The Intruders

Dusty Pages was excited as she packed her suitcase. She was no longer afraid of leaving the house she had lived in all her life. Now, she was only filled with excitement about getting to the Silver Stable Retirement Community as soon as possible, where several of her friends already lived.

The old mare had been Canterlot's librarian for decades, maintaining a perfect record of returning books for years. A record that had been abruptly broken just a year ago when some irresponsible pony had never returned a book that had been borrowed. That completely changed the life of that old mare, who had always sought perfection.

'KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!!' There was a quick, insistent knock on Dusty Pages' door. She immediately raised her head and threw a flowery shirt over her suitcase before going to see who it was. As soon as she opened the door, a young, very nervous, lavender stallion pushed open the door and looked desperately at the elderly mare.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Dusk Shine said quickly, bowing his head repeatedly in a bow, to apologize.

“Dusk Shine? Is that you?” Dusty asked in surprise, putting on her glasses to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. Remembering that in her time as a librarian, she had a lot of affection for that young colt since he was passionate about books just like her and always took great care of them.

“It was my fault! I broke your perfect record! Because… Because of me, you got fired!” Dusk added, very scared, speaking even faster. He levitated a book with a yellow cover in front of Dusty’s face while he raised his head and looked at the old mare with tears in his eyes.

“Huh? ‘How to Make Friends, for Dummies’? Is that the book that never returned to the library?” Dusty Pages asked, even more confused. Reading the cover of the book that Dusk was showing her.

“The Princess borrowed it… then the changelings and the wedding… the librarian in charge of returns… And so many different restaurants…” Dusk Shine screamed while hyperventilating. He had so many things on his mind that he couldn't organize his thoughts or speak very coherently.

At that moment, Dusty Pages put a hoof on Dusk's mouth to stop him from talking, since she didn't understand anything.

“Honey, you need to calm down. How about some jasmine tea?” Dusty Page asked with a smile. Inviting Dusk Shine to go to her house.

Dusk was surprised that Dusty was taking everything so calmly, unlike him. However, he accepted the invitation of the former librarian and entered her house. Once they were both seated, Dusty served the tea, and they both drank it in silence before continuing to chat.

“Okay, now that you’re calmer, could you tell me everything from the beginning?” Dusty Page finally said, looking at Dusk with a curious look as she lifted the book Dusk had brought her.

“Very well…” Dusk replied, letting out a deep sigh. He wanted to speak slowly, but the story was so long that it was impossible for him to speak calmly.

Dusk began to tell how more than a year ago Princess Celestia had 'kindly' sent him to Ponyville, so that he could learn more about friendship. Before sending him, Celestia had taken his library card and with that same card, she borrowed the book 'How to Make Friends, for Dummies' that she sent to Dusk to serve as a guide. After that, many events happened that Dusk strangely seemed to want to tell in great detail, such as how he met his friends or when they all tried to ingratiate him so that he would give them a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala.

“Honey, get to the point.” Dusty Pages interrupted at one point, noticing that Dusk was straying from the topic. She still didn’t understand how Dusk’s trip to Ponyville was related to the book being delayed for more than a year.

Dusk Shine skipped over further details of his adventures in Ponyville and finally explained that a couple of months ago, he noticed the book was overdue and tried to bring it with him to Canterlot, just on the day of his brother's wedding. At least that was the plan, until he was impersonated and an impostor took his luggage to impersonate him at Shining Armor's wedding.

“Dusk, I’m not getting any younger. Could you get to the point?” Dusty Pages interrupted again, tired. Just as Dusk began to detail his battle against Chrysalis.

Seeing that the old librarian was beginning to tire due to her age, Dusk hurried up his story, telling her that a few days ago he had returned to Canterlot and had discovered the book in the luggage that the changeling left in his room. Thus, he began a crazy trip throughout the city to return the book. First, discovering that there was a new librarian, who told him that the mare in charge of overdue returns was not there. When he went out to look for her, Dusk visited all the restaurants in Canterlot until he finally found her. At that moment, that mare told him that there was a rumor that Dusty Pages had been fired because of that book, for breaking her perfect record. It was then that Dusk became desperate and before that pony could tell anything else, he ran all over Canterlot asking if anyone knew the house of the old librarian, until finally, after visiting more than 30 restaurants and 42 houses throughout Canterlot, he finally found Dusty Pages' house. All, to beg her to forgive him.

“I know that Princess Celestia was the one who borrowed the book in my name, but even so, it was my responsibility to return it.” Dusk added as he finished his story. Putting on a terrified look as he remembered what his irresponsibility had caused. “I never thought that would cause you to get fired! I’m so sorry! I don’t know how to pay for my mistake!” Dusk said, lowering his head in great sorrow, on the verge of tears.

After hearing that long story, Dusty Pages simply approached Dusk and gave him a big hug, laughing. That made Dusk perplexed.

“Oh, dear. The fact that you didn’t return that book on time was the best thing that ever happened to me.” The old mare smiled.

This time it was Dusty Pages' turn to tell a long story. Explaining to Dusk that the loss of that book had indeed broken her perfect record, but it was that which finally released the stress that she had kept inside for years, for always seeking perfection. After losing her record, Dusty had felt depressed and ended up asking for a vacation. That was how she ended up visiting her friends, at the Silver Stable Retirement Community. There, she participated in so many new and fun activities, that she realized how useless it was to always try to pursue perfection, instead of enjoying life. That revelation finally led her to make the decision to quit her job, to enjoy the last years of her life with her friends.

“S-So… You’re not mad at me?” Dusk asked, still very surprised by Dusty Pages' reaction. “I thought the library and books were your life!?”

“Maybe they used to be, but not anymore. Now I know that books are just books.” Dusty Pages replied smiling. “Although you will still have to return the book to the library and pay the late fee. Oh! And they will also have to remove your photo from the honor roll as 'The Best Book Borrower', hehe! I think it's still there.” Dusty laughed mischievously, glancing at Dusk.

“Oh! Yeah… I was afraid that would happen…” Dusk answered, embarrassed. Remembering that his photograph was still framed in the library, for holding the record for the best book borrower in the library. Something that always filled him with pride, and now, he felt sorry to lose.

“In fact, now that I'm not the official librarian, I'll tell you a little secret.” Dusty said, motioning for Dusk to come closer so she could whisper something in his ear. “The truth is that the record doesn't belong to you either. You were only the second best book borrower in the library.” Dusty whispered, letting out a small giggle.

“What? I wasn’t the best? B-But the photo…” Dusk said very surprised.

“Oh, I picked you because the other pony who had a better record than you didn’t want to be photographed or have his name published. He was very private.” Dusty said with a thoughtful look. “He was a colt who was only a year or two older than you. I never knew how he did it, but he always returned the books in better condition than when he took them. Hmm… What was his name…?” Dusty added, trying to remember.

“I never knew about that, who would it be?” Dusk said surprised, then putting on an embarrassed smile. “I guess I feel a little sorry, I was very proud when my photograph was framed in the library.”

“Well, it will serve as a lesson to you, so that just like me, you’ll learn not to always strive for perfection.” Dusty Pages smiled, taking another sip of her tea. “I suppose you won’t be able to break Star Swirl’s perfect record, hehe. Legend has it that one day, the most important wizard in the history of Equestria was so desperate to return a book on time, that in order not to break his perfect record, he broke the library door to return a book at the last second. Haha! When the librarian at the time scolded him for breaking the crystal door, he simply quickly rebuilt it with his magic and ran away, screaming that he would pay the fine for the noise, but that his return record was still intact, hahaha!” Dusty laughed, amused by that absurd legend of Star Swirl that was told among the librarians.

“That anecdote must be just a made-up story, I don't remember reading it in Star Swirl's official biography. Hmm… I guess I could read it again to make sure.” Dusk said with a thoughtful look.

At that comment, Dusty Page froze with her teacup in her mouth and looked seriously at Dusk out of the corner of her eye.

“I remember you read his biography at least ten times when you were a young colt. You didn’t borrow it, but you always went to the library to read it.” Dusty Pages said, quietly closing her eyes.

“Yes, I loved reading about Star Swirl.” Dusk replied smiling. “He was the first Archmage of the kingdom and-”

“You always went to read that book in the library when you wanted to hide from the ponies that bothered you at school. Isn’t that right?” Dusty Page said, finally putting down her teacup and staring at Dusk.

At the old mare's comment, Dusk put on a look of surprise and looked away in embarrassment, remaining silent.

“I remember it very well. You always sought refuge in the library when you wanted to escape from something or someone… Young Dusk, is something wrong?” Dusty asked worriedly, finally realizing that Dusk was hiding something.

“W-What do you mean?” Dusk asked nervously.

“I mean, you went through all this trouble just to return a book to me? You could have just waited for the manager to come back from lunch, but instead, you went around all the restaurants in Canterlot looking for her. Also, you could have asked the same manager for my address, but instead, you ran like crazy through half the city looking for me.” The cunning old mare said, staring at Dusk. “I was very excited that you came to visit me, but as you were telling your story, I realized that it was as if you wanted to make your story as long as possible. Like… like you didn’t want to finish, so as not to go anywhere else. It’s as if you intentionally wanted to waste your time here… Tell me, Dusk, is there something bothering you? Are you hiding from something again?”

At Dusty Pages' question, Dusk simply remained silent and lowered his head in shame, while his ears blushed.

“I… I think it’s late. I better go.” Dusk said quickly. Standing up with the book, he quickly opened the door to leave. “Thanks for the tea! Since we cleared up the misunderstanding, I’ll return the book to the library right now. See you later!” Dusk shouted with a nervous smile, after quickly saying goodbye to Dusty.

As Dusk ran away, Dusty stared at him from the door. As she did, another doubt arose in the old mare's mind.

“Dusk Shine always had two little red stars on her cutie mark? I always thought the five little stars were white.” Dusty Pages thought, trying to remember. Thinking that it must just be a mistake in her aging memory, after all, it was impossible for a cutie to mark will change. Or so she thought.

As Dusk walked away from the old librarian's house, his mind wandered, remembering the events that led him to that day...

After breaking up with Pinkie Pie on the train back from the north, Dusk stood for a few moments listening to his ex-marefriend's crying and his heart tightened when he saw what he had caused. Unable to bear it any longer, Dusk walked away from the last car of the train and ended up at the opposite end of it, behind the driver's cabin. There, Dusk simply fell to the floor and sank into his own sorrow. After that exhausting day, Dusk's body fell asleep and he only woke up with the train whistle, announcing that they were arriving at the first station: Canterlot. There, Dusk stood up and nervously walked back to the car where Spike and the girls were. No matter how nervous he was, he couldn't avoid going there forever, he would have to meet up with his friends to explain what had happened, and also... see Pinkie Pie again.

Knowing that he would have to see Pinkie Pie face to face again after having told her to break up, caused Dusk a pain in his chest and a feeling of discomfort that was difficult to explain, only resembling the feeling he had felt after Applejack broke up with him. That time, Dusk had been locked in his room for days, but this time he couldn't just stay crying in solitude, this time he had to move on and strengthen his heart. However, just before reaching the car where all his friends were, Dusk casually diverted his gaze to one of the train windows and was paralyzed by what he saw. He quickly approached the glass and brought his flank closer to see his reflection, then, he looked at his flank with his own eyes and his face turned pale... There was no doubt, his cutie mark had changed again. Now not only had one of his five white stars changed to red, but now two of them had that color.

“Hey, Dusk. What are you doing standing there frozen?” Spike suddenly asked, who had also woken up when he noticed that the train was stopping in Canterlot. He was surprised to see Dusk standing in the middle of the hallway, looking at his butt.

“T-Tell the girls I’m getting off here! I have something important to do!” Dusk said quickly, without even looking at Spike. He hurried to get off the train before it left again in the direction of Ponyville.

In Canterlot, Dusk had spent almost a week running between his room and the library. He already knew hundreds of books by heart, but just in case, Dusk reread all the books he had within reach that talked about cutie marks and family clans. As much as he searched, he couldn't find anything that talked about the changes in the cutie marks, much less anything related to the 'Sparkle' clan. The only new thing he could find was something related to the 'fade star' that Spike had mentioned in Yakyakistan. In old astronomy books, the fade star was mentioned as a star that was one of the first stars to appear at dusk, and then mysteriously disappeared when night fell completely. That, of course, was just a tale of ancient astronomy, since modern telescopes had discovered that in reality that star did not disappear, but that its brightness was simply greater at dusk because it was at the opposite end of where the sun set, then, its brightness was overshadowed by the rest of the nearby stars that were visible when the sun completely set, making it more difficult to see.

Dusk had read about the name of that ancient star before, but he had never associated it with his cutie mark nor with his family. However, after investigating further, Dusk was in for a big surprise when he discovered that the star he had never paid attention to was surrounded by exactly five stars, which formed exactly the same pattern as his cutie mark. It was no longer a coincidence, a group of six stars in which the center star shone only when ‘dusk’ fell. After years without knowing, Dusk had finally discovered what his cutie mark represented. But that only left an even bigger question. What exactly did it mean that his cutie mark will represent THAT group of stars? After spending days investigating, Dusk finally reached a dead end again, unable to find anything new that related the stars to his cutie mark's change nor with his family's legacy.

After leaving Dusty Page's house and going over everything that had happened up to that day, Dusk returned dejectedly to the library and paid the overdue fine for the book he never returned. The new librarian didn't give much importance to the overdue fine once the fine was paid, however, she still removed Dusk's photo from the honor roll as 'The Best Book Borrower'. Which stuck an imaginary knife in Dusk's proud heart.

After a long and sad sigh, Dusk resigned himself to not seeing his photograph in the library anymore and turned to return to the library corridors, ready to continue investigating the mysteries of his cutie mark and his family, however, stopped halfway. No matter how hard he tried, Dusk couldn't get out of his head the words Dusty Pages had told him, about how he seemed to be running away from something. Giving another sigh, Dusk turned his head slightly and looked towards a corner of the library, where a group of little fillies were reading a comic in the foal's section. Those childish giggles made Dusk inevitably remember HER.

“I can’t keep avoiding her…” Dusk murmured sadly, letting out a sigh. Watching attentively the cheerful smile of those fillies.

Without wasting any more time, Dusk put on a determined look and went straight to the train station, ready to return to Ponyville and meet up with Spike and his friends again. Just thinking about meeting up with everyone again made his stomach turn, knowing that he would have to face an awkward situation again, but at the same time, he felt excited to see all his dear friends again after a long week.

Upon arriving at the station, Dusk saw that there was still half an hour until the train heading to Ponyville arrived. Instead, he was surprised to see that the train heading north, the same one he had arrived in Canterlot on a week ago, was there, changing its central sign to indicate a new last stop: the Crystal Empire.

Dusk knew that Cadance had arrived in Canterlot that very morning from the Crystal Empire. This was because Celestia was still missing after a week, and Luna was finding it very difficult to raise the sun by herself every morning. So she had asked Cadance for help to carry out that arduous task together.

Both alicorns had agreed to speak to the press in order to delay the news of the sudden reappearance of the Crystal Empire as long as possible, to give the crystal ponies time to grieve for their lost loved ones, and also, to give the crystal ponies a little more time to get used to the real world before receiving an avalanche of curious ponies roaming around their city. However, it seemed that the power of rumors could no longer be controlled after a week, and finally, in that same morning's newspaper, the reappearance of the Crystal Empire had come to light.

Dusk Shine watched attentively as very few ponies boarded the train, and everyone looked strangely at the new final destination of the train. That made him sigh with relief, seeing that at least it would be a while before the beautiful crystal city of the north was crowded with tourists.

The train whistle sounded, announcing the last call before their departure, and Dusk Shine simply sat on one of the benches at the station, waiting for the next train. Meanwhile, his mind was distracted thinking about what he would say to Pinkie Pie when they saw each other again.

“Hngh…! This is more awkward than when Applejack broke up with me…” Dusk muttered frustrated. He messed up his mane while squeezing his head. Then, he looked up at the sky and remembered again his talk with Dusty Pages. Thinking that maybe he was running away from things too much and that he should just wait for things to flow naturally.

Just as the northbound train was giving its final whistle, Dusk Shine's eyes widened as he realized something vital. Something he could only realize now that he was thinking back to his talk with Dusty Pages more calmly. Finally, the northbound train pulled away, with one last passenger, a lavender-colored stallion, who jumped onto the moving train just before it left the station.

“How did I not notice before!” Dusk Shine said, shaken after running and jumping onto the train at the last second. Still holding on to the train railing.

“That legend of Star Swirl's perfect record, I thought that the librarians must have invented that fable to teach the ponies to return the books on time. I immediately thought it was false, because the doors of the libraries are not made of crystal, for safety, but… There is a library that must have its crystal door! Why is the whole city made of crystal!” Dusk thought, excited by his brilliant discovery. “The oldest library in the kingdom has just reappeared in this world! It must have hundreds of ancient books that are not in any other library in the kingdom!”

As the train moved away towards the Crystal Empire, Dusk glanced at the landscape he was leaving behind, where Canterlot could be seen, and not far from it, the small town of Ponyville.

“I'm not running away from Pinkie and the others... This is what I have to do!” Dusk thought, putting on a serious look. Trying to convince himself, even though, deep down, he knew the truth... He was indeed running away.

After a long journey, Dusk Shine finally arrived at the nearest station that led to the Crystal Empire. Upon getting off at the station, Dusk Shine noticed that there were several ponies working on the train line, laying more rails to get closer to the Crystal Empire. But it would still be months before that work was finished, so there was still a long way to walk from that station to the Crystal Empire. Fortunately, the northern storm had completely disappeared thanks to the magic of the new Crystal Heart, and the journey could be made without problems.

When Dusk got off the last car of the train, he saw that only a few more ponies had gotten off at that station, a small group of four ponies who were looking around, apparently unsure of where to go. Hoping that the crystal ponies wouldn't mind him being the one to guide the first tourists to the Empire, Dusk approached the group of ponies to ask them if they wanted his guide to get to the Crystal Empire.

Seeing Dusk approach, the two ponies in front of the group stared at him with great interest, while behind them, the other two ponies seemed to move agitatedly.

Arriving in front of the group of ponies, Dusk saw that it seemed to be a more peculiar group than it seemed from afar. First of all, it was a group of two unicorns, a pegasus and an earth pony. Which was peculiar to see, unless you were in Ponyville, since small travel groups were not normally made up of ponies from the three tribes. The other peculiar thing was that the four of them wore the same simple brown travel cape, and they all had very similar manestyles, despite the fact that they were three mares and a stallion, very simple and old-fashioned manestyles, which reminded Dusk a bit of Pinkie Pie's parents. And finally, the two ponies in front of him looked at Dusk with huge smiles, so big that they were somewhat uncomfortable to see.

“Hi, my name is Dusk Shine.” Dusk greeted kindly. “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought you were a little lost. If you want to go to the city, you can come with me.”

“Oh, yes! We would love your help! It’s the first time we have traveled so far from our town.” The stallion of the group responded with a big smile, lowering his hood so that Dusk could see his face well. He was an earth pony, with white fur and mane, and blue eyes. “My name is Double Diamond.”

“My name is Night Glider, nice to meet you!” The mare next to the stallion greeted, also lowering her hood and greeting Dusk with a huge smile. A pegasus with dark blue fur, white mane and blue eyes.

From behind, another mare stepped forward and also stretched out her hoof to greet Dusk.

“A pleasure! My name is Sugar Belle.” A unicorn mare with lilac fur, a purple mane with a calypso-colored stripe, and light purple eyes greeted him with the same big smile. “And this is…”

Before Sugar Belle could introduce her friend, the mare beside her turned and ran away, hiding her face with her hood.

“Oh! I’m sorry. It seems Starlight had something else to do.” Sugar Belle added, with a sad look on her face. Then she turned around and quickly offered Dusk a muffin that she had in a basket she had with her. “Muffin? I baked them myself!” Sugar Belle smiled, holding out her hoof for Dusk to take the muffin.

“Uh, thanks.” Dusk smiled, taking the muffin. Deciding not to give importance to the escape of that mare called Starlight, thinking that she was simply very shy.

Dusk took a bite of the muffin as he watched Starlight run away, and instantly, he couldn't help but get distracted as he felt his taste buds scream. The muffin was horrible! Or perhaps, it was that he was used to the sweet desserts that Pinkie Pie and Applejack always prepared. It wasn't the texture or how the muffin was cooked, rather, it was that it didn't taste like anything, Dusk couldn't distinguish any flavor.

“Would you like another?” Sugar Belle asked with a big smile. Pushing the basket of muffins towards Dusk.

“Hmm… Maybe later.” Dusk smiled nervously. He forced himself to swallow the tasteless muffin so as not to offend that mare. “We better start walking towards the city. It’s a long way.”

As they walked, Dusk noticed that those three ponies kept a certain distance. It seemed that they were chatting a lot among themselves, but Dusk could not hear what they were talking about. It was when he looked at them out of the corner of his eye that Dusk realized that due to how short their traveling cloaks were, their cutie marks could be seen as they moved, and upon seeing them, Dusk opened his eyes in surprise upon seeing those peculiar cutie marks, if they could be called that… It seemed that none of those three ponies had a cutie mark, instead, had two gray horizontal stripes on their flanks.

“Where have I seen that symbol before…?” Dusk thought, unable to remember where he had seen that drawing.

“Are you wondering why our flanks look like that?” Sugar Belle asked. She quickly noticed that Dusk was watching them.

“Uh, n-no. I wasn’t looking at them.” Dusk quickly responded nervously, looking away. Knowing that he had been rude to stare at them. “Besides… I’m the least qualified to talk about cutie marks.” Dusk murmured with a sad smile, looking at his own flank. Sad at not knowing the reason for his change.

“This is the symbol of equality, and soon all of Equestria will know it and live under its guidance.” Sugar Belle said with a big smile. “We came to this town to share the teachings of equality. All ponies are equal from the moment they are born. No one is superior to anyone else.”

“Everyone is equal before the law. Everyone has the same rights.” Double Diamond added, always with a big smile.

“Everyone’s talents are equal. No one is superior.” Night Glider added smiled, joining her companions. Then the three ponies continued saying phrases about equality and how harmony depended on not standing out or feeling special.

“Great! I lead the first tourists to the Crystal Empire, and they turn out to be a religious sect…” Dusk thought a little frustrated as he walked and listened to the whole speech of that group. “Although, I guess equality is good. It’s not that it’s a bad thing that everyone wants to be equal…” Dusk thought as he listened to some of the phrases. But he quickly shook his head so as not to be so easily influenced by a group of strange ponies he had just met.

Finally, Dusk and his companions arrived at the Crystal Empire. There, the three ponies accompanying Dusk looked in amazement at the enormous and beautiful city made entirely of crystal.

“I didn’t think it was this big… How did a city like this appear overnight!?” The pegasus of the group, Night Glider, asked with a look full of wonder.

“It’s… A long story…” Dusk replied with a sad smile. Remembering what happened the previous week, when, despite how bright that city seemed, its origin had been very dark and painful.

As they walked towards the center of the city, Sugar Belle suddenly opened her eyes in surprise.

“What is this strange magic I’ve been feeling for a while now?” The mare unicorn asked, with a shocked look. “It feels stronger as we get closer to the castle.”

Seeing where Sugar Belle was looking, Dusk immediately understood her reaction, after all, she was also a unicorn and could feel the powerful magic emanating from there.

"It's the Crystal Heart." Dusk said smiling, getting close enough to see the castle and, in the distance, the object Dusk was talking about, the brilliant Crystal Heart that floated and radiated that powerful protective magic.

The three ponies that accompanied Dusk stared in amazement at that magical object, which made Dusk realize that Night Glider and Double Diamond could also sense that powerful magic despite not being unicorns. Thinking about it, Dusk remembered that his friends had also been able to sense the magic of the Crystal Heart, which confirmed that that magical artifact was so powerful that even pegasi and earth ponies could sense it.

“Dusk! What are you doing here?” A male voice suddenly said, distracting Dusk.

“Shining!” Dusk said with a smile. Immediately recognizing his brother, who was not far from the central square.

Dusk walked to approach his brother, but before that, he called the group of ponies that accompanied him to follow him, although he had to call Sugar Belle twice to get her to react, since it seemed that she had been enthralled by the sight of the Crystal Heart. Arriving next to Shining, Armor, Dusk saw that his brother was gathered with all the guards of the empire, who were no more than eight ponies. It seemed that after the ancestors of the crystal ponies disappeared, there were only three guards left in the entire kingdom, and now, Shining was training them as new recruits.

“So you’re training the guards to be… more like a guard should be.” Dusk said, raising an eyebrow with a small smile. Remembering his arrival in the Empire and how Shining had been annoyed by how indolent those guards were.

“Yes. After regaining their memories, the crystal ponies are now able to at least distinguish between right and wrong, and what is safe and what is not. But years of peace have made them have zero military training!” Shining Armor replied, dragging his hoof across his face in frustration. Glancing back, he saw that some of the new recruits didn’t even know how to hold a spear properly yet. “By the way, what brings you here?”

“Well, this.” Dusk replied, pointing to his own flank. There, Shining was shocked to see that his brother's cutie mark had changed again.

That was something they had already talked about in letters the first time Dusk's cutie mark changed, but just as he had told him that time, Shining had no idea why that oddity could have happened. Just to check, Shining looked at his own cutie mark and found that his was still exactly as it had always been.

“I don't think it's a family thing. We both have the star of the Shine family, or rather, the Sparkle clan. But my cutie mark hasn't changed at all.” Shining Armor said, scratching his head in confusion.

“I don’t know why it keeps changing, so that’s why I came here. I wanted to go to the Crystal Empire’s library.” Dusk said, sighing in resignation. “If I don’t find an answer there, I won’t find it anywhere else in Equestria.”

“Hmm … Yeah, that makes sense.” Shining said with a thoughtful look. “I would accompany you, but I have to continue training the recruits. There’s a lot of work to-” Shining suddenly fell silent as he looked back at his recruits.

All the soldiers had dropped their spears and broken formation while the three ponies accompanying Dusk gave them muffins and chatted happily with them. It seemed that the three visiting ponies had not wasted any time and were already beginning to give their sermons about equality, while the new recruits simply took advantage of the distraction to relax and stop standing still like statues. That frustrated Shining Armor a lot, who saw that his brand new recruits couldn't stand for two minutes without getting into disarray.

“Muffin?” Sugar Belle suddenly said with a huge smile. Offering Shining Armor a muffin.

“Ugh! I give up… Five minute break!” Shining shouted in frustration, grabbing the muffin and taking a bite. Something that made him open his eyes in surprise when he noticed how bland it was.

“It’s natural flavor! That way, no flavor stands out over another, just like everypony should be in life!” Sugar Belle smiled, approaching the recruits again to continue chatting about equality.

“Huff… It’ll be difficult, but I must prepare this new generation of guards for the dangers that may threaten them.” Shining muttered, looking at his recruits. Biting into the muffin again, something so tasteless that it reminded him a bit of the rations the soldiers ate in their training. “We have all grown up in a time of peace, but as we have already seen, at any moment there can be an invasion of changelings, powerful beings that attack with dark magic, or even internal threats.”

“Internal threats? What do you mean?” Dusk asked, confused upon hearing Shining’s last comment.

“If you go to the library, you’ll understand.” Shining replied, looking at his brother with some concern. It would be better for him to see it with his own eyes so that he could understand his words.

After saying goodbye to Shining, Dusk headed towards the library, followed by Sugar Belle, while her two friends stayed chatting with the other guards.

“I heard you’re going to a library. Maybe they have some recipe books there that I can use for my new desserts!” Sugar Belle said, smiling excitedly.

“Yeah, and maybe a recipe so you can add more flavor to your muffins…” Dusk thought, putting on a nervous smile.

The two unicorns arrived at the library doors, following the directions Shining Armor had given them. There, both opened their eyes in amazement at how huge that building was, larger even than the Canterlot library. However, as they approached, something else caught Dusk's attention. In front of the door, there were two unicorns dressed in golden robes, guarding the entrance, and what was stranger, those ponies were Equestria ponies, since neither their manes, nor tails, nor eyes, had the crystalline shine characteristic of the crystal ponies that lived there. As soon as the two unicorns saw Dusk and Sugar Belle, both unicorns got closer to each other to block the door and glared at both of them.

“The library is closed for today.” One of the two unicorns said seriously.

“What? Who says that? Who are you? You’re not crystal ponies.” Dusk asked, taking a step forward, annoyed. He had always been personally irritated when someone forbade him from entering his favorite place in the world, which was the library.

Neither of the golden-capped unicorns answered Dusk, they simply stood motionless, blocking the entrance to the library. Meanwhile, Dusk, upon taking a closer look at both unicorns, saw that their golden capes had a small golden insignia on one of their sides, a golden horseshoe surrounded by a laurel wreath, a symbol that Dusk was able to recognize thanks to his days at magic school.

“That’s… the symbol of the EEA?” Dusk thought in surprise. “Why is the Equestria Educational Association here?”

“What’s all that noise?” An elderly voice suddenly asked from inside the library. The door opened and the caped unicorns had no choice but to move as the doors swung outwards. As soon as the pony who spoke poked her head out, her eyes lit up. “Dusk Shine!”

“Amethyst Maresbury!” Dusk said, equally surprised. Immediately recognizing the old crystal pony who had been the first pony to see him and his friends when they arrived at the Crystal Empire a week ago. Who had invited them to her own house that time.

The old mare hurried out of the library to greet Dusk, who also greeted her with a big smile. Meanwhile, Sugar Belle looked at Amethyst in confusion, while the two golden-capped unicorns kept their cold gazes.

“What are you doing here, dear? I didn’t think you would return to our city so soon.” The old mare asked kindly.

“I know. It’s just that I remembered that I needed to investigate something, so I came to the Empire’s library.” Dusk replied smiling, then looking behind Amethyst, where the two caped unicorns were. “I wanted to go in, but those two ponies didn’t let us in.”

"The library is closed for today." The same unicorn with a golden cape repeated again, who managed to hear what Dusk was claiming.

Hearing the unicorn's words, Amethyst lowered her head and put on a worried look.

“I don’t know what’s going on… A group of unicorns from Equestria arrived early this morning. Some of them went inside and others blocked the entrances to the library.” Amethyst said, glancing angrily at the two caped unicorns. “Prince Shining Armor managed to get me in because I am the official librarian of the Crystal Empire, and now that we have all regained our memories and emotions, there is much, MUCH, to do in the library. But they only let me in on the condition that no one else enters and that I don’t take any books out of the library.”

“If you're not going to come back in, we'll close the door and you'll stay outside like the rest.” The other caped unicorn said angrily, staring coldly at Amethyst Maresbury.

The old crystal mare put on a nervous look and looked sadly at Dusk.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I have to go back inside to make sure they don’t do anything to the books.” Amethyst said with a trembling voice.

Dusk Shine understood perfectly the fear that Amethyst felt. As a librarian, she feared that the group besieging the library could do some damage to that beautiful temple of knowledge. That bothered Dusk a lot. However, when he discovered that those unicorns were somehow related to one of the most powerful organizations in the kingdom, only below the princesses themselves, Dusk had to control himself before facing those two brutish unicorns.

“I’m sorry, dear.” Amethyst said, approaching Dusk to give him a hug as a farewell. Then, the old mare took advantage of the blind angle she had in front of the two caped unicorns and approached Dusk’s ear. “The window in the South wing is open.” Amethys whispered, giving him a small smile before turning around to re-enter the library.

After Amethyst entered the library again, Dusk pretended to be upset and left the entrance. For her part, Sugar Belle had tried to offer some of her muffins to the guards while talking to them about the wonders of 'equality,' but seeing that the guards didn't even flinch, she quickly hurried to follow Dusk Shine.

“Those ponies are very grumpy. I assure you that if the great spirit of equality was within them, they would be much kinder.” Sugar Belle said, after catching up with Dusk. “Why are you leaving? Didn’t you want to go into the library? Have you already given up?” Sugar Belle added, still carrying her basket of muffins. Walking quickly, as Dusk did too.

“Equality may not have been in their hearts, but friendship was in Amethyst’s heart. And that will help us get in.” Dusk said with a confident look. Finally, locating the southernmost window in the library.

Very carefully, Dusk pushed that window, and just as Amethys said, it was open. Silently, Dusk climbed onto the window and fell into the library. Then, he quickly raised his eyes and looked inside, both to confirm if there was anyone nearby and to memorize that hallway in case he needed to teleport there again in the future. To his surprise, Dusk was distracted when he heard that Sugar Belle also fell beside him, although fortunately for him, she also knew how to do it very stealthily.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come with me. This could be dangerous.” Dusk whispered worriedly, looking at the mare.

“We’ll be fine. I’m sure the spirit of equality will protect us.” Sugar Belle smiled, lifting her cape to point to her own flank, where the two black lines of equality stood out.

Deciding that it was too late for Sugar Belle to return, Dusk just sighed in frustration and moved on. As the two unicorns moved forward, both of them opened their eyes wide at how enormous that library was, three floors full of hallways with shelves full of books on both sides, so huge that a pony wouldn't have a lifetime to read all the books there. That left Dusk speechless, whose eyes looked like they were going to explode from how excited he was.

“Watch out!” Sugar Belle suddenly whispered, pushing Dusk so that he was stuck against one of the walls.

Both unicorns remained stuck in the shadow of a wall, with Dusk confused for a few seconds. Then, not far away, Dusk saw a unicorn with a golden cape passing through one of the hallways, carrying several books with his magic.

“Thank you.” Dusk whispered in relief, grateful that Sugar Belle had helped him hide just before anyone saw him.

Once the golden-capped unicorn walked away, Dusk and Sugar Belle began to walk stealthily in the opposite direction, always keeping an eye on the hallways to make sure there was no pony there.

“Where do I start looking?” Dusk thought, finally stopping in one of the hallways furthest from the entrance. Taking the first book within reach and seeing that it was a book on advanced botany, then taking the book next to it, seeing that it was a book with stories for foals. “The books are not well organized… Of course! That's why Amethyst Maresbury said she had a lot of work to do. A library whose books have been taken by ponies losing their memories, everything must be in disarray!”

Dusk began to look through book by book, reading their covers and quickly discarding them when he saw that they were not history books or family lineage books. Unfortunately, this confirmed that his theory was true and there was no order to the books stored there.

“If you find any dessert recipe books, let me know!” Sugar Belle smiled amusedly. She also began to look through the books to see if she could find what she was looking for.

Time passed and passed, and no matter how much he searched, Dusk Shine couldn't find any books of interest. It was true that those books were very old, and many times Dusk was amazed to find first editions of several important books, but most of them were books that Dusk already knew and had read, or books with more banal topics, such as the vexillology of the flag of the Crystal Empire or advice on finding the best crystals in excavations. Nothing even remotely similar to what Dusk was looking for, regarding family lineages, cutie marks or ancient astrology.

As Dusk pulled out book number one hundred and twenty-four from a shelf since he had started looking through the books, he suddenly froze at what he saw. As he pulled out the book he now had in his hoof, he was disappointed for the umpteenth time to see that it was a book on crystal cutting for construction. However, as he wanted to return that book to its shelf, he stopped when he saw that on the opposite side of where he had taken the book from, there was an old and battered book, on the edge of which Dusk was able to read with difficulty that it said: 'The cursed star.' That immediately made Dusk's heart skip a beat, being the first clue about a star he found in that library.

Dusk tried to stretch his hoof further to reach that book from where he was, but suddenly he froze when he saw that the book was moving. Someone from the other side had taken it out just before Dusk took it.

From the corridor opposite to where Dusk Shine and Sugar Belle were, one of those golden-cloaked guards had taken precisely that book, just because it was strange that the book was kept, since normally the spine should be pointing to his side. As soon as the guard took that book, he looked at the cover with interest and opened it to take a look. While the guard was reading the cover, he did not notice that through the space that had been left by taking out the book, the face and hoof of a scared lavender-colored stallion could be seen, who had remained frozen waiting for the guard not to see him if he did not move.

“I finally found one!” The guard said excitedly, suddenly closing the book and beginning to walk quickly. Fortunately, he didn’t manage to see Dusk Shine.

Seeing the guard walking away with that book, Dusk finally moved and ran stealthily until he was at the edge of that hallway, peeking out just as the guard with the golden cape also left the hallway. As the guard walked away, Dusk managed to take a last look at the book the guard was carrying and a shiver ran down his spine. On the cover of that book has no title; however, a six-pointed pink star was drawn, the same star that he had engraved on his flank.

While Dusk was paralyzed by the impression, the guard approached the center of the building and went down some stairs. There, Dusk finally came out of his impression and approached the edge of the hallway, watching as the guard reached a central table located on the lower floor and left the book there, then continued on his way to another section of the library.

“What's wrong?” Sugar Belle asked in a whisper, who had approached Dusk upon seeing him walk away.

Dusk quickly covered Sugar Belle's mouth and told her to keep quiet. He had finally found a clue to what he was looking for and couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Dusk teleported as silently as he could until he was right in front of the table on the lower level, where the guard had left the book. Having been touching Sugar Belle, he inevitably caused her to also teleport with him, so Dusk gave her a sign of silence and told her to accompany him.

Arriving in front of the table, Dusk saw that there were a few books there, and curiously, because of the titles of these, they were all unknown to him. At any other time Dusk would have focused on the other books as well, but when he saw the book with the star of his cutie mark drawn on it, his eyes only fixed on that one.

Dusk carefully took that book between his hooves, as if it were made of glass and could break with any sudden movement. First, he analyzed the cover of the book, seeing that it was indeed very old, probably the second oldest among the books on the table, since there was another one that looked like it would break just by touching it. The book that Dusk was holding had 'The cursed star' written on its spine, while on its cover was the star of the Sparkle clan, already very blurry, due to the ravages of time.

Dusk slowly opened the book and saw that the cover said exactly what the spine said: 'The cursed star'. There was no doubt about it, that was the title of the book.

“The 'fade ‘star’, ‘the star of the Sparkle clan’, ‘the cursed star’… What is the meaning of all those names?” Dusk thought very worried. For an instant, he thought he felt the book move but immediately dismissed it, thinking it was just his nerves.

Dusk's mouth was all dry from anticipation, so he swallowed loudly before continuing to the next page. He would finally find the answers he was looking for! Whether it was something about the Sparkle clan or about his cutie mark, he was sure that this book would at least give him an answer. Finally, Dusk slowly moved his hoof to continue reading the book. As he did so, his entire being paralyzed at what he saw.

“Yuck! What is that?” Sugar Belle asked with disgust, approaching Dusk when she saw that he had remained motionless.

Upon opening the book, the only thing Dusk found was a huge green worm, which was feasting on all the pages that the old book had once contained.

“I… It’s… It’s a bookworm…” Dusk answered awkwardly, as if he had lost all his energy and was struggling not to faint from disappointment. “L-Libraries always make sure that these worms don’t get close to books… because… because they love to eat old pages…”

Seeing that his last hope had vanished, Dusk accidentally dropped the book on the table with a loud noise. As soon as it fell, the huge bookworm looked to the side, and ran its tongue through its mouth when he saw those old books next to it. A new feast to enjoy!

“You won’t!” Dusk shouted in terror, slamming the book shut to prevent the bookworm from escaping and destroying another valuable book.

After that, Dusk covered his face with his hoof, feeling an anguish rarely experienced before. He himself was not sure if he felt worse for losing the opportunity to learn more about his family and his cutie mark or for seeing what was probably a unique book destroyed, a true antiquity destroyed by a simple worm! Dusk's love for books made that a double stab in his heart.

Suddenly, both Dusk and Sugar Belle raised their heads as they felt something strange, something that only a unicorn could feel. Their horns felt a strange magical disturbance coming precisely from one of the other books that were on the table, and the most curious thing was that it was something that had started very subtly but that was increasing very quickly. Dusk cautiously approached the book that seemed to emit that peculiar magical vibration, touched it and slowly opened it. At that moment, for the second time in less than five minutes, Dusk Shine was stunned by what he saw…

'Flashback of two nosy ponies.'

Minutes before Dusk was paralyzed by what he saw when he opened a book, another unicorn was looking closely at another book in another distant area on the top floor of the library. What differentiated this pony from others that were also circulating through the library was that this unicorn, despite having a cape, was not golden, rather, it was an old and long brown traveling cape. However, on the edge of his cape, it also wore the small insignia of the AEE. Another difference with the ponies that wore golden coats was that this pony was less stocky than them, more like a thin stallion. In addition, that pony had the great distinctive feature that he had a long horizontal scar over his nose.

“This book is interesting, but it’s not what I’m looking for.” The pony with the brown cape said, whose gray fur and green eyes could also be seen. “It’s not about family lines.”

“No! This book might be useful to us!” Another ethereal voice echoed, the pony wearing a brown cape.

After hearing that voice, the stallion wearing a brown cape stared at that book with a thoughtful look. That moment of distraction caused him to not notice that someone else was approaching him from behind.

“What was that?” A female voice suddenly asked from behind.

The stallion wearing a brown cape turned quickly at being surprised. As he did so, he saw that it was one of the ponies wearing a golden cape that must have been circulating in the library at that very moment. However, after a second glance, that pony put on a strange look when he saw that the ponies wearing a golden cape seemed to be a mare that he did not recognize.

“Did she hear your voice?”

“I don’t think so, only you can hear me.”

“You don't seem to be from the same group as those brutes who wear golden cloaks.” The mare said, staring at the stallion in front of her. “You do have the EEA emblem, though…” The mare added, squinting at the insignia she hadn’t been able to see before, since the pony wearing a brown cape had been facing away from her.

“My name is Shadow Lock, special envoy of Chancellor Neighsay.” The stallion wearing a brown cape replied, dropping his hood. Then, it was his turn to look suspiciously at the mare. “From what you said about the golden escort, I assume that cloak doesn’t belong to you.”

This time it was the mare's turn to drop her hood, revealing a unicorn with yellow fur, a golden and red mane, and piercing cyan eyes.

“My name is Sunset Shimmer, and I am Princess Cadance's student.” Sunset replied, also looking suspiciously at Shadow Lock.

“Of course, you had to come from a princess…” Shadow Lock muttered angrily. “They, the nobles, are all the same. They just want to hide the story.”

“I have no idea what you mean.” Sunset replied, raising an eyebrow. “Neither Cadance nor any princess sent me here. I came here on my own.”

“If you’re not from the EEA and the princesses didn’t send you, how did you manage to get in?” Shadow Lock asked incredulously.

“Well, let’s just say I’m pretty good at stealth.” Sunset replied proudly.

Contrary to Sunset's pride, what had actually happened was that the yellow unicorn tried to enter the library through one of the library doors, until she was stopped by two guards wearing golden capes. Then, she had no patience, and without any stealth, she managed to knock out the two unicorns and stole one of the gold cloaks to go more unnoticed.

“I approached you because you weren’t wearing one of those silly golden capes, but you do have one of those EEA emblems anyway,” Sunset said after remembering her entrance to the library. Then she opened her eyes in surprise when she realized something important. “But now that I realize it, you haven’t called anyone yet to alert them of my presence, so maybe… I’m not the only pony who is where it shouldn’t be.” Sunset added with a mischievous smile.

Shadow Lock put on an annoyed look for a moment. After a couple of seconds, he lowered his gaze and let out a long sigh.

“Well, it seems we both discovered each other.” Shadow Lock finally said, deciding that it wasn’t worth arguing. “It’s best that we each go our own way and continue without attracting the attention of the golden escort.” Shadow added, levitating next to him the last book he had been looking at before Sunset interrupted him. Walking towards Sunset to pass by her and leave that hallway.

Just as Shadow Lock passed by Sunset, the mare raised her hoof and grabbed the book he was levitating, causing Shadow to stop in his tracks.

“What do you have with you? Hidden under your cloak.” Sunset asked with her gaze fixed and serious, even though Shadow Lock was at her side.

“It’s not your problem.” Shadow Lock replied unfazed, also looking forward, not looking at Sunset beside him.

“So that confirms it; he has something strange under his cloak. That was the strange magic I felt when I first approached him.” Sunset thought, with a worried look. “That’s why I got distracted and he discovered my presence before I restrained him with my magic. It’s not the same feeling, but when I saw this stallion with his hood and with something strange emanating from magic near his chest… I couldn’t help but remember HIM.” Sunset thought, feeling a chill as she remembered the last time she had seen the Archmage.

For several seconds, both unicorns stood still and silent, their eyes fixed forward, as Shadow Lock levitated the book and Sunset stopped him from taking it away. Finally, Sunset lowered her head and sighed in concern.

“I won’t let what happened that time happen again. Even more so if he takes ‘that’ book.” Sunset thought, raising her head with a look full of determination. Thinking that, after having felt that strange magic under that stallion’s cloak, it was definitely dangerous for him to take that book, which Sunset had managed to read the title of.

In just a split second, Sunset activated her magic and attempted to forcefully snatch the book away from Shadow Lock, knowing that she was probably stronger with her magic. What the mare didn't expect was that Shadow Lock was intently waiting for that move, and before Sunset's magic could activate, Shadow Lock used a counter spell to prevent Sunset's magic from activating. The force of Sunset's spell restrained by Shadow caused a magical push to finally push them away from each other, something Shadow Lock had expected, so he managed to grab onto the book that had been levitating before being pushed away.

“Heh! My mistake. I thought you were just a weakling like the other guards.” Sunset said, smiling. Realizing that stopping that stallion would be more complex than knocking out the guards of the so-called 'golden escort,' as that pony called them.

“He was fast, but I only felt his magic, I didn’t feel any external magic helping him.” Sunset thought, reasoning quickly. “That’s good, since it means that whatever magic is emanating from under his cloak, it doesn’t give him extra power, as was the case with Trixie and the Alicorn Amulet. But it’s also bad because it means that this pony is naturally skilled with magic, and it seems that he’s more accustomed to magical duels than most unicorns.”

Wasting no time, Shadow Lock flashed his horn to activate his magic, instantly causing Sunset to flash her horn as well to defend herself. However, to Sunset's surprise, when Shadow Lock's magic activated, both he and the book he was carrying simply vanished.

“What was that?” Sunset thought in surprise, running to the place where Shadow had disappeared, activating her magic to sense any magical traces. “That wasn’t a teleportation spell, nor was it an invisibility spell. Where did he go!?” Sunset thought in surprise.

Taking a second to calm down, Sunset closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and used her magic to search for other types of magical traces around her. After a few seconds, she suddenly opened her eyes and quickly turned her head to look at one of the bookshelves to her right. She stared at it intently, sensing a strange magical vibration coming from one of the books there. Sunset took a step closer, but immediately stopped and turned her head to look behind her this time. The strange magical vibration had disappeared from the first book she had seen, and in an instant had now appeared in another book behind her. Sunset hurried over, grabbed the book that had that strange magical vibration, which was titled 'Magic Crystals and the Blue Resonance', and opened it. As she did so, she was speechless at what she saw.

“Are you serious!?” Sunset said very surprised, not being able to help but think out loud.

On the pages of the book she had opened, there weren't just words and illustrations. There, on those pages, was Shadow Lock, clearly visible, like a vivid two-dimensional image of him, who ran across the pages while the letters in the book moved around him, like waves, warping as Shadow Lock ran and then settling back into place.

“What is this? Is it Hayscartes’ method? No, that spell isn’t as detailed as this one. This is a new spell that even I might not be able to copy perfectly. Is it some familiar spell?” Sunset thought, as always, quickly coming to accurate deductions. Still shocked at what she saw.

Suddenly Shadow Lock finished running on the page of the book he was running on and simply disappeared, as did the magical vibration emanating from that book. Instantly, Sunset felt a new magical vibration this time coming from a book that was at the other end of the book shelves that were in that hallway. Sunset ran to where that book was and read its title, which was 'Magic Crystals and Their Use in Magical Artifacts'. Opening it, Sunset saw that this time Shadow Lock was running on the pages of that book.

“He can move between books, but not between books that are next to each other, but between books that have similar themes!” Sunset thought, quickly connecting that both books she had seen Shadow Lock run through, talked about magic crystals. “This is bad, if so, chasing him in a library will be impossible. He might reappear in a book of a similar theme that is at the other end of the library!”

Seeing that she couldn't waste any more time, Sunset came to the only possible conclusion. She closed her eyes and concentrated, remembering the Hayscartes spell, which she had never thought would ever be useful to her. Suddenly, Sunset disappeared from the library, just as Shadow Lock had done before, and in her place, Sunset reappeared in the pages of the book she had been holding seconds before.

Reappearing in the pages of the book, Sunset lifted her hoof and sighed in disappointment as she confirmed what she had feared. Unlike Shadow Lock's image, who appeared exactly as he was in the real world, only that, captured in two dimensions, Sunset's body was only made of strokes, as if she were a drawing of herself, except that she could move. She had also failed to take with her the stolen golden cape, which had fallen to the floor next to the book the moment Sunset entered the 'World of Books'.

“Well, it’s not perfect, but it’ll do.” Sunset said, looking at her hoof, now made of lines.

At that instant, she turned around and saw Shadow Lock running in the distance on the same page she was on. Without wasting any time, Sunset chased after Shadow Lock. Thus, both unicorns ran, passing through dozens of books located in different parts of the library, until finally, after a lot of running, the stability of the spell they had both used began to decline, and both finally reappeared in the real world, colliding in surprise with a very surprised Dusk Shine.

'End of flashback.'

Back in the real world, Dusk was stunned when he opened the book with the strange magical vibration and saw that two two-dimensional ponies, one as real as if it were a photograph, and the other made of drawn lines, were moving on the pages of the book. Running in his direction, getting bigger and bigger, until they both became ponies of flesh and blood, and jumped out of the pages of the book, crashing into Dusk. Causing him to be more stunned, this time, literally.

Dusk fell on his back, in pain, rubbing his head after it collided with Shadow Lock's, who also lay on the floor, rubbing his aching head after that sudden headbutt. For her part, Sugar Belle was left with her eyes and mouth wide open, very surprised to see those two ponies suddenly appear from inside a book. For her part, Sunset was the first to get up after falling to the floor after coming out of the book, fortunately avoiding the headbutt against Dusk by going behind Shadow Lock, and falling softer by falling on two ponies instead of against the floor.

“What did we crash into?” Sunset muttered, a little dizzy, looking around at the ponies there.

Seeing what she had fallen upon, or rather, WHO she had fallen upon, Sunset Shimmer's blood ran cold and she completely forgot what she had been doing seconds before. She quickly looked around, trying to cover herself with the golden cloak she had been wearing, only to remember that it had fallen off when she used the spell to enter the books. Then, in her desperation, she saw that next to her there was a mare wearing a traveling cloak and she quickly used her magic to take it off and make it appear over herself. Raising her hood and covering her face just before Dusk opened his eyes. Leaving Sugar Belle with a very perplexed look, who seemed unable to react even after seeing Sunset and Shadow Lock appear from inside the book.

“W-What happened?” Dusk asked, finally managing to stand up, even though he still felt dizzy from the blow. “How did you come out from inside a book!? Who are you two!?” Dusk asked, almost screaming due to the astonishment of what he had seen.

“I-I don’t have to answer you.” Shadow Lock replied in a bad mood, also standing up, just as dizzy as Dusk Shine. Seeing that Dusk was not wearing a golden cloak, so he was possibly an intruder just like him and Sunset Shimmer.

“Who are these two!? If I had known it was so easy to evade the Golden Escort guards, I wouldn’t have had to pretend to be Neighsay’s emissary.” Shadow thought with one eye still closed, due to the headache. Then, he tried to activate his magic to escape back to the world of books, but it didn’t work. “Damn! I’m still very dizzy.”

“You… Wait… I know you.” Dusk suddenly said, focusing this time on the mare wearing the traveling cloak, which she had apparently taken from Sugar Belle at some point. Although her face was hidden by a hood, Dusk could recognize the yellow fur and part of the golden and reddish tail that stuck out from behind that mare’s cloak. “Are you Cadance’s student?”

“Y-Yes, I... We shouldn't have met like this.” Sunset replied awkwardly, looking away so that Dusk couldn't look directly at her face.

“Why are you acting all shy now?” Shadow Lock asked, surprised by Sunset’s change in attitude.

“More importantly, how did you two come out from inside a book!?” Dusk asked again, almost shouting. Returning to concentrate on what was important.

“It was a variation of Hayscartes’ spell.” Sunset replied, holding her hood so Dusk wouldn’t see her.

“It’s not Hayscartes’ spell! It’s something better than that!” Shadow Lock almost shouted, annoyed that they were simplifying so much a spell that had cost him so much to perfect.

“Hmm… If the spirit of equality was in your hearts, you wouldn’t have these kinds of arguments and misunderstandings.” Sugar Belle suddenly added, who had been ignored until that moment. “Anybody want a muffin?” Sugar Belle added, lifting her basket of muffins.

“Who is the crazy one?” Sunset Shimmer asked looking at Dusk, after giving a quick glance of contempt to Sugar Belle.

“What is all this!?” A fifth, powerful voice suddenly shouted from afar.

Turning towards the source of the fifth voice, the four unicorns saw that from the upper floor a unicorn with a golden cape had leaned over the railing, looking at the four unicorns at the central table with surprise and, mainly, anger.

The horn of the unicorn wearing a golden cape lit up, as two other guards also looked over the railing on the second floor. In that split second, Dusk knew that the guards would teleport there and catch them. Instinctively and quickly, Dusk also activated his magic and teleported to him, along with everyone around him, disappearing just as the first guard who surprised them appeared by teleportation in that same spot.

In another part of the library, in the hallway with the window where Dusk and Sugar Belle had sneaked through, Dusk and the three unicorns reappeared there after disappearing from the center of the library.

“What happened?” Shadow Lock said confused, looking around. He had only managed to hear the guard’s scream, and an instant later, he had disappeared and reappeared there. Then, the gray stallion turned to look at Dusk Shine and understood that that lavender stallion had caused that with his teleportation spell.

Not only Shadow Lock stared at Dusk in surprise, but also Sunset and Sugar Belle. All of them knew how to teleport, that was not a new spell, but definitely none of them could teleport as fast as Dusk had just done, his reaction to the guard's scream had been almost instantaneous. For his part, Dusk also remained silent for a moment, looking at the floor with a surprised look, because he had also noticed it.

“I've always been fast at teleporting, but I've never done it this fast, especially seeing as I didn't teleport alone, but with 3 other ponies!” Dusk thought in surprise. “It's like when my cutie mark changed for the first time… Did my magic become faster with this new change?”

As he looked at the floor, Dusk snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed another detail. Not only had he and the other three unicorns teleported, but also, under their hooves, were four of the books that had been on the central table of the library and that for some reason they had gathered there the guards who wore golden cloaks.

“I don’t know why the EEA is after these books, but it would be best to get out of here as soon as possible.” Dusk said, taking the four books and quickly approaching the hallway window.

Upon reaching the window, Dusk tried to open it, but was surprised to see that he couldn't feel the glass. Dusk put on a confused look and made a second attempt, again failing to touch the glass. There was no doubt about it, someone had put up a magic barrier.

Seeing that Dusk had remained motionless, the other three unicorns finally reacted and approached where Dusk was, confirming what the lavender stallion had already discovered.

“It’s a very strong magic barrier.” Dusk Shine said, closing his eyes for a moment to feel the power level of that barrier.

“Not only is it strong, it’s very extensive… It probably surrounds the entire library.” Shadow Lock added, touching the wall away from the window and looking up at the library’s ceiling.

“It also blocks teleportation spells to the outside.” Sunset added, closing her eyes for a moment to try to sense the outside of the library, but to no avail. “We’re trapped.”

End of chapter 41

Author's Note

Many thanks to 'Silveranon' for his great help

PS: The next chapter is ready (since initially these two were going to be just one, but it got too long) so as soon as I do the drawing I'll publish the next chapter, which hopefully, could be this next week.