The Glorious and Hideous Call Number
“Wait, what?” Twilight asked inquisitively. She was standing in the middle of her home, the library, and had a visitor from the Crystal Empire. It was the librarian from the Crystal Empire; she was here to inform Twilight of something that she wouldn’t have expected at all. When the empire was saved, they were able to identify something that could help the system of book organizing. It was the ‘call’ or ‘serial number’.
“It’s hard to understand Twilight.” The librarian was about to loose her cool. “All we have to do is take these books for a few days and then send them back to you with a sticker on the spine.”
“Why?” Twilight asked, not wanting to let a single one of her books go beyond this library without full understanding of what would happen to them.
“Well, Canterlot Library decreed that all books have a serial number and that the call numbers are consistent throughout Equestria. It would on-“
“Wait, are they serial numbers or call numbers?” Twilight interjected.
The librarian stopped her hoof. “Miss Sparkle! I need the books in this library right now!”
Twilight was a little bit surprised at the outburst, “Fine.” She said.
Unwillingly she watched her books leave their designated places; weeks of work, gone. Weeks of organization, gone; hours of separating places and remembering them, GONE! It was all about to be for not, she stamped her foot in protest but the guards kept coming back. Book after book, box after box, she was about to go insane!
“I’ll be back,” Twilight ran to the door and let herself out, “make sure that Spike doesn’t burn the library down.”
She wasn’t sure where to go for the time being, but she knew she needed to take a break and relax. Maybe get something to eat and visit with a friend. She decided that she would visit Applejack and get something to eat with her. The farm was about a ten-minute walk from the library.
Twilight decided that it would be best if she took the walk slow, breathe in the air deeply and let her nerves calm down. ‘Inhale, exhale, big inhale, slow exhale.’ She was thinking to herself. She was turning a corner and ran headlong into Pinkie Pie.
“Hey Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed. “How are you? Do have a second, I’d like to ask you something?”
Twilight backed up slightly, not wanting to loose her personal space. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Well, now that you ask, I was just on my way to Sugarcube corner, do you wanna come?” Pinkie smiled, happy that a friend might join her on her sugar-consuming journey.
“Uhh, I guess.” Twilight said, maybe some sugar would help her.
When they got to Sugarcube Corner, the Cakes greeted both of the ponies.
“Hello Pinkie Pie.” Mrs. Cake said, and then turned to Twilight, “Hi Twilight, what brings you here? We don’t normally see you here with just one of your friends.”
“Well,” Twilight was ready to lay everything down and come clean but then decided against it. “I just wanted to get out of the house.”
“Well, okay then, what is it you want? It’ll be on the house.” Mr. Cake spoke up.
“Oh, I hope not. That would be a waste of a delicious treat.” Pinkie Pie pouted.
The Cakes chuckled. Twilight smiled and asked for 3 doughnuts, 2 glazed and 1 with chocolate. As the storeowners went back to prepare the order Pinkie Pie sat down with Twilight at the table closest to the counter.
“Pinkie,” Twilight began inquisitively, “Do you know what a call number is?”
Pinkie Pie looked up from the cake that she was staring at and grabbed a napkin to wipe the drool off of her face. After doing so she responded with, “I dunno what that is. Is it something that has to do with cake?”
She obviously had other things in her thoughts. “Oh, never mind.” Twilight said begrudgingly. She needed help, and she couldn’t ask Princess Celestia because she was the one who had ordered all of the books recalled.
She was started to hyperventilate, if one book back that had a rip in a page the princess would hear about it. Or worse! What if there was a page missing!!!
“Hey Twilight, are you okay?” Her pink friend asked.
“I-book-save-missing” Twilight couldn’t think straight. “Gotta go!” Twilight bolted out of the door and ran right into Applejack.
“Whoa! Twilight, what’s got you so frazzled?” Applejack asked, concern in her eyes and wanting to help in her heart.
“Can’t talk, I’ve gotta save my books.” Twilight went around her and ran back to the library; it had been only 8 minutes since she left but when she got back inside every single shelf was bare. She was driven to her knees at this revelation, and tears came swiftly after.
Spike ran up to her, bearing the news that she had already seen and was afraid to hear. “They took them all, they wouldn’t let me do anything. Why didn’t you wake me up in the morning? I could’ve talked them out of it.”
“I was certain that I could stop them on my own.” That was all that she was able to get out before the tears started to choke her, she stumbled up the stairs and went into her bed. The empty shelves were pressing in and making her feel trapped, trapped and unable to do anything, nothing to do for her books.
Spike walked up to her, and put his hand around her, he wanted to comfort her. “Ah, Twilight, it’ll be okay. You’re one of the strongest ponies I know, who else could survive an encounter with her worst fear and live past it with the ability to still care for the one who she saw deny her?” He paused, letting her think about the question. “I can only think of one. That one is you Twilight.” He hugged Twilight, letting those last words seep in and gather their meaning in Twilights mind.
“We’ll get through this.”
Right at that moment there was a knock at the door. It was the librarian with the guards and behind them… THE BOOKS!
“Well, Mrs. Sparkle, it seems that the princess is fine with your personal library being outside of the bounds of this new rule. I hope that you enjoy that.” She turned and started to tell the guards to get the books in the house when a purple glow went around them.
“I got it, don’t worry about it.” Twilight shouted from the center of the main section of the library.
The librarian smiled and said under her breath, “There comes a point of to much, I think that Twilight Sparkle came to that point a while ago.”
Spike looked up at her, “Huh, tell me about it.” Then he closed the door.
Author's Note
This took me about 2 days, I hope that you enjoy it and it is good to be back writing!
