Twilight Discovers Comicsby nyycuhChaptersChapter 1 - Spike's HoardChapter 2 - Little PeeksChapter 3 - HookedChapter 4 - The Plot ThickensChapter 5 - A Librarian's ShameChapter 6 - Golden Oak Library's New AdditionsChapter 1 - Spike's Hoard“Spike, can you give me a hand in cleaning the library?” Twilight Sparkle impatiently implored Spike. “In a minute, let me finish this book first,” Spike said, his little head buried behind a flashy comic book. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. Lately, Spike had been spending an inordinate amount of time buying and reading comics. He had been reading comic books at the dining table, when he should be doing his share of housework around the tree house, and even after bedtime. During that week alone, she had already caught him secretly reading comics after bedtime four times. Once a week, when he was not doing errands or reading comics, he would be hanging out at Ponyville's local comic book store. After every trip, Spike would come back with yet another stack of comic books. She had no idea where he stored them. Twilight Sparkle hoped this was not his dragon greed rearing its ugly head again. It was difficult enough convincing Mayor Mare that he was safe after that first fiasco. “Well you better put down that book, or you're not getting sapphire dessert for dinner tonight,” Twilight Sparkle warned him. “Oh, fine.” Spike threw his comic book aside and started sweeping the floor with a sour look on his face. “Works every time,” Twilight thought with a smirk. The doorbell rang. A little grey Pegasus foal stepped into the library and asked Twilight, “Excuse me Twilight, but can I ask you something?” “Hey Rumble! Sure, ask away. Are you looking for something?” Despite holding the title of princess, Twilight always insisted that everyone in Ponyville addressed her on first-name basis. “Yeah, I'm looking for books about Star Storm. Do you happen to have any?” Rumble asked eagerly. “Certainly!” Twilight levitated a very large book from the top of a bookshelf down to the foal. “I've many books on Star Swirl the Bearded. This introductory book is a good start.” Rumble stared at the green cover of the book, unsure. “Does it have pictures?” “Why, yes! This book has the best illustrations of any Star Swirl books.” With her magic, Twilight flipped open the book to a page with full-page illustrations of Star Swirl's tools of trade. “This is my very first book on Star Swirl the Bearded, and I loved it so much I read it ten times over! I highly recommend it to any fillies and foals who want to learn more about him!” Twilight said excitedly. “So, do you want to borrow it?” Rumble skimmed through the book for a while. “Yeah, thanks Twilight. But-” “Don't worry, I have plenty more books on the subject!” Twilight levitated even more books from the shelves. “Star Swirl the autobiography? Star Swirl beginner spell book? How about the foal version of his autobiography? It comes with nice artwork!” “But Twilight, I'm looking for Star Storm, not Star Swirl,” Rumble explained. “Star Storm?” Twilight asked, surprised. “Who is Star Storm? I don't like to brag, but I've studied the magic of every magicians and witches in the recorded history of Equestria, and I've never heard of anyone called Star Storm. Who is he anyway?” “Well, she's this really cool unicorn mare who mastered this really awesome kind of magic that gave her lightning bolts and stuff, and she could fly with pure magic and fight monsters and evil magicians from the four corners of Equestria!” Rumble ran around excitedly as he said. “Hey, did some pony here mention Star Storm?” Spike chimed in. “I did!” Rumble leap in the air with his wings fluttering when Spike mentioned Star Storm. “Isn't she the coolest?” “You got that right buddy! Have you read the story of her facing the Order of the Chimera? She’s so awesome!” “She fought the Order of the Chimera already?! When did that happen?” “Well it all happened when-” “Wait a minute, I'm confused now,” Twilight interrupted them. “Who is Star Storm? What is this Order of the Chimera? How come I've never heard of them from Princess Celestia? Spike, did you miss a letter from her?” Spike and Rumble gave her the same funny look. “Twilight, Star Storm is a comic book character,” Spike explained slowly. “Oh! Now that makes a lot of sense,” Twilight said, exasperated. “So, do you have any comics here I can borrow?” Rumble asked brightly. “I'm sorry Rumble, but I don't have comic books here. I don't have any book on Star Storm,” Twilight said apologetically. Rumble's face drooped. “Oh. Well, it's a long shot anyway. I guess I've to save up my allowance like everybody else. Thanks for the help anyway, Twilight.” Rumble was about to turn and leave, when Spike approached him, “Hey, you want to know the story? You can read issue twenty-one to twenty-five just for the good parts. In fact, I can-” Twilight plugged one of her hooves into Spike's mouth. “May I interest you in some Daring Do books instead?” “Daring Do huh? She does sound kind of interesting,” Rumble pondered. Spike removed Twilight's hoof from his mouth. “Twilight, what are you doing? I was about to offer to lend him my comics!” Spike whispered angrily. “No, we've talked about this before. You can buy comics for yourself, but we're not lending it to other ponies. Otherwise they'll get the wrong idea that the library carries comic books!” Twilight whispered back. Spike sighed. “Okay, whatever.” Twilight turned back to Rumble. “Well, where were we? Ah yes, Daring Do!” She levitated all the copies of Daring Do she had in the library to Rumble. “You can borrow three of them, so just pick volume one to three!” “Are those comics?” Rumble asked. “No, they're novels. But don't worry; they're fine for all ages.” Rumble pondered for a few seconds. “Well, okay. I'll take the first book. At least mummy will stop pestering me to read a book.” “Enjoy your books!” Twilight Sparkle waved Rumble goodbye as he towed the heavy book away with a miniature wagon she had loaned to him. “At least Rumble can still be saved,” Twilight said to herself, relieved. Twilight did not think very highly of comics. In her mind, comic books were nothing more than mediocre pulp fiction devoid of any literary or educational value. Twilight had planned for a long time to make Spike read more proper books and wean him off his addiction to comics. Speaking of books, Twilight remembered she needed to reorganize the library back room where she did all of her administrative work. She had not entered the rooms for the past few days, as she had been so busy running errands that she had to put off most of her library administrative work till that day. She wanted the room to be organized before she could tackle them. Twilight opened the door to the back room. The sight that greeted her made her scream, “Spike, get over here!” “What? You don't have to shout,” Spike responded, running over to her. “Can you explain this?” Twilight angrily jabbed a hoof into the room. Stacks of comic books had filled the entire room, taking up all available floor space. “They're just comic books, what's the fuss?” “This is madness! When have you started hoarding all the comic books from all over Equestria? And why did you put them all in the back room without my permission?” “Twilight, I've always kept my comic book collection here. You never complained.” “I didn't complain when you used up an entire shelf without my permission, but this, this is ridiculous! How much money have you spent on them?” “Oh, I got them really cheap just two days ago at the comic store's clearance sale. One bit for five books! Can you believe it? How can I pass over such a great deal?” “Oh no, his greedy dragon nature is coming back again!” Twilight realized in horror. If she didn't do something soon, it'll be monster-dragon Spike all over again! “Spike, I'm sorry, but I think you've went too far. I'm banning you from buying or reading any more comics," she said sternly. Spike's jaw slackened. “But, they're mine!” Twilight telepathically closed the door and locked it with a key. “It's for your own good.” Desperate, Spike knelt before Twilight, pleading, “No Twilight, please don't throw them away! I've worked so hard to collect them!” Twilight's heart softened. She couldn't bear seeing Spike being sad. “I won't, you have my words. But you're not reading any more comics until I say so.” “But, what can I read when I'm bored? I'll go mad!” “Well lucky for you, we happen to live in a library.” Twilight strolled over to a shelf and retrieved a medium-sized book titled Around Equestria in Seventy Days. “Here, this should keep you occupied for a while.” “This book? Nobody ever loaned this book, Twilight. Nobody ever reads it,” Spike said, perplexed. “Well I do, and it's one of my favorite books. This is your reading assignment. Write a two-page book report based on this book, and I'll let you read your comics again. No negotiation.” Twilight said. Spike grumbled. “But Twilight, this book is boring. It doesn't even have any picture on the cover!” “Then use your imagination. Take your time, this book is meant to be read slowly.” Sulking, Spike left with the book under his arm. “In the meantime, I better tidy up that mess in the back room,” Twilight decided aloud. “Comic books or not, they're long overdue for reorganizing.” Chapter 2 - Little PeeksBack inside the library's back room, Twilight only just realized the scale of her task. She regretted not keeping a closer tab on Spike's comic hoarding habit. She would need the rest of the day just to sort them, and most annoyingly, it could upset her tightly worn schedule for the rest of the week. Twilight prepared a stack of crates where she would store the comic books after she sorted them and cataloged them in her personal book catalogue. She was tempted to simply get rid of all the comic books, and the temptation only grew stronger when she started tackling the first stack. “Magistro issue number seventy-two, Magistro issue number eleven, Magistro issue number ninety-nine... There are almost a hundred issues and they're not stacked in order. Wonderful,” Twilight grumbled. She decided she should just throw all the Magistro titled books into a stack for sorting later. “Magistro vs. Dr Evil, Battle of the Century. That's an imaginative title.” Another book went into the stack. “Magistro and Sonic Pony Team-Up.” Yet another book went into the stack. “Sonic Pony Origin ,Volume 2. Wait a minute, is this the same Sonic Pony as the last one?” Twilight rechecked the last book. The Sonic Pony in question was the same character on the cover. “Wait, so these two book share the same characters? And yet the authors are different? Great, how am I going to categorize them now?” After a few seconds of pondering, Twilight decided she should just stick to sorting them by title. Despite being stacked out-of-order, Twilight soon finished sorting the first stack. Spike appeared to have stacked all the comic books with Magistro in the title together. At least his time spent helping around the library had taught him some organization habits. With the first stack done, Twilight moved on to the second stack. Twilight drew out the first book from the second stack, and she immediately spotted a problem. There was a mare with unrealistically slim body on the cover shooting fire bolts, while standing on her hind legs, her body twisted at her waist almost a full hundred and eighty degree to face the reader. “Ugh, has this artist even learned basic pony anatomy?” Twilight threw the book into the crate. The rest of the books in the same stack had better-drawn cover – relatively speaking. The stallions all looked buff and muscular, bodies so unrealistically huge they would put Bulk Bicep to shame. The mares were all equally slim, draping themselves all over the colts, and showing their backsides with sensual looks of seduction for the readers. Twilight felt uncomfortable seeing the covers. “Spike, have you been reading these? It's outrageous!” Her anger increased with every book cover she skimmed through. All the mares have the same poses, draping themselves all over the colts or lying on the ground at the stallions' hooves. They looked helpless, always in the arms of these strong and buff colts, looking like they were ready to kiss – or ready to faint from starvation, since that was the only plausible explanation for their unhealthily skinny bodies. “What did Spike see in these comics anyway?” Twilight decided she was going to discuss over this with Spike and whoever in the comic book store who sold him those comics. Out of morbid curiosity, she decided to read one of them. The one she picked was simply titled Vondork. The cover had a cigar chomping unicorn colt with a staff enumerating lightning bolt on one hoof, and a mare in another, staring back at Twilight with a seductive expression. “Lord Minehord has returned to unleash all manners of horrors on Equestria. Only Vondork, Equestria's most wanted vigilante, could prevent the total annihilation of Equestria!” Twilight flipped to the first page. On the very first splash page, the male pony she presumed was Vondork was fighting some red-skinned monkey-like beasts over Canterlot city. “You're finished Vondork! Equestria is finally mine!” Lord Minehord laughed. “I'm gonna blow your sorry plot back to kingdom comes, Minehord!” Vondork spoke with a smoking cigar in his mouth. He slammed his hooves onto the ground, causing a tremor that caused houses surrounding him to collapse. What followed were twenty pages of violent panels depicting Vondork fighting Minehord and his minions. Vondork was reckless, carelessly destroying houses and towers all over Canterlot. In one panel, he even uprooted a tower from the royal castle with his dark magic and flung it at Minehord, right within the vicinity of Canterlot amidst panicking ponies. Never once did Vondork stopped to help the innocent civilians. Vondork head-butted Minehord through several watch towers, punched him mid-air, and then hoof-kicked Minehord to the ground, once again right where innocent civilians were standing. “What a hero,” Twilight said sarcastically. Dispersed throughout the panels, the mare on the cover was also fighting the minions, so at least that was a plus for her. Even then, the artist chose to use every panel with her in it to show off her unrealistically proportioned body. Twilight swore there were several instances where she has twisted her own back. “Vondork, I got your girl! Bow down to me or she'll die!” Minehord gloated after capturing her, who was conveniently disarmed and suddenly helpless once a few demon monkey minions managed to catch her. “Save me Vondork!” the mare screamed back. “I saw you fighting the minions all by yourself, and now all of a sudden you're helpless?” Twilight complained aloud. Without warning, a beam of light shot down from the heavens, striking Minehord in the back and dissolving him into dust. Sun Fort, alicorn prince of the divine sun gods, floated down from the sky as sunlight penetrated the overcast sky and turned all the demons of Tataurus to dust. “Vondork, this is nothing but a diversion. Minehord was only a pawn,” Sun Fort said. “Also, Minehord was your brother.” “NOOO!” Vondork cried out in anguish. “To be continued in the next issue!” With that caption, the comic book abruptly ended. Twilight was speechless. After all the build-up and twenty pages of violence with blatant disregard for the lives of innocent ponies, the story abruptly ended with the villain killed off in the most anti-climactic way possible. What on earth happened anyway? Why was Vondork fighting Minehord? Why did that mare suddenly become a damsel in distress even after being clearly portrayed as a strong warrior? And why the sudden revelation that Minehord was Vondork's brother? Nothing made sense. It gave Twilight a headache just thinking about it. “What a rubbish story.” Twilight flung the comic book to the stack where it belonged. “Hey Twilight, what are you doing?” Spike asked from the doorway to the back room. “I'm tidying up your comic books,” Twilight said. “Cool! Thanks for doing it for me. I've planned to do it for a week, but it looks like you're doing it for me anyway.” Spike scampered off laughing. “You're welcome,” Twilight said sarcastically. Twilight dusted off the cover of another book from a new stack. To her surprise, the comic book cover was not some muscular colt or impossibly skinny mare. Instead, it was a drawing of adorable animals having a picnic with butterflies. “Is this a comic for babies?” Twilight flipped through the book. Indeed, it was a very safe comic for little fillies, with bunnies and deer hopping around, meeting friends and having little adventures, like getting safely across a river with only a tree log. Twilight was genuinely surprised that there was nothing harmful about them at all. "Follow the adventures of Bunny, Little Deer and their little lovable friends in yet another series of adventures in the Forest of Friendship! Rated for nursery and above." “Ha, who knew? There are comics written for little fillies after all. I think this will be right up Fluttershy's alley,” Twilight mused. She flipped to a random page inside. The animal friends gasped at the ruined wood cake placed on the table. “Oh no, Bunny, Little Deer dropped the cake we just baked for Otter Jr!” Big Deer said. “I'm so sorry, it's my entire fault!” Little Deer cried. “We forgive you Little Deer, it's only an accident,” Bunny consoled Little Deer. “But Otter Jr's birthday is tonight! How will we ever bake a wood cake as good as the one I dropped?” “We shall bake another one in time. If we work together, we can overcome any challenges! Is everyone with me?” “Yes!” The little animals cheered. “Then let's bake some cake!” “Well, at least this one is harmless.” Twilight skimmed through a few more books from the stack just to be sure there was no rude surprises, pushed them aside and started on another stack. Twilight was expecting to see yet another superhero comic, and she was right. The first book had a fairly generic cover with superheroes posing together in a show of strength, only this time the cast were different. “League of Heroes: The Founding #1. The greatest heroes the world has ever seen band together for the first time to save Equestria!” the book's title boldly proclaimed. Twilight chuckled. “Well, I think I know a thing or two about saving Equestria. Let's see what the synopsis says.” They were Equestria's greatest heroes from all walks of life, but they've never joined forces, UNTIL NOW! Direk, emperor of the underworld, has hatched a nefarious plot with Prince Facet to retrieve the Hydra Stone for their own ends! Now, the heroes among heroes were together for the first time to defend Equestria! But will they succeed? “Wait a minute, this sounds a bit familiar. Oh right, that incident with Spike’s enchanted comic book, how can I forget?” Twilight remembered the time an enchanted comic book Spike bought from some shady establishment sucked them into its own universe, turning them into ‘Power Ponies' and forcing them to defeat a make-believe villain to escape. She was not eager to relive that experience. Out of caution, Twilight cast a spell that should show any hidden magic in the comic book. To her relief, there was no concealed magic or hidden portal inside. “Right, let's see what Spike sees in this comic book.” Chapter 3 - HookedIn the middle of what was now known as the inhospitable Equestrian Central Desert, an ancient civilization once thrived there. It was once a powerful and prosperous civilization with unimaginable riches. Almost nothing of it survived the eons. What did remained there, were among the most dangerous secrets ever concealed in Equestria. The once empty lands were teeming with ponies in dark uniforms. Deep inside the ruins of a once magnificent temple, scientists and soldiers scurry among heavy scientific equipment. Powerful searchlights illuminated an enormous ring-like structure covered in mysterious symbols. An airship landed outside the entrance under the clear starry night. Stepping out of the airship was a stern-face donkey with an eye-patch on his left eye. The pony guards saluted him smartly as he entered the temple. As the donkey entered the chamber containing the ring, a pudgy pony scientist galloped over to him, babbling, “Director Stone, the readings from the gate has been steadily rising at an alarming rate for the past two hours. We guess-” “I don't like guessing game, doctor. Give me facts,” Director Stone snapped at him. “There is no other way of putting it, but the portal, it's opening!” “Opening for whom?” “We don't know!” Director Stone looked at the gate. A green aura was starting to envelop it. “Then let's ready the welcoming committee. Guards, take your positions!” Director Stone commanded. Heavily armoured colts took up attack positions around the gate. Stone stood in front of the gate, waiting. The portal exploded into a burst of light. A hoof extended through its watery-like gate. “At last, I'm free!” A snaky voice echoed around the chamber. “This is Director Stone of Equestria M.U.L.E. Identify yourself!” Director Stone ordered. The mysterious voice crackled with laughter. “Oh, is this how you welcome your god now? Oh my, how manners have changed for the worse since my ancestors last visited. But no matter, you'll learn who I am.” “Oh, I know who you are now. Your sister has told us everything we need to know about you. She suggested we call for your arrest.” “My sister may disrespect me, but you'll learn to fear me, for I am Prince Facet!” A gray unicorn with snake-like eyes burst through the gate. “Bow down to your future ruler!” Prince Facet laughed as he showered thunderbolts around the temple chamber. Twilight, to her surprise, had become genuinely intrigued. Yes, she knew Prince Facet's name was a cute word-play on the name of a real-life royalty figure from the history book. His fantastic magical power was also beyond unrealistic for any unicorn. But for some reason, she found herself reading panels as fast as her eyes could allow. A footnote at the bottom of the page reads, “To find out more how Director Stone learn about Prince Facet, read Star Storm Issue Four!” “So, they're trying to entice me to buy yet another comic book just to find out what's really going on. No wonder Spike has been buying them like crazy,” Twilight mused. The book then shifted attention to the hero characters in question. There was Steam Vent, a genius inventor earth pony who built a flying suit powered by steam; the unicorn Captain Equestria, a war hero of the last great pony war who found himself transported forward in time; Beautrix, a beautiful Pegasus mare who could morph into a powerful vampire-pony beast; Crossbow the griffon, the sharpest crossbow sharpshooter in Equestria; and lastly, Star Storm. “Star Storm? Is this what Rumble was talking about yesterday?” Twilight read the narrator's introduction to the character more carefully. Star Storm, princess of the elusive Amethyst Kingdom. She was one of the youngest and most powerful practitioners of the nearly extinct Amethyst branch of magic. First sent by Queen Ruby Heart to retrieve a forbidden scroll stolen from their kingdom, Star Storm decided to stay in Equestria to learn more about the world outside her hermit country, in the hope that she could one day bridge the two civilizations together. A portrait of Star Storm took up an entire page. The unicorn mare was standing confidently on a cliff, dressed in exotic garment that was a cross of warrior armour and a magician cloak. The book ended with Star Storm learning about Prince Facet's return at the temple ruins, which turned out to be one of Amethyst Kingdom's magical portals from a millennial ago. The next issue of the story was on top of the stack. Twilight took it without hesitation. “What do you want from me, Stone?” Beautrix asked. The elaborately dressed mare was standing under a cherry tree with an exquisitely hand-crafted umbrella in her hooves and her hat shading her face. “I'm asking you to help,” Director Stone said. Beautrix laughed bitterly. “After all the repulsive and regrettable things I've done? All I want is to live out the rest of my days peacefully, away from my inner monster.” Stone moved closer and said with a softer voice, “I'm giving you a chance for redemption. I'm giving you a chance to prove that you're not a monster.” Beautrix looked away. “No pony is going to forgive me. They don't trust me anymore. I'll never redeem myself to them.” “Whoever said about redeeming yourself to them?” Stone turned away. Beautrix unfurled her umbrella to shade herself from the bright sunlight, and she followed Stone back to his airship. “You know Foresight, riding this airship actually brings back some fond memories,” Captain Equestria said to Agent Foresight as they rode in a high-tech, pressurized airship. “You had airships back in your days?” Foresight asked, looking up from her clipboard. “Yup, my parents used to take me on airship joy rides. Back then, they weren't as comfortable, or safe.” “Don't worry Captain, airship technology has improved tremendously in your absence.” “Prepare for landing,” the airship pilot announced from the cockpit. “Landing? We're still at least five hundred feet over nowhere,” Captain Equestria asked, confused. He got his answer when a gigantic airship, as large as the tallest tower in Canterlot, loomed into view amidst the clouds. “Welcome to Airship Carrier One, M.U.L.E's mobile headquarter,” Foresight said with no small amount of pride. Captain Equestria's jaws turned slack with awe as he watched the ponies on the carrier's flight deck guide their airship to land. Prince Facet had located and retrieved the Hydra Stone from an upscale auction house, and in his moment of triumph he used its magic to hold the auction's distinguished attendees hostage in the town square. “It's being over a millennial since I've received any tribute from your race. But no matter, Prince Facet is a benevolent ruler. Pledge your loyalty to me, and you'll find me a better ruler than your fake 'princess' have ever been,” Prince Facet said to the shivering crowd of ponies in ballroom garbs, pointing his magic staff menacingly at them. “Now, bow down before me!” An elderly pony wearing faded guard uniform stood up and said stoically, “I've been a royal guard all my life. I've never once bowed down to the tyrants who came before you, and I shall not bow down to you.” Prince Facet laughed raucously. “Then I shall make an example out of you. This is what you get for your undying loyalty to your puffy princesses!” Prince Facet pointed his staff at the elderly pony, when a shield flew from the sky and knocked the staff out of his hooves. “Who attacked me?!” he cried. Captain Equestria jumped down from his airship with Crossbow landing closely behind him. “It's rude to disrespect your elders, Prince Facet. Haven't your mother taught you manners?” “Insolent fools! I'll have your hide!” Prince Facet fired off a bolt of lightning at them. They leap to safety just in time. The ponies started running away in panic. Captain Equestria recalled his enchanted shield, which flew back to his outstretched hoof. He threw it again at Prince Facet, knocking Prince Facet to the ground. Crossbow, now in the air, fired two shots of arrows at Prince Facet, pinning him to the ground by the sleeves of his royal gown. Captain Equestria stood over Prince Facet. “Surrender now, and we may consider repatriating you back to your home country.” “You overestimated your strength, ponies!” Prince Facet suddenly vanished. It was a hallucination. “Look out!” Crossbow cried out. The real Prince Facet jumped off a statue, his staff aimed at Captain Equestria's head. “Oof!” A cannon ball from nowhere hit Facet in the chest, and he tumbled to the ground. The ball exploded into a net, trapping Facet. “You guys started the party without me?” Steam Vent, in his shiny full-body armor, landed next to Captain Equestria. “My invitation card didn't say this will be one of those parties.” “Steam Vent, is that you?” Captain Equestria asked. “That's me! The one and only Steam Vent, and no pony ever throw a party in Canterlot without me. I hoped there's a buffet here, otherwise this is one lousy party.” Captain Equestria glared at him. Steam Vent shrugged. “What? Chill. Mission accomplished. Let's take this party-crasher out of her.” “Twilight! Where's lunch?” Spike interrupted Twilight from the doorway. “I'm still busy tidying up your mess. You'll have to fix your own lunch,” Twilight said, hiding the comic book. “Well, if you said so. I think I'll have ice-cream cake for lunch today. Mmm!” Spike smacked his lips as he ran out of the tree house. Twilight rolled her eyes. She carried on reading the next volume. Chapter 4 - The Plot Thickens“Facet, my dear brother, stop this madness right now!” Star Storm admonished Facet. “Madness? I'm only taking what is rightfully mine. A little piece of land to call my own, even if it's populated with dumb mules. That's all I ask,” Facet said sardonically. “You've already hurt our mother's feelings with your action. Our mother-” Facet's nerve frayed. “She's not my mother! My mother would never lie to me, betray my trust, and then banish me to the nether realm!” “You forced her to take drastic action! Stop being so selfish and repent! Wake up from your madness!” “I'm already mad,” Facet said, and he smiled. Confused, Star Storm looked up just in time to see Captain Equestria about to pounce on her. Star Storm teleported away just as his shield slammed into the ground. Star Storm sensed fast movement. She ducked just in time to avoid one of Steam Vent's cannon ball, and retaliated with a blast of heat energy. Steam Vent fell to the ground, his armor glowing red hot. Only his armor protected him from being burnt. Steam Vent glimpsed a gauge on his hoof. “Two hundred percent heat capacity? How nice of you,” he muttered . Steam Vent stood up and aimed a blast of boiling hot steam from his arm cannon. Star Storm deflected the blast with a water shield. Rolling clouds of steam immediately enveloped the forest. When the steam dissipated, Steam Vent and Captain Equestria were aiming their weapons at her. “Who are you? Why do you want with Prince Facet?” Captain Equestria demanded. “Look at her, this mare is incredible!” Steam Vent said in awe. “This is not the time, Steam!” Captain Equestria barked back. “No, I'm serious. I've measured her energy signature. Her magical power is off the charts! The only beings more powerful than her are the Alicorn princesses!” “What?” “I am Princess Star Storm from the Amethyst Kingdom, daughter of Queen Ruby Heart,” Star Storm said with the pride of a warrior. “I figured she's a princess,” Steam Vent mused. “Prince Facet is my brother,” Star Storm continued. “I am taking him back to my home kingdom after he escaped from his prison in the nether realm. I am also searching for the Hydra Stone.” “Why are you after the Hydra Stone?” Captain Equestria asked. “The Hydra Stone is an ancient artefact created by my ancestors. In the wrong hooves, it can become an unstoppable weapon of mass destruction. It's far too dangerous to leave it in Equestria,” she explained. Captain Equestria lowered his shield, and Steam Vent followed suit by lowering his cannons. “I’m sorry for our misunderstanding. We wish to bring Prince Facet back with us for questioning. Perhaps you can come along to help. Director Stone believes he has far bigger plan,” Captain Equestria said. Star Storm looked anxiously at his grinning brother, and then to the strangers who were minutes ago battling her. “Director Stone is my acquaintance, and I trust his words. I'll come,” Star Storm said grudgingly. “But beware; my brother is a cunning trickster.” “Come on, come on! Where's the next issue?” Twilight found herself rummaging through the untidy stack searching for the next issue. She found it lying spine-up on the floor, hidden behind the stack. Beautrix was sitting alone on the observation deck of the airship carrier, silently watching the moon rising and the world moving slowly below behind the deck's massive glass facade. Star Storm entered the deck. “Greetings,” Star Storm greeted Beautrix. “You're Beautrix, I presume?” “Your highness! Yes, I am Beautrix, and I'm eternally honoured by your presence.” Beautrix bowed to her out of respect, but Star Storm stopped her. “Please, dispense with the formality. May I join you in star-gazing?” Star Storm asked. “Absolutely!” Beautrix agreed. Star Storm sat beside Beautrix, watching the rolling clouds with her. “You know who I actually am, don't you?” Beautrix asked, nervously brushing her luscious black hair with her hooves. “Yes, Beautrix. I know the story.” “Aren't you afraid that I might lose control again?” Star Storm looked kindly at Beautrix. “Beautrix, I sympathize with your struggle. I practice the Amethyst branch of magic. It granted me great power, but this great power can be easily corrupted by dark desires. My brother Facet lost control of his anger and greed, and his power turned him into the monster he is now.” “You struggled with controlling your powers too?” “Yes. It's not easy, but I've managed to find inner peace by channelling my power to defending my homes, both my kingdom and Equestria.” Beautrix looked down at her hooves. “My struggles are different from yours. My power is a curse, not a gift. I gave in to my anger once, and I ended up hurting all the ponies who mattered in my life. Now I'm an outcast, always hiding, always afraid of turning into a monster again. I'm afraid I might even become a liability to the team.” Star Storm gently placed one of her hooves on Beautrix's. “You may have made terrible mistakes in the past, but I sense your heart is pure. I'm confident you'll put your powers only to good use, regardless of how you gained it.” Beautrix smiled. “Thank you.” Suddenly, alarms started wailing. Explosions from outside rocked the airship, throwing them off-balance. Beautrix scrambled to the intercom. “Foresight, what's going on?” “We're under attack! They've already taken out three of our helium cells! We're launching as many Pegasi as we could to intercept, but we're already losing altitude!” Foresight reported over the intercom. Beautrix looked back at Star Storm and said, “Come on, we must defend the airship!” “I’m with you!” Beautrix and Star Storm galloped down the corridor. “Hello? Twilight, are you here?” Twilight Sparkle jumped in fright when she suddenly heard some pony mentioned her name. “There you are Twilight! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Twilight then heard the same pony calling her from the doorstep of the room, and she hastily hid the comic book she had been engrossed in. “Oh, hi Cheerilee! Fancy you dropping by while I’m, er, cleaning!” She nervously greeted Cheerilee, one eye making sure that Cheerilee could not see the cover of the comic book. “Hi Twilight. Are you busy at the moment?” Cheerilee asked, smiling. “Er, no! Not really. I’m just, er, organizing my stuff in this room, which are definitely not comic books – wait, what am I talking about? Oh yes, how can I help you?” Twilight flashed a wide, nervous grin. Cheerilee sensed something was amiss, but she continued anyhow, “I like to discuss the upcoming school visit. When will be a convenient time?” “School visit? You mean the one next week?” “That’s right.” “No problem! Let me check my diary.” With her magic, Twilight willed her planner book to fly to her. The planner zoomed into the room through the door entrance, missing Cheerilee’s head by just a hair. Twilight flipped through the book’s sentries. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, lemme see... How about two o’clock in the afternoon?” “Sure, that sounds good,” Cheerilee said brightly. “By the way, can I pick up the book I've reserved?” “Let me check.” Twilight squeezed her way through the stack of comic books to a shelf where she placed books reserved by the library’s patrons. Along the way, she accidentally knocked one pile down. “Where on earth did all these comic books come from?” Cheerilee asked, slightly alarmed at the sight of comic books scattering all over the floor. “These are all Spike’s comic books. And before you ask, no, they don’t belong to the library.” Twilight explained as she brought the gardening book Cheerilee had reserved to her. “Oh, thank you Twilight. I've been waiting forever for this book to be available,” Cheerilee thanked Twilight. “Well, I better go.” “Nice helping you!” Twilight slammed the door shut the moment Cheerilee left the room. Cheerilee left the library, confused over Twilight’s odd behaviour. “She needs to lighten up a bit,” she muttered. Relieved, Twilight reopened the comic book she had been reading. “Now where was I? I better finish this before Spike comes back.” Steam Vent carefully sealed up the last damaged helium cell with a blowtorch, trying his best to concentrate above the noise of defensive cannon fires, and the winged demons attacking the ship. “Almost there,” Steam Vent muttered to himself, sweats falling freely inside his bronze helmet. The lives of everyone on the airship were counting on him completing the improvised repair work in time. One of the bigger winged demons crashed into Beautrix. The two monsters clawed at each other as they tumbled on the helium cell Steam Vent was trying to repair. The impact caused him to lose balance. He grabbed hold of a rigging rope just in time to avoid falling off the airship. “Come on!” He pulled himself back up. He couldn't fire his flight pack. He had already depleted all of his fuel in his backpacks and he needed all the remaining fuel to mend the leak. He crawled his way up the slippery skin of the helium cell back to the ruptured spot. Using all of his muscle strength to hang on, he sealed the last leak. “Captain, inflate it now!” He shouted to Captain Equestria. “Give me a sec!” Captain Equestria shouted as he slammed his shield into the face of a demon. “Captain, now!” Steam Vent could already see the trees on the ground rushing up towards him. “Captain, stand still!” Crossbow swooped in and fired off a volley of stun arrows at Captain Equestria's direction, paralyzing all the demons that were fighting Captain Equestria and leaving him unscathed. “Thanks Crossbow!” Captain Equestria punched the last standing winged demon off the airship, and pulled the lever that inflates the helium cell. The helium cell instantly inflated. The airship's descend halted and started to climb. The airship was saved. “Yes! We did it! Uh oh.” The beast Beautrix had been fighting turned its attention to him and leaps towards his direction. Beautrix grabbed its tail just before its teeth could touch Steam Vent's helmet, swung it a full circle, and flung it howling into the skies. “You aren't so strong when your suit isn't working,” Beautrix said in a deep, booming voice. She stretched her giant clawed hand to Steam Vent. “Happens all the time,” Steam Vent said sheepishly, gratefully taking her hand. Chapter 5 - A Librarian's Shame“What are you reading Twilight?” Spike's face loomed in Twilight's face just when she looked up from the comic book. “Ga!” Twilight quickly hid the comic book behind her. “What are you doing here?” “I should be asking you the same question. You've barely done any tidying up ever since I left for lunch.” Twilight gulped. The shame, oh the shame! She shouldn't have allowed herself to peek at his comics, now she was compulsively reading them one after another. After everything she said in the past that novels were superior to all comics! How could a princess be reading something as pulpy as superhero comics? “You – you’re the one to talk! You never offered to help me tidy up the room!” she stammered. “You told me I can't touch my comics until I turned in my book report, remember?” “Well, I – that was just a figure of speech! But since you're not interested in helping, why are you still here?” Spike's eyes narrowed at Twilight. “Have you been reading my comics?” Panicked, Twilight teleported herself and the comic book out of the room. Spike gave chase, shouting, “Twilight, I'm serious! You promised you won't throw them out!” Spike chased after Twilight as she teleported around the tree house in rapid succession. Somehow, Spike managed to find her in every hiding spot she teleported herself into. In the wardrobe, under her bed, on the balcony, even in the canopy of the tree, Twilight just couldn't escape from his wrath. Spike finally caught up with Twilight when she mistakenly teleported right in front of him in the bedroom. Spike charged into her, and they rolled into Twilight's personal bookshelf, knocking down all the books and raining them on their heads. “Ooh, my head,” Twilight said groggily, pushing off a bulky volume of War and Conflicts Of Pre-Equestrian Era off her head. The comic book lay undamaged and opened in front of her. Spike popped out of a pile of books. “Ah ha! I caught you in the act! You're trying to get rid of all of my comics all along, aren't you?” “No, that's not what I'm doing!” Twilight protested. “Then why are you trying to hide my League of Heroes issue nine with the limited-edition variant cover drawn by Swirly Paint? Reading it? You don't read comics! You said so yourself!” Twilight threw her hooves up in the air in surrender, yelling, “Alright, alright! You want to know the truth? I READ IT! I've read your comics for the past hour and a half, and I actually ENJOYED IT! Are you happy now? I've brought great shame to myself!” Twilight covered her face. She felt unbearable shame. A librarian reading comics! After lecturing foals and fillies all over Ponyville about the virtues of reading proper books, of learning grammar and vocabulary from written words, how could she face any pony in Ponyville now? Princess Twilight Sparkle, comic book dork, reading the same comic books that gave rise to literary abomination like Vondork and his creepy harem of skinny mares! “Hey, it's no big deal. I don't think it's shameful,” Spike said slowly. Twilight uncovered her face. “Of course you'll say that, you're not a librarian.” “Twilight, you like novels with good stories, right?” “Yes.” “You won't read books that are bad, will you?” “No.” “That didn't stopped you from reading novels altogether. You've read some good and bad comics, haven't you?” “Oh yes, I've read some truly awful ones.” “But you've read good ones too, right? At least, the ones you enjoyed reading?” Twilight looked down at the comic book. The comic book opened to a full-page spread of Star Storm. She was levitating in mid-air, her eyes glowing white, unleashing a storm of lightning on the winged minions surrounding her. “Yes, I admit it,” she said slowly. “See? I told you comics can be good. There is nothing embarrassing about reading comics.” Twilight climbed out of the book pile. “I – I think you're right Spike. I shouldn't have dismiss them all just because of a few rotten apples.” “So, you finally ready to admit it now Twilight? Just say it,” Spike teased. Twilight smiled. “Oh alright Spike, I admit. I was wrong to think all comic books are bad.” “So, can I have my comics back now?” Spike asked hopefully. Twilight thought for a while. “Well alright, you can have them back-” “Yes! Woo hoo!” Spike yelled out. “-after I'm done tidying up the back room-” Spike stopped smiling. “Oh, barnacles.” “-and reviewing them all. In the meantime, you can keep reading that book I lent you. Okay, I'll be nice. I won't need the book report from you anymore.” Spike sighed. “Oh alright, as long as I still get my comics back.” “Also, I want to have a serious word with you about those bad comics.” “Which one?” “Vondork. Those books are repulsive. I don't think they're even suitable for your age.” Spike sighed. “Yeah, Vondork's comics used to be good, but everything went downhill when the publisher canned the old continuity and rebooted all the characters.” “Reboot?” “Basically, they're rewriting all of their characters' back stories. They said they want to make them more 'grown-up'.” Spike said the last word sarcastically. “But, why would they do that?” “Beats me, they said readers have become older and they like more matures stories, so they want to make them all 'dark and gritty'. To be honest, I don't really like what they've done so far." “I don't need to be a die-hard fan to see why.” In her mind, Twilight had already started penning a stern letter of complaint to the culprit publisher. They would definitely listen to complaints from a princess. “By the way, do you know that the writers behind League of Heroes used to write the award-winning Vondork And The Amoral Vigilantes series? They left their jobs when it got canceled, formed their own comic book company and started writing League of Heroes. They're real-life comic book legends! Isn't it amazing?” “Wow, who knew? So you won't mind if I get rid of the really bad comics?” “No! I still want to collect them. Who knows, they might become valuable one day!” Twilight rolled her eyes. Chapter 6 - Golden Oak Library's New AdditionsA week later, Twilight Sparkle surprised visitors to her library when she unveiled a small section dedicated solely to comic books. “Twilight, I thought you've said you'll never stock comic books in the library,” Spike said, surprised. “Yes, what made you change your mind?” Cheerilee added. She was bringing her entire class to visit the library for the day when Twilight made the surprise announcement. “Well, foals being foals, they'll be naturally drawn to comic books. So why not use them to attract more foals to the library? That way, we'll have more opportunities to nurture in them a love for reading,” Twilight explained. “Wow, I've never read comics myself since I was a filly. Are all the comics appropriate for them?” “I've personally read and picked them myself.” Twilight had carefully reviewed the comic books, making sure that those that were in the library were for all ages. The nursery comic books with Bunny and Friends took up one shelf. The League of Heroes books and Star Storm's solo series filled the second shelf. “You know Twilight, maybe the library should have more comics other than Star Storm and talking animals,” Spike suggested. “Captain Equestria isn't bad too, and Beautrix just got her own solo series.” “Yes Spike, I'll look into it.” “Alright, I finally got to read another issue of Star Storm!” Rumble said happily as he grabbed the latest issue of Star Storm's comics. His classmates were also starting to crowd around the comic section, jostling to see what other comics were available. “I want the ones with the bunny!” a filly said excitedly. “I want Star Storm!” said another. “Remember, you've to borrow a novel for every comic you borrow,” Twilight reminded the foals. “Then I shall take another Daring Do's book! She's just as awesome as Star Storm!” Rumble said eagerly. "Here you go. Have fun reading!" Twilight handed the second volume of Daring Do to Rumble. When Rumble left, Cheerilee approached Twilight. “Twilight, can I ask you something about the comic books? I've no idea why my students are suddenly so obsessed with this 'Star Storm' superhero character. Surprisingly, it's the fillies who talked about her the most. What's so special about her?” Twilight shrugged with a knowing smile. “I guess they just want to have heroes to look up to, even if they're fictional.”
Chapter 1 - Spike's Hoard“Spike, can you give me a hand in cleaning the library?” Twilight Sparkle impatiently implored Spike. “In a minute, let me finish this book first,” Spike said, his little head buried behind a flashy comic book. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. Lately, Spike had been spending an inordinate amount of time buying and reading comics. He had been reading comic books at the dining table, when he should be doing his share of housework around the tree house, and even after bedtime. During that week alone, she had already caught him secretly reading comics after bedtime four times. Once a week, when he was not doing errands or reading comics, he would be hanging out at Ponyville's local comic book store. After every trip, Spike would come back with yet another stack of comic books. She had no idea where he stored them. Twilight Sparkle hoped this was not his dragon greed rearing its ugly head again. It was difficult enough convincing Mayor Mare that he was safe after that first fiasco. “Well you better put down that book, or you're not getting sapphire dessert for dinner tonight,” Twilight Sparkle warned him. “Oh, fine.” Spike threw his comic book aside and started sweeping the floor with a sour look on his face. “Works every time,” Twilight thought with a smirk. The doorbell rang. A little grey Pegasus foal stepped into the library and asked Twilight, “Excuse me Twilight, but can I ask you something?” “Hey Rumble! Sure, ask away. Are you looking for something?” Despite holding the title of princess, Twilight always insisted that everyone in Ponyville addressed her on first-name basis. “Yeah, I'm looking for books about Star Storm. Do you happen to have any?” Rumble asked eagerly. “Certainly!” Twilight levitated a very large book from the top of a bookshelf down to the foal. “I've many books on Star Swirl the Bearded. This introductory book is a good start.” Rumble stared at the green cover of the book, unsure. “Does it have pictures?” “Why, yes! This book has the best illustrations of any Star Swirl books.” With her magic, Twilight flipped open the book to a page with full-page illustrations of Star Swirl's tools of trade. “This is my very first book on Star Swirl the Bearded, and I loved it so much I read it ten times over! I highly recommend it to any fillies and foals who want to learn more about him!” Twilight said excitedly. “So, do you want to borrow it?” Rumble skimmed through the book for a while. “Yeah, thanks Twilight. But-” “Don't worry, I have plenty more books on the subject!” Twilight levitated even more books from the shelves. “Star Swirl the autobiography? Star Swirl beginner spell book? How about the foal version of his autobiography? It comes with nice artwork!” “But Twilight, I'm looking for Star Storm, not Star Swirl,” Rumble explained. “Star Storm?” Twilight asked, surprised. “Who is Star Storm? I don't like to brag, but I've studied the magic of every magicians and witches in the recorded history of Equestria, and I've never heard of anyone called Star Storm. Who is he anyway?” “Well, she's this really cool unicorn mare who mastered this really awesome kind of magic that gave her lightning bolts and stuff, and she could fly with pure magic and fight monsters and evil magicians from the four corners of Equestria!” Rumble ran around excitedly as he said. “Hey, did some pony here mention Star Storm?” Spike chimed in. “I did!” Rumble leap in the air with his wings fluttering when Spike mentioned Star Storm. “Isn't she the coolest?” “You got that right buddy! Have you read the story of her facing the Order of the Chimera? She’s so awesome!” “She fought the Order of the Chimera already?! When did that happen?” “Well it all happened when-” “Wait a minute, I'm confused now,” Twilight interrupted them. “Who is Star Storm? What is this Order of the Chimera? How come I've never heard of them from Princess Celestia? Spike, did you miss a letter from her?” Spike and Rumble gave her the same funny look. “Twilight, Star Storm is a comic book character,” Spike explained slowly. “Oh! Now that makes a lot of sense,” Twilight said, exasperated. “So, do you have any comics here I can borrow?” Rumble asked brightly. “I'm sorry Rumble, but I don't have comic books here. I don't have any book on Star Storm,” Twilight said apologetically. Rumble's face drooped. “Oh. Well, it's a long shot anyway. I guess I've to save up my allowance like everybody else. Thanks for the help anyway, Twilight.” Rumble was about to turn and leave, when Spike approached him, “Hey, you want to know the story? You can read issue twenty-one to twenty-five just for the good parts. In fact, I can-” Twilight plugged one of her hooves into Spike's mouth. “May I interest you in some Daring Do books instead?” “Daring Do huh? She does sound kind of interesting,” Rumble pondered. Spike removed Twilight's hoof from his mouth. “Twilight, what are you doing? I was about to offer to lend him my comics!” Spike whispered angrily. “No, we've talked about this before. You can buy comics for yourself, but we're not lending it to other ponies. Otherwise they'll get the wrong idea that the library carries comic books!” Twilight whispered back. Spike sighed. “Okay, whatever.” Twilight turned back to Rumble. “Well, where were we? Ah yes, Daring Do!” She levitated all the copies of Daring Do she had in the library to Rumble. “You can borrow three of them, so just pick volume one to three!” “Are those comics?” Rumble asked. “No, they're novels. But don't worry; they're fine for all ages.” Rumble pondered for a few seconds. “Well, okay. I'll take the first book. At least mummy will stop pestering me to read a book.” “Enjoy your books!” Twilight Sparkle waved Rumble goodbye as he towed the heavy book away with a miniature wagon she had loaned to him. “At least Rumble can still be saved,” Twilight said to herself, relieved. Twilight did not think very highly of comics. In her mind, comic books were nothing more than mediocre pulp fiction devoid of any literary or educational value. Twilight had planned for a long time to make Spike read more proper books and wean him off his addiction to comics. Speaking of books, Twilight remembered she needed to reorganize the library back room where she did all of her administrative work. She had not entered the rooms for the past few days, as she had been so busy running errands that she had to put off most of her library administrative work till that day. She wanted the room to be organized before she could tackle them. Twilight opened the door to the back room. The sight that greeted her made her scream, “Spike, get over here!” “What? You don't have to shout,” Spike responded, running over to her. “Can you explain this?” Twilight angrily jabbed a hoof into the room. Stacks of comic books had filled the entire room, taking up all available floor space. “They're just comic books, what's the fuss?” “This is madness! When have you started hoarding all the comic books from all over Equestria? And why did you put them all in the back room without my permission?” “Twilight, I've always kept my comic book collection here. You never complained.” “I didn't complain when you used up an entire shelf without my permission, but this, this is ridiculous! How much money have you spent on them?” “Oh, I got them really cheap just two days ago at the comic store's clearance sale. One bit for five books! Can you believe it? How can I pass over such a great deal?” “Oh no, his greedy dragon nature is coming back again!” Twilight realized in horror. If she didn't do something soon, it'll be monster-dragon Spike all over again! “Spike, I'm sorry, but I think you've went too far. I'm banning you from buying or reading any more comics," she said sternly. Spike's jaw slackened. “But, they're mine!” Twilight telepathically closed the door and locked it with a key. “It's for your own good.” Desperate, Spike knelt before Twilight, pleading, “No Twilight, please don't throw them away! I've worked so hard to collect them!” Twilight's heart softened. She couldn't bear seeing Spike being sad. “I won't, you have my words. But you're not reading any more comics until I say so.” “But, what can I read when I'm bored? I'll go mad!” “Well lucky for you, we happen to live in a library.” Twilight strolled over to a shelf and retrieved a medium-sized book titled Around Equestria in Seventy Days. “Here, this should keep you occupied for a while.” “This book? Nobody ever loaned this book, Twilight. Nobody ever reads it,” Spike said, perplexed. “Well I do, and it's one of my favorite books. This is your reading assignment. Write a two-page book report based on this book, and I'll let you read your comics again. No negotiation.” Twilight said. Spike grumbled. “But Twilight, this book is boring. It doesn't even have any picture on the cover!” “Then use your imagination. Take your time, this book is meant to be read slowly.” Sulking, Spike left with the book under his arm. “In the meantime, I better tidy up that mess in the back room,” Twilight decided aloud. “Comic books or not, they're long overdue for reorganizing.”
Chapter 2 - Little PeeksBack inside the library's back room, Twilight only just realized the scale of her task. She regretted not keeping a closer tab on Spike's comic hoarding habit. She would need the rest of the day just to sort them, and most annoyingly, it could upset her tightly worn schedule for the rest of the week. Twilight prepared a stack of crates where she would store the comic books after she sorted them and cataloged them in her personal book catalogue. She was tempted to simply get rid of all the comic books, and the temptation only grew stronger when she started tackling the first stack. “Magistro issue number seventy-two, Magistro issue number eleven, Magistro issue number ninety-nine... There are almost a hundred issues and they're not stacked in order. Wonderful,” Twilight grumbled. She decided she should just throw all the Magistro titled books into a stack for sorting later. “Magistro vs. Dr Evil, Battle of the Century. That's an imaginative title.” Another book went into the stack. “Magistro and Sonic Pony Team-Up.” Yet another book went into the stack. “Sonic Pony Origin ,Volume 2. Wait a minute, is this the same Sonic Pony as the last one?” Twilight rechecked the last book. The Sonic Pony in question was the same character on the cover. “Wait, so these two book share the same characters? And yet the authors are different? Great, how am I going to categorize them now?” After a few seconds of pondering, Twilight decided she should just stick to sorting them by title. Despite being stacked out-of-order, Twilight soon finished sorting the first stack. Spike appeared to have stacked all the comic books with Magistro in the title together. At least his time spent helping around the library had taught him some organization habits. With the first stack done, Twilight moved on to the second stack. Twilight drew out the first book from the second stack, and she immediately spotted a problem. There was a mare with unrealistically slim body on the cover shooting fire bolts, while standing on her hind legs, her body twisted at her waist almost a full hundred and eighty degree to face the reader. “Ugh, has this artist even learned basic pony anatomy?” Twilight threw the book into the crate. The rest of the books in the same stack had better-drawn cover – relatively speaking. The stallions all looked buff and muscular, bodies so unrealistically huge they would put Bulk Bicep to shame. The mares were all equally slim, draping themselves all over the colts, and showing their backsides with sensual looks of seduction for the readers. Twilight felt uncomfortable seeing the covers. “Spike, have you been reading these? It's outrageous!” Her anger increased with every book cover she skimmed through. All the mares have the same poses, draping themselves all over the colts or lying on the ground at the stallions' hooves. They looked helpless, always in the arms of these strong and buff colts, looking like they were ready to kiss – or ready to faint from starvation, since that was the only plausible explanation for their unhealthily skinny bodies. “What did Spike see in these comics anyway?” Twilight decided she was going to discuss over this with Spike and whoever in the comic book store who sold him those comics. Out of morbid curiosity, she decided to read one of them. The one she picked was simply titled Vondork. The cover had a cigar chomping unicorn colt with a staff enumerating lightning bolt on one hoof, and a mare in another, staring back at Twilight with a seductive expression. “Lord Minehord has returned to unleash all manners of horrors on Equestria. Only Vondork, Equestria's most wanted vigilante, could prevent the total annihilation of Equestria!” Twilight flipped to the first page. On the very first splash page, the male pony she presumed was Vondork was fighting some red-skinned monkey-like beasts over Canterlot city. “You're finished Vondork! Equestria is finally mine!” Lord Minehord laughed. “I'm gonna blow your sorry plot back to kingdom comes, Minehord!” Vondork spoke with a smoking cigar in his mouth. He slammed his hooves onto the ground, causing a tremor that caused houses surrounding him to collapse. What followed were twenty pages of violent panels depicting Vondork fighting Minehord and his minions. Vondork was reckless, carelessly destroying houses and towers all over Canterlot. In one panel, he even uprooted a tower from the royal castle with his dark magic and flung it at Minehord, right within the vicinity of Canterlot amidst panicking ponies. Never once did Vondork stopped to help the innocent civilians. Vondork head-butted Minehord through several watch towers, punched him mid-air, and then hoof-kicked Minehord to the ground, once again right where innocent civilians were standing. “What a hero,” Twilight said sarcastically. Dispersed throughout the panels, the mare on the cover was also fighting the minions, so at least that was a plus for her. Even then, the artist chose to use every panel with her in it to show off her unrealistically proportioned body. Twilight swore there were several instances where she has twisted her own back. “Vondork, I got your girl! Bow down to me or she'll die!” Minehord gloated after capturing her, who was conveniently disarmed and suddenly helpless once a few demon monkey minions managed to catch her. “Save me Vondork!” the mare screamed back. “I saw you fighting the minions all by yourself, and now all of a sudden you're helpless?” Twilight complained aloud. Without warning, a beam of light shot down from the heavens, striking Minehord in the back and dissolving him into dust. Sun Fort, alicorn prince of the divine sun gods, floated down from the sky as sunlight penetrated the overcast sky and turned all the demons of Tataurus to dust. “Vondork, this is nothing but a diversion. Minehord was only a pawn,” Sun Fort said. “Also, Minehord was your brother.” “NOOO!” Vondork cried out in anguish. “To be continued in the next issue!” With that caption, the comic book abruptly ended. Twilight was speechless. After all the build-up and twenty pages of violence with blatant disregard for the lives of innocent ponies, the story abruptly ended with the villain killed off in the most anti-climactic way possible. What on earth happened anyway? Why was Vondork fighting Minehord? Why did that mare suddenly become a damsel in distress even after being clearly portrayed as a strong warrior? And why the sudden revelation that Minehord was Vondork's brother? Nothing made sense. It gave Twilight a headache just thinking about it. “What a rubbish story.” Twilight flung the comic book to the stack where it belonged. “Hey Twilight, what are you doing?” Spike asked from the doorway to the back room. “I'm tidying up your comic books,” Twilight said. “Cool! Thanks for doing it for me. I've planned to do it for a week, but it looks like you're doing it for me anyway.” Spike scampered off laughing. “You're welcome,” Twilight said sarcastically. Twilight dusted off the cover of another book from a new stack. To her surprise, the comic book cover was not some muscular colt or impossibly skinny mare. Instead, it was a drawing of adorable animals having a picnic with butterflies. “Is this a comic for babies?” Twilight flipped through the book. Indeed, it was a very safe comic for little fillies, with bunnies and deer hopping around, meeting friends and having little adventures, like getting safely across a river with only a tree log. Twilight was genuinely surprised that there was nothing harmful about them at all. "Follow the adventures of Bunny, Little Deer and their little lovable friends in yet another series of adventures in the Forest of Friendship! Rated for nursery and above." “Ha, who knew? There are comics written for little fillies after all. I think this will be right up Fluttershy's alley,” Twilight mused. She flipped to a random page inside. The animal friends gasped at the ruined wood cake placed on the table. “Oh no, Bunny, Little Deer dropped the cake we just baked for Otter Jr!” Big Deer said. “I'm so sorry, it's my entire fault!” Little Deer cried. “We forgive you Little Deer, it's only an accident,” Bunny consoled Little Deer. “But Otter Jr's birthday is tonight! How will we ever bake a wood cake as good as the one I dropped?” “We shall bake another one in time. If we work together, we can overcome any challenges! Is everyone with me?” “Yes!” The little animals cheered. “Then let's bake some cake!” “Well, at least this one is harmless.” Twilight skimmed through a few more books from the stack just to be sure there was no rude surprises, pushed them aside and started on another stack. Twilight was expecting to see yet another superhero comic, and she was right. The first book had a fairly generic cover with superheroes posing together in a show of strength, only this time the cast were different. “League of Heroes: The Founding #1. The greatest heroes the world has ever seen band together for the first time to save Equestria!” the book's title boldly proclaimed. Twilight chuckled. “Well, I think I know a thing or two about saving Equestria. Let's see what the synopsis says.” They were Equestria's greatest heroes from all walks of life, but they've never joined forces, UNTIL NOW! Direk, emperor of the underworld, has hatched a nefarious plot with Prince Facet to retrieve the Hydra Stone for their own ends! Now, the heroes among heroes were together for the first time to defend Equestria! But will they succeed? “Wait a minute, this sounds a bit familiar. Oh right, that incident with Spike’s enchanted comic book, how can I forget?” Twilight remembered the time an enchanted comic book Spike bought from some shady establishment sucked them into its own universe, turning them into ‘Power Ponies' and forcing them to defeat a make-believe villain to escape. She was not eager to relive that experience. Out of caution, Twilight cast a spell that should show any hidden magic in the comic book. To her relief, there was no concealed magic or hidden portal inside. “Right, let's see what Spike sees in this comic book.”
Chapter 3 - HookedIn the middle of what was now known as the inhospitable Equestrian Central Desert, an ancient civilization once thrived there. It was once a powerful and prosperous civilization with unimaginable riches. Almost nothing of it survived the eons. What did remained there, were among the most dangerous secrets ever concealed in Equestria. The once empty lands were teeming with ponies in dark uniforms. Deep inside the ruins of a once magnificent temple, scientists and soldiers scurry among heavy scientific equipment. Powerful searchlights illuminated an enormous ring-like structure covered in mysterious symbols. An airship landed outside the entrance under the clear starry night. Stepping out of the airship was a stern-face donkey with an eye-patch on his left eye. The pony guards saluted him smartly as he entered the temple. As the donkey entered the chamber containing the ring, a pudgy pony scientist galloped over to him, babbling, “Director Stone, the readings from the gate has been steadily rising at an alarming rate for the past two hours. We guess-” “I don't like guessing game, doctor. Give me facts,” Director Stone snapped at him. “There is no other way of putting it, but the portal, it's opening!” “Opening for whom?” “We don't know!” Director Stone looked at the gate. A green aura was starting to envelop it. “Then let's ready the welcoming committee. Guards, take your positions!” Director Stone commanded. Heavily armoured colts took up attack positions around the gate. Stone stood in front of the gate, waiting. The portal exploded into a burst of light. A hoof extended through its watery-like gate. “At last, I'm free!” A snaky voice echoed around the chamber. “This is Director Stone of Equestria M.U.L.E. Identify yourself!” Director Stone ordered. The mysterious voice crackled with laughter. “Oh, is this how you welcome your god now? Oh my, how manners have changed for the worse since my ancestors last visited. But no matter, you'll learn who I am.” “Oh, I know who you are now. Your sister has told us everything we need to know about you. She suggested we call for your arrest.” “My sister may disrespect me, but you'll learn to fear me, for I am Prince Facet!” A gray unicorn with snake-like eyes burst through the gate. “Bow down to your future ruler!” Prince Facet laughed as he showered thunderbolts around the temple chamber. Twilight, to her surprise, had become genuinely intrigued. Yes, she knew Prince Facet's name was a cute word-play on the name of a real-life royalty figure from the history book. His fantastic magical power was also beyond unrealistic for any unicorn. But for some reason, she found herself reading panels as fast as her eyes could allow. A footnote at the bottom of the page reads, “To find out more how Director Stone learn about Prince Facet, read Star Storm Issue Four!” “So, they're trying to entice me to buy yet another comic book just to find out what's really going on. No wonder Spike has been buying them like crazy,” Twilight mused. The book then shifted attention to the hero characters in question. There was Steam Vent, a genius inventor earth pony who built a flying suit powered by steam; the unicorn Captain Equestria, a war hero of the last great pony war who found himself transported forward in time; Beautrix, a beautiful Pegasus mare who could morph into a powerful vampire-pony beast; Crossbow the griffon, the sharpest crossbow sharpshooter in Equestria; and lastly, Star Storm. “Star Storm? Is this what Rumble was talking about yesterday?” Twilight read the narrator's introduction to the character more carefully. Star Storm, princess of the elusive Amethyst Kingdom. She was one of the youngest and most powerful practitioners of the nearly extinct Amethyst branch of magic. First sent by Queen Ruby Heart to retrieve a forbidden scroll stolen from their kingdom, Star Storm decided to stay in Equestria to learn more about the world outside her hermit country, in the hope that she could one day bridge the two civilizations together. A portrait of Star Storm took up an entire page. The unicorn mare was standing confidently on a cliff, dressed in exotic garment that was a cross of warrior armour and a magician cloak. The book ended with Star Storm learning about Prince Facet's return at the temple ruins, which turned out to be one of Amethyst Kingdom's magical portals from a millennial ago. The next issue of the story was on top of the stack. Twilight took it without hesitation. “What do you want from me, Stone?” Beautrix asked. The elaborately dressed mare was standing under a cherry tree with an exquisitely hand-crafted umbrella in her hooves and her hat shading her face. “I'm asking you to help,” Director Stone said. Beautrix laughed bitterly. “After all the repulsive and regrettable things I've done? All I want is to live out the rest of my days peacefully, away from my inner monster.” Stone moved closer and said with a softer voice, “I'm giving you a chance for redemption. I'm giving you a chance to prove that you're not a monster.” Beautrix looked away. “No pony is going to forgive me. They don't trust me anymore. I'll never redeem myself to them.” “Whoever said about redeeming yourself to them?” Stone turned away. Beautrix unfurled her umbrella to shade herself from the bright sunlight, and she followed Stone back to his airship. “You know Foresight, riding this airship actually brings back some fond memories,” Captain Equestria said to Agent Foresight as they rode in a high-tech, pressurized airship. “You had airships back in your days?” Foresight asked, looking up from her clipboard. “Yup, my parents used to take me on airship joy rides. Back then, they weren't as comfortable, or safe.” “Don't worry Captain, airship technology has improved tremendously in your absence.” “Prepare for landing,” the airship pilot announced from the cockpit. “Landing? We're still at least five hundred feet over nowhere,” Captain Equestria asked, confused. He got his answer when a gigantic airship, as large as the tallest tower in Canterlot, loomed into view amidst the clouds. “Welcome to Airship Carrier One, M.U.L.E's mobile headquarter,” Foresight said with no small amount of pride. Captain Equestria's jaws turned slack with awe as he watched the ponies on the carrier's flight deck guide their airship to land. Prince Facet had located and retrieved the Hydra Stone from an upscale auction house, and in his moment of triumph he used its magic to hold the auction's distinguished attendees hostage in the town square. “It's being over a millennial since I've received any tribute from your race. But no matter, Prince Facet is a benevolent ruler. Pledge your loyalty to me, and you'll find me a better ruler than your fake 'princess' have ever been,” Prince Facet said to the shivering crowd of ponies in ballroom garbs, pointing his magic staff menacingly at them. “Now, bow down before me!” An elderly pony wearing faded guard uniform stood up and said stoically, “I've been a royal guard all my life. I've never once bowed down to the tyrants who came before you, and I shall not bow down to you.” Prince Facet laughed raucously. “Then I shall make an example out of you. This is what you get for your undying loyalty to your puffy princesses!” Prince Facet pointed his staff at the elderly pony, when a shield flew from the sky and knocked the staff out of his hooves. “Who attacked me?!” he cried. Captain Equestria jumped down from his airship with Crossbow landing closely behind him. “It's rude to disrespect your elders, Prince Facet. Haven't your mother taught you manners?” “Insolent fools! I'll have your hide!” Prince Facet fired off a bolt of lightning at them. They leap to safety just in time. The ponies started running away in panic. Captain Equestria recalled his enchanted shield, which flew back to his outstretched hoof. He threw it again at Prince Facet, knocking Prince Facet to the ground. Crossbow, now in the air, fired two shots of arrows at Prince Facet, pinning him to the ground by the sleeves of his royal gown. Captain Equestria stood over Prince Facet. “Surrender now, and we may consider repatriating you back to your home country.” “You overestimated your strength, ponies!” Prince Facet suddenly vanished. It was a hallucination. “Look out!” Crossbow cried out. The real Prince Facet jumped off a statue, his staff aimed at Captain Equestria's head. “Oof!” A cannon ball from nowhere hit Facet in the chest, and he tumbled to the ground. The ball exploded into a net, trapping Facet. “You guys started the party without me?” Steam Vent, in his shiny full-body armor, landed next to Captain Equestria. “My invitation card didn't say this will be one of those parties.” “Steam Vent, is that you?” Captain Equestria asked. “That's me! The one and only Steam Vent, and no pony ever throw a party in Canterlot without me. I hoped there's a buffet here, otherwise this is one lousy party.” Captain Equestria glared at him. Steam Vent shrugged. “What? Chill. Mission accomplished. Let's take this party-crasher out of her.” “Twilight! Where's lunch?” Spike interrupted Twilight from the doorway. “I'm still busy tidying up your mess. You'll have to fix your own lunch,” Twilight said, hiding the comic book. “Well, if you said so. I think I'll have ice-cream cake for lunch today. Mmm!” Spike smacked his lips as he ran out of the tree house. Twilight rolled her eyes. She carried on reading the next volume.
Chapter 4 - The Plot Thickens“Facet, my dear brother, stop this madness right now!” Star Storm admonished Facet. “Madness? I'm only taking what is rightfully mine. A little piece of land to call my own, even if it's populated with dumb mules. That's all I ask,” Facet said sardonically. “You've already hurt our mother's feelings with your action. Our mother-” Facet's nerve frayed. “She's not my mother! My mother would never lie to me, betray my trust, and then banish me to the nether realm!” “You forced her to take drastic action! Stop being so selfish and repent! Wake up from your madness!” “I'm already mad,” Facet said, and he smiled. Confused, Star Storm looked up just in time to see Captain Equestria about to pounce on her. Star Storm teleported away just as his shield slammed into the ground. Star Storm sensed fast movement. She ducked just in time to avoid one of Steam Vent's cannon ball, and retaliated with a blast of heat energy. Steam Vent fell to the ground, his armor glowing red hot. Only his armor protected him from being burnt. Steam Vent glimpsed a gauge on his hoof. “Two hundred percent heat capacity? How nice of you,” he muttered . Steam Vent stood up and aimed a blast of boiling hot steam from his arm cannon. Star Storm deflected the blast with a water shield. Rolling clouds of steam immediately enveloped the forest. When the steam dissipated, Steam Vent and Captain Equestria were aiming their weapons at her. “Who are you? Why do you want with Prince Facet?” Captain Equestria demanded. “Look at her, this mare is incredible!” Steam Vent said in awe. “This is not the time, Steam!” Captain Equestria barked back. “No, I'm serious. I've measured her energy signature. Her magical power is off the charts! The only beings more powerful than her are the Alicorn princesses!” “What?” “I am Princess Star Storm from the Amethyst Kingdom, daughter of Queen Ruby Heart,” Star Storm said with the pride of a warrior. “I figured she's a princess,” Steam Vent mused. “Prince Facet is my brother,” Star Storm continued. “I am taking him back to my home kingdom after he escaped from his prison in the nether realm. I am also searching for the Hydra Stone.” “Why are you after the Hydra Stone?” Captain Equestria asked. “The Hydra Stone is an ancient artefact created by my ancestors. In the wrong hooves, it can become an unstoppable weapon of mass destruction. It's far too dangerous to leave it in Equestria,” she explained. Captain Equestria lowered his shield, and Steam Vent followed suit by lowering his cannons. “I’m sorry for our misunderstanding. We wish to bring Prince Facet back with us for questioning. Perhaps you can come along to help. Director Stone believes he has far bigger plan,” Captain Equestria said. Star Storm looked anxiously at his grinning brother, and then to the strangers who were minutes ago battling her. “Director Stone is my acquaintance, and I trust his words. I'll come,” Star Storm said grudgingly. “But beware; my brother is a cunning trickster.” “Come on, come on! Where's the next issue?” Twilight found herself rummaging through the untidy stack searching for the next issue. She found it lying spine-up on the floor, hidden behind the stack. Beautrix was sitting alone on the observation deck of the airship carrier, silently watching the moon rising and the world moving slowly below behind the deck's massive glass facade. Star Storm entered the deck. “Greetings,” Star Storm greeted Beautrix. “You're Beautrix, I presume?” “Your highness! Yes, I am Beautrix, and I'm eternally honoured by your presence.” Beautrix bowed to her out of respect, but Star Storm stopped her. “Please, dispense with the formality. May I join you in star-gazing?” Star Storm asked. “Absolutely!” Beautrix agreed. Star Storm sat beside Beautrix, watching the rolling clouds with her. “You know who I actually am, don't you?” Beautrix asked, nervously brushing her luscious black hair with her hooves. “Yes, Beautrix. I know the story.” “Aren't you afraid that I might lose control again?” Star Storm looked kindly at Beautrix. “Beautrix, I sympathize with your struggle. I practice the Amethyst branch of magic. It granted me great power, but this great power can be easily corrupted by dark desires. My brother Facet lost control of his anger and greed, and his power turned him into the monster he is now.” “You struggled with controlling your powers too?” “Yes. It's not easy, but I've managed to find inner peace by channelling my power to defending my homes, both my kingdom and Equestria.” Beautrix looked down at her hooves. “My struggles are different from yours. My power is a curse, not a gift. I gave in to my anger once, and I ended up hurting all the ponies who mattered in my life. Now I'm an outcast, always hiding, always afraid of turning into a monster again. I'm afraid I might even become a liability to the team.” Star Storm gently placed one of her hooves on Beautrix's. “You may have made terrible mistakes in the past, but I sense your heart is pure. I'm confident you'll put your powers only to good use, regardless of how you gained it.” Beautrix smiled. “Thank you.” Suddenly, alarms started wailing. Explosions from outside rocked the airship, throwing them off-balance. Beautrix scrambled to the intercom. “Foresight, what's going on?” “We're under attack! They've already taken out three of our helium cells! We're launching as many Pegasi as we could to intercept, but we're already losing altitude!” Foresight reported over the intercom. Beautrix looked back at Star Storm and said, “Come on, we must defend the airship!” “I’m with you!” Beautrix and Star Storm galloped down the corridor. “Hello? Twilight, are you here?” Twilight Sparkle jumped in fright when she suddenly heard some pony mentioned her name. “There you are Twilight! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Twilight then heard the same pony calling her from the doorstep of the room, and she hastily hid the comic book she had been engrossed in. “Oh, hi Cheerilee! Fancy you dropping by while I’m, er, cleaning!” She nervously greeted Cheerilee, one eye making sure that Cheerilee could not see the cover of the comic book. “Hi Twilight. Are you busy at the moment?” Cheerilee asked, smiling. “Er, no! Not really. I’m just, er, organizing my stuff in this room, which are definitely not comic books – wait, what am I talking about? Oh yes, how can I help you?” Twilight flashed a wide, nervous grin. Cheerilee sensed something was amiss, but she continued anyhow, “I like to discuss the upcoming school visit. When will be a convenient time?” “School visit? You mean the one next week?” “That’s right.” “No problem! Let me check my diary.” With her magic, Twilight willed her planner book to fly to her. The planner zoomed into the room through the door entrance, missing Cheerilee’s head by just a hair. Twilight flipped through the book’s sentries. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, lemme see... How about two o’clock in the afternoon?” “Sure, that sounds good,” Cheerilee said brightly. “By the way, can I pick up the book I've reserved?” “Let me check.” Twilight squeezed her way through the stack of comic books to a shelf where she placed books reserved by the library’s patrons. Along the way, she accidentally knocked one pile down. “Where on earth did all these comic books come from?” Cheerilee asked, slightly alarmed at the sight of comic books scattering all over the floor. “These are all Spike’s comic books. And before you ask, no, they don’t belong to the library.” Twilight explained as she brought the gardening book Cheerilee had reserved to her. “Oh, thank you Twilight. I've been waiting forever for this book to be available,” Cheerilee thanked Twilight. “Well, I better go.” “Nice helping you!” Twilight slammed the door shut the moment Cheerilee left the room. Cheerilee left the library, confused over Twilight’s odd behaviour. “She needs to lighten up a bit,” she muttered. Relieved, Twilight reopened the comic book she had been reading. “Now where was I? I better finish this before Spike comes back.” Steam Vent carefully sealed up the last damaged helium cell with a blowtorch, trying his best to concentrate above the noise of defensive cannon fires, and the winged demons attacking the ship. “Almost there,” Steam Vent muttered to himself, sweats falling freely inside his bronze helmet. The lives of everyone on the airship were counting on him completing the improvised repair work in time. One of the bigger winged demons crashed into Beautrix. The two monsters clawed at each other as they tumbled on the helium cell Steam Vent was trying to repair. The impact caused him to lose balance. He grabbed hold of a rigging rope just in time to avoid falling off the airship. “Come on!” He pulled himself back up. He couldn't fire his flight pack. He had already depleted all of his fuel in his backpacks and he needed all the remaining fuel to mend the leak. He crawled his way up the slippery skin of the helium cell back to the ruptured spot. Using all of his muscle strength to hang on, he sealed the last leak. “Captain, inflate it now!” He shouted to Captain Equestria. “Give me a sec!” Captain Equestria shouted as he slammed his shield into the face of a demon. “Captain, now!” Steam Vent could already see the trees on the ground rushing up towards him. “Captain, stand still!” Crossbow swooped in and fired off a volley of stun arrows at Captain Equestria's direction, paralyzing all the demons that were fighting Captain Equestria and leaving him unscathed. “Thanks Crossbow!” Captain Equestria punched the last standing winged demon off the airship, and pulled the lever that inflates the helium cell. The helium cell instantly inflated. The airship's descend halted and started to climb. The airship was saved. “Yes! We did it! Uh oh.” The beast Beautrix had been fighting turned its attention to him and leaps towards his direction. Beautrix grabbed its tail just before its teeth could touch Steam Vent's helmet, swung it a full circle, and flung it howling into the skies. “You aren't so strong when your suit isn't working,” Beautrix said in a deep, booming voice. She stretched her giant clawed hand to Steam Vent. “Happens all the time,” Steam Vent said sheepishly, gratefully taking her hand.
Chapter 5 - A Librarian's Shame“What are you reading Twilight?” Spike's face loomed in Twilight's face just when she looked up from the comic book. “Ga!” Twilight quickly hid the comic book behind her. “What are you doing here?” “I should be asking you the same question. You've barely done any tidying up ever since I left for lunch.” Twilight gulped. The shame, oh the shame! She shouldn't have allowed herself to peek at his comics, now she was compulsively reading them one after another. After everything she said in the past that novels were superior to all comics! How could a princess be reading something as pulpy as superhero comics? “You – you’re the one to talk! You never offered to help me tidy up the room!” she stammered. “You told me I can't touch my comics until I turned in my book report, remember?” “Well, I – that was just a figure of speech! But since you're not interested in helping, why are you still here?” Spike's eyes narrowed at Twilight. “Have you been reading my comics?” Panicked, Twilight teleported herself and the comic book out of the room. Spike gave chase, shouting, “Twilight, I'm serious! You promised you won't throw them out!” Spike chased after Twilight as she teleported around the tree house in rapid succession. Somehow, Spike managed to find her in every hiding spot she teleported herself into. In the wardrobe, under her bed, on the balcony, even in the canopy of the tree, Twilight just couldn't escape from his wrath. Spike finally caught up with Twilight when she mistakenly teleported right in front of him in the bedroom. Spike charged into her, and they rolled into Twilight's personal bookshelf, knocking down all the books and raining them on their heads. “Ooh, my head,” Twilight said groggily, pushing off a bulky volume of War and Conflicts Of Pre-Equestrian Era off her head. The comic book lay undamaged and opened in front of her. Spike popped out of a pile of books. “Ah ha! I caught you in the act! You're trying to get rid of all of my comics all along, aren't you?” “No, that's not what I'm doing!” Twilight protested. “Then why are you trying to hide my League of Heroes issue nine with the limited-edition variant cover drawn by Swirly Paint? Reading it? You don't read comics! You said so yourself!” Twilight threw her hooves up in the air in surrender, yelling, “Alright, alright! You want to know the truth? I READ IT! I've read your comics for the past hour and a half, and I actually ENJOYED IT! Are you happy now? I've brought great shame to myself!” Twilight covered her face. She felt unbearable shame. A librarian reading comics! After lecturing foals and fillies all over Ponyville about the virtues of reading proper books, of learning grammar and vocabulary from written words, how could she face any pony in Ponyville now? Princess Twilight Sparkle, comic book dork, reading the same comic books that gave rise to literary abomination like Vondork and his creepy harem of skinny mares! “Hey, it's no big deal. I don't think it's shameful,” Spike said slowly. Twilight uncovered her face. “Of course you'll say that, you're not a librarian.” “Twilight, you like novels with good stories, right?” “Yes.” “You won't read books that are bad, will you?” “No.” “That didn't stopped you from reading novels altogether. You've read some good and bad comics, haven't you?” “Oh yes, I've read some truly awful ones.” “But you've read good ones too, right? At least, the ones you enjoyed reading?” Twilight looked down at the comic book. The comic book opened to a full-page spread of Star Storm. She was levitating in mid-air, her eyes glowing white, unleashing a storm of lightning on the winged minions surrounding her. “Yes, I admit it,” she said slowly. “See? I told you comics can be good. There is nothing embarrassing about reading comics.” Twilight climbed out of the book pile. “I – I think you're right Spike. I shouldn't have dismiss them all just because of a few rotten apples.” “So, you finally ready to admit it now Twilight? Just say it,” Spike teased. Twilight smiled. “Oh alright Spike, I admit. I was wrong to think all comic books are bad.” “So, can I have my comics back now?” Spike asked hopefully. Twilight thought for a while. “Well alright, you can have them back-” “Yes! Woo hoo!” Spike yelled out. “-after I'm done tidying up the back room-” Spike stopped smiling. “Oh, barnacles.” “-and reviewing them all. In the meantime, you can keep reading that book I lent you. Okay, I'll be nice. I won't need the book report from you anymore.” Spike sighed. “Oh alright, as long as I still get my comics back.” “Also, I want to have a serious word with you about those bad comics.” “Which one?” “Vondork. Those books are repulsive. I don't think they're even suitable for your age.” Spike sighed. “Yeah, Vondork's comics used to be good, but everything went downhill when the publisher canned the old continuity and rebooted all the characters.” “Reboot?” “Basically, they're rewriting all of their characters' back stories. They said they want to make them more 'grown-up'.” Spike said the last word sarcastically. “But, why would they do that?” “Beats me, they said readers have become older and they like more matures stories, so they want to make them all 'dark and gritty'. To be honest, I don't really like what they've done so far." “I don't need to be a die-hard fan to see why.” In her mind, Twilight had already started penning a stern letter of complaint to the culprit publisher. They would definitely listen to complaints from a princess. “By the way, do you know that the writers behind League of Heroes used to write the award-winning Vondork And The Amoral Vigilantes series? They left their jobs when it got canceled, formed their own comic book company and started writing League of Heroes. They're real-life comic book legends! Isn't it amazing?” “Wow, who knew? So you won't mind if I get rid of the really bad comics?” “No! I still want to collect them. Who knows, they might become valuable one day!” Twilight rolled her eyes.
Chapter 6 - Golden Oak Library's New AdditionsA week later, Twilight Sparkle surprised visitors to her library when she unveiled a small section dedicated solely to comic books. “Twilight, I thought you've said you'll never stock comic books in the library,” Spike said, surprised. “Yes, what made you change your mind?” Cheerilee added. She was bringing her entire class to visit the library for the day when Twilight made the surprise announcement. “Well, foals being foals, they'll be naturally drawn to comic books. So why not use them to attract more foals to the library? That way, we'll have more opportunities to nurture in them a love for reading,” Twilight explained. “Wow, I've never read comics myself since I was a filly. Are all the comics appropriate for them?” “I've personally read and picked them myself.” Twilight had carefully reviewed the comic books, making sure that those that were in the library were for all ages. The nursery comic books with Bunny and Friends took up one shelf. The League of Heroes books and Star Storm's solo series filled the second shelf. “You know Twilight, maybe the library should have more comics other than Star Storm and talking animals,” Spike suggested. “Captain Equestria isn't bad too, and Beautrix just got her own solo series.” “Yes Spike, I'll look into it.” “Alright, I finally got to read another issue of Star Storm!” Rumble said happily as he grabbed the latest issue of Star Storm's comics. His classmates were also starting to crowd around the comic section, jostling to see what other comics were available. “I want the ones with the bunny!” a filly said excitedly. “I want Star Storm!” said another. “Remember, you've to borrow a novel for every comic you borrow,” Twilight reminded the foals. “Then I shall take another Daring Do's book! She's just as awesome as Star Storm!” Rumble said eagerly. "Here you go. Have fun reading!" Twilight handed the second volume of Daring Do to Rumble. When Rumble left, Cheerilee approached Twilight. “Twilight, can I ask you something about the comic books? I've no idea why my students are suddenly so obsessed with this 'Star Storm' superhero character. Surprisingly, it's the fillies who talked about her the most. What's so special about her?” Twilight shrugged with a knowing smile. “I guess they just want to have heroes to look up to, even if they're fictional.”
