After some discussion, the old first floor magic room was repurposed. With all the magic learners up on the third floor, that meant they had that room sitting vacant a while. "Ta da!" Amber waved at the remodeled area. "Filled with the latest educational games for anypony to sit down and enjoy."

Misty clapped her hooves at that. "This is way better. Ponies can come and enjoy them whenever they want."

Amber gave a nod. "Exactly! They get to play games, and hopefully learn some things while they're at it." She placed her hoof on the closest console. "It took some digging to find these. Ponies aren't waiting as eagerly for the next release of educational things as much as the ones focused on just playing."

Sunny nodded her agreement, taking a look at one of the games. "Oh! It says this is about the history of Canterlot. I'll have to try it. I'm curious." She clapped her hooves. "Where did you even find one focused on something so ancient?"

Amber shrugged. "Like I said, a lot of digging. We're lucky this is a library." She nodded to some shelves that now contained boxes of cartridges. "I can give some credit to other libraries in the city. Some of them had a few games and when I asked for this—" She waved around the stocked room. "—many stepped forward and gave me what they had."

Sunny tapped her hoof to her chin. "Huh. That's interesting. I thought you two ponies bought all this."

Amber smiled at Sunny. "We didn't have to buy it all ourselves. We still had to make some purchases, though. We made sure the room had enough for ponies to want to come and see what was here."

Misty bobbed her head. "And some of the bits we used are part of the library. Amber, as the head librarian, gets to spend some each month on behalf of the city." She threw an arm around Amber. "It's a big responsibility."

Amber sighed in relief, gazing around. "We've spent months on this project. I'm glad to see it done." She looked between Misty and Sunny, grinning. "You don't know how grateful I am for your help." She trotted for the door. "Now let's tell the ponies what we've made for them."

They made an announcement in the main room of the library, gathering a few dozen ponies to see the grand opening. Some of them were surprised by what was waiting there. Others were skeptical, but the games lured them in. The room, previously quiet, became fulled with the chimes, beeps, and energetic music of the various games as ponies played them and, one hoped, learned something from the process.

***

Pipp panned her phone over the audience of cheering ponies. "They are really worked up, little Pippsqueaks! With the home team going at it on the ice—" She trailed off, a flick of movement catching her attention. "What the?" She lifted into the air and flew after it, heading into some hallways she normally didn't think about.

She gasped loudly as she turned a corner and found Allura there. "W-what? Are you, what, trying to do something totally awful to the ice machine or something?"

Allura blinked slowly at Pipp, a grin spreading across her face at that. "Is that the worst thing that comes to your little mind? Destroy the ice machine, that is." She tapped a paw to the wall beside her. "Little pony, haven't you heard? This is where I work." She pat herself down as if searching for something.

Twitched popped from her back and held out a badge for her. "Oh, there it is." She closed two claws on it and held it out towards Pipp with smug pride. "My badge. In fact, mmm, it would seem that one of us is trespassing, little pony. That pony would be you." She prodded Pipp in the chest. "Really, storming into the hallways so close to the engine like that? So rude. You could even be dangerous, hm?" She looked Pipp up and down.

Pipp snorted, turning the camera back on herself. "I am not dangerous. I'm just curious about what a giant monster cat thingy is doing here." The emojis floating up showed her fans supported her. "What do you know about how engines work anyway?"

"I know they make cold." She pointed across the room to a pile of books. "And I know how to read. I happen to enjoy making cold, pony. If I want it to stay cold, it's in my interest to keep this thing operating, don't you think?" She smirked at Pipp, leaning down to look her in the eyes. "And you, my little pony? Do you know how these things run? Should we call security? Get you in trouble?"

Pipp flinched at the very idea. "That will not be needed!" She laughed tensely, backing up a little. "If you're not up to trouble, then I'll get out of your mane." She fled rather than risk Allura's threat.

Allura shook her head. "Most cats don't have manes."

Twitch yammered something in an agreeable way. "Exactly. Not everything is a pony, hmmph. Would she say that to a rabbit? I bet she would." She pet her friend lightly. "That was fun though. Did you see her flee? Hilarious." Allura chuckled lowly. "Now." She pointed at the nearest vent. "Go check the vents for blockage."

Twitch saluted and ran off to do so, hissing and spitting to clear any he came across. Though they were not the usual ponies one might expect for the job, both took it seriously enough.

It wouldn't be until later that evening that Allura would get back into planning. The trick was that she could fly over the gate, but all the crystals seemed to be hidden. "Keep your eyes open. They have to be around here somewhere."

She stalked to the game where she'd seen it before, but it wasn't among the remaining dolls. "Blast it all."

Twitch made a soft sound, pawing at the sign over the booth. "Hm?" She glanced at him, and he gestured at the sign. "Yes?" He pointed up towards a shelf above the counter that held some of the better toys.

Allura chuckled at that. "You have bits, Twitch. I will not steal for you when you could just buy it when they're open." An excuse to tease her rabbit friend wasn't one to let up either. "Really. Now, look for the crystals. They're more important than any specific toy."

Twitch whined at her, but turned to look for them anyway.

Allura made her way around the booths, but couldn't seem to find them anywhere. She let out an irritable noise. "The crystals come out for those little ponies to play in. When they go home, so do they, wherever 'home' is for a fragment of rock!" She swiped at the air with a low growl. "Tomorrow. We have no work tomorrow. I say we come here, first thing in the morning. Before sunrise. We will find the secret entrance then."

With her decision made, Allura made sure she was unseen, then flew off towards home. The sky had grown very dark during her search, and the streets were empty. She preferred it that way. Easily, she made her way to her cave and settled for a little catnap. She was ready when the first rays of the sun began to lighten her cave.

With the morning's arrival, she rose and stretched. "Ready to go? We need to hurry if we want to arrive before anypony else is out and about." She moved towards the cave's exit. "Let's go." She gestured, then stepped out to begin walking to town. Like a flea she had invited, Twitch bounced after her and bounded onto her to ride the rest of the way.

Inside the park, she could see Sunny and her friends, preparing for the day ahead. Allura hissed softly. "On one paw, we need them to get the others in here, and to open it for them. On the other, they probably won't let us search for crystals. Hmm." She looked around. "I suppose I am simply going to have to be sneaky about this. Let's see..."

They waited until the gate was opened and the first wave of ponies began. She kept herself low and tried to flow with them, an almost success.

Hitch put an arm in front of her, blocking her passage. "Where are you headed, all sneaky like that?" He gestured at the ponies around them. "Going to cause some mischief?"

Allura frowned at Hitch, shaking her head. "No mischief." She gestured to herself with her tail. "I earned so many bits, I thought I'd spend a few here. Twitch adores the teacup ride." She rolled her eyes at the thought of her silly helper's fascination with that ride. "I couldn't deny him."

"Oh, alright." Hitch grinned and stepped aside. "You be good, alright?"

"Of course!" She gave a nod and continued on her way, heading deeper into the fairgrounds. She didn't have any reason to, but she did take her little friend on his favorite ride before they started in earnest. "Those crystals have to, ah, look at that." She pointed up where a crystal hovered near one of the many waterfalls that seemed to fall from the sky. "There's one, right in the open."

Twitch yowled and gestured for her to go get it.

"Yes, yes." She trotted over. "You want it, you get it." She leaped into the air, but when she got close, the crystal seemed to vanish. "What?" She landed gracefully, but without a crystal. "You saw that?" Twitch quickly nodded. "Unfair." With a low rumble, she snatched Twitch up and resumed her hunt. "They weren't doing that earlier. It seems to me the crystals know we are hunting them." She huffed softly. "If only we had help, but we must do this alone."

Twitch yammered something in her ear. "You have a point. If somecreature else knew, they might want the crystal for themselves. That would be a pain, at the very least. It's probably better we keep this to ourselves."

Twitch made another remark. "I'm not worried they'd be better, just that they might also get in our way."

The rabbit gave a sigh and shrugged off Allura's back. She watched him head off towards one of the many games. "If you see a crystal, win it for us," she called after him. That said, she stalked ahead with a frown. "How do they hide both in plain sight but impossibly far away?"

As if to taunt her, she saw one just over Sunny's booth, twirling slowly in place. It was right there, but approaching it meant approaching Sunny and her crystal pony assistant. "Blast it all." With a growl, she crept through the tents, trying to find another crystal to grab, but every time, they vanished like smoke on the wind.

She was forced to return to her rabbit friend empty-handed. He, on the other paw, was holding a plush animal a bit larger than he was. "Had a good time?" She rolled her eyes. "You were supposed to look for crystals. Did you spot any in your rush to get that?" She gestured to the thing in his arms.

He gave a sheepish nod and pointed to a specific game. She had just enough time to see a crystal flicker in and out of sight. "Blast it all. Well, at least you were trying." With a low and unhappy noise, she headed for the exit with a delighted Twitch on her back.

Author's Note

The library's moving places, but so is Allura. She just needs a few crystals, that's all.

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