stood still. Her mane and tail were bubblegum pink, and were more bouncy than the mare herself. Her cutie mark consisted of three balloons, each a different color.
"Hi Bookworm!" Said Pinkie "Oh, you must be here for that library book I borrowed, it's over there behind the counter, I'm sorry that I haven't been able to get it back, but I've been super-duper busy, you see, I've been working on a new type of super sweetie-weetie treat, I'm calling it, The Super-Sweety Cider Cupcake Six-Thousand, tell me what you think, it's next to the book I borrowed, oh, and don't worry about paying, it's on the house because you're such a good friend!"
Bookworm went behind the counter and picked up the book, "101 USES FOR SUGAR AND ALCOHOL". Knowing Pinkie, the cupcake that laid next to the book was bound to have an uncelestial amount of cider in it. Bookworm carefully tasted a bit of the frosting and gagged instantly. That was some STRONG cider-cupcake...thing.
"I'm just gonna teleport this back to the library, I mean, Pinkie is throwing a party to celebrate the three month anniversary of me arriving in Ponyville tonight."
As Bookworm continued making house-calls, he absentmindedly reflected on the day and reason he left Canterlot...
[INSERT BACK-IN-TIME HARP MUSIC HERE]
Bookworm stepped out of his bedroom in his expansion of The Canterlot Library. The Library has a number of buildings in Canterlot, but the majority of the library actually ran underground, so it made sense that there should be a number of entrances across the city, each entrance was, actually, a library all it's own. But that's a different story, I'm getting off topic.
Bookworm was tired, bruised, and covered in a smelly, green, gooey substance, it didn't help that his body was covered in a the remains of a large, green chrysalis.
"Ugh, buckin' Changeling army." Bookworm grumbled, as he walked to the bathroom.
His house was quite ornate, or at least, it's supposed to look that way. The large amount of Changeling goo and broken Changeling eggs kind of contrasted the ornate, beautiful design of Bookworm's residence, and made the features almost unrecognizable.
Bookworm knew that there was one more clutch of unhatched Changeling eggs, he reached out with telekinesis and grabbed his lucky crowbar, ready to beat down any giant pony-bugs that stood in his way.
But, when Bookworm got to the bathroom, the clutch had hatched, and fifteen very hungry, very angry changelings all stared down at Bookworm. Bookworm got ready to defend himself, raising his crowbar threateningly, and at the same time, preparing an assortment of combat-applicable spells, to be ready on a moments notice.
But, suddenly, the weirdest thing happened, the changelings flew away, right out the windows.
"Wha-?" Bookworm thought aloud. Suddenly, the reason became clear. Bookworm felt something rush through the library. Like a warmth, a kind, loving warmth, that got rid of all the slime, chrysalis shells, dirt, and changeling eggs. It felt so nice, like a hug from a kind, loving mother.
Loving...
"That's what it is," Bookworm thought aloud, "It's love, I guess those two finally tied the knot, oh Shining, you lucky stallion."
Bookworm went to the window just in time to see the army of changelings being thrown away, screaming. Then Bookworm looked down, a big, bucking, mistake.
After bookworm regained his bearings, he decided that he wanted to talk to the princess about his decision.
"I respect your choice to move to Ponyville," said Princess Celestia, "but I must ask, why?"
Bookworm stood before the two most famous ponies in all of Equestria, Princess Celestia, and her younger sister, Princess Luna. Celestia was a tall, stark white Alicorn (she possesses the traits of Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi), and even though there was no wind, her multi-hued, sparkling mane and tail waved softly, as if a light breeze was blowing her mane and tail in slow motion. Her massive wings were folded down by her side as she sat on her ornate golden throne, looking at bookworm with kind, gentle, but ancient, and battle-hardened golden eyes. Her cutie mark was an orange sun, the same symbol sat on her golden chestplate, and her hooves were clad in ornate, golden boots. Finally, her crown, it was a golden tiara, and encrusted with Jewels, in its center, sat an orange sun, made of carved firerubies. Man, a diamond dog would get a nosebleed at the sight of so much wealth.
Next to the sun goddess pony, sat her younger sister, Luna, The Princess of the Night. She was smaller than Celestia, and was a deep shade of purple. Her mane and tail, like her sister's, waved softly, even with no breeze, both were a midnight dark shade of purple, flecked with points of light, making her mane and tail look like the midnight sky. Luna's chestplate was pitch black, with a single, white crescent moon in the center, her ornate boots were a light shade of blue. Her cutie mark was rather interesting, it was a crescent moon, but what was interesting, was that the area surrounding the moon was black, so towards her flank, her coat faded and blurred as it shifted to black. Luna's eyes were light purple, and shone with a grim determination. Luna's crown was a small tiara made of obsidian, making it pitch black. This crown, being made of a volcanic glass, was enchanted, to make it much tougher, quite an impressive magical feat, if you think about it.
"Well," said Bookworm "as you know, Princesses Celestia and Luna, the Changeling army attacked recently, and last Autumn, Discord broke loose, and Canterlot was attacked by an army of Chaos monsters. I just feel like Canterlot gets attacked a little too often."
"And-" Bookworm began, but stopped himself.
"Yes?" asked Celestia, "what is it?"
"I'm-, I'm afraid of heights." Bookworm said, feeling embarrassed.
"It's ok," comforted Celestia "I understand, you may leave whenever you like, just let us know."
Bookworm did, and when he left, he was given two gifts, an amulet from Celestia, which allowed him to locate any book that he had lost or misplaced. And from Luna, a book, "Legends of the Lunar Republic", one of the few remaining copies, kept in pristine condition. After Bookworm got on the carriage, he thanked the princesses for the gifts, and waved as he set out for his new home, Ponyville, all throughout the trip, Bookworm didn't look down.
[END FLASHBACK]
"Well, this is the last house on my list." Bookworm said as he knocked on the door and a mare stepped out.
He knew this pony, she was always nice to him, and Bookworm appreciated that. She was a good friend, ever since Bookworm had met her.
Her name was Lightning Dasher, she was a pitch-black unicorn. Her mane and tail were somewhat well groomed, and were the same shade of black as her fur, with light blue ends. Her cutie mark was a light blue swirling pattern, going downwards, with a few lightning bolts coming off of it. Her eyes were a deep blue, and around each hoof, she wore a silver bracelet.
"Oh, hi Bookworm," she said, not meeting his eyes.
"You ok LD?" Bookworm asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, "You must be here for that book I borrowed." LD said as she pulled out the book "HOW TO WIN AT GAMBLING, VOL. 5: RULES DO NOT APPLY IN LAS PEGASUS"
"Thanks," Bookworm replied, as he put the book in his saddlebag.
"Say, Lightning, Pinkie is throwing a party tonight to celebrate the three month anniversary of my arrival here in Ponyville, would you like to come?"
Lightning Dasher's eyes lit up as she exclaimed "Of course, thank you!" In an even more excited manner than Pinkie Pie herself could summon.
"Great," said Bookworm, "I hope to see you there."
Author's Note
2nd chapter, FTW, and yes, LightningDasher is my SSP IRL