"Alright, see you." Twilight waved, closing the door, then resting her body against it. The fatigue stormed her senses now that she finally got herself some free time. Strange, it never shown while she was managing the library.
Twilight Sparkle allowed herself a deep inhale, followed by an exhale of sheer relief. The chaotic mess of a life settled down a bit for the purple unicorn. School was out for a week, the monthly reshelfing and counting was almost done. Almost.
She still had a task to do: reshelfing Storybelle's 'private' library while she was away to buy ink, quills and papers. Well, it wasn't completely private. She allowed Twilight to take a look and borrow things if she was interested. They had to live together for a while, after all.
Twilight sat up. She let a sigh escape her throat before heading downstairs, where the kitchen, the bathroom and Storybelle's room was located. Originally, it was to be her room instead, but she was kind enough to switch with her. Twilight had the best of all bosses, Storybelle was generous and easygoing. It was as if they were running the Golden Oaks together, as friends, rather than her being a mere assistant. This was the most important factor that made her stay here, that she could stay here with her friends. Of course, the price for that was pretty steep. She had to finish her studies at school while writing reports on her friendship 'studies' to her majesty, Celestia. It was a sacrifice worth making in her eyes.
Arriving at the room in question, Twilight almost knocked by instinct. The door had a jittery glass in it to prevent clear insight from spying eyes. It opened without any form of resistance, revealing a still alien room behind it. Twilight has been working here for a couple weeks now, yet still, she didn't visit this particular room enough to get used to it. Two or three times at most.
She had no trouble finding the collection in question, though, as it was all on a small, four block shelf by the side. Despite she knew all too well about this by now, the sight still made her giggle.
Storybelle's, little library was none other than a collection of Power Ponies comic books. Not even only comic books, but fanfiction as well. Fanfiction... in a librarian's collection. Well, no wonder it was private.
Of course it didn't mean that Storybelle had a bad taste or anything, she was just, as she'd say 'open for other perspectives'. Twilight never really touched most of them though. While the comics did not interest her, the concept behind it did. It was a shame there was no official books about them, as such, she had to turn to these.
Noticing her mind is wondering off, she shook her head a little. She had a job to do, and preferably before the owner of this collection arrives. Her horn was engulfed in a spectacle of violet light, as she picked off entire rows at once by her unicorn powers. Then, she laid them on the ground.
Upon picking down the last row of fanfiction and ordering the pile they created into tiles, a book in particular caught her eye. Its two hard, black covers and the white pages between were bound by a thick thread and perhaps some glue. A simple white sticker, normally used on school books marked its front, with the text 'The Return of Dr. Savage.'
Certainly a cliché title but it had to have a reason for being here. Twilight have read this once, from beginning to end. In fact, it was the first, and only fanfiction she read. Oh, how skeptic was she at first, and how addicted she became in the end. The sudden wave of emotions that washed over could be best described as nostalgia. The booked flipped open with a touch of magic.
~~~
"Catch him!"
"After him!"
"Don't let'm get away!"
These and other shouts were heard from behind as Dr. Savage rushed through the bio laboratory. His saddlebag was flinging up and down as if he'd merely stolen thin air. The windows letting through the moonlight were the only sources of light in the dark aside a couple tiny LED lights.
With a shattering force did one explode into myriad of pieces in front of him, putting an end to his rush.
"It's over, Savage." a voice tried comforting him, as Zapp bolted into the room, followed by the rest of the heroes.
"This is none of your business, Power Ponies, get lost." the mad doctor roared back. A quick move, he reached for a button on the belt of his saddle, making two jet wings pop out from said saddle. A short rush towards the broken window followed by a jump, and he escaped, soaring through the night sky.
Our heroes did not give it up that easily though, especially not Zapp. She was the first to rush after him, leaving everybody behind as per usual.
"Hey!" shouted Filly Second, disappearing in a blink of an eye. Only her white-pink trail indicated she was going towards the elevator.
Mattern-horn and Radiance summoned a floating disk and a magnificent pair of wings respectively. Former picked up her assistant, threw him on her back and off they went.
~~~
Pages flipped wildly as Twilight summoned a wind with her magic.
~~~
The couple last robots went down with an electric shriek as Zapp shocked them with a bolt. As useless scrap metal, the doll-like creatures fell on the ground with a loud thud.
"It's over Savage... for real this time." Zapp threatened him once again.
The professor gritted his teeth in anger, they were much faster than he thought. His eyes shifted between the capsule and his enemies a couple times.
Then, out of nowhere, he tried a head-on charge against them with a furious battle roar... only to be stopped by a hit of Radiance's magic reticule.
Savage spun a half turn before his white mess of a mane hit the floor, followed by the rest of his body. A disgusted "Ugh" left the beautiful mare's throat.
A huge click interrupted their stare, as the cables flowing with sheer electricity all shut down. They detached from the large, oval metal capsule and fell on the ground. With another click, it opened, releasing a gigantic cloud of steam all over the place.
Savage might, but they were not done yet. The Power Ponies took on their battle formation, ready to face whatever monstrosity the mad doctor created this time.
Yet, as the steam started to let go, all that was revealed was just another doll-like jointed robot, albeit with a yellow-painted body and a golden mane. She dropped out from the vertical capsule without any signs of life, down on the floor.
~~~
Twilight shut the book with a swift move. She's not going to spoil the climax for herself. Sure she knew what it was, but it felt much better when reading it from the beginning... and she had a job to do.
She put the makeshift book on her right, and picked another one that actually had a book's shape. With nice, hard beige covers, a real spine, and an engraved title: 'Radiant Masquerade'.
From the title alone, Twilight had an idea what it might be but she wasn't sure. Curious, she opened it up at where her magical grasp landed.
~~~
Anxious, her hoof of light lavender kept hitting the table with just enough force to make a sound. Whoever that 'secret fan' was she needed to rid of him quickly. Magic Mist was a superhero, and superheroes could not afford petty things like 'romance'. It was not for her. And who'd want to date a superhero in the first place? Yes, something was fishy here. She looked at the waiters from the corner of her eye. Most of them were on the north side of the room, so if this really was a trap, she could separate them with a magic barrier. That way, they could escape on the backdoor with ease until she deals with business.
Sigh! She gave the clock an angered gaze, urging it to speed up. It was almost eight 'o clock. If he was going to be late, she surely won't going to wait for him. She wasted more than enough time with this pity clue-finding little game. She aligned her legs facing away from the table, so once that arm hits on the twelve she could get up and out from here.
Five... four... three... two... one... zero.
"That's-"
Ding-ing! She was cut off right after the first word as the restaurant's door opened, ringing its bells. A pale yellow unicorn stepped in, within a gorgeous but simple dark purple gown and curls of the same color. Magic Mist couldn't possibly mistake those curls for anything.
"Good evening!" she greeted the staff, walking up them for a little talk.
'Jewel? What is she doing here?' Magic thought, a mixture of confusion and anger swirling in her mind 'Doesn't matter, I'm going anyway.'
She stood up, but was fast put back to her place by her unicorn friend "Rushing somewhere, Magic, dear?". Wonderful.
Jewel turned, having finished her conversation with the waiter, heading towards the annoyed mare.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Magic Mist replied, just an inch from shouting in anger "I have better things to do than waiting for some 'secret fan' that can't even come in time."
"Oh, I digress, you've just met with that fan of yours." the curly-maned unicorn teased her with a coy smile, sitting down in front of her.
Magic raised an eyebrow, as her mind started working, recalling the last faces she has seen in the previous hour.
Wait. Could that have been...? No, it couldn't... well, it could but chances for that was very slim.
"You mean... the waiter?" she whispered over to the other end of the table.
'She's hopeless.' Jewel thought, her body just wanted to sigh and hit the wood in front of her with her head, but she couldn't do that.
"You're terrible at solving riddles, Masked Mattern-Horn." Radiance exclaimed with a slight bit of playful condescending "It was me, me!" she sighed after her small outburst.
"That makes no sense. When the day swaps shift with the lights, find the diamond where- ...oh." she recited. She got it now. Her head hung low, her mane covering the eyes in shame.
"Magic, dear, you've been working way too hard lately. It does nothing but harm, makes me worried for your health." Jewel explained, dripping with said worry in her voice.
"In fact, I bet you were thinking of a battle plan while waiting in case this was being set up by some villain again."
Magic's head began to hang even lower. Was she actually this see-through? Yet, the advice bounced off her like a ball from a brick wall.
"Oh, please..." she retorted with a phlegmatic voice.
~~~
"'Oh, please' indeed." Twilight rolled her eyes, as she shut the book with a thud. Sappy romantic novels weren't her thing. So she put it aside, left to the previous title.
Next: 'A Cup of Chocolate'. By the cover alone it was evident that it was a holiday-themed piece. Dark green 'frame' of hard cover with a picture in the middle decipting Filly Second at night. She wore a casual winter jacket and mittens of pink and white. She was drinking hot chocolate while longingly gazing at a Hearts' Warming tree in the distant square. The whole cover was like a real painting, it grabbed Twilight's attention that was for sure.
The first page already was filled with holiday decorations, as well as a small author's note in the middle.
~~~
"This story is set in an alternate dimension where the Power Ponies as a group, and evil mega-villains do not exist. They still have superpowers, they still know each other, but don't dress up in costumes and go around fighting crime.
Please keep this in mind while reading, hope you'll enjoy the story."
~~~
Twilight hummed. Of course, one might ask why would anyone strip the very thing that made the Power Ponies who they are, and who'd have bothered to read that. Well Twilight already knew the answer to the latter, and could guess it for the former. A good writer can execute almost anything properly.
Twilight's eyes started to wonder towards the corner top left of the room as the holiday spirits rose in her mind. The taste of hot chocolate, the feeling of the crisp snow, the beautiful landscape. No. It was the middle of spring, she shouldn't have been longing for these already.
Oh well...
Twilight turned her attention back to the page, but it was obscured by a tiny figure, a dragonfly with a pair of round glasses. He tapped the paper with his left leg, his arms crossed in disbelief as he gave Twilight a scolding look.
"Oh! Hi, Gossamer." Twilight greeted him with an embarrassed grin "You sure were fast."
The little insect waved his front limb at her, with some incomprehensible rant leaving his mouth before flying to the side of the book to close it himself.
Twilight was dead, she knew it. Oh, why did she have to slack off like that? She already could hear her hoofsteps from behind her. Panic broke loose in her mind. A part of her wanted to just pick up the pile and quickly shove it onto the shelves, her other part advising her to take it like the adult she was. She just stood there, stunned, awaiting the inevitable.
"Hello, Twilight, we're back!" shouted the voice she recognized far too well. She turned, almost paralyzed, seeing a pony with a pinkish purple coat and a gorgeous, long mane of many colors - yellow, dark purple, red and a strand of blue - open the door.
"Welcome back, Storybelle." Twilight greeted her with the previous, embarrassed smile. A tap hardly notable was heard from behind them, as the cover of the Christmas book hit the floor.
"I can explain, you see, I was-"
"-researching the contents of my private library." Storybelle finished, a wicked look in her eyes dominating the unicorn. She stepped over to the book, raising its hard cover to help her little assistant crawl out from below, unharmed.
Twilight couldn't respond to this one. She just stood there like a piece of wood, face red, her grin ceasing to disappear.
"Isn't it a bit early for holiday stories?" Storybelle teased her even further, looking at the text in the open book.
"I'm so sorry, Storybelle, I just wanted to take a look and I completely forgot about myself." Twilight broke down in an apology once her mind freed itself from its standstill state.
"Then I got the right stories." her boss laughed. She wasn't angry, of course, she was not that kind of mare. Rather, she returned to reading that little note on the page. She raised it up, giving it a closer, more passionate look with each read.
"One can tell a story in so many ways." she sighed, before returning her attention to Twilight "Do you know what makes the Power Ponies so wonderful?" she asked.
Twilight didn't respond, just awaited the answer.
"That it is not just a story. It's a whole world ripe with potential that anybody can morph to their heart's desire." she explained. "Even the official comics are just one interpretation of the many, and they only act as mere guidelines for other storytellers."
"That's why you collect fanfiction." Twilight finished. It all made sense now, Storybelle didn't differentiate between them merely because what they were.
The pink mare giggled, closing the book and putting it on the top of row of her shelf. That moment, Twilight snapped back to reality. Since she also was an assistant (and she was to do it in the first place), she helped her sorting the books by their letters.
"If you wish, I can read a story for you after closing." Storybelle suggested with that generous tone in her voice.
"Sure." replied Twilight. True, she wasn't a filly anymore who needed bedtime stories before sleep or anything, but if somepony, Storybelle could read a book like nopony else. Indeed, Twilight had the best of all bosses.
