Ponyville (Royal Ponyville Library) A New Chapter (Open)

[Lux]

Welcome to my new thread! The following takes place after the events of the Season 4 Finale, so if you haven't watched it please do so to familiarize yourself. Also, the following thread and backstory has been approved by SteelEagle, roleplayer of Twilight Sparkle. Many thanks to him for giving me the go ahead for this. So have fun!

Lore stood at the entrance of the new castle in Ponyville, pondering his life and how it changed so much over the course of one day. Here he was, a happy bookstore owner who had thought he found his place in town only to have it literally come down on top of him. First there was that foul creature Tirek who stole his and practically everypony else's magic and talent, leaving him a hollow shell of what he once was. If this wasn't enough, in the battle between Twilight Sparkle and Tirek he could only watch helplessly as the Golden Oaks Library, a fixture in town that he saw across the street from his bookstore get reduced to a smoldering pile of ash. Before he could grieve over the loss of all that knowledge though, the ensuing blast from both contenders leveled his home and bookstore as if it was made of mere paper, burying him under what he worked so hard to build!

He was saved and his magic and talent restored, but the nightmare was far from over. After spending what felt like forever in the hospital recovering from his injuries, he returned home, or what was once his home. The crushed stallion was at his lowest, thinking that in losing both places of knowledge he had lost two dear friends. He was about to consider returning back to Canterlot when he received word from a certain Princess of Friendship and a golden opportunity of him doing what he was destined to do. For you see, there was a new library in that new castle and a librarian was needed. Lore was almost in tears of joy hearing the news!

Now as he entered the library he felt a new chapter was about to be written in his life, and Lore Weaver, taking his place at the entrance of that new library, was ready to begin!

" I declare the Royal Library of Ponyville open for business!"

Have some music to set the mood!

[Pretzelparty]

The events of the last crisis to affect Equestria had left it's mark on the world's future greatest painter. Never had she felt so... weak. so tired. so helpless. so... completely empty. The cream colored unicorn normally cared little for her magic and it's applications but having been drained previously by the demonic Centaur, Tirek had given her some new perspective. All her life she had thought that her talent and life couldn't be further from the influence of magic.

Once her talent and magic had been restored she'd never felt so alive and thank goodness she'd been in Ponyville to see the aftermath of Twilight and her friends' triumph over Tirek. Despite the Destruction of Twilight's original library she had apparently been given a new tree themed crystal style Library to live in! Presteza wasted no time and approached the Princess and insisted that she paint the new abode to commemorate this occasion. To make things even cooler, Twilight said yes!

Twilight's allowing Pressy to paint this event approved by steel

Presteza was so eager that she'd began to make sure she took careful measurements of the entrance to the library so she could fit the painting in once it was finished. The mare had put her finished work on the painting and loaded it on to a cart. The next thing she did was pull this heavy cart all the way to the new library from the inn where she'd begun painting it. Her tips wasn't that long luckily so she managed to get it to the new castle/library in a flash.

Now the painting was in it's cart covered by a protective sheet and following behind her as the mare dragged her cart along. She raised her hoof to the door, but before she could knock the door flew open and a voice came out from inside.

" I declare the Royal Library of Ponyville open for business!"

After stumbling back a few steps and managing to keep her cart from rollign off she let out a sigh of relief and looked back to lore,"Nice ta see ya again, Mister Weaver... I finished up this paintin' fer the library... mind helpin' me bring it in?"

[Lux]

no sooner had he opened the doors of the library to patrons, Lore Weaver spotted a unicorn named Presteza that was a frequent visitor of his bookstore... or former bookstore as it were, pulling a cart with something big wrapped in a sheet. How she managed to get it to the castle without damaging it Lore could only guess took great time figuring out how to do so. It was then that the painter pony revealed that it was a painting, of what though Lore didn't have a clue.

"Nice to meet you too, Presteza. Oh, you have a painting for the new castle. Do you know where in the library its supposed to be hung?"

As he spoke to her, he carefully opened the doors to the library, but something caught his eye besides the big painting. She looked happy and eager to present her gift, but there was something else, a darkness behind the facade, one that Lore knew all too well as he was feeling the same way as well.

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor spotted the...well what did you call it now? Library? Castle? Casbrary? Librastle? The Castle Library thing. Whatever if he was right it had books, and he needed to return a few. Actually they were slightly overdue, only a week, so hopefully the fine wasn't too high.

....well...its what he hoped.

"Then again...these were from a princesses library. I really hope things go quiet and peaceful for once." Razor said, sighing. He landed and stood looking up at the crystalline structure.

"Its certainly impressive. For a pony castle." Razor said to himself, "Colors match. The structure seems sound and has a very articulate feel to it. Though I don't think crystal works this far south, this I would expect to see in the Crystal Empire."

Razor walked over to the entrance, his mind away as he thought about what had occurred that lead up to all this. He was glad his sister had been back home in Aquillia during the whole Tirek Incident. He didn't think there was ever a time where he felt his actual size, if not smaller and defensless. And goodness knows that Aquillia hadn't come as close to panic and disaster as that. After all if Tirek had destroyed Equestria, what would have stopped him from turning towards the griffons next. The griffon people owed the princesses, especially Twilight a great debt of gratitude.

'If she is here, I'll pay my respects.' He thought.

[Bellosh]

Could a world exist without magic? Moondancer found a partial answer to her question when the evil centaur Tirek drained her of all of her magic, along with nearly every other unicorn in the city of Canterlot. The young Celestia’s School alumni felt the the drain harder than most; the study and use of magic was her raison d'etre, spending years of her life towards the day her knowledge could finally be used to serve Equestria and its ponies. Being robbed of magic therefore proved itself to be a crippling blow for Moony.

Everything got better in the end though, like it always did. Not only did Tirek got his flank kicked back to Tartarus where he belonged, but Moondancer’s former schoolmate Twilight Sparkle got herself a new crystal tree... castle... thingy out of the whole deal. Another friend, Lore Weaver, finally got the librarian job he’d always wanted for years, though it came at the price of the loss of both his bookstore and the neighboring library. And then there was Presteza, who today was scheduled to deliver a new mystery painting to the new Royal Ponyville Library.

As Moondancer trotted to the new crystal thingy, she buried her head reading a leaflet, among one of hundreds to pop up in Ponyville today. Curious to know what the leaflet was about, Moony found it contained an excerpt of a lecture from Prof. Morianna Razorclaw, criticizing the princesses for not keeping a better watch over Tartarus. The young mare didn’t have much time for the pamphlet’s lesson to sink in, for first she needed a moment to gaze upon Twilight’s new digs. In the process, she spied her friends Lore Weaver and Presteza in front of the main door in.

Assuming Lore still felt sadness for his old bookstore, Moondancer didn’t want to act too jubilant about his newly acquired dream job. Ambling up to the two unicorns, the moon-flanked mare focused her initial attention on the librarian. “Hiya Lore!” Moony waved to him with more politeness than exuberance; “How’s your day going so far?” A neutral-enough question to start things out.

[Lux]

As Lore Weaver helped Prestezaget her mystery picture into the library, he noticed that not one but two individuals had approached the entrance to the castle. Although they could be to see Princess Twilight, the purple unicorn had a feeling that these were more who had read the announcement of the library's opening. One was a familiar individual, a unicorn named Moondancer who Lore met at his ... former bookstore. Even thinking of it a past thing rather that something he would return to after his duty in the library was complete made him feel bad. At least he had the memories, something that Lore began to wonder whether in this case it was a good or bad thing. He did know that Moondancer was a pony who deeply wanted to study magic, so Lore could only wonder the toll it took on her after that magic was gone.

"Hello Moondancer," the stallion said waving back, "I guess you're here for the opening of the library. It is a really nice place but then again I'm biased since I work here. How are you doing in Canterlot?"

Lore also spotted a young looking griffon who seemed to be speaking to himself while looking at the castle. It was a very impressive sight, appearing organic looking like a tree and crystalline like the buildings Lore heard about in the Crystal Empire. Yet it had it's own magical feel to it with the star like structure on top. Even going to the library every day to help set it up the purple unicorn couldn't help but feel amazed, thinking that this was a dream.

"Hello sir. Welcome to the Royal Ponyville Library. I'm Lore Weaver, head librarian. Are you here for the grand opening?"

[Zeig]

 

A library was one of the very, very, very, last places Inkbrand liked to be.

 

Mostly because of the quiet. Libraries, especially opulent and grand ones, seemed to be filled with not only countless books, but a restless sort of quiet that could smother a pony if they weren't too careful. Not many ponies had a problem with it - libraries were often used as a site for study or learning, some ponies even chose to spend their free time in libraries! - but it had always been an issue for Inkbrand, a sort of cold and impersonal sense of disenchantment from the surrounding walls. It was pretty much a given that on the rare occasions the Earth Pony did step into a library, he didn't leave until he'd heard at least three hissed 'shhh!'s aimed at himself.

 

Not to mention the strange looks he tended to draw, and for once, Inkbrand couldn't blame them. Amidst stallions with wrinkles set low into their brows and mares with buns pulled back up to their hairline, well…suffice to say, he stood out.

 

But Inkbrand had never been a pony to back down from a challenge. If he needed a book, he needed a bucking book, and no snobby, uptight, all science-and-magic-and-smart-stuff nerd was going to stop him!

 

Though, Inkbrand thought silently as he trot through the town, eyes fixed on the crystal-tree hybrid building in the distance, he should simply be grateful that there was a library to go to…and that he was able to do so. He had been in Manehatten when Tirek had struck, had seen that demonic gaze bearing down on them all - and had felt true, unbridled fear for the fourth time in his life. The feeling of his magic that all Earth Ponies shared, his very strength and form, getting sucked out of him like a a morbidly invisible string of spaghetti had been…an experience. And one Inkbrand was in no hurry to repeat.

 

Which was why Inkbrand could be grateful towards Princess Twilight and the other ponies that had stopped Tirek. It hadn't take much longer, after the fact, to hear about the new castle (and a new kingdom?) that had been created in Ponyville, and many ponies had taken off to view the new spectacle. For Inkbrand, it was just an added plus on the side of his trip to Ponyville, during the winter and spring months. He was in Ponyville, he might as well go see the new castle. That he actually had some use for a library was, really, just the icing on the cake.

 

Now, all he needed to do was actually find what he needed in that massive, gigantic, crystal library. Castle. Tree.

 

Apparently he wasn't the only one in need of a book, Inkbrand mused as he spotted a small crowd gathering around the entrance to the castle. Seeing how he wasn't a permanent resident of Ponyville, Inkbrand was, however, rather surprised to see that he did recognize one of the ponies - even though it took him a while to recognize her, given the fact that she was mostly hidden by a cart and what looked like some sort of very flat box underneath a tarp. The name to him just a moment later, faster than it had the last time he'd seen her, and caused Inkbrand to run a slightly amused gaze over Presteza's features. She was a mare that liked to get her hooves into things, that was for bucking sure.

 

The others, Inkbrand didn't recognize - though, he had to stop and run a sharp and appreciative gaze over the other pretty mare in the group, one that was, for once, completely innocent in nature. In a way. White coats were something of a treat to come by. In a world filled with bright, pastel, and sometimes downright obnoxious fur and mane colors, a simple white coat was a high boon in his tattooing business. It was, in fact, the reason he'd chased down Radiant Star so passionately, determined to make the rising model into his walking advertisement. That hadn't really worked out so well, but the point remained. Inkbrand couldn't help letting his mind wander as his eyes did the same, automatically applying textures and patterns and colors to that pristine white coat in his mind.

 

Dark purples, soft oranges and pinks, in a spiral pattern that would slip behind her shapely rear and end just over the upper right leg. Buck, he could almost see it.

 

"So three Unicorns, an Earth Pony, and a griffon walk into a library," Inkbrand drawled as he approached the small group, finally raking his gaze up from his inspection of the white mare's flanks to shoot a small smirk towards Presteza, "except that they don't, and stand around outside all day." What the buck was she hauling around, her kitchen sink? "I heard the library was actually open," the grey stallion continued with some inflection that made his words sound more like a question, golden eyes trailing upwards towards the pony on the uppermost steps. He had some sort of book and quill as a cutie mark - he was probably the pony in charge, or at least the most eager bookworm of the lot. Maybe?

 

[Pretzelparty]

"Nice to meet you too, Presteza. Oh, you have a painting for the new castle. Do you know where in the library its supposed to be hung?"

"She said I should hang it in the Dinin' hall... and We've actually already met before.", stated the young artist matter-of-factly, giving Lore a slightly playful smile. The mare's bright blue magic aura enveloped the gigantic canvas along with lore's as the two brought the painting up the stares,"I was at ... yer old place when ya had Miss Yearlin' do that book signin'." Almost as soon as Presteza finished speaking she realized that she may have accidentally touched on a sore topic. One of the things she noticed on the walk here was that Lore Weaver's own bookstore was gone, apparently having been a victim of Tirek's rampage. With a gulp the mare looked to lore sadly, "I'm sorry about yer old library... it was such a nice place too. Can I maybe paint a picture o' yer old place? I still have it in my memory..."

“Hiya Lore! How’s your day going so far?”

Suddenly the young heiress heard a familiar sounding voice approaching; that of her friend and fellow magic guild member, Moondancer. Moondancer was a studious unicorn from the university in Canterlot. Presteza had gained a tertiary interest in the magical arts after having spent some time with her magic scholar of a mother (Celestia knows how she was affected by this ordeal) and she had recommended she meet this moon flanked mare because she was without a doubt one of the most sociable mare's in the school.

Since Moondancer's talent was based almost entirely on magic, Presteza could only imagine that Moony was totally devastated by all this. It seemed though that her friend was a lot more like her than she thought. Like the young painter she masked her mixed feeling of humiliation, frustration, and sadness behind a mask of a smile and a cheery greeting towards the purple unicorn before her. Rather than playfully call out Moony on her lack of a hello to her artistic friend she gave her a wave of her hoof as a greeting of her own and one as well to a certain griffin that was approaching.

"So three Unicorns, an Earth Pony, and a griffon walk into a library, except that they don't, and stand around outside all day." What the buck was she hauling around, her kitchen sink? "I heard the library was actually open,"

Well this was a surprise, Even a certain Tattoo artist had stopped by. Presteza's previous interactions with Inkbrand ranged from heated, to embarrassing such as having gotten his romantic attention when he was under the effects of some con artists shady perfume. Their other previous interaction was being in an argument during Winter wrap up before everything went crazy.The freckled mare looked at Inkbrand and waved to him,"Well... nice ta see ya too, Inkbrand." she said in as warm a tone as she could muster. "The library -is open. We're just bringin' in one of my latest masterpieces in ta hang in the Dining hall."

[Lux]

As he assisted Pressy in moving the portrait into the castle, another pony appeared for the grand opening. He was a very interesting unicorn, sporting the wildest looking mane and tail the young stallion had ever scene. That combined with his designs on his body and other accessories made him quite the interesting pony to meet. There was a hint of worry in Lore's mind as to how this pony would treat him and the library, but Lore knew better than to judge.

"So three Unicorns, an Earth Pony, and a griffon walk into a library, except that they don't, and stand around outside all day." What the buck was she hauling around, her kitchen sink? "I heard the library was actually open,"

"You are correct, the library is having its grand opening today," Lore said proudly as he mimicked Pressy's reply, "I'm Lore Weaver, head librarian of the Royal Ponyville Librarian. So where are you from Inkbrand?"

The yellow unicorn noted that the picture's destination would be in the dining hall on the first floor, a fitting place and one that needed something to adorn the otherwise bare crystalline walls. It was then that he remembered where he met her as she jogged his memory.

"I will be with you all in a moment," Lore said with a smile at those who arrived for the opening, "Feel free to visit both wings that are open. Fiction, biographies, and books for foals are on the left and nonfiction and reference books are on the right."

Turning to the task at hoof, Lore helped lefitate the portrait into the dining room, one having a massive crystal table that could easily fit dozens of dignitaries, scholars or friends.

"Ah you're right. I do remember seeing you at AK Yearling's book signing at my..."

His voice trailed off as the memory of his old home and business crept up, threatening to swallow the joy of the occasion. Never in his lifetime did Lore think that that first book signing, one that was to be a new era for his store, would actually be the last.

"Yeah, I'm sorry to see it go too," he said trying to hold back the sadness, "and I'm sorry that Princess Twilight's library and home was lost too. I thank you for the offer of painting my old place, but I actually don't have much from there. Most of what I owned was buried. If...when I go back there I'll see if I can find a picture of it. Now, I'm really excited to see this painting you made."

[SunsetSombra]

And so it came to be that a little purple dragon had finally found his way to the new library - truth be told, he wasnt entirely sure what to expect from the new library only that it was probably a little more spacious and whatnot...although it wouldn't come close to being able to replace the tree-sized hole in the l'il dragons heart.

Still, he was dragging behind him a cart full of slightly singed but readable books - recovered from the wreckage of the older library and restored somewhat to a readable state as and where possible - it had taken some time to do, since there had been so many books that had been downright ruined even if they were structurally intact...burned to a crisp with pages crumbling to spent cinders the moment anypony so much as breathed on them. It was all a very sad state of affairs, and Spike couldn't help but feel crushed that things had worked out this way....after all the time and memories they'd had in the old treebary, they now had to forcibly try and make the best of a castle that was still just a bit too gaudy for his eyes to really get a liking for.

" Hey there, Lore! " the youngster announces his arrival with general polite eagerness, sidestepping to allow the pony to see the collection of books and tomes...it wasn't the biggest pile, but it was enough to call it a 'sizeable' donation. " Got some things from Twi for ya...they're a l'il bit scorched and stuff around the edges, but the pages are mostly all there - I'm sure you'll get 'em a good home in there! " he says with a small chuckle before looking around conspiratorially, leaning in as if about to say something of great importance.

" Looking for your comics section, actually... " Spike announces, giving a small wink - although this was hardly the most subtle place in conversation....or in general.

" At least...I HOPE you have one around here someplace, it's been difficult finding someplace that has anything decent to read that isn't a spellbook - although now that I think about that, guess a few gem-cook books wouldnt go amiss either, I wanna get right back into doing that but my last recipe book was, uh...vaporised! " - Yes, Lore seemed to be busy with a few other ponies, but Spike was hopeful that it wouldn't take a few seconds just to get some directions real quick.

Spike looks over at Lore with pleading eyes...he has absolutely no idea if this'll be worth the effort or not, but hey...it was worth a shot, right?

[Bellosh]

"Hello Moondancer, I guess you're here for the opening of the library. It is a really nice place but then again I'm biased since I work here. How are you doing in Canterlot?"

“I’m doing good,” Moondancer answered the librarian’s question; “I'm going on vacation to the Gallopocus Islands one week from now, and I hope that trip turns out awesome! Oh, and then Spellbound’s Open House Extravaganza is in a month, and the Guild Hall is pretty much all set up finally... except for all the things we’ll need to scramble around at the last minute for, like with any big-time event. You know how it goes, eh heh heh.....” Moony forced a smile, thinking of all the things she and her guildies had yet to do to make the Guild Hall all prettied up.

"So three Unicorns, an Earth Pony, and a griffon walk into a library. Except that they don't, and stand around outside all day. I heard the library was actually open."

A drawling condescending voice from behind put Moondancer on edge. Her eyes shooting wide open, unseen by the stallion, Moony didn’t even have to look at him to figure that he believed himself to be some sort of smartflank. Ugggh; stallions could be so full of themselves sometimes. But Moondancer eventually turned around as the earth pony kept spewing witticisms, and saw him to be covered in tattoos. Wait; was this that one guy Presteza-?

Why indeed it was! So this was Inkbrand. Moondancer couldn’t say that she had a favorable impression of the punkish-looking fellow. Not after she learned about that argument that her friend Pressy and him got into during Winter Wrap-Up. There had been an incident involving love perfume too, but that honestly was more of a hilarious misadventure than anything else. Since Pressy opted for a cordial attitude with Inkbrand however, Moondancer felt she should drop her suspicious act and adopt a more welcoming demeanor. “Hey there...” she conjured up a small smile as she started walking into the castle; “I’m Pressy’s friend, Moondancer. I’ve uhhh... heard a lot about you! You’ve just recently moved into Ponyville, right?” The young mare hoped she got that detail right.

[Zeig]

 

Inkbrand shot a toothy smile down towards Presteza as he approached closer to the steps, eyes lingering on the mare's lips. Apparently the fiasco of Flim and Flam's wares was just a distant memory, which was probably good for him - if the cream colored unicorn had screamed at the sight of him, Inkbrand was fairly sure he wouldn't have escaped Ponyville with all of his limbs in tact, what with the "Must Rescue Damsels In Distress" disorder a good portion of Ponyville males suffered from.

 

And he rather liked his limbs.

 

"Presteza, baby, don't you think we're past these stiff and distant greetings?" the grey stallion not-asked as he swung a foreleg around the mare in a one-legged hug, more or less pressing himself against her side since he couldn't very well sweep the mare and her cart up against his. "After all, you still owe me," Inkbrand murmured lowly, breath ghosting against the unicorn's cheek.

 

Alright, so maybe his limbs weren't all that important.

 

Inkbrand laughed softly into Presteza's ear, but left it at that - he was rather fond of his left hind leg, after all - as he released her, once again eyeing the cart she was pulling behind her. Well, that explained its strangely flat yet large shape - and her cutie mark, for that matter. Inkbrand had automatically assumed some sort of artistic talent based on that paintbrush, but art was open to nearly any interpretation possible. For all he'd known, her talent was using paintbrushes to dust off pony eyelashes, or something crazy like that. Anything, really.

 

But no, paintings. Or drawing, but presumably painting, because paintbrush. Inkbrand glance over the cart contemplatively, eyes drifting between the tarp-covered canvas and the castle. Prestez, then, must be a pretty good artist, to have such a large painting featured in Princess Twilight Sparkle's new castle. Or maybe she wasn't, and the new-found princess was just too much of a pushover to hurt her feelings. Either way, Inkbrand figured he'd be finding out soon enough.

 

Later though, and the grey stallion turned his attention towards the purple unicorn with his quill and ink cutie mark, one eyebrow raising slightly at the introduction. Head Nerd in Charge his hoof, this stallion was a librarian. "Manehatten, born and raised," he answered blithely, but with a tinge of pride that suggested Manehatten was the greatest city in all of Equestria. A small pause passed by, before Inkbrand vaguely waved one hoof around as if searching for a certain word. "Congrats?" he finally settled on saying, the statement coming out more like a question. Lore Weaver sounded particularly proud that the library was opening - there was probably some personal achievement in there somewhere. Maybe the purple stallion had had to beg and plead to get the library open to the public? It was situated in the middle of a princess' castle-tree-crystal, after all.

 

Whatever the case, it looked like they were finally heading in, and Inkbrand watched rather bemusedly as Lore Weaver helped levitate the large portrait inside the building, followed shortly by small purple dragon toting around another cart filled with somewhat singed books. Bucking unicorns and their magic…Inkbrand had never been jealous of magic-wielding ponies - all ponies had some form of magic, one way or another - but he had to admit, it could come insanely handy at times. It would certainly ease up the strain on his business, if he could enchant his tattooing tools himself instead of having to pay every so often.

 

Almost in an instant, Inkbrand's focused had shifted again, this time at the soft voice speaking up near Presteza. The tattoo-clad stallion felt a leer form almost unconsciously as he swiveled his head around towards the white unicorn, quickly moving to catch up to her as the group started heading inside the castle and comfortably positioning himself next to her. Though, her words almost brought him up short as his leer dropped a bit to give way for surprise. "Oh-ho, have you now," Inkbrand asked, eyes fixed on Presteza's backside. In all honesty, he doubted that Moondancer had heard anything good about him. Probably, she'd heard all about the Big Mean Stallion that had bullied her friend during Winter Wrap-Up, or some other bull rot.

 

Still. Surprising. Inkbrand stared at Presteza's backside for a moment longer, before abruptly swiveling his head back around towards Moondancer, cocky smile once again on his muzzle.

 

"Not quite," he corrected as they continued moving at a slow pace, following after Lore Weaver and his burden, "I'm just visiting for a while. Though maybe I'll have to extend my stay - Ponyville is a lot more charming than I remember from my first time around. Don't tell anypony though," the grey Earth Pony stated, leaning down towards Moondancer as if to keep his opinion of Ponyville firmly a secret, even though his voice remained at the same volume. Inkbrand winked down at the slight mare, before the already slow procession slowed down further in what looked like a dining room area.

 

Inkbrand listened, rather politely he thought, as Lore Weaver explained where everything was, eyes falling to half-slits as nothing note-worthy was mentioned. Though that was quickly remedied as the purple unicorn pointed out what books resided in the west wings, exactly the sort he needed. With a triumphant grin, Inkbrand brushed past Moondancer to start heading into the open doorway, but stopped short after only a few paces, vaguely aware of his jaw falling open.

 

Buck…he'd heard about the expansive library Ponyville had, but this was ridiculous. And this was just the west wing!

 

Inkbrand felt his ears fall back onto his head as he looked around the wing, taking in the great towering bookcases and shelves upon shelves of reading material. The grey stallion had to stop and rub a hoof against his forehead, enthusiasm for his desired book quickly diminishing in the face of the monumental task of actually finding said book. Or any book really, he wasn't looking for one in particular. He just needed reference material, was that too bucking much to ask?!

 

"Buck me," he groaned aloud, head falling back a bit to take in the great expanse of knowledge spread out and up before him, "how the buck am I suppose to find what I need in here? I don't exactly have a glowing horn on my head to grab books from the top of these shelves."

 

[Lux]

Lore Weaver had a funny feeling he was going to get his exercise for today, especially going from one wing of the library to the next. Never did he expect though that there would be such a turnout! To him a library was something that sadly didn't get as much fanfare as say a new store or restaurant opening and certainly as not much attention as an event. But thanks to his and Twilight's efforts for getting the word out, he was seeing now the fruits of his labor.

"Sorry Presteza," Lore said after making sure that the portrait was hung correctly and level, "I hope we can talk more but duty calls. I really love the portrait as it's a nice edition to this room. You should be proud of the work you did painting this."

Exiting the dining room, the stallion first met Spike. The baby dragon was an interesting creature to talk to ever since Lore first met him when moving to Ponyville, an event that seemed to have happened so long ago even though it was actually only a few years. The dragon was very smart for his age and appearance but nevertheless kept a child like innocence and interest in things, something that Lore loved seeing in ponies and this case a dragon. Seeing him carrying around a cart full of charred books though made him remember that it wasn't just the purple unicorn and Twilight that suffered loss as Spike also lost his home and in some cases his assisting in the library for a short time until this new library was built.

"Hi Spike. Thanks for helping recover some of the books from the Golden Oaks Library. I really couldn't have done helping Twilight get things ready without your help. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be a good home for them in the library. There's certainly lots more room to grow the collection."

The dragon looked around as if to ask a personal question. Leaning his head down so that Spike could whisper, the unicorn smiled when he found out what the dragon asked for.

" Looking for your comics section, actually... " Spike announces, giving a small wink - although this was hardly the most subtle place in conversation....or in general.

" At least...I HOPE you have one around here someplace, it's been difficult finding someplace that has anything decent to read that isn't a spellbook - although now that I think about that, guess a few gem-cook books wouldnt go amiss either, I wanna get right back into doing that but my last recipe book was, uh...vaporised! "

"Ah I see," he said as the dragon gave him a cute pouty smile, the kind that was hard to resist, "Well the comics are in the fiction wing of the library. If you go through the door then you just turn right and when you reach the corner of the library that's where all the comics will be."

The unicorn paused as an idea entered into his mind before saying, "You know Spike, since you are one who loves comics more than anypony I know, I think I'm going to name that part of the library Spike's Comics Corner. And I know that you're busy with Twilight, but how would you like to be the official librarian of that part of the library? You could organize them as you see fit and even tell me any titles I need to get. How does that sound?"

Moondancer then mentioned her busy schedule preparing something called the Spellbound Guild Hall, a place that Lore didn't remember her mentioning before.

"Well knowing you I'm sure it will be perfect for the grand opening. But what is Spellbound anyway? I don't think you ever mentioned it to me."

The tattooed stallion was certainly a mare's stallion, going as far as to get close to Presteza. There appeared to be some history between the two, but Lore wondered if the unicorn had mutual affections towards Inkbrand.

"Hmm... Manehattah. You know i've never been there but I heard it's a nice city. And thanks for the congrats, although really I can't say I set this up all by myself. It was really Twilight Sparkle who had the idea of adding a library to her castle. Why if it weren't for her, well I don't know where I'd be."

Lore could tell much from looking at a pony. It wasn't much of being due to his talent of being able to research, organize and disseminate knowledge but in his interaction with ponies at his bookstore. Inkbrand seemed the type to want to find what he was looking for in the library and then get out as quickly as possible, like the library was the last place he'd rather be. Oh well, some ponies were just not that into studying. There was something else though, not a jealousy towards unicorns like Lore Weaver but an almost longing to be one. Lore guessed that was the same way he felt on occasion seeing a Pegasus flying in the sky and wondering what it would be like to see the world from the clouds.

"Buck me," he groaned aloud, head falling back a bit to take in the great expanse of knowledge spread out and up before him, "how the buck am I suppose to find what I need in here? I don't exactly have a glowing horn on my head to grab books from the top of these shelves."

"Well you can always ask me," Lore replied, "After all that's why I'm here. I also made a large map to help ponies, griffons or others to find their way around as i know this is a big place split into two sections. You know, since you're from Manehattan, you have a choice. You can boerrow a book and return it to the library in Manehattan where it will eventually get back to here or I do have a little bookstore that I sell books. Now I don't have nearly as many books to sell as i do here for ponies to borrow, but maybe yours is there too. So, are you looking for a certain title, author, or subject?"

And thus in his mind which was like a library all to itself, Lore began to use his talent to prepare to find what the stallion sought.

[SunsetSombra]

Spike was glad to hear that things were moving along okay - it had been a rough time for all getting things in order ever since Tirek had completely destroyed the Treebary, and Spike had tried to help out however he could, whenever....ultimately, of course, there wasnt a great deal he COULD really do, but at least he'd had some chances to still assist Twi, and other ponies at the same time.

He had to admit, the whole situation had scared the bejeezus outta him, and the youngster was just appreciative that things hadn't gone worse than they had...yes, they had been forcibly made to move into the magically grown castle that had sprouted from the lockbox after the confrontation with the minotaur, but they were still alive and free - that, Spike knew more than anything, was far more important than their old home, even if living there had been comfortable and full of good memories.

When the topic of the comic corner was addressed, Spike could barely hold enthusiasm, as his eyes lit up and he resisted the urge to give Lore a hug..

" REALLY?! Oh wow, that's really nice of ya....I'll do whatever I can to keep the comics an' such organised, categorised and kept neat as...uh...you want 'em, I guess! " - he had almost forgotten for a second that the librarian was the pony before him, and not the mare who HAD been up until recently...he felt a tad silly, and thus coughs into a clawed hand to distract himself for a second.

" I'll go scope them out now, see if there's anything that, uh, needs attention! " the dragon utters as he starts to waddle his way toward the indicated section...it seemed like a good idea to get better acquainted with 'the Spike comics corner' if he was gonna help keep it in a way that would work for Lore....and at the same time, if he could get a few good comics to read, that would be even better!

[Bellosh]

"Well knowing you I'm sure it will be perfect for the grand opening. But what is Spellbound anyway? I don't think you ever mentioned it to me."

SHAMELESS GUILD-PROMOTION TIME. “Oh right, Spellbound’s the magic guild thingy that me and my friends are setting up! We’re going to be offering all sorts of magical services, learning opportunities, and other magicy stuff that’s accessible to everypony. If you are able to travel to Canterlot every now and then, I think Spellbound will be right up your alley, Lore.”

"I'm just visiting for a while. Though maybe I'll have to extend my stay - Ponyville is a lot more charming than I remember from my first time around. Don't tell anypony though."

Moondancer almost gave in to the urge to roll her eyes at Inkbrand. Certainly, he aimed his leering gaze nowhere near the young mare’s eyes, prompting her to reflexively put her tail between her flank and the stallion’s line of sight. For her part, Moony wondered why Inky needed to keep his opinion of Ponyville a secret. Did he have friends who thought it was lame to like a country town completely unlike a hip metropolitan center? Well, at least he wasn’t like a certain special somepony that Presteza knew, who openly lambasted Ponyville as nothing more than a dwelling ground of uncultured bumpkins. *sigh* Stallions.....

There was no reason for Moondancer to cloud her mind further as she stepped inside the crystal tree castle. She gave an appreciative whistle, this library here looked almost as majestic as the one at Celestia’s School. Twilight Sparkle had come a long way from living in a decked-out (if rather homely) tree. Too bad Inkbrand had to infuse his particular brand of negativity onto the scene, but that would not have stopped Moony from trying to help the odd guy out. That was, until Lore Weaver beat her to the punch.

Anyway, the white unicorn just stood there, trying to figure out which section to browse through first. Her head craned towards the nonfiction section, perhaps wondering if any unique books on magic found their way to the new library.....

[Lux]

“Oh right, Spellbound’s the magic guild thingy that me and my friends are setting up! We’re going to be offering all sorts of magical services, learning opportunities, and other magicy stuff that’s accessible to everypony. If you are able to travel to Canterlot every now and then, I think Spellbound will be right up your alley, Lore.”

As Spike went to his designated area, Lore couldn't help but chuckle at the way Moondancer spoke of her project. It was just as well though as Lore was promoting the new library that he now oversaw. It was an interesting idea, a place where ponies could learn and grow with their magic, an idea that perked his attention as one who frequently studied magic.

"I'll definitely take you up on that offer Moon. Next time I return to my hometown I'll pay the guild a visit. Where is it located though? Canterlot is a big city as I'm sure you know, and finding a place is like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

The unicorn then waited for anypony with questions of the library while still trying to maintain a conversation with his friends.

[SunsetSombra]

And so it was that Spike arrived at the comics section, and his eyes lit up - wow, how in the wide wild world of Equestria could all of these comics be under one roof?

It was essentially a wide corner spread, a few chairs placed around to occupy a few in-library readers and shelves packed full of comics that Spike couldn't even remember hearing about before...so many illustrated adventures and dramas waiting to be uncovered, read from cover to cover and then returned for the next reader to discover and cherish. The young dragon took in the glory of the sight before him and just thanked whatever princesses might happen to be in charge of such a collection.

" Geeeez! " The young dragon coo's as he picks up a copy of 'HypnoPony and ToadFoal'. " I haven't seen a copy of this since we moved to Ponyville - this is great! "

However His attention is soon distracted by some familiar other comics and he heads off towards them with an eager grin on his snout as he gets a closer look at some of the shelved comics that roused his interest. " Oh seriously? the foursome....the great mystery meddling muddler, Barry Trotter and the University of Unicorn Sorcery .. I could be in here for DAYS just reading these! " he exclaims excitedly, clearly in quite a tantalised state after discovering how immensely stacked this little corner was. Of course, he couldn't exactly spend ALL day in here, but there was certainly no immediate need for him to get back to Twilight just yet....and thus he intended on getting the most he could out of it by catching up on issue #65 of 'the adventures of Iron Mane!'

He couldn't think of a single better thing to be doing right at this moment, nope!

[Corsair]

Snails paused as he crossed the town square, staring upward at the newest addition to Ponyville's skyline. He'd been there the day that the castle had emerged from the ground, but it was still a sight to behold. Ponyville had just gotten used to having a Princess living there, now they had a castle too! He gazed up at the crystalline structure, taking it all in slowly.

His inspection was interrupted by a nudge from his side. "C'mon, Snails!" Snips said, impatiently. "I want to get inside! You've been in the castle before, I haven't!"

Snips and Snails had both been spared from Tirek's attack. Snips and his father had hidden in the basement of the barber shop, both wielding sharpened scissors... not that it would have done them any good. Snails and his parents had luckily gotten word out at their farm, and had stayed safely in the cellar. However, Snails had gone out to check his insect boxes, and had seen the castle actually rise out of the ground! So Snails had been there for Princess Twilight's first tour, while Snips had still been hiding. And Snips wasn't too happy about that...

"Uh Snips, we're just goin' to the library," Snails protested. Today was the day the new and improved Ponyville Library was opening. A few weeks ago, Snails had checked out 'The Big Book of Bugs' for the 5th time. (It was his favorite.) He had almost forgotten about it after the loss of the old library, but Snips was very insistent that they needed to return it as soon as possible, for some reason...

"Yeah, but the new library is IN the castle!" Snips asserted, beginning to push the taller colt.

Snails started moving again, and the pair finally mounted the steps to the castle entrance. Snips' neck craned all around, taking in the crystalline structure of the place. He was also hoping to see a certain lavender alicorn, but he couldn't tell Snails that... The library space was impressive, much bigger than the old one. Several ponies were already wandering around the shelves. Snips even saw a griffon! Kinda small though... maybe it was a kid griffon? Anyway, he finally spotted the new librarian. He steered Snails over to the unicorn and said, "Hey Mr. Lore Weaver! I'm, uh, sorry about your store."

Snails looked up at the stallion silently, until Snips elbowed him in the side. "Oh, uh, yeah!" he said, catching up. "Sorry Mr. Weaver."

Getting a little starry-eyed, Snips asked Lore Weaver "What's it like workin' for the Princess??"

[LunarRelic]

Lunar Relic happily clopped his way into the Library and instantly his eyes widened in awe "Wow this new Library is wonderful!" He exclaimed looking around and eventually approaches Lore "Say are you guys in need of extra books because I have some old books on places around Equestria. Some are quite rare like the one about the Origins of the Everfree forest. I was lucky enough to find two of them I heard that only 10 of them were made but only 3 are accounted for. My two and I think the other one is in The Royal Archives up in Canterlot but I could be mistaken." Lunar rubs the back of his head with a slight chuckle

'Good going Lunar you just made yourself sound like a total geek!' he yells at himself in his head, he then turns his attention back to Lore

"Anyway would you by any chance happen to have any book on Star Swirl the Bearded? He is such an interesting pony and I can't find any good information on him that I can trust." Lunar looks at Lore with hope in his eyes "If not maybe a book or scroll or whatever with a spell for repairing something broken? See I recently found an old pot while I was on my way back from Canterlot and I can't seem to remember a spell to fix things. I mean since I am here you're probably way more organized than I haven’t had time to clean up and reorganize everything back a my shop. It would take forever to find the right book..." Lunar then smiles while he finishes the sentence "Maybe I should ask Princess Twilight for help if she has time. I bet she'd love some of the books..." Lunar stop speaking knowing he was rambling on again which he was good at and awaits a response.

[Zeig]

 

Inkbrand became vaguely aware of more ponies filing into the library, presumably drawn by the knowledge and learning and everything else the place had to offer - but really, he was still mostly focused on books. Books everywhere.

 

Bucking princesses on ice skates. Who needed this many books in their lives?

 

Luckily, he was saved any extra time in this place he could have been using to be anywhere else by Lore Weavers generous offer. Or, wait a minute, he was the librarian. Buck yeah, he was here to serve every and all of Inkbrand's needs! That Lore Weaver hadn't quite stated so in that way was only a small and very insignificant fact of life in the grey stallion's mind. What was much more important and pressing was the unicorn's willingness to use some of that, fancy, glittering, poof stuff for his advantage. Inkbrand had enough patience to impatiently wait for Lore Weaver to finish answering the questions of some newer ponies, before he bounced a few steps over towards the other, a sly grin stretching his face.

 

"Too right you are," Inkbrand said gleefully as he threw a hoof around Lore Weaver's shoulders, a little more than a hug and a little less than a headlock. The grey stallion grinned over towards Moondancer again but said nothing, seeing how the unicorn hadn't had anything to say to him - or hadn't seen fit to respond? In either case, the tatoo-clad stallion began pony handling Lore Weaver across the floor, towards the nonfiction section as he continued speaking in a completely casual tone of voice.

 

"Maps were never my thing," he confided to Lore Weaver, though his voice remained loud and un-secereted as they moved across the floor, "buck too many markings and rot. A personal tour guide sounds way more up my alley." Inkbrand's voice remained cheerful and laughing, but he didn't release his hold on Lore Weaver until they had trotted a bit into the heart of the wing, surrounded by massive shelves and books and studying tables.

 

The grey stallion finally set the unicorn to his own hooves as he slowed down, head slowly turning side to side to take in the mountains of books, before he threw a wry grin back over his shoulder towards Lore Weaver. "So," he started conversationally, making his way over to one of the shelves that looked just like any other shelf in the library, "pet care. Specifically, small omnivore pet care." Foxes were omnivores, weren't they? "Diet, health, grooming, exercise - the works."

 

Inkbrand peered restlessly books lined up on the shelf in front of him, even going so far as to dutifully pull one out in an effort to help the unicorn find his book. He had to stop and snort at the title however. "'Sparkling Cleanliness or Creeping Germs: How to Know When to Throw Away your Old Dishes.' Fascinating," he observed, disdainfully dropping the book in search of another. At the second title, Inkbrand suffered another surge of thankfulness for Lore Weaver's presence, and idly wondered how long it would take the unicorn to catch up with him if he burned each and every one of these books.

 

[Lux]

Lore Weaver smiled as he watched the ponies slowly filter in before disappearing amongst the racks. There was really no need to trump up the significance of this place, preferring to let it speak for itself. Why even Spike contentedly made his way to his corner of the library to study. He chuckled when he saw Snips and Snails, two colts that frequented his bookstore, enter the library, both seeming to vie for his attention.

"Hello Snips and Snails," he said as he tensed when hearing then give their condolences about his former home and business, "Yeah I'm sorry too that my place is gone and so did the Golden Oaks Library. But you know when bad things happen you have to move on. As for working for Twilight Sparkle, I can't be grateful enough to meet ponies like the two of you again and share all this knowledge. Now, can I interest you two in any books?"

Another new pony made his way in offering books for the library. Lore was fortunate that after Golden Oaks was destroyed ponies and other libraries poured out their support by sending in books. Even with the library fully operational he was glad to see such a gesture continued.

"Thank you for your donation. You said these are about the origins of the Everfree Forest? That is a very interesting subject indeed and a great one to add to the collection. I know there are lots of history books but not on that subject. I will be sure to tell Twilight of your contribution. I'm sure when she has the free time she will want to read these."

With a flicker of his horn Lore lifted the books onto the reference desk to be reviewed using his magic and then organized. While doing so he heard the stallion mentioned that he wanted something about Starswirl the Bearded. Of course the unicorn was a classic to study for any unicorn as well as anypony that wanted to learn about the history of Equestria.

"Well it all depends on what you are looking for about Starswirl the Bearded. If you want to learn about the history of the great mage, then I can show you where the history section is. You would find he has a prominent section in the pre-classical area. If you are looking for the magic he performed, then that would be in the magic section. Speaking of magic, I think there is a book you might find interesting called Everyday Magic: 50 Important Spells That Every Unicorn Should Know. If I remember correctly there is a spell in there for repairing small items like a pot."

Before offering further assistance Lore felt a foreleg wrap around him, one that belonged to the tattooed stallion. While Lore wasn't shy to others, he began to feel that this stallion was more trouble than he imagined him to be. It was clear the earth pony had an aversion to learning (why was he here in a library was Lore's question at the moment) and a slight jealousy towards unicorns. Still being helpful came with the territory of being a librarian, so Lore could only oblige.

"Not to worry. Some ponies need help navigating. The first day I got here I need help finding my way. Anyway, you're looking for a book on pet care. There is a good section on pets here in the library where I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for. Oh an no need to pull me along. I'm perfectly able to walk on my own, as... well... I work here."

Removing himself from Ink's grasp, Lore led the stallion towards his goal he watched Inkbrand pick up a random book, read the title, and dropping it unceremoniously. If it were not for Lore's quick thinking and magic the book would have found a home on the floor rather than back to where it belonged. The unicorn imagined to his horror the entire library with all of its books thrown on the floor or worse on fire. But Inkbrand wouldn't do that, would he? Perhaps Lore needed to do a lecture on the proper way to access the library and take care of the books, and maybe some well placed signs, and maybe some helpful pamphlets! First thing was first though, taking care of Inkbrand as soon as possible before he caused any serious problems.

"By the way, what type of pet do you have?"

[Bellosh]

"I'll definitely take you up on that offer Moon. Next time I return to my hometown I'll pay the guild a visit. Where is it located though? Canterlot is a big city as I'm sure you know, and finding a place is like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

“Oh, the Spellbound guild hall is a block east from the main gate to the Royal Guard barracks. It’s across the street from that Army Historical Museum thingy, if you need a more famous landmark for reference. Hope that helps you find us, Lore!”

"...See I recently found an old pot while I was on my way back from Canterlot and I can't seem to remember a spell to fix things. I mean since I am here you're probably way more organized than I haven’t had time to clean up and reorganize everything back at my shop. It would take forever to find the right book..."

"Speaking of magic, I think there is a book you might find interesting called Everyday Magic: 50 Important Spells That Every Unicorn Should Know. If I remember correctly there is a spell in there for repairing small items like a pot."

With her knack for eavesdropping, Moondancer discovered a pony whose life also seemed to revolve around the arcane. Being the experienced magic user that she was, Moony cantered over to this new stallion to provide her own input. “Lore is right about that Fix-it Spell being in there, but I have found casting it correctly is more trouble than it’s worth. Personally, I find it easier to just fix things the old fashioned way, except you know, hovering all the stuff you’re working with and all that jazz.”

[LunarRelic]

Lunar Relic looked a Lore Weaver with a smile "Thank you I will go look in there! And no problem about the books I have a lot of them. My mother used to own a Library and after she passed I took a good amount of the history books. If you think you guys need some more I can come back sometime with the box of them." Lunar Relic then turned to Moondancer "I know what you mean, I would do it that way but from the way some of the art on the sides it look like it could have some historical value so I wanted to fix it as flawlessly as possible" he finished with a nod to let him know he was going off to the history section. when he heard Inkbrands statements he rolls his eyes and sighs. Lunar Relic soon finds the history section and not long after finds a book titled A Complete Biography of Star Swirl The Bearded with a slight jump of joy he picks it up and begins looking for the second book in the magic section after searching where it should be in the order of books he finds nothing "Huh it's not here..." he says to himself looking a little disappointed "Did somepony else take it first?"

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor must have gotten lost in a thought, or maybe was a bit surprised by the sheer majesty of the new library. Or maybe he was just still tired from some intense flying he had done the previous day. Either way the world sort of went blank a moment and then he found himself in the library.

"Ugh. What was I doing again. Oh yeah returning something." He said and looked for a place to dump the small pile of overdue books.

Deciding the desk was probably the best place, he went over and set the books down on the front desk, and decided to look around, but stayed close in case he did have to pay a fine.

It was during this he actually noticed Presteza, and then immediately ducked low.

"Ah geez. I don't think I can ever look at that mare the same way again now after that incident." He said, remembering the incident involving some perfume and two con artists. He chuckled a bit to himself. He hoped that the two learned to never make a griffon embarrassed or mad again.

Or at least. Don't make him mad.

[Lux]

While attending to the needy pony looking for books on pets, Lore could hear his friend Moondancer give the directions. The purple unicorn knew how libraries had a unique trait with acoustics with the smallest of sounds being able to reverberate off walls and book shelves. Perhaps it was also the typically quiet nature of these places that added to any sound being loud. In this new library however with its crystalline walls, ceilings and floors sound was only amplified louder. Why the sound of a book dropping to the floor could be likened to a thunder clap! The unicorn made a note of this, perhaps seeing if Princess Twilight knew of a spell to reduce the effects of this giant echo chamber. There was no doubt she did and the stallion could have sworn that he heard some rooms being sound proofed so that no pony from the outside could listen in.

"I think i got the directions straight," Lore replied as his horn briefly flickered using his talent to mentally capture that information and keep that memory safe inside his mind, "Thanks Moondancer! I'll be sure to visit this place soon."

Lore then heard the white unicorn offer advice to Lunar Relic about repairing the pot not with magic but mundane means. This however was not the case for what the unicorn sought.

"Well I don't want to deprive you of all your books, but if you have some more to give I'd be happy to accept them. And as for what you are fixing, if you are unsure whether you can fix it using an adhesive then magic would be your best option. Part of what I do here involves repairing books that have been damaged or preserving them from wear and tear of everyday use. Like this."

Taking a book that had a page torn out, Lore Weaver set the page in the correct area and with a little magic the page bonded with the spine of the book once again.

"As i said, this spell will work well but for only small jobs. Also while it will fix things it can't make them one hundred percent perfect, but it's better than before. Through time and practice though this spell will get better at fixing things."

Lore then faced the problem of a missing book on the shelf. Focusing on his talent his mind painted a picture of where the book should be while trying to recall when the book was taken out and who had it last. It was then that the unicorn chuckled at thee result.

"Actually I was the one who took out that book last. Perks of being a librarian. Do you live in Ponyville or are planning on staying here for a few days? If so I can deliver it to you here. If not I can send it to a library close to where your home is."

He spotted the griffon with a confused look and a pile of books placed on the desk. Glancing at the one title, Lore could remember that these books were indeed being returned but that some were overdue.

"Hello. Are you returning these, you know that a few of them are overdue, right?"