The Perilous Quest to Save Vinyl From Certain Demise

"I need to see Twilight," You say, tipping your head in a respectful nod. "A magical curse of some kind has befallen me, and I wish her opinion on how it might be removed."

The baby dragon raises an eyebrow, a little suspicious of your behavior and appearance,but after a moment, he shrugs nonchalantly and motions for you to enter.

The first thought that enters your mind as you step inside of the hollowed-out tree is how decidedly unlike a normal library the interior is. While you've spent plenty of times in archives in Canterlot when you began your studies of classical music, and know the shelves full of well-organized books well enough, the books here seem to be scattered about the entire surface of the floor, thrown there in a random fashion, so one would have no way to find anything without searching the entire literary content of the library.

As you eye a particularly large stack of books while you follow Spike towards the center of the mountain of pages, ink, and bindings, you can't help but wonder why Princess Twilight was so well-known for her organizational skills during Winter Wrap-up.

"One minute!" comes a cry while a purple blur of wings, magic, and hooves passes through the library, picking up book after book and reading the titles, in search of some obscure text you aren't sure you want to know about.

This continues for decidedly longer than a single minute, as the crowned princess of friendship becomes more and more irritated by the lack of results in her sweep of the library, until finally, she gasps, laughing happily when she finds what she was looking for.

"Aha! Here it is!" She says, dropping everything her magic had been holding except a single book, with strange markings and symbols all around it's cover. It was clearly a book about some form of magic, which you don't feel very surprised about.

When you clear your throat, hoping to get her attention once more, she jumps, once again dropping the book into the disorganized mess.

"Oh! Sorry to keep you waiting!" She says, blushing lightly as she turns to you. "Did you need something?"

"Yes," you say, trying to stop yourself from rolling your eyes in exasperation. So this was a princess? You've seen fillies with more self-awareness.

"My name is Octavia Melody, and I'm looking for-"

"Oh!" Twilight jumps again at this revelation, her eyes sparkling. "I heard you moved into town a while ago! I've heard your cello playing often in Canterlot, before I came here. I'm so glad to meet you!" She says, grabbing an shaking your hoof excitedly with hers.

Of course... a loving fan of the classical genre. I should've guessed.

This time, you do find yourself rolling your eyes, and Twilight blushes a deeper red as she releases your hoof.

"So, what do you need? We have plenty of books on music, if you need those." She eyes the piles of disorganized tomes scattering the room for a moment before adding, "It might take me a minute to find them, though..."

You wave off her comment, returning her attention to you.

"Actually, I find myself with a bit more... personal issue."

You reach up and remove your top hat. As you do so, you feel your ears, standing high and proud above your head, emerge.

Twilight suddenly hunches over, quickly moving a hoof over her mouth to muffle her outburst. Despite this, you still hear her snort loudly, as she giggles madly at your preposterous new assets. As she does, you pout in part shame, part annoyance. Noticing how put-off you are, Twilight tries to regain her composure quickly, her restrained laughter falling back into a light giggle.

"Hee hee... Well... I have to ask, have you been into the Everfree forest lately? That looks an awful lot like the effects of poison joke."

Still a bit embarrassed and annoyed, you look away, and nod your head once, confirming her theory.

"Don't worry! The effect is harmless, and the remedy is a simple mixture, which you put into bathwater and wash with. Those ears should go away in no time!"

"Hmph!" you grunt, still looking away, trying to show a respectable face while with holding your embarrassment.

"Here," Twilight says, spreading her wings and beginning another search of the library. "I think I have some of the mixture around here somewhere from last time me and my friends got pranked by that funny little plant. Let me give it to you as an apology! Just let me... find it..."

Levitating all of the books and other furniture of the library in search, you sigh. So this is how the library got into such a state... You aren't sure whether you admire Twilight's determination and energy she uses in her searches, or disappointing in her carelessness.

However, only a few minutes later, you find yourself at the door, a small vial of powder in a saddlebag.

"Thank you for your help, Twilight," you say, bowing in appreciation as you step out.

Twilight smiles back and waves. "You're welcome! Feel free to come back if you need anything else!"

As the door closes, Twilight looks back into the library. "Now where did I put that book on Trans-mechanical spell morphing... Spike?"

"Yeah, Twi?"

"Where was that book I was looking for?... and why are you wearing a top hat?"

"I dunno. I found it lying around, and thought it would go well with my mustache, next time you want to try out that spell."

"Hmph. It still looks kind of silly by itself. Now help me find my book."

"Sure thing."

It isn't long after you leave the library when you realize you accidentally left behind your hat! Walking in the public eye with such strange ears perking off the top of your head... it's humiliating! Ponies left and right laugh as you pass by, seeing a well-known classical cellist with such a wacky transformation.

Embarrassed, you just hope you can get home before you become the laughingstock of Ponyville, though you have no doubt rumors are already spreading...

Rush home as quickly as possible, hoping only a few ponies notice!

Take a slightly longer way back home, passing through some less populated shady alleys to avoid being seen.

The spa is closer than home... maybe you can ask them to just pour the solution in a bath for you? You can also fix up your mane in the process!