The Librarian, And The Next Generation Of Friendship!

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was a Librarian...

Her name, was Twilight Sparkle. She was (and still is) an avid lover of books, stories, facts, and knowledge. She is a deity of curiosity, and has a soul that searches for, the “Truth.” The Truth of course, is something that cannot be defined in full detail to any creature, as it is fully dependent on that creature’s views of philosophy and reality as a whole.

For Twilight Sparkle, however, the truth was far from hard to figure out... All it took was the right group of friends.

Her Truth became her Friendship. Her friends became her world. They became her integrity, and her empathy. Through her truth, they became the Elements of Harmony. Those who embody the best of Magic’s qualities, and whom became a part of Magic through the Truth they all shared. From that friendship, a great era of peace unlike any known before it blossomed forth in Equestria’s history. Villains stood no chance against the Heroines, no foe was too mighty, and no creature could harm them. Even when depowered, and without the Elements of Harmony, they themselves found the strength to defeat foes which Goddess and Gods before them could not.

This meek. Timid. Shy, anti-social mare, would become Princess of the realm one day. This avid lover of all things bibliographical, would learn so much more from her friends than she could in any library in the world. That was why she dedicated a whole school to the subject- the subject of Friendship. Because no institution in the world could yet comprehend the power of this great structure.

Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship, is where our story begins. One day after the defeat of Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow. The official day, the “Twilight Era” in Equestria’s Golden Age began....

-----&-----

“WHAT?!”

An entire auditorium’s worth of children, ambassadors, and parents all cried out at once.

The Headmare on stage winced as her ears flattened back. That was about the reaction Starlight was expecting at that news. She took a breath at that response, but found it unhelpful as the air in the room was stagnant, and yet getting charged with emotions. “The School of Friendship will be closing down...” She stated again, being slower and much more articulate with her words. She needed to defuse this situation. “For a BRIEF period!” She told them all, looking around as she held up her hoof. “Now, please! Listen everyone, I know how you are all feeling, but I want to explain our reasoning behind this decision.”

“Yah better!” A grouchy older griffon squawked all the way in the back of the auditorium. “I ain’t payin fer no lousey school that ain’t gonna teach!” Grandpa Gruff declared, as a number of parents agreed with him on that sentiment.

The young, blue griffon ‘Gallus’ rolled his eyes and sighed. “You didn’t pay to send me here, they gave me free tuition.” He muttered, but knew better than to bring it up with the senile old bird.

Starlight sighed and looked off to the side of the stage, towards her help. Trixie gave a small shrug, while Sunburst tried to motion for her to continue with a wave of his hoof. Shaking her head, she turned back to the crowd and spoke up. “The reason we are closing down the School of Friendship is... is!!- Well... because we don’t have any staff!” She told everyone with a huff, trying not to get upset at having to admit this before Leaders of Government. “Our entire staff QUIT Yesterday! The Headmare has just had the entire Government passed on to her, and our teachers jumped ship with her to go join her council! As you might imagine- that puts the new Headmare (ME) in a bind at the moment!” She said, straightening up as her voice commanded the room and everyone’s attention. There was a moment of silence as the ambassadors and parents in the room considered this fact. It didn’t quell their anger, but it did temper their expectations. She was just one mare afterall- she wasn’t a princess or anything.

“I don’t want to close down the school.” She told everyone, sighing as she looked down at her own hooves, letting her hair fall over one of her eyes. “I don’t want to have to send you all home or away. You’ve all been taking well to your lessons. You kids have become such a tightly knit family, that... this isn’t an easy decision for me to make! But... It’s either I close down the school, and find replacement teachers for the Next Semester, or I try to teach every classroom at once, by myself. And even with my own duplication spell, Pinkie Pie’s advised me against trying to create multiples of myself. Princess Twilight has as well.” She said, sighing as she shook her head.

“Now, as this happens to be a government funded school, Princess Celestia and Twilight have agreed to give tuition to whatever families need it to help their children move to other schools, local or boarding. My counselors, Trixie, Sunburst and I, will be more than happy to talk with any and all parents over the coming days to get your children moved into other classrooms across town and across the country if need be!” Starlight began, trying to calm the swelling tides of upset parents that composed 65% of the student body at the moment.

The other 35% however, were none too happy to hear about any of this. Especially those of the Ambassador Students... they could all see exactly what this meant, like it was painted in red on the walls.

“We’re... We’re done?” Silverstream asked out loud with anguish. She was going back? Back to Seaquestria??? ... She didn’t want to go! She had friends here- really good ones! And she had found so many amazing things here on the surface- she didn’t want to be stuck on a beach, looking out over the ocean!

“But, but we can’t!” The little teal Ling cried out, fluttering above King Thorax’s head not but a seat over from Silver. “We can’t be done! We’ve only just started- this is our first year! If we don’t finish then. Then what about our grades? Our tests?! ... Our Homework?!”

“Psshh. Pretty sure there are more pressing things than our grades here Ocellus.” Smolder grumbled, sitting the farthest back in her seat and nearly sliding out. She was sitting next to Ocellus’s empty spot, rolling her eyes. “Knew this had to end at some point...” She muttered under her breath.

“Smolder’s right.” Sandbar stated, having joined his friends in the back instead of sitting with his parents, and missed the rest of her statement. “This isn’t just about a School, and grades... But, they can’t just do this! We’ve got friends here! We’ve made friends here, we’ve been putting everything we learn to use! They can’t just split us up!... Can they?”

“Ooohhh you better believe they can.” Gallus huffed, sitting back like Smolder as he rolled his eyes, claws wrapped over his chest. “Cuz they just did. So much for “Friendship is Magic.”” He added ‘quotation’ marks thanks to his opposable digits, clearly marking the sarcasm for the literal of the bunch.

“No!” Yona stomped her hooves down hard on the ground, snorting as she looked to Silver, getting out of her seat and stomping up the aisle towards the auditorium door. “No no no no!”

“Yona?” Silver called out, looking back to her friends- whom also took notice of the Yak leaving the party early. (It wasn’t a very fun party admittedly.)

“Yona- you can’t leave!” Ocellus said. “This is important!”

“Why not?” Smolder asked, before suddenly getting up and fluttering over to the yak. “The rest of this is just boring adult stuff. Might as well leave and spend some time together while we still can...”

“...”

The weight of that sentence alone hit everyone’s hearts deep to their core. Like a shard of ice, Ocellus couldn’t argue it because of how deeply it sank into her. She turned and looked over to her other friends whom all seemed equally distraught by how true that statement was, before agreeing with Smolder.

So, while Starlight continued to talk and call out to the parents of the student body, the Student Six slipped away to the only place they could think to go. The Clubhouse of Friendship.

-----&-----

Ocellus looked around the main area from atop her stool, curled up like a cat on a high perch, overlooking the scene before her. It was dreary and dreadful, thanks to the mournful expressions on her friends faces. Everyone had taken a seat, and was now just sitting in silence around the room unsure what to say. What could they say to each other? Smolder had voiced all of their thoughts perfectly 15 minutes ago, and the trudge through the Everfree in utter silence only solidified what they now knew. It was done. It was over. This was likely the end of their story, as a group of friends.

“... Welp. This sucks.” Smolder finally broke the silence like a sledgehammer to glass, sighing deeply as she finished that sentence with a barrel’s worth of smoke trailing from her nose. “... I’m pissed.”

“Welcome to the Club.” Gallus muttered, before motioning the yak with a frown permanently glued on her face. “That’s our Princess, right over there.”

“Gallus, you know that doesn’t help...” Silver muttered in an almost hurt whimper, but she sounded so defeated in her tone. She was usually the cheery one who could find a bright side to any situation, but the thought of returning home? Going back to Seaquestria- when she had a whole new world set before her?? and GREAT friends to explore it with!? It was devastating to her! It wasn’t right! This couldn’t be happening, and yet... it was.

“Help, shmelp- they don’t want to help us!” Gallus snapped, but his emotions were tempered. He was usually the best at hiding how he felt, but there were moments like these where his heart really did shine through. “They just screwed up big time, and now WE have to pay the price!”

Once more, these words rang true. The silence began to take root between them, growing like a sickness infecting their bonds, but Sandbar still tried to rally and reason with them.

“We can’t just give up.” He pointed out. “We’re all friends here right? .... Friendship can do anything- it’s a new and special kind of magic, right?”

Gallus gave a roll of his eyes, but didn’t give a snappy retort back. As much as he wanted to admit he liked the idea of fighting for what they had, he knew how this would turn out. And it wasn’t going to turn out well for them.

“We’re just kids, Sandy.” Smolder pointed out. “What the heck can we do? ... Yeah we’re like, ambassadors and junk- well. Most of us.” She muttered to him with a shrug. “Sorry bud.”

“It’s fine.” Sandbar admitted, giving a shake of his head. “I dunno honestly... we could try and figure out something though, can’t we? I mean. It would be better than just sitting here and doing... nothing.”

“Like what? What can we do? Fight the Adults? Run away again? That didn’t work the last time the school got shut down.” Ocellus reminded him, shaking her head. “And they know where we would hide- plus we would be betraying Headmare Starlight’s trust if we did that, and Princess Twilight’s.”

Once more, heads were hung. Defeat seemed ever looming over these children, who didn’t want to say goodbye to their friends just yet.

“... We could talk to them.” Yona muttered, breaking her thousand yard stare at the crystal coffee table to look up. “... Yona say we talk to them. To adults.”

“What would we say?” Silver asked, cocking her head slightly to the side. “We don’t exactly have a lot of sway. I mean, we’re just students. Kids.”

“We can still talk to them!” Yona said, looking up to Silver. “We don’t need to sway! Just speak! Speak Loudly! Speak loud enough to be heard! ... Yona... Yona doesn’t want to go home!” She called out, smashing her hooves down with a loud crack into the crystal floor. Before... there was a soft sniffling noise crawling out from underneath the mountain of yak-fur. “Y-Yona doesn’t want to go... Yona found f-friends! Real friends! Yona like friends, and like everything about them! -sniff- Yona loves them.”

A set of wings flapped softly, as someone sat down beside her... claws softly gripped one of her hooves before she felt a strong warmth hug her gently, pressing into that thick fur. She didn’t say anything- but she also didn’t need to. It was all agreed that they... they were more than just friends. Best friends even. They were a family of a sort...

Slowly, another set of wings flapped and joined Yona. Gallus sat down beside her, on the other side from Smolder, and gently stroked her back as Yona cried silently. “Gallus loves you too.” He muttered, giving a weak chuckle as he shook his head.

“To be real for a moment? ... You guys are the only thing I’ve got.” He admitted, looking Yona in the eyes when she managed to stop crying. “If this does happen, and I get sent back to Griffonstone, I’ll have nothing. Absolutely nothing... I didn’t have anything before I came here, but. What we’ve been through in the last year, has made me come to realize how much you guys mean to me. You guys are my friends... And even if all we can do is. Is kick, and scream, like a bunch of kids? ... Then I say we do it.” He declared in a somber tone, looking up to Smolder first, before looking out to the rest of them. “I say we tell them that we aren’t leaving. That this school is the best thing for us- even if we aren’t gonna learn anything while here. We’ll still have each other, and that’s what we need. More than some stupid letters on a piece of paper.”

Silverstream sniffled, smiling softly as she had tears in her own eyes. “... I-I wanna stay.” She sniffled and flew up gently, crossing the room over to Yona and Gallus and Smolder, and sat herself in before them. “I want to stay here with you guys...”

Ocellus bit her bottom lip, uncertain about how this would turn out. She knew how important being taught things, and learning was. A proper curriculum in Equestrian Society was important- that’s why they still had to learn things like Math and History, ontop of Animal Handling and Cloud Control! To be allowed to just skip the rest of what they needed to learn was impossible to talk their way out of! They had to do more than talk to them. They needed some kind of plan they needed to present!

But as she thought about it, she realized how it was their only option. If they ran away again- they wouldn’t get saved by their professors this time. They wouldn’t show how strong friendship was, they would just be creating more problems for Headmare Starlight, and their own families... Honestly? This was the best option for them. Even if all they could do was beg for their friendship. “... -sigh- Well. I guess there could be worse alternatives.” She admitted shyly, before buzzing over to Yona, who was slowly lifting herself up to see all of her friends around her now- supporting her idea. Supporting her, and telling her they were all feeling the same way by doing so.

Sandbar smiled slowly, watching his friends all gather around Yona now, seeing them come together under her idea. It wasn’t much. They had learned from their first experience with the school getting closed down that running away from the problem wasn’t going to fix it. So he guessed that this was a step in the right direction at least. Facing your problems head on.

“Well?” Smolder looked directly at him. “Common Sandy. You gonna join us?~” She asked, seeming the least affected- though she had been the first to sit with Yona.

Sandbar blinked, before giving a small nod. “Yeah... Of course. I was willing to give up my allowance for you guys last time. Figure this might be a bit cheaper than having to buy you all cupcakes again.” He muttered, giving a small chuckle as that got a laugh or two. And a small punch from Gallus.

“You’re sounding more like a Griffon everyday.” Gallus teased.

“Yeah well, I blame the company I keep.” Sandbar muttered, before shrugging as he then looked out at everyone. And then put up his hoof. “... No matter what happens after that talk though? ... No matter how far we might go, or where we all might end up. Can we promise we’ll still be friends? No matter what?”

Yona rubbed the tears from her eyes and nodded swiftly, putting her hoof on Sandbar’s. “Yona Promise. Yona Pinkie Promise.” She said, going through the motions with her free hoof.

The tree around them seemed to grow a bit brighter in that moment, the sunlight passing through growing stronger in that moment.

Silverstream giggled at the display and nodded as she did the same, throwing her claws over Yona’s hoof. “Ditto! I pinkie promise too. We’re all friends, no matter what!”

Gallus snorted but put his hoof in anyway. “Guess I should join in before I get guilted.” He muttered, but seemed happy with the thought that he would still have friends, even in the end. It was kinda comforting to him.

The walls around them began to glimmer softly, like how light refracted under the waves of the ocean, and added a sense of warmth between them all.

Ocellus put her hoof in as well, and did the motions for it too, crossing her heart, and spreading her wings, before sticking the metaphorical cupcake in her bug-eyes. “I agree! We’re all going to be friends, no matter what happens to us. We can still write letters, and come visit each other! That might even be fun to see everyone’s homes.”

Smolder looked up to the bug. She looked over to the Bird Brain. The Gerk with a capital “G”. The Mud-Horse, and the Stubborn Yak... She slowly smiled, her eyes falling into half-lidded moons. A small sense of strength growing within her as she looked at them all holding hooves over the others like it was some kind of ritual. “... You guys are weird.” She finally added, before putting her own claws into the mix. “But... It’s a kind of weird I can get behind~ ... How’s that Pinkie Promise go again?”

“Oh Oh! I know!” Silver smiled and lifted a talon high. “It goes like this! Cross my heart and hope to fly, or stick a cupcake in my eye!~” Doing all the motions again for added effect.

That shimmering in the background started to get a lot brighter now. A lot brighter, like a glowing mess of waves and patterns across the crystal backdrop that was their clubhouse.

Smolder chuckled, before rolling her eyes as she half-heartedly repeated the motions her excitable friend made. “Yeah, yeah. What she said.”

And like that, Sandbar threw up his hoof, and everyone did the same. “Friends! Forever!” He called out bravely.

The other shrugged, before calling it as well feeling emboldened by his action. “Friends Forever!”

The walls exploded with light and color, as rainbow hues shot out around the group of friends. They all turned to look and see what was happening around them, but couldn’t react fast enough. The rainbow wrapped itself around them like a vortex, before shooting through the roof of the tree and blasting off into the skies- deep into the unknown lands of Equestria.

Leaving behind an empty Treehouse, with no students in sight....

Author's Note

As always everyone, feedback is greatly appreciated~

Chapter 2

-----&-----

“Oohhh... Yona think. She going to be sick...”

“Ugh. She better look away from me then!”

Gallus groaned softly as he picked his head up, his friends shouting not helping his head. There was a stupidly loud ringing in his ears as he climbed up off of whatever soft thing just broke his fall. Looking down, he found it was a mound of pink feathers, and a cute beak. “Silver?” He winced and put a claw to his head before reaching out with the same claw to help her up.

“Gallus? Oooww.. My head hurts.” She grumbled, before gently accepting his claw as she looked around.

Smolder was pushing Yona off of her quickly, rolling the rather green faced Yak to the side. Sandbar was trying not to get Yak-rolled, and Ocellus was floating above the group, already buzzing around in a busy manner with a terrified look on her face. Something that was uncommon for the usually calm and collected Ling. “Ocellus? What are you doing?”

“Counting.” Ocellus said quietly, before sinking in low to the ground, her tail tucked between her legs.

“Counting?” Smolder snorted and rolled her eyes as she dusted herself off. “Counting what?”

“The Creatures. The Creature’s in hoods.” Ocellus explained, before motioning with a hoof around them.

Surrounding the children, were a number of creatures they couldn’t identify the species of. Four legged at least, all wearing red- no. Crimson cloaks, with lavender stripes, and adorned with different colored feathers. “Seventy Nine.” Ocellus said calmly, as she looked out through the... strange Crystal shards that were surrounding them. They had formed a pyramid like shape, floating around the students in a very purposeful shape and design, held in place by a very powerful magical field. “I count seventy nine, each with a different variety of bird feathers draped on their cloaks.”

“Bird Feathers?” Gallus and Silver asked, before looking to each other, then back to their information hub.

“Alright, so some ornithologists kidnapped us.” Smolder said, cracking her neck some as she walked over to the edge of the cage and grabbed onto the shards of crystal, and gave them a small tug. “Big. Whoop! Rrhh!”

Ocellus actually blinked and looked back over to Smolder for a moment, raising an eyebrow. She was less amazed by her attempts to pull open the cage, and more so with her correctly knowing what an ornithologist was off the top of her head.

“Hmm, impressive vocabulary, however. I am afraid you are wrong in that belief. We are not ornithologists...”

All eyes turned around to see whom had said that, and watched as the sea of cloaked figures began to spread themselves apart with shimmering cloaks, and reveal a tall figure approaching. He was a griffon, pale grey feathers upon his head- a bald eagle, mixed with some kind of jaguar or lanky cat. His was a thin frame, with a nearly skeletal face cheeks shrunken into his skull. He wore a dark grey suit that matched none of the other’s attire. He was prim and proper, with a old gothic styling about him, not unlike something unholy.... Olde, with the ‘e’ but not “Olden.” He was just that right amount to be perturbed and a little scary. He wore no glasses, and made no attempts to hide his face under a cloak like all of those around him. He walked with a thick cane in claw, black wood with a silver pointed tip, and gave the children a most ‘pleased’ look that sent shivers down their spines. “We are Cultists~” He corrected quickly enough, giving a chuckle.

“Oh, great. Cuz that’s sooo much better.” Smolder grumbled, crossing her arms as she took a step back from the wall.

Gallus raised an eyebrow at the older griffon, examining him top to bottom. He hadn’t seen this guy before, and he was pretty sure he had seen enough of the Griffon elite to recognize them. “Who are you?” He asked slowly.

The griffon turned to look at him, giving a small chuckle, before shaking his head. “We are no one. No one that matters to you.” He then turned his head to the side and tapped his staff on the ground loudly. “Begin the ritual.”

Six cultists suddenly stepped out from around the room, each bringing up items on a red velvet pillow, and setting them before the pyramid like structure. They were... strange relics- relics that the children couldn’t quite place. A book bound in stitches and black leather. A bright red spear with a golden tip, feathers tied to the head of it. A wooden flute made of hollowed bark, with a skull carved into its head, sat beside a golden jewel encrusted sheath of a sword- though notably lacking in a blade. A lantern that flickered as it was faced towards them, and a shield with a laughing dragon on its front.

Then they pulled out a can of red paint, and... a pair of hooves gently grabbed ahold of the brush.

“Is that... a pony?” Yona asked, looking through squinting eyes at the cultist. He stopped and looked up to them for a moment in brief fear.

The griffon stamped his cane upon the ground again, and turned to look at him. “Get. To it.” He told the pony, glaring at him, before turning back to the children. The pony nodded swiftly and went back to painting the ground, creating a large circle around the Pyramid.

Smolder sniffed the air for a moment, and gave a small lick of her lips. “That doesn’t smell like paint...” She muttered, watching the pony work.

“Correct my dear Carnivore.” The griffon said, in an unpleasant tone. He had some type of accent the children could recognize, though a few agreed it sounded very ‘posh’ which only added to their growing dislike for him. “That is not paint~”

“Then what is... Eewwww!” Silver gagged and turned away as she realized what it was. As did Yona and Sandbar a few seconds later. “That’s disgusting! Where did you get that stuff?!”

“Klugetown actually.” He admitted, giving a small chuckle as he rubbed his claws lightly on his jacket. “They sell it quite cheaply there- a whole ten gallons for just two bits. Rather good deal~”

“Okay- what’s going on!?” Sandbar asked, looking away from the pony painting around their pyramid prison. “Why are we here?! What do you guys want from us?”

“From you?” The Griffon gave a soft smirk, walking right up to the painted line as he leaned in close. “We want nothing from you. This is completely impersonal, you all just so happen to be a roadblock in our plans. So, we are going to just seal you away for a short time, until our plans are done. Simple as that.”

“Seal us away?” Yona asked, looking very confused.

The Griffon chuckled and bowed his head slightly to them, enjoying this just a little too much. "Forgive me, did I say you? I meant your magic~"

But Ocellus gasped as she was looking around, buzzing. “.... Oh my gosh! This- ... This is Cozy Glow’s spell!” She said, looking around very worried now- as the other children all freaked out briefly and took note of the familiar painting on the ground.

“Hmm, with a few key differences.” The Griffon joked, before the ponies with paint cans stepped back and away. “For one, we aren’t targeting all of the magic in the world. Just the magic in the cage.” He stated, before gently setting down his cane as he walked forward another step.

“Wait- in the cage?” Silver blinked and looked around to them. “But- there’s no magic in here! Just... us.” She admitted, sounding very confused as she motioned between them all.

At that. The griffon held his claw over the freshly painted circle, and laughed deeply. Oh, it was a deep and revealing laugh, giving way to the amusement he found in her ignorance. “Ehahahaahaahaa! Oh, that’s precious~” He said softly, before shaking his head. “You don’t even know what you’ve become, do you?” When the children only gave him more confused looks he smiled and shook his head. Then stomped his claw upon the ground as a yellowish energy crackled from his claws and across the blood, giving it power. “Hmf... Too bad then. I suppose none of you will ever know what it is you were meant to be.” He then pulled himself back, as the reaction began to take hold.

“Oohh Goddess...” A soft voice called out from the distance. It began softly like a gospel hymn, one person, calling out in the farthest corner. But the effect it had was like a ripple, echoing across the cavernous room a few moments later.

“Oh Goddess...” The whole group began to call out, all of the hooded figures lifting their heads up, their eyes towards the ceiling. The Children turned to look around them as the “not-paint” on the ground began to boil and bubble, crackling with yellow electricity.

“Ohh Goddess! ... Give us your gaze!~ We sing for you in our hour, to give us the power... To take all we see unfit, and raze~”

“Oh Goddess...” The electricity arched upwards and struck out, lashing at the sides of the circle, causing a number of cultists to step back. Before then turning upon the velvet pillows, and the artifacts that sat upon them.

At this point, the Children were freaking out a little. The Artifacts began to rise around them and become encased in fields of energy like those they had seen not but a few months ago- before striking the crystal pyramid they all were trapped within. They screamed and ducked in cover, assuming the worst... but. They were surprised to find that the crystal walls seemed to protect them from the powers. Glowing brightly with rainbow hues.

The pale griffon outside laughed and shook his head. “Amazing. Even now, it still resists.” He muttered, watching as the pyramid (the device that summoned them to this place) was somehow still alive, and trying to protect the children. “Stubborn still, I see! Even after Sombra crushed you, and turned you into nothing but fractured pieces.” He called out, walking around it slowly, before snorting as he stared at the pyramid. He had been the one to devise the prison they sat in, so to have it defend them was annoying. “But, to be expected I suppose. It wouldn’t let itself simply die and be done with.”

“Th-That’s right!” Yona called out, assuming she was talking to them. She stared at the griffon, speaking in defiance as she was the first to get to her hooves. “Y-You can’t just t-take away our friendship! Yak is stubborn- but Friends are more so!”

Sandbar smiled up at her, and nodded before he got to his hooves and stood beside her. “Yona’s right. You don’t scare us- you or your magic stealing power! We’ve got something you can’t beat, or take away from us.” He said, looking back to Ocellus and Gallus, whom slowly smiled and joined him, flying over him and Yona.

Silver took her spot as well, standing beside Sandbar. Smolder took the clue and joined in as well, standing on the other side of Yona as she grinned smugly. “Unlike you jerks, we’ve got Friendship on our side. And we know how to use it~” She pointed out.

To this the Griffon could only take a step back for a moment, worry growing on his face. “Oh. Oh no, you’ve... you’ve Mastered friendship?” He asked swiftly, looking from side to side with a small amount of panic as he picked up his cane again.

CRACK!

The Crystal before them all cracked and shattered briefly, the magical barrier holding together around the black and silver tipped cane, before the Griffon laughed. The children jumped back a bit, Sandbar nearly getting hit in the head by that thing if Yona hadn’t shoved him back. “Oh, you are simply adorable!” The Griffon called out, before laughing. Loudly. It was a far more sinister laugh than his first one, and made the Children reel back in confusion. “Really? Your friendship is so strong- do you not realize what’s happened? Your source of POWER is being drained!” He called out, motioning to the artifacts around them.

To their confusion, the children could see that the artifacts around them were floating higher now, the electricity arching off of the rainbow magic that was defending them slowly draining the rainbow power of color. It was taking on the power itself, which was alarming in it’s own right, as Ocellus studied the area. “It’s- syphoning off the Magic? From the-”

“The Remains of the Tree of Harmony- yes yes. That’s correct.” The Griffon told her. “So go ahead!~ By all means, use what little of the Magic the Tree has bestowed upon you left. It’s consciousness has lived on in those shards, and in all of you- once the magic of the tree is gone from this world, and gone from you, there is nothing that can stop us~” He told them, before laughing again, much less threateningly now as he turned away and held out his claw. The Cane swiveled and spun in the crystal, before returning back a moment later as he smiled. “Best not to lose that, before it gets sucked in as well.” He muttered. “Now. Children? Do be good little bratz and accept your fate~ I promise, things will go much smoother if you-" -thunk- “-do~” He said, before he paused to blink. He looked confused at first as his head turned from side to side. “... Strange. I coul-”

-thunk-

He stopped in his tracks and looked about. That noise was quiet- very quiet over the singing hymns going on around him, and the crackling of power and electricity before him. But it was still loud enough for him to make out. “What’s that noise?” He asked out loud, before turning around.

-thunk thunk!-

“No, no... that’s not it.” A soft whisper drifted across the charged air, followed by another set out loud thunking noises. -thunk thunk thunk!- “No! No no, that’s also screwed on... Common, which one of you isn’t- WOW!”

Suddenly, all eyes turned to look up, the ominous choir stopping their chant mid song. High up above, one of the ventilation shafts were kicked open by a hoof- and a blue figure fell out from the ceiling, falling towards the lage crystal structure in the middle of the room. “Woowww!-” A stallion turned and landed face first onto one of the four broadsides of the pyramid. He quickly began to slide but managed to quickly get his hooves underneath him as he somehow stood up. “Wow nelly! Steep incline there huh?” He asked, laughing as he looked about his surroundings.

He was a tall earth pony stallion. Lanky, though fit looking. He wore a tweed sweater-vest, with a red bowtie, a nice cream yellow undershirt beneath it. A pair of thick, square, blacked rimmed glasses sat upon his large bridge of a snout. On either side were a pair of brilliant green eyes, which popped against his cornwall blue coat. Brown wavy hair all messed about, not a brush to be found, with a bright yellow Questionmark on his flanks, hidden within the eye of a camera. His smile faltered briefly as he turned to face the entire group set before him- a whole division of a cult.

“Oh. Oh wow. Uh. Alright, apparently this is not the little colts room.” He muttered briefly, before giving a small chuckle and a wave. “Greetings everyone! Haha, sorry! Sorry for dropping in your little ritual! Don’t mind me...” He sounded young- not the students age, but he certainly couldn’t have been any older than Professor Rainbow Dash at least. His wave nearly cost him his footing, making him stumble a bit and slowly slide down a little more. “Wowow!~” He looked down and steadied himself once more, before noticing the creatures within the pyramid he stood upon. “Wow. Uh. Hello there.” He muttered, looking around for a moment.

“What the heck. Who are you?!” Gallus called out, looking out towards the crowd who had stopped singing at this point in befuddlement.

“Uh, No Body!” The stallion responded, smiling to the griffon as he looked back up to the group. “Nobody important! You kids alright, you’re looking a little stuck.”

Yona’s eyes were slowly growing bigger as she looked up to this stallion, her face turning into this hopefully optimistic stare. Recognition, mixed with a smile that could only be compared to a beam of sunlight breaking through on a cloudy day. Sandbar took note of this, looking a little confused at first and would have reached out-

“You!” The griffon screamed from outside the circle, flapping his wings as he took to the air to be on an eye level with this stallion. “You no good, nosey little-”

“Gulaque!~” The stallion called out, gasping in surprise like he was greeting an old friend. “You certainly look well for a 900 year old bird! Your feathers are still in place- how goes the hunt for a good toupe?~” He asked, laughing as he walked up the pyramid carefully, managing to hook an arm around the top.

The griffon just growled at him though and was about to take flight, before someone called out below him. “My Lord! You can’t!” ‘Gulaque’ stopped mid dive and turned to look back to the welp who had stopped him, before he looked down to where said servant was pointing. The circle. He snorted and pulled back, glaring at the pyramid and the stallion whom now sat upon it.

The stallion raised an eyebrow and slowly grinned. “Oh? What’s this now... You can’t enter something?” He asked, before looking about his immediate surroundings.

“It’s a spell!” Ocellus called out. “A Ritual Spell, like the one Cozy Glow used to suck all of the magic out of Equestria! Only-”

“Only it’s been modified to affect a localized area- namely one with a strong magical structure, based in geometry to oppose the natural chaos of the magical flow.” The stallion said, grinning a moment later as he looked around. This of course got a confused look out of all the kids within the pyramid, except for the still smiling Yak. “Nice, nice, alright! So then why is the power dying down?” He muttered.

“What?” Silver turned to the side and looked out, pressing her head against the crystal. The electricity was still arching out from the paint around them, however, it looked a bit different now. “What do you mean?”

“Look! It’s dying out.” He pointed out, hopping over to the other side. “See how it’s growing dimmer? The Spell is dying out, so why? It should be self sustaining what with the....” he paused and looked down. “I want to say the Remains of the Tree of Harmony, and six Elemental Bearer’s within it’s spell matrix? So what gives?”

“Ohh Goddess!”
“Oh Goddess!”

Everyone looked up to see the crowd around them singing once more. Like a Choir of the dreadful souls of Tartarus itself, their tones picked back up in tune and volume quickly. The blue stallion turned and looked around, before slowly grinning. “Aaahh... So that’s why.” He muttered, then gave a chuckle as he looked back down to the kids. “So you all are trapped in there then? Stuck? Unable to escape?~”

Smolder snorted and crossed her arms. “Yeah. We can’t use any of our Friendship Magic, or else it’ll just make things worse!”

“Is that what he told you?~” He asked, before chuckling as he looked up. “Is that what you told them Gulaque?~”

The Griffon just stared and snarled with his beak quivering angrily, before calming himself as he straightened his tie.

The Stallion’s grin turned all kinds of annoyingly playful and confident. “Hehaahhaa... Alright! So what’s your game then?” He asked, slowly getting a better grip as he hugged the Pyramid on both sides.

“Uh- hey! Dude!” Gallus called out, flying up to him. “Shouldn’t you be helping us get out!?”

“In a minute!” He told Gallus. “For now, just think of a good song. I need to talk with the Griffon in the Monkey Suit.”

“But, if you stay in the circle with us, your magic will be affected too!” Ocellus called out.

“Ehh, don’t worry too much about me and my magic. I’ll be fine, I don’t technically have any.” The stallion admitted, before giving a small shrug.

Gallus blinked in confusion, looking back to the others, before looking back to him. ‘Think of a good song?’ “Is this guy crazy?” He asked, floating back down.

“No magic?” Ocellus muttered, before looking back to Sandbar who was equally confused. “But. That’s impossible.”

“Many things are.” The stallion admitted, smirking deviously on one side as he stood up. “Right Gulaque?~ Many things are impossible, like designing the perfect spell to entrap and ensnare all of the hope for a better world! Attempting to seal it away with a single spell! That's VERY impossible, but that doesn't stop others from trying!~"

The Griffon on the sidelines snorted at him as the singing grew behind him. He seemed displeased with the mockery of a stallion. “You have no idea... Thankfully, I know my design to be quite solid! There’s nothing you can do to save them, or stop this process!” He told the stallion.

“Oh, is that so?~” He asked, looking around, and carefully slid his way down the side of the pyramid. “You think I can’t undo what you’ve done?! Let’s see what you’re working with...” He muttered, stopping himself from touching the ground as he looked to the Artifacts floating around them. He gently fiddled with his glasses, straightening them as he squinted. “So! We have The Journal of Queen Chrysalis, The Shield of Hunter Hellfire. The Spear of Serenity, The Lantern of Shadows. The Flute of... Death?" He asked out loud, before his eyes fell upon the sheath that floated beside it. He turned and looked over to Gulaque with a strange and almost angry look. “... Avalon?”

Gulaque gave a chuckle and shrug. “A personal relic from my own collection.” He admitted, taking in that deliciously angry look the stallion was giving him.

Smolder frowned, seeming more confused by the second. “... I don’t get it.” She said, looking back to the others. “That’s all just a bunch of junk right?”

Ocellus though, spoke up. “Uhhh. No. I don’t think it is just, ‘junk.’ T-The Journal of Queen Chrysalis? That’s said to contain all of her spells, spells she stole from the most powerful wizards in history. Not to mention the secrets of the most prestigious and resourceful kingdoms of the last 9 Centuries-”

“11 Centuries, actually.” The stallion corrected. “It’s been on my list for quite a while. Been meaning to find that.”

Smolder seemed impressed with that actually. “... Uh... Well- what about the Spear? That’s just someone’s spear right? Couldn’t be too bad-”

“The Spear of Serenity is the most cursed weapon to be seen by any member of Royalty.” Silverstream muttered. “I know it because it killed my Great Great Great Great Grandma In Seaquestria!”

“It’s been used in a number of revolts and rebellions against royalty over the last 500 years, and has been the cause of a few even before that.” The stallion stated, sitting up a bit more. “It’s responsible for a number of murders in multiple royal courts, before eventually finding its way into Seaquestria- likely when it was chucked into the ocean by Celestia after an attempt on her life... It was the only weapon that ever left a permanent scar upon her body. Said to be able to kill even an alicorn...”

Yona took a step back as she looked to the other things around them, now worried. “.... Lantern.” She stated, before pointing to it. “Lantern of Shadows! It-It comes from old Folktale in Yak-Yakistan of mad-leader of tribe who created armies from a cursed Lantern! Armies made of shadows of dead yak warriors who he killed!”

“But-But what about the recorder?” Sandbar asked. “And the scabbard thingy?”

“The Flute of Death!” The Blue stallion turned around, quickly climbing back up. “Created by an Occult Hermit Unicorn, it's said to be one of four he carved into being, each one for the appropriate Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The flute was said to be made of the unholiest materials, to ensure that Death’s touch would be broadcasted through it, and is also where we get the phrase "Instrument of Death" from. Any who hear it are immediately killed, their hearts and minds lulled into eternal peace by it’s eerie tune. It rots flesh and kills all living matter. I originally came for it- well. Not exactly.” He then dropped the subject, and turned and looked to the ‘scabbard’ last, watching as the extravagant sheath slipped just out of his reach a few feet away.

“... and that, is Avalon... Sheath of the Legendary Sword, Excalibur.” He stated softly, turning to look back to Gulaque. “The Sheath of the sword used by King Grover, capable of healing any wound or ailment. It was created by the famous Wizard in history, Starswirl the Bearded himself. When Grover lay dying upon his deathbed, needing it the most... Avalon was nowhere to be found. Likely stolen to ensure the King’s final breaths.” He said softly, before his eyes slowly rose up to meet Gulaque. “... It's disappearance brought about the end of the Golden Era of the Griffon Empire.”

The student six all turned and looked to each of these items, feeling an ominous fear crawling up their backs. They each had a dark history behind them, and yet, all having some kind of connection to them.

However, Gallus was the one who broke the silence that clung to them, turning up to look at the stallion who seemed impossibly informed. “How... Do you know all of this?”

The oddly dressed stallion turned to look down at the group, his ever present smile growing in confidence and courage. He notably took notice of the Yak staring back at him hopefully, and gave a small chuckle. “Because. I’m The Librarian.” He told them swiftly, adjusting his bowtie with a hoof.

Gallus raised an eyebrow slowly, before shaking his head. “Yep. He’s crazy. We’re doomed.”

“No! We’re okay!” Yona reaffirmed, grinning from ear to ear as her tail wagged back and forth behind her. “Trust him!"

“Trust him?!” Ocellus asked. “He’s insane! He just fell from the ceiling and dodged landing on the sharp end of a pyramid! How can he save us- he doesn’t even have any magic!?”

“Huh-Ooh! Magic Shmagic! I don’t need to possess any to get you out of this!” The Librarian said, before hopping down the walls once more and grinning as he reached out before he hit the ground, grabbing the wooden flute with the skull carved into it. “Gulauqe! I should inform you that you’ve made a VERY BIG mistake with your design!~” He said, grinning brightly as he climbed back up the pyramid before anyone could get him again.

Gulauqe angrily squaked at him as he got to his feet. “You wouldn’t DARE!” He shouted suddenly. “That will kill everyone here! Including the Children! And if there is one thing I know about you Librarian, it’s that you are too weak of will to kill anyone!” He said, smirking slowly as he floated above, that ominous singing still ringing around them in the cavernous like structure. “No matter the cause... So give up! Don’t pretend like you will play that.”

“Correct! I’d never play the Flute of Death, especially not with the intent to kill anyone.” The Librarian said, grinning brightly as he looked back to the crowd of curious and worried onlookers. The magic was still flowing into the flute for a moment, coursing... past his hoof and into the pyramid still. Ocellus seemed to stare in awe for a moment, studying the phenomena. “But that’s where your mistake comes in! I came here tonight to collect a particular artifact- this one in fact!” He said, holding up the flute.

“...” The Griffon gave a confused look for a moment, before suddenly growing wide eyed.

“Kids, cover your ears.” He told them all quietly, before standing up, holding the flute to his lips carefully. The Children immediately took to his advice and covered their own ears as he took position. “The Flute of Death is rumored to be made out of stone and metal, materials Death has no domain over! Materials that do not wither away under her touch! This therefore, cannot be the Flute of Death. It isn’t the "Flute of Wrath," she strikes me more as a heavy-metal kind of mare, and Conquest is more into brassy, victorious kind of instrument." He admitted, chuckling like he knew these fellows. "So, by process of elimination! This must be... The Flute of Pestilence!” He declared, before giving it a quick blow.

Gulaque turned around, and tried to cover his ears in time- before the loud sound of a whistle came blasting around them, the power coursing through the artifact already rebounding off the stone walls and growing in strength as it reached the farthest corners of this stone structure.

Like a wave of air pressure, there was silence preceding the note he played, bringing out a small noise from the back... “cough.” Then, another. “cough!.. caug-” Until it began to spread outwards like a plague, from the front to the back.

The cloaked figures all began to cough uncontrollably, feelings of vertigo and delirium passing through their minds. Fevers began to fester, warts and boils began to grow across their pelts. An irritated throat began to ring loudly through their ears bringing the choirs singing to an end.

The Librarian began to struggle from on top of the pyramid, feeling a sense of nausea rolled over him. Hanging on for a moment, he slowly let himself go and slide down the side, rolling onto his feet when he hit the bottom. “Uuuugh- that’s. That’s not good.” He grumbled, before seeing the golden scabbard pass over his head. He turned slowly and grabbed it as boils began to grow on his face- before slowly bringing as he shuddered and held the sheath close to his chest. Just as quickly as they began to appear, they began to disappear as well, making him turn and smile towards the children as he now sat on much sturdier ground. “Oof! Much better!”

The children all slowly lifted their heads off of the ground taking in the noise and ‘cacoughony’ of wretches going on behind him. Then slowly looked back to this stallion before them, who was grinning brightly right back, like nothing was wrong. “So, who’s ready to start singing?” He asked the six of them, smiling enthusiastically.

“.... What!?” They all asked him in unison. It was unquestionable at this point, there was something clearly wrong with this stallion.

“Y-You just created a PLAGUE!” Ocellus shouted.

“Only a small one.” The Librarian responded. “And fast acting, so I suggest you start singing soon.”

“Why!?” Smolder interjected. “Why would we need to sing?!”

“To take over the spell of course!” He pointed out, before giving a chuckle. “Didn’t you notice?! They were charging the spell with their energy via chanting- Vocalizing their magic! Musical Magic! It’s not very powerful magic, but when combined with six magical Artifacts, the husk of a pillar of the universe, and a strong enough will emotionally leading the song, it creates a megaspell! Unlike Cozy Glow’s, it’s much faster charging, so instead of a few days, this one works in a few minutes- they've charged it mostly but it's not reached its peak yet!” He called out, quickly snatching up the shield from the floating artifacts and scratching away at the ground around the Pyramid.

“Wait- but if we charge it, aren’t we going to just end up sucking our own magic out still?” Ocellus asked.

“Not if I change the markings on the ground!” He said, creating long grooves with the shield’s tip. “Thankfully, this paint is pretty thick and wet! If I create small enough grooves it should leak in like water leaks into a crack on a sidewalk!”

The children all turned to look at him in utter shock. Then they turned to look at each other, thinking the same thing at that exact moment.

“Well. What have we got to lose?” Gallus asked, before shrugging slightly. “Anyone know a good song?”

“Oh! OH! I do!” Silverstream called out, grinning brightly. “I’ve had this song stuck in my head ALL DAY since I woke up! Professor Pinkie Pie taught it to us when she was talking about throwing a party for her friend Colgate!”

“Perfect! The catchier, the better!” The Librarian called out. “The music creates a feedback loop in the mind if it’s catchy enough, basically doubling the-”

Du-du-deh Deh-deh-deh-DuhDuh !

The Music began from out of nowhere, as Silver began to sing with the bob of her head. “When I’m feeling lonely! Sad as I can be!”

Gallus groaned and faceclawed. “Oh Grover no... Please no.”

Silver grabbed him by the shoulders and put her head into his as she continued to sing. “All by myself, an uncharted Island in an endless sea!~”

“You know what, I think I’d rather have my magic sucked out of me.” Smolder stated, turning around and yelling at the cultists. “HEY! WE GIVE UP!”

“Guuuyyyss! Common!” Silver begged. “This’ll be fuuunnn!”

A groan surfaced from the other 5 members of the student body, before Sandbar, ever the pragmatic swallowed his pride. “... What makes me happy.”

“Fills me up with Glee!” Yona called out, smiling as she soon bobbed her head to the beat.

With a roll of her eyes, Smolder added; “Those bones in my jaw, don’t have a flaw- my shiny teeth and me.”

“My Shiny Teeth that twinklllleee! Just like the stars in spaaaacceee!” Silver proclaimed. “My Shiny Teeth that sparkle, adding beauty to my faaacccee!”

“My Shiney Teeth that Glisten! Just like a Hearthswarming Tree!” Ocellus picked up, flying up beside Silverstream.

“You know they’ll walk a mile, just to see me smile.” Gallus chimed, snapping his claws to the beat. “My Shiny Teeth and me~”

“Shiny Teeth, Shiny Teeth!” Sanbar and Yona sang.

MEANWHILE, The Librarian could only laugh to himself as he worked, hearing the music begin to worm it’s way around the room. Within the Pyramid, it echoed very little, but what managed to break it’s way out past the magical seals was echoing off the walls very loudly. It began to bounce around as he continued dragging long lines in the ‘paint’ and away towards the pyramid, still holding the flute and scabbard under one arm each. “That’s it guys! Keep going!” He called out. “Just keep Singing!”

Outside the circle, Gulaque was coughing and hacking away, trying to pick himself up as he could barely focus. He snorted and growled as he tried to push himself upright, feeling his magic slowly returning him to his physical peak. However, the Flute’s own magic was powerful, and hard even for an immortal to simply brush off. He turned towards the Pyramid, and slowly managed to get a grip on his cane. “... you...” He whispered in a raspy voice.

The Librarian looked up at him, giving a small smirk as the crimson paint’s yellow crackling slowly began to fade, the boiling blood look it had about it gently settling down. “.... Me?~” He asked him playfully.

Gulaque snarled carefully and tried to pull himself into a standing position, but his gut nearly emptied its contents onto the ground as a result. He held his beak shut and turned away, making The Librarian give a small wince. “Oooh... That’s not good.” He muttered, before he continued to carve away at the ground. “You know- maybe you should see a doctor about that?~”

Gulaque turned to look back at him with bloodshot eyes and an outreached fist- but his body wretched as he was made to turn away again, the sickness hitting him hard.

“My Shiny Teeth so Awesome! Just like your favorite soooonnngg!”
“Shiny Teeth! Shine-Shiny Teeth!”

“My Shiny Teeth I floss ‘em, so they grow to be real strooooonngg!”
"Shine-Shiny Teeth! She's got really Shiny Teeth!”

Silverstream and Ocellus were singing carelessly to the wind, while Sanbar, Smolder, Gallus and Yona were all providing the backup and chorus underneath them.

“That’s it Kids! Just a little more!” The Librarian called out, before grunting as he finished carving up the dirt and stone beneath him. The paint began to trickle through the cracks he had chipped into the ground and made for a quick series of continuous lines that grew towards the pyramid. “Hmm... Alright- good enough!” He called out, before taking the artifacts he was holding onto and throwing them up into the air. Then he turned around and quickly scurried up the side of the pyramid. Just as the red paint began to turn a strange lavender hue, small sparkles slowly flying above it.

“Alright- Time for the Finale!” He told them, tapping on the crystal. “Show-Stopper time! Bring us Home!” He told them, grinning brightly and laughing slightly at the absurdity of their choice in song. He shook his head. “Ugh, I won’t get that out of my head for another decade at least...”

“You got it!~” Silver called up to him, before grabbing Ocellus as she dropped down to be with their friends. “My Shiny Teeth- I LOVE THEM, and they all Love meeee!”
“Aaah-aahh-ahh~”
“Why should I talk to you when I’ve got thirty two! WOW! My Shiny Teeth and me.”
“Shiny Teeth, Shiny Teeth!”
“My Shiny Teeth and meeeeee!”
“Shiny Teeth Shiny Teeth!”

The arching magic that was previously attacking the pyramid structure swiftly began to vanish. A strange set of dancing lights began to slowly grow from the ring of lavender energy like a lit fuse on a firework, before exploding forth in a quickly made blaze. The Pyramid was suddenly struck by a beam of white light, on all four sides. Six separate lights streamed into the crystal structure, causing the magical energies that were giving it structure to slowly bind the crystal together into a more ‘Solid’ feature once more.... Slowly, symbols began to glow on the pyramid, where each light struck it, turning a different color when it was reflecting....

Pink Balloons.
Blue Lightning.
Yellow Butterflies.
Orange Apples.
White Diamonds.
And a Purple Star.

Suddenly, the lights striking the pyramid turned and converged onto the Circle surrounding it- throwing up a MASSIVE Rainbow Bolt of Energy into the sky. It smashed through the ceiling, sending dust and debris everywhere around them. The Ceiling began to crumble, and the underground colosseum was bathed in bright, purifying light. Their world became solid and warm before they all felt it leave them....

Leave them alone, and in the dark. No Artifacts. No Pyramid. No Children... And No Librarian~

Author's Note

As always, comments would be appreciated!

Chapter 3

Meanwhile: Back at the School of Friendship...

“You... Lost them.” Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and newest leader of the Equestrian nation, asked her former student- now headmare of her personal school. “Politely” one might add.

She was currently sitting in Starlight’s Office, around noon the day after Starlight’s announcement had been made. No one had noticed it the evening, or even into the next morning. But by lunchtime, when the students were all in the cafeteria eating lunch, Trixie had done a headcount. When six names came up missing, she brought it up to Starlight, who immediately summoned the Princess- because of course it had to be those six.

Starlight nodded her head, sighing slowly. She was very quickly getting tired of being yelled at, especially since this was only her second day on the job technically speaking. So to hear Twilight’s calm reaction was a much needed change of pace. “Yes. We cannot find them.” She stated again, this time forcing herself to be calm so as not to worry her teacher. “That is why I contacted you immediately- and not their Guardians. Informing you now was better than having them inform you later, because this will undoubtedly leak its way into a number of international and foriegn affairs.”

“Trixie thinks that was one of your better calls today. She is also surprised that it only took a day for it to happen. Trixie was expecting at least a week to go by before something went wrong.” Trixie muttered, sitting in on this meeting with Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst beside her. She quietly munched away on her carrot sticks she bought from the cafeteria. “Trixie was also impressed with their disappearing skills. They have certainly given Trixie a run for her bits.”

“W-what Trixie means is; we’ve been looking.” Sunburst quickly entered the conversation, staying with Trixie for the moment, and staying out of the direct radius of Twilight’s horn. “They walked out in the middle of the announcements yesterday, when no one was looking. Starlight, Trixie and I were all swamped with angry parents and upset students. It was hours before their own guardian’s noticed they were gone, but even they don’t know to the extent. We’ve done magical scans in their dorms, their classrooms, at the Clubhouse, and the Castle of the Two Sisters. We detected some magic at the clubhouse, but nothing conclusive has come up.”

“Conclusive?” Twilight asked him curtly, looking to Starlight. “You’ve found nothing “conclusive?” Or nothing at all?”

Starlight rubbed the back of her head as she spoke up. “Well... That’s the second reason I called you.” She emphasized as she tried to keep Twilight focused. “There was a power surge at the Clubhouse around 7PM last night From what we scanned, the magic was... eerily similar to the Tree of Harmony’s magical aura. Only, we couldn’t track it to where it went- it cut out the moment it left the clubhouse. Some kind of masking, or nullification spell is stopping us from tracing the endpoint of the transportation.” She admitted, sighing as she got up. “These students have gone missing before though. These exact six... The last time they went missing, they all ended up running away together. And honestly, when you consider their motivations, it makes sense that they would again when threatened with being broken up.”

Twilight watched Starlight, getting up with her. “Their Motivations? You’re convinced they really tried to run away and don't plan to come back?”

“Well- let’s think about it.” Starlight said, sitting down beside one of the large windows in the office. “One of them is from a naturally curious species, raised and repressed into a dictatorship, whom were raised to gather information instinctually from a young age. Her species is now experiencing a new age of literal ‘Discovery’ and we were about to send her back into a hole in the ground? Another is a literal fish out of water, obsessed with the fantasy of ‘Life on the Surface’ and all the stuff that we consider ‘normal’ and ‘everyday’ seeming bizarre and strange. A third is an orphan, grabbed off the streets with nothing to go back too if we send them back to their kingdom, and a fourth gets singled out and distanced back in her home country for even walking on the same dirt as us. Only one of those six children is an actual “Ambassador” and that’s because she was the most open minded of the most close-minded and stubborn species on the planet. The last one literally lives here and is devoted to them because they’re the first real friends he’s ever had, so is likely to agree with the group majority- whom we’ve just established, have little to no reason to go “Home” when all of this is said and done.” Starlight explained, shaking her head as she rubbed her temples, hanging her neck in defeat before she put her face on the glass. “I honestly should have seen this coming!”

Twilight stared at Starlight for a moment in disbelief, blinking repeatedly before looking back to Sunburst and Trixie. Sunburst shrugged at her slowly, but thankfully, Trixie explained. “She did use to counsel these children. These six were the ones that ate up nearly every hour of her time while she was working here.” She reminded Twilight. “She put in more time with these particular six students than any of the other students combined. I should know- they ate into our time together as well.”

Twilight blushed slightly instead and nodded in remembrance. “Oh. Right... Well, I suppose when you put it like that it does make sense.” Twilight muttered, looking back to Starlight. “Maybe, they did run away. But, our first priority shouldn’t be trying to figure out how to help them stay together- it should be trying to get them back before they spark an international incident. We can sit down and talk with them and their guardians after we bring them home, but we have to actually do that first.” She said, walking over to her own student and sitting with her.

“I know, I know.” Starlight groaned softly as she picked up her head and stared out over the lovely day. “But I just can’t help but feel like I’m failing these kids as their Headmare. I know these Kids personally, I helped define right and wrong for some of them because they didn’t know any better.” She admitted, looking back to Twilight. “For them to go to this extreme I just... -sigh- I feel like I’m letting them down by closing the school.”

“You aren’t.” Twilight said, chuckling sweetly as she understood Starlight’s pain. “Believe me, you aren’t. You care about them more as children than some ponies in this nation do- remember the reason we got shut down in the first place?~ Because someponies couldn’t and didn’t care about those kids.” She shook her shoulder lightly instead and gave her a smile. “When we bring them back, I promise you we can work something out. I’ll make something work.”

Starlight looked up to her teacher again, giving a small smile. Somehow, again. Twilight just made sense when she couldn’t, and made everything just a little bit better. With a small sigh, Starlight nodded to her, wiping her eyes as they were feeling a little bleary. “Alright... Let’s go and find them then.”

Trixie snorted and raised a hoof in the air. “And HOW exactly do you plan on doing that? Trixie saw Sunburst and Starlight try and crack the tracking nullification spells- they were very high level. Trixie’s not even sure what type of magic it was, it didn’t look like regular Unicorn Magic.”

“Trixie is kinda right.” Sunburst admitted. “I’ve seen a number of blocking and nullification spells, and this one had the most powerful and complex casting spell matrix I’ve ever seen, let alone tried to unravel. The Signature wasn’t even unicorn magic, which is what half convinces me it was cast by something ancient or primordial all together.”

“Well, we have to try something.” Twilight said. “It’s not exactly like the six of them are going to come falling out of the sky at any moment.”

Just then, high above the School of Friendship, a bright glowing light formed above the clouds, creating a small circle that began to glow wider and wider. It then blasted through the clouds and came pouring down from the sky like a pressurized rainbow beam, slamming into the roof on the far left side of the school. The ground beneath their feet shook as rainbow lights were cast into the headmare’s office window, creating a beautiful array of dancing colors across their faces and the walls contained within.

When they all turned to look out the window- they would see rainbow magic currently dissipating as it slammed into the roof of the school, in the bottom far left corner. Noting the scorch marks on the roof, it appeared to be smoking with magic having just roasted it’s exterior. Starlight and Twilight both went wide eyed before turning to look at eachother, Trixie and Sunburst both turning to look at Twilight as well.

“... Quick!” Trixie jumped up in Twilight’s face. “Now say you don’t expect hunky stallions to start falling out of the sky and madly in love with a Magician!”

“Trixie!” Starlight huffed at her.

“Oh don’t Trixie me! Not everyone has a cute nerdy coltfriend in reserve in some distant empire!” Trixie stated, making Starlight’s cheeks grow crimson red, as she tried to gather her words to retort.

Thankfully, Sunburst wasn’t paying attention. “Isn’t that directly above the library?” He asked out loud, looking back to Twilight.

“What!?!!?” Twilight got up to look out the window. “Nooo! Not again!” She called out, before teleporting across the campus, grabbing the other 3 in tow.

-----&-----

The door to the school’s library flew open not a moment later, lead by Twilight and the school staff. They stormed in past the library’s front desk, and looked out towards the back of the library. However, to their shock... everything was... alright.

I mean, there were crystals shattered all over the ground. But nothing seemed overly damaged.

The crystal pile slowly clattered and began to slip off to the side- before a head poked it’s way out of the center. Bright teal skin, transparent pink membrane, and large bug eyes looked around the room at first, seeming dazed. Quickly a yak popped out beside her- then a dragon. “... Well that was interesting.” Ocellus muttered, looking over to her friends.

“Yak want to sing tooth song again!” Yona declared, throwing up her arms with a large grin before she looked over to.

“Aw heck no!” Smolder shouted, before pushing the yak back under the pile of crystals. She looked over to Ocellus, before they both started laughing, and getting up, Yona joining them a moment later as well. (The crystals weren’t very sharp thankfully.)

“Smolder? Ocellus? Yona?” Starlight called out, stepping out in front of Twilight and rushing over to them. “You’re alright! I mean- are you alright?” She asked quickly, before her horn ignited as she pulled the three students free and lifted them over to one of the library tables. “Where are the others?”

“Uh, I dunno.” Smolder muttered, looking back to the crystals. “They were right behind us.”

“We transported back together.” Ocellus admitted, looking over to Yona who shrugged as she shook some crystals out of her hair. “Maybe they got-”

The hatch in the far back corner of the room flipped open from under the rug, as a small claw escaped. “Over here!” Gallus called out, stepping out before turning around to pull Sandbar, and then Silverstream out. “We got T.P.’d under the library.” He muttered, before sighing as he brushed off the dirt and dust.

“That was not a smooth ride home.” Sandbar muttered, holding his stomach for a moment before turning and laughing with Gallus softly.

Silverstream giggled and stretched out her wings. “But it was really fun though! OH MY GOSH- Headmare Starlight, you would not BELIEVE the Adventure we’ve been on!” She admitted, before gasping softly. “Ooohh! Headmare Twilight! You’re back!”

Five other sets of eyes immediately turned and looked to the old Headmare/Princess and giving stunned and surprised looks.

Twilight however, just giggled softly and shook her head. “Hello Silverstream~ Mind filling us faculty in on what just happened while you were gone on this ‘adventure’? ... And why my library is covered in crystals right now?”

Trixie smirked and rolled her eyes. “Maybe they had a run in with King Sombra...” Sunburst gave her a short jab however and snorted as he found that joke to be in poor taste.

“Ohmygosh- Okay! SO!” Silver immediately pulled over a chair and sat down within it, hands on the table. “We were all in the clubhouse right! Super Angry that we were gonna get split up. Next thing we know, we got teleported halfway across the world into some cavern place! With a bunch of cultists, and this really mean griffon guy!”

Ocellus gasped and nodded. “Oh yeah! He had recreated Cozy Glow’s spell- and modified it! He trapped us in this Crystal Pyramid suspended off of the ground and-”

“He challenged friendship!” Yona called out, stomping a hoof. “He said Friendship was problem! Magic of Friendship big problem to plans! So he tries to get rid of it!”

“By sucking the Magic out of us, yadda yadda yada.” Smolder muttered, rolling her hand as she chuckled. “Next thing you know, he breaks out this old junk and puts it around the pyramid, starts having his cultists chanting some song stuff, and the magic starts happening.”

“Then this crazy guy fell out from the ceiling and-” Gallus however was interrupted.

“Wait wait wait.” Starlight stopped him there. “Hold on. You all were kidnapped? From the Treehouse?” She asked, looking around to them. The students all stared back at her and nodded. “And you were trapped in some cult ritual, trying to suck out your magic?”

“No- the magic from the Tree of Harmony!” Silverstream explained. “We’re filled with the stuff apparently!”

Starlight blinked and looked back to Twilight, who was equally shocked. They had been aware that the children might have been carrying some of the remnants from the Tree of Harmony with them. But to have a full blown connection to something they had never personally even seen before, was a thought that had never crossed either of their minds.

“Yeah! He said it was important that he get rid of it!” Ocellus said, floating up with a buzz of her wings, looking in a concerned manner over to her Professors and Headmare(s). “We didn’t get to figure out why, but we can’t let him go! We have to follow the magic back to his hideout-”

“Hold on.” Trixie put out a hoof to shut the little bug up. “Are you suggesting, we four adults and you six children, drop everything to go on a magical quest across the country to a location you couldn't identify. Find an evil griffon, and his cult, and foil his evil plan for what will likely be world domination of some variety?” She asked. Starlight just rolled her eyes at Trixie’s blatant question, but Trixie gave her a glare back. “Oh don’t even try and pull me into this, you and I had an adventure across the world once this year, I don’t need another.”

Ocellus looked back to her friends for a moment, whom all slowly turned to look at eachother. Then kinda shrugged as they looked back to her. “Uhm... Yes?” She offered uncertainly.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “Alright, alright. Don’t worry about the griffon for right now- we can talk about that later.”

"Twilight's right." Starlight admitted. "And to be honest?" She walked up to them all for a moment and just sighed thankfully. “I’m just happy you are all back, safe and sound."

"Indeed~" Twilight commented. "... But, if you don’t mind me asking. How did you all get away?” She asked.

“Oh, we sang our way back!” Silverstream explained. “We started singing when the crazy stallion got everyone else sick with a magic flute, and then we all overtook the spell they were casting!”

“You ‘sang’ your way back?” Sunburst asked.

“It was part of the ritual thing to suck our magic out.” Smolder muttered, picking up a piece of crystal and gently munching on it like a carrot. “The Librarian put it together. Part of it was the singing, part of it was the crystals, part of it was the stuff they painted, part of it was the antique magical junk they gathered up. It was like, they were all parts in some weird magic engine thingy.” The young dragoness muttered, giving a shrug to her professors while munching away.

The three faculty members, and a Princess all blinked at the dragon, but eventually Trixie was the mind to prevail before any of the others. “... The who?”

“The Librarian.” Ocellus said. “He was the one who saved us! Well, helped us really. He brought us back home.”

“Yeah! He was super smart, and knew a lot of stuff about magic and old relics-” Silver began, turning around. “He was the one who sent us back! But, I don’t see him anywhere...”

Gallus frowned and looked back to the hatch. “Well. He wasn’t behind us, he would have been underground with us.”

“Maybe he got sent to his home?” Yona asked curiously.

Everyone looked around for a moment, before giving confused looks to each other. Twilight and Starlight seeming equally confused, but decided to defuse the situation instead of escalating it for the children’s sake. “Well. It doesn’t matter too much.” Starlight said, walking up to the children and sitting down before them. “All in all, I’m glad you guys are safe~”

“Indeed” Twilight said- before she blinked. "Wow. Deja Vu." She muttered, then continued to light up her horn, lifting the shards of broken crystal off of her library floor. “Now then. Let’s get you kids settled in and taken care of-”

“Oh! N-No!” Silver called out sternly, before blushing as the eyes in the room turned on her. “Er... I mean... W-We want to talk?” She offered.

It took a few seconds, but it slowly began to click in the students heads again. After that weird little adventure (if they could even call it that, they were just kidnapped for a night) they had all forgotten what they had been talking about right before the transportation.

“Oh! Right!” The littlest ling among them turned to the Headmare and Princess. “We don’t want to leave the school of friendship! We- we didn’t want to run away again, like we did last time.” She admitted, as that still felt like an oversight on their own part for not thinking it through. But hey, they were kids.

“Yes! We wanted to talk!” Yona stated, stamping a hoof down on the carpeted floor. “We wanted to talk to Headmare Starlight! Make case for staying at school through semester!”

Smolder nodded and stood beside Yona, leaning on her gently with crossed arms. “Yeah, what she said. You can’t just teach us all of this emotional stuff about learning how to work together, and loyalty, then expect us to be okay with ditching this place before we get to finish out the year.”

“Please Headmare Starlight? Princess Twilight?” Sandbar tried his best and darndest to make himself seem as small and adorable as possible, with large eyes and a fragile smile- Gallus catching the hint and getting in beside him as they held their hands over their chests. “Yeah, common teach. Please don’t split us up yet?” Gallus offered, bringing his own cuteness to bear.

At that moment, all the children began joining in the Guilt-Tripping party of creatures with large eyes and desperate looks. They all asked politely, while singing the praises of what the school had taught them, and how they were as close as could be for friends. It made Twilight’s heart quiver in her chest to hear the testimonies from her students, and how strongly they had taken to her lessons. While making Starlight all the more receptive to their pleas for help- not to mention ringing with her own ambitions for these six particular students.

However. They thankfully had someone on staff who was immune to this type of nuclear option.

“Alright, enough of that.” Trixie stated, swooping in and wiping her hoof in front of their faces, making a few of them lose their concentration. “You know we can’t make that decision without consulting your guardians first- and you know we can’t show any favoritism in the school. If we make an exception for you six, what will every other student think when they learn we kept the school open for you?”

Without missing a beat, Gallus spoke up. “Our guardians made some special deal with you all to keep us here and finish our education properly like you promised, and not go to war with you?”

“So that Pony School doesn’t look weak and bad to neighbors who were considering sending other students!” Yona declared. “Sunk Cost Fallacy!”

“That’s not how that works Yona.” Ocellus giggled nonetheless and shook her head. “That as political representatives from other countries, it’s important that you don’t let the message of friendship die by splitting us apart?”

“Because we haven’t even finished the first year of school yet?” Sandbar suggested optimistically. "... What? All the good ones were taken..."

Trixie blinked and snorted as she looked about the three smart-alecs and the doormat who all spoke up, as those were rather impressive and hard to argue points.

Politically speaking at least, Twilight recognized that the School of Friendship would be seen as a failure to other species in the wider world if they did send these six back. If a student whom she personally taught couldn't even graduate from the school, let alone pass the first grade what would the nation's of the world think?

Still though, image aside, there were other avenues she could take towards spreading the message of friendship. “Well, while those are good motivations for us personally.” She said, looking over to Starlight. “And we don’t want to split any of you children up, we would still need a very good reason for your parents and guardians for keeping you here.”

Smolder snorted and rolled her eyes. “Well why not just tell them we were kidnapped by some bad guy and you guys can offer us protection? Most of our countries don’t even know how to use magic, much less defend from it, so you could probably strong arm most of them into agreeing for that.” She pointed out.

“....”

Starlight blinked, and slowly looked back to the other three ‘adults’ in the room. “That’s... a fairly good reason... actually.” She admitted, drawing out her words as she was a bit shocked by it.

“Jeez, don’t sound so surprised about it.” Smolder grumbled, but looked away as a small blush grew on her cheeks.

“Still!” Trixie cut back in. “We don’t have anyone to teach you! And we can’t find six teachers on short notice, that’s why we need to close down the school to begin with.” She reminded them.

Twilight suddenly blinked and turned her head over to Sunburst curtly. “Wait, that’s why Starlight’s closing the school?” She asked him with a small whisper.

Sunburst did his best to try and hold in his embarrassment, but did give Twilight a small nod. “The moment you ascended to the crown and became monarch, the other Elements all handed in their resignations separately. She didn’t want to tell you because she was afraid if she did, you would feel guilty.”

Realization and guilty horror grew on Twilight’s face as Sunburst’s words came true within a few seconds. What she had just done to her poor student?! She turned to look to Starlight, who was somehow still handling the situation, even while the metaphorical ship was sinking around her. Even Celestia and Luna had the decency to make sure the Government wasn’t going to collapse, and their loyalists weren’t going to throw her off the throne before they abdicated it! “... ohmygod, I’m a terrible teacher...”

“Sadly, Trixie is right.” Starlight commented, but tried to smile and lighten the children’s moods, ignoring Trixie’s comment of; “When isn’t Trixie?” with a forceful grin. “We don’t have any staff to teach you right now... but. We won’t just outright ignore your comments either.” Starlight told them, giving a small sigh.

The children all slumped slowly, having gathered together again as a group before their councilor. They were all thinking the same thing again, just like back in the treehouse. ‘It’s over. We’re never going to see eachother again.’ It brought the more emotionally in touch children to tears, Silver, Ocellus, Yona... They didn’t cry but. You could see how they were about to.

The defeated looks on the children’s faces crushed her heart all the more. Starlight didn’t let them wear it for long. “We’ll talk with your Guardians.” She told them. “I’ll see if we can’t come up with something between us. Strike a deal or make a compromise- whatever it’ll take.” She admitted, before reaching out as she hugged the children with her hooves- as many as she could fit between them. “... I already had to tell two hundred and ninety four students I couldn’t watch over them... I won’t tell you six the same. You’re too important to me, alright? All six of you~” She whispered, giving a small smile as she knew these children so well. Six months hearing their every problem, and working on them all together in her every spare moment. Starlight was dedicated to them- more so than any of her own friends.

There was a moment of shock and pause from the students, before the dam slowly cracked. And then burst into tears. Big, huge, sopping yak tears.

Yona cried into Starlight’s chest, horns just barely touching her shoulder blades, while the other five swarmed Starlight and hugged at her sides. Even Smolder and Gallus hugged her- getting over their friends and need to be ‘the cool kids’ in order to do so. “Thank you! Thank you Headmare Starlight!” Silver cried out, speaking on behalf of the other students and making Starlight blush only a little as she looked around her. “Aww, no. No, guys. You don’t have to thank me!”

Behind the hug-pile on Starlight, the rest of the faculty was just watching from a distance. Sunburst seemed like he was about to cry, magicing up some tissues for himself and dabbing at his eyes as he lifted his glasses. Trixie gave a small roll of her eyes, drawing back to sit with Twilight, who was as perplexed as she was amazed by this scene. “.... You said. She listened-”

“She listened to every one of them.” Trixie stopped Twilight right there. “She listened to every problem, and answered every question. She sat through every emotional dilemma and long, ongoing rant. -sigh- ... She spent every waking second they needed her, to be there for them.” Trixie reaffirmed, just as she did back in Starlight’s office. “I don’t know if it’s because of her compulsion for dedication, her own abandonment issues. The things you’ve taught her about friendship, and what it means to be there for someone even on their worst day, or because she developed a habit for helping others with their everyday problems, while running a town full of wackoo’s and nutjobs. Probably all four... But, she cares about these kids.” Trixie affirmed to her, looking over to Twilight. “... You can’t let them get taken away from her.”

Twilight’s gaze fell upon Trixie- who was returning it with a very stern but relaxed look. “I mean it.” Trixie told her. “You can’t let these kids slip away from her. As her friend? I’m telling you they mean a lot to her. Even if she doesn’t realize it fully just yet.”

Twilight, dumbfounded by Trixie’s statement and the understanding she had of her pupil, slowly nodded to her instead of talking about it more. She nodded as her gaze turned back towards the students, who were all beginning to smile again in various stages. “... Alright.” She nodded still, her gaze stealing over with determination. “Alright. I won’t let it happen then.”

“Good.” Trixie then smiled and turned back towards the others, getting up. “Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go play bad cop. It’s what Trixie does best~” She stated gleefully, trotting up to the group, before clearing her throat. “Heh-HEM! Alright! Crying time is over, we need to get you kids back to your dorms before your guardians realize you were missing!”

Silver cocked her head to the side as she opened up her wings and fluttered over everyone. “Wait, we were missing?”

“For how long?” Ocellus asked, as everyone began to pull away from Starlight.

“A Full Day.” Trixie said, giving a chuckle at the mortified expressions on the kids faces. “Yes yes, don’t worry. They don’t know yet- none of them besides the Yak Party have even asked. Thankfully, Pinkie Pie was on call to distract them.” Trixie explained with a roll of her hoof. “Either way, I suggest you all go and get something to eat. Clean up. And go talk to them.... Right now.” She told them.

Giggling, Starlight nodded as her friend came to her side. “Once again, Trixie is right.” She said, ignoring the glare from her friend.

“Why do you make it sound like that is so surprising, everytime you say it? Of course Trixie is right! Trixie is-”

“You all had your talk with us.” Starlight continued, this getting on Trixie’s nerves, but shutting her up for the moment. “But we are only half of the conversation. We can all agree to watch over you for the next few months, and I’m sure the three of us can find someone to teach you before summer begins. But for now? You all should go, and have a heart to heart with your own people.” She stated, before looking up to Smolder- whom was shaking her head dismissively. “... Or, have a fight with them.” She contrasted jokingly, watching as Smolder’s gaze brightened a bit. “Whatever they might listen to~”

“Yes Headmare Starlight.” They all said in unison, and quickly made moves to get up and leave. They all began conversing about between themselves as they left, talking about their experiences and bringing up the problems of how they would confront their parents, or convince their guardians to let them stay.

Leaving the staff behind for the moment to talk amongst themselves about more ‘serious’ matters....

“... They were kidnapped?” Sunburst asked, watching as the library doors closed behind them. “But the magic that sent them there belonged to the Tree of Harmony. I’m certain of it.”

“The Shards are from the tree.” Twilight explained, looking up to the sharp crystals she was still holding up above them. “I’ve been scanning them the whole time we’ve been talking. It is likely that whoever took them used them to summon whatever else remained of the tree's magical signature. But, I know for a fact Princess Celestia had all of the shards recovered and locked away in Canterlot’s Vaults shortly after Sombra’s invasion. This doesn't make any sense- I don’t know how they got a hold of them... I’ll need to contact her about this, as soon as possible.”

“And what about the 'Relics?'” Starlight asked. “The kids said there was “old junk” lying around them. And that it was based off of Cozy Glow’s spell. I got a good look at that spell when I was trapped inside of it, and it used the six relics from the different nations as a way to spread the reach of the spell over those species...”

“And what about this ‘mad-stallion’ they claimed saved them?” Trixie offered. “From what they were saying, he somehow sent them home. And he knew about the relics, while he was somehow also able to override a new type of spell to bring them here? Why didn’t the spell bring him here like it did the Children?”

“I don’t know.” Twilight muttered, looking down to the hatch in the back corner of the library. “... But, I do know one thing.” She admitted, sighing as she looked back to them. “I’m going to need to do some research on this ‘Librarian.’”

Trixie blew hot air past her lips and shook her head. “He sounds like an Egghead if I ever heard one.” She muttered, before yawning slowly as she looked outside. “Hmm. Trixie doesn’t know about you, but it’s nearly two. Trixie thinks she’ll go for a nice cat-nap while the students get settled in-”

“Oh no you don’t.” Starlight muttered, grabbing Trixie by her tail with her magic as the ex-magician tried to disappear from the library. “You and I still have about another one hundred and eighty sets of parents to go through and help relocate their children.”

Trixie yiped and then groaned. “Nooooo! No! Not again- Trixie can’t STAND sitting in that musty office all day! Trixie needs fresh air! Sunlight! Cute stallions adoring her and serving her every whim!” She declared as she was getting dragged out of the library.

Sunburst chuckled and followed behind. “When was Trixie ever getting stallions to serve her?”

“When they were young and stupid.” She grumbled, crossing her hooves.

Giggling to herself, Twilight nodded and teleported the crystal shards back to Canterlot. She was about to follow the others out, when she felt a small tingle in her sense. Just something out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and looked around her library, being the last library she had really called "hers" before the move. Her eyes darted and scanned the room briefly, before slowly growing less concerned by the moment. “A librarian huh? ... Well. I suppose somepony has to take up the job.” She admitted, giving a small sigh to herself as she closed her eyes and put a hoof to her chest. A soft, noiseless breath escaped her when she did, before she let her hoof push away, just as Cadence had taught her. “... This isn’t my story anymore. So, good luck to you. Whoever you are. You’re going to need it~” She stated calmly, before nodding to herself with a smile only she could see.

With that, she went on her way as well. Locking the library door behind her...

Shadows slowly walked up underneath the door. Four at first, before it became a set of two. Someone jiggled the handle from the other side, then fidgeted with something in their grip. Moments later, there was the sound of a turning lock, with a solid ‘thunk!’

A soft golden light encased the doorway from the other side, casting a beautiful shimmering light down the hall- but it faded just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving nothing but a soft thrum of intense magic to fill the air of the empty school...

Thus Concludes...

THe Librarian!
And THe Next Generation of Friendship