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(Royal Ponyville Library) Missing Magic Mayhem! (Closed)


Lux

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"Ah the new shipment has arrived from the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters," Lore Weaver said as he examined the cart filled with books and the corresponding list of titles and descriptions. Using his magic he began to pick through the stack and separate them into piles. There were the fiction books, nonfiction books, and the third pile that contained restricted books. These books were either very old and could only be accessed by permission or they contained powerful or dark magic that couldn't be left in the hooves of anypony. These arcane tomes needed to be carefully researched by Princess Twilight and then determined who and how they can be used.

"That's the last of this group," Lore said as he glanced at the piles, many of which were nonfiction with a few in the fiction and restricted areas. Looking at the list provided to him, there was one book not checked off.

"Huh, there's one not checked off. Let's see, The Noctus Occultum. Wait there is a note under in in red ink."

This book is said to contain powerful dark magic that can control and corrupt a unicorn's magic. Do not let anypony use this book! Deliver to Restricted Library immediately!

"Yikes, this books sounds dangerous. Better find it post haste."

He looked at the books that he organized hoping it was accidentally slipped into those piles. Finding nothing he checked the cart then the information desk, his worries growing ever stronger.

"Oh no! Not here, not there, not anywhere! Where could it be? What if it was stolen or fell off along the way here? If somepony gets their hooves on it and tries to use it, it could put Ponyville, no, Equestria in general in danger!"

He began to pace as visions of fire and destruction and screaming ponies entered his mind. No, he had to keep it together. If there was one thing that Lore Weaver was talented with it was being logical.

"Ok, first things first, need to get a team together as I can't find this alone."

He looked and there were several patrons visiting the library. Not giving it a second thought Lore shouted in a very uncharacteristic way for a librarian, "Everypony, griffon and others in the library, I need you to stop your studies and meet me at the Information Desk. The fate of ponykind will depend on your help!"

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Well, this was... boring. Why had he come here after a, so far, fruitless search for work? Tehengu sighed, resting his beak in his claw as his good eye scanned over the words on the book in front of him. He was decked out in his full combat gear, his bandanna in it's typical orientation over his bad eye. His sword and bow were leaning against the table he was sitting at as he continued reading. At least the book was somewhat interesting. It was an adventure novel featuring a griffon as the main character.

"Ugh... Maybe I should just keep searching for work..." The griffon mumbled to himself as he turned the page and continued reading. He glanced up at the sound of yelling, his head slowly following suit as it was requested that he meet the pony at the information desk. With another sigh, the griffon stood up, placing his weapons back where they belonged before making his way to the info desk, as requested.

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In the library, a small hut made out of many different books had been created. The only opening, was at the front, which was hole punched into the thinnest side of this foolish house. Through the dark window, one could see the light gently reflecting off of the eyes of another pony who was looking down to a book. This very book was casually held between his hoofs while his eyes prayed on it's prose. Oh how Java loved this small cramped little house. It removed him from the outside world so well. Voices drained away as echoes against the leather bound shells. Light was only allowed in through the entrance of the shamble house. And all distractions withered away wi-

"Everypony, griffon and others in the library, I need you to stop your studies and meet me at the Information Desk. The fate of ponykind will depend on your help!"

Java let out an almost pitiful sob of displeasure when his peace was disrupted. HIs head quickly rising up, knocking the fielding out from above him, and sending his makeshift little home across the ground. Some times, he really wondered why he bothered returning to ponyville. It only seemed to be a nexus for all sorts of evil. SO what was going down this time?! Tirek blowing up someone's house and draining magic again? Or maybe nightmare moon returned for round 3? Or maybe the sultry queen of the changelings began some ridiculous hair brained sceme that starts in ponyville! AGAIN.

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The Ponyville library had become something of a favourite spot for 'Spring Breeze'. She had few responsibilities for the moment, and it helped her catch up on what was common knowledge in Equestria. Not only was it a way to keep busy, but the research could actually make her life easier in the long run.

Today as like many days, the maroon coated and blue maned 'pegasus' could be found seated at a table in an out of the way corner of the library, poring over a book and enjoying the quiet atmosphere. Today's subject was the common Equestrian stories, myths and legends inspired by comments made by a friend on a recent trip to Stalliongrad.

"Everypony, griffon and others in the library, I need you to stop your studies and meet me at the Information Desk. The fate of ponykind will depend on your help!"

The voice snapped 'Spring Breeze' out of her focus on the book. It took her a second for her to process that it was the librarian speaking, and what it was he said. She looked up. She considered for a moment the likelihood that there would be a problem of that magnitude against the likelihood that the librarian was just nuts. “It's Ponyville,” she muttered to herself, “both are equally possible.”

Still, she wasn't in the middle of anything too important, nor something she couldn't pause and return to later.

She stood up, and made her way casually over to the info desk, figuring that either there'd be a real problem she could help with, even if she thought the librarian was bound to be exaggerating, or there would be a show. Either way, there was something worth investigating.

She moved toward the desk, noting a hoofful of others moving in the same direction, including a gryphon that she recognized. That caused her to do a double take. She wouldn't expect someone like him to be in a place like this, but that was something she could always look into later. As she arrived at the desk, she spoke up, replying to what the librarian said initially. “Oh come on, it can't be that bad. What happened?”

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As a traveling reporter for the Canterlot Chronicle, a pony gets to go to a great many places and write about quite interesting things. And yet, for Earth Writer, it would seem that his best work and most exciting events all seemed to come from one small town in the heartland. Who would have thought it? The editor of the ChronicleN apparently, as he had ordered his subordinate to canvass Ponyville for the Next Big Story.

The unicorn had actually spent his formative years in the town, though you couldn't tell by the looks of him. He'd been thoroughly citi-fied, as they said around these parts, even going so far as to regularly wear clothes! Not fashionable, by any means; a powder blue jacket, green shirt, orange tie, and grey trilbee, with his own coat and mane being tan and black, was a combination that assaulted the eye, and was intended to. Earth Writer was a Bohemian sort of fellow now, and for the first time felt fully an outsider in this town, looking in.

But, if certain yells from the direction of the library were to be taken seriously, it was as well worth looking in to as ever. Pulling his trusty little notebook from his pocket, he sauntered over to where quite a sizable gathering was queuing up inside the crystal building. Stepping up smartly to the front, he called out to the gathered. "'Scuse me, Earth Writer from the Chronicle, here." He tipped his hat to those present and brought out a pencil. "If I could just get your names now, that'll save a lot of trouble afterwards."

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The librarian's call for help attracted the attention of four individuals who were in the library studying. The first was a powerful looking griffon who strangely carried weapons with him. Maybe he was a soldier from his area or a monster hunter. Next was an eccentric looking earth pony who ducked back in the farthest reaches of the library to study in solitude. Then there was a mysterious Pegasus mare who kept to herself and upon hearing the pleas of Lore Weaver took it not very seriously. Finally there was a pony that was a news reporter who was interested in helping by getting their names. Or maybe he was looking for a scoop. It was a motley group but it would have to do.

"Thank you for coming here. I am Lore Weaver, head librarian of the Royal Ponyville Library. The problem that we and other ponies here in Ponyville are facing is a book. It is not just any book mind you like the ones you are reading. This book is a spell book, one that contains deep dark magic. The magic contained within can augment and corrupt the talents of others, and if it falls into the wrong hooves or in the case of griffons talons it can cause a great peril. Can you imagine a pony who may not have a grasp on their talent now being fueled by evil magic? For this reason this book was never meant to be released out to the public, bound for a Restricted Library."

The stallion paused, hoping that the gravity of the situation stuck in their minds, before continuing.

"While I went through the shipment of books today, I found this book missing. I checked where it could be and found nothing. I know it wasn't put into the Restricted library either as I'm the only pony that would do that. So the point is that somewhere in Ponyville this book is lost and we need to find it as soon as possible."

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There were three others that had answered the call, not counting the one who had sent out the call in the first place. Tehengu looked around at the ponies, his eye stopping for a bit when it landed on a familiar pegasus mare. Spring? He wondered briefly what she was doing here, but soon realized it made more sense for her to be here than it did for him. He just wondered why he hadn't spotted her before if they were both in the same building. Of course, he hadn't really been paying attention to much around him while he was reading. Also, he was trying to ignore the reporter pony. His time in the military hadn't left him with a good opinion of reporters.

The librarian began talking now, so the griffon's gaze turned towards the pony's direction. He introduced himself as Lore Weaver before revealing what the big deal was. A book? Seriously? Tehengu glared at Lore as the pony continued. By the time Lore paused, the griffon had stopped glaring and was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. This was certainly a bad situation, one he didn't want to come to fruition. After the pony had finished completely, Tehengu remained silent for a second before nodding.

"Alright. I'll help." He said simply, keeping his gaze on Lore as he placed his talon back on the ground.

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It had been Fire Walker's second trip to Ponyville after her parents, and young sister had moved from the royal city of Canterlot, to the occasional sleepy little farming village. She had spent the better part of the early morning, helping her father set up training exercises for the young members of the guard and now had a good deal of time to kill. So, being the helpful sort, she volunteered to return a few library books her folks and sister had finished reading. She also wanted to see what all the drama was about. Her young sister, Wind Walker had been disappointed to see that the very friendly and welcoming Golden Oak Library had been replaced by an rather jarring crystal tree-house-castle-thing. The young officer did not think this new library was 'ugly', but it did stick out like a sore hoof amongst the old style thatched roof home and business that surrounded the new building.

As she glanced among her old friend, Quillhart's latest literary offerings, she overheard something she would not normally hear in a library. SHOUTING. This was generally frowned at in such a place, but she let her curiosity get the better of her.

He looked and there were several patrons visiting the library. Not giving it a second thought Lore shouted in a very uncharacteristic way for a librarian, "Everypony, griffon and others in the library, I need you to stop your studies and meet me at the Information Desk. The fate of ponykind will depend on your help!"

Fire Walker quickly made her way towards the rather splendid looking counter that surrounded a young unicorn stallion. She patiently listened to this pleas for assistance. Apparently a powerful magic tome had vanished. Was it stolen, or simply mislaid? While normally this would be a job for the 'Magical Items Recovery Team' or M.I.R.T, she knew the small squad was busy trying to fix a magical mess up north. And while Fire Walker was a Pegasus pony, she had been trained in defense against the mystical arts. While she was unable to use magic, she was far from ignorant of the great art.

The armored officer flashed her badge, "First Lieutenant Fire Walker of the Canterlot Guard.". While she was now officially a member of the Fillydelphia guard, recent upgrades to her living quarters had kept her from moving. She had mentioned to her new bosses that she would have been more than happy to stay at the guard quarters until her room was finished, but that simply wasn't how they worked in Fillydelphia. So for the time being, she would simply bounce back and forth between Canterlot and Ponyville as she was needed.

"I will be happy to assist you in the recovery of your tome.", the mare spoke in a professional, but pleasant tone. "I'm also assuming this book has a protection spell over it to keep it from being opened up by restricted spellcasters.", she was aware that 'unlocking' spells could be cast to defeat such measures. "If possible, I would like to see where his book would normally be kept."

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A young red grey stallion wondered aimlessly down the streets of Ponyville. He wore a goofy grin, but seemed to have an almost starved look in his eyes. His eyes wondered aimlessly over every little detail he could spot, until finally coming to rest on his goal. He took a moment to gape in awe at Ponyville’s newest wonder “The Crystal Castle of the Princess of Friendship.” Quickshot had heard about the tree's sudden appearance, and had wanted to come see it for himself for some time now. He had recently found some time off from work to come visit the town. He totally was here for the sites, and not to duck his landlord on paying rent again. Still… he knew the time off wouldn’t be long. So he wanted to check out the castle as soon as possible while he was here.He had expected it to be difficult to get into the castle, but was amazed to find out that it was actually opened to the public, and double as the public library. He had heard rumors of Princess Twilight’s love of books, but going as far as to turn even her new castle into a library, seemed a bit obsessive to him. That or she really missed he old house. It can be a bit discomforting to see you home blown to bits by a death laser. He decided to push that depressing thought to the side in favor of exploring the shiny new library

.To his disapointment, the library was quite ordinary in design, considering where it was located. He found it was structured much like the previous library, but on a much bigger scale, and with some more acomadating sitting areas and tables. He could see a few other ponies in the library with him as he glanced around the room. He took note of a couple red Pegasus mares, one in the corner and the other observing the fiction section, though she was dressed in armor for some reason. He also notice a house of books had been assembled off to the side by some strange stallion, and then their was a large griffon seated at a table in full tactical gear and... Wait what? A large Griffon in full tactical gear?! He repeated the words in his mind to let them sink in, before he jumped to the logical conclusion that he needed investigate. Quickshot ducked behind one of the standing shelves next to the table, and carefully removed a few books from the middle section, so he could safely spy observe the griffon. He was able to confirm that the griffon was indeed wearing armor, and had also kept a large great sword leaning beside him along with a bow. He also thought he could just make out a tactical knife at his side. The griffon was also on the tall side, even for his race, and seemed like he’d seen some action in his time. He wore bandana over his left eye, that seemed to be covering something a scare that just barely poked out the bottom. He felt som pity for the griffon. Losing an eye can be very problamatic for flying creatures. The loss of depth perception can make it far more difficult to fly. His attention fell back on the weapons at his side. Wonder why he keeps his weapons on him? he thought to himself. Most would leave such things at home, but I supose he could be on the clock. No. He wouldn't be reading a book if that were the case. Quickshot descided to file the matter in his mind until he could do further investigation. He quickly flicked out his camara and snapped a flashless photo of griffon to document for later.

He prepared to move in and talk with the griffon, but his plan was interupted by a sudden yelling from the librarian, of all ponies."Everypony, griffon and others in the library, I need you to stop your studies and meet me at the Information Desk. The fate of ponykind will depend on your help!"“Well that can’t be good.” he thought allowed to himself. He heard a crashing sound and looked out to see the house of books had crumpled to the ground and a murky brown stallion had stumbled out. He couldn't help, but notice how depressed he looked about the interuption. His attention was drawn away by muttering from the corner of the library. The maroon Pegasus mare he had notice. look bery unhappy about the news. He couldn't help, but find the pouty look on her face adorable. His gawkind was stipped when he overheard the griffon let out an audible sigh before picking up his stuff and making his way to the info desk. The others quietly followed suit, but each at their own pace. Quickshot was confounded by the reactions he was getting, and couldn’t help but wonder how common the world coming under threat had to be, to reach the point that it was annoying to hear about.“Oh come on, it can't be that bad. What happened?” he heard the Pegasus mare, angrily ask the librarian. "'Scuse me, Earth Writer from the Chronicle, here." He had missed his entrance, but it seemed the call for help had drawn in a horribly dressed Stallion. He tipped his hat and took out a pencil. "If I could just get your names now, that'll save a lot of trouble afterwards." A reporter already? That's a record fast responce time.

The librarian, seeming to ignore all the question thrown at him, and instead decided to begin explaining the situation once everyone was gathered."Thank you for coming here. I am Lore Weaver, head librarian of the Royal Ponyville Library. The problem that we and other ponies here in Ponyville are facing is a book. It is not just any book mind you like the ones you are reading. This book is a spell book, one that contains deep dark magic. The magic contained within can augment and corrupt the talents of others, and if it falls into the wrong hooves or in the case of griffons talons it can cause a great peril. Can you imagine a pony who may not have a grasp on their talent now being fueled by evil magic? For this reason this book was never meant to be released out to the public, bound for a Restricted Library." Lore paused for a moment. Quickshot was very perturbed by what he had learned. It was one thing to here about dark magic and the like. It was a whole to encouter it for yourself. I guess it is a good thing I don’t have a special talent, he thought to himself."While I went through the shipment of books today, I found this book missing. I checked where it could be and found nothing. I know it wasn't put into the Restricted library either as I'm the only pony that would do that. So the point is that somewhere in Ponyville this book is lost and we need to find it as soon as possible."

Without wasting a moment, the armored mare from before, stepped up to the librarian and flashed a badge, then introduced herslef as, "First Lieutenant Fire Walker of the Canterlot Guard." she said in a professional, but pleasant tone. A guard pony Quickshot noted, that explains the armor, "I will be happy to assist you in the recovery of your tome.I'm assuming this book has a protection spell over it to keep it from being opened up by restricted spellcasters. If possible, I would like to see where his book would normally be kept." ,and she seemed to already be asking important questions, he noted. He liked always liked a mare with good head on her shoulders, but then he also like the spacy kinds as well. He wasn't exactly a great judge of character.The prospects for this insident were fasination, and far to good to pass up. He wanted to approach the group and pledge his aid, but felt a bit unsure how to proceed. Scion had always told him that people will often open up to the kind and simple, but won't take them seriously. However, acting serious and profession will earn you respect, but alienate you from the people. You must find a balance between the two, and don't be afraid to be a little weird. Quickshot had kept to this philosophy and had prepared. What he beleived to be. The perfect detecte, persona.

Quickshot steeped out from behind the shelf and casually walked towards the crowd. He didn’t look to fancy, his outfit consisting of a large dark grey trench coat worn over a pair of light grey shorts and T-shirt. It wasn't the typical attire for a pony, but he liked it. He carried himself like citizen of Canterlot would, and maintained a very strait posture and even canter, but Instead of holding his head high like the typical Canterlot snob, he instead kept it level and wore a fake grin. He approached Lore Weaver stopping next to Fire Walker and introduced himself in a professional, but excited voice, “Hello, I couldn't help but over here your problem and...” As he spoke, his head tilted to the side, and he peaked over at Lore Weavers cutie mark then, snapped his attention back to lore weaver, " I might be able to be of assistance. You see...” He glances behind Lore and sees the note on lhis desk. He twists his head a bit, trying to make out the book title and mouths the name, “Noc-tus Oh-cult-uum?” His attention again snaps back to Lore, “You see. I think I can help you find the Noctus occultuum, becauses’ He holds up his right hoof and flicks it at Lore Weaver. A small business card appears in his hoof with his name and occupation on it. some may also note that a watch with a cracked face is attached to Quickshot's wrist. he continied to to speak, but in an even more excited tone, “I am Quickshot Scion. Private I. My specialty is picking out detais to learn everything I can about…” His head starts tilting again as he seemed to look over at the annoyed maroon mare. Cyan eyes on a maroon coat, such striking contrast he noted, before looking back at Lore Weaver, “...well everything. I would be very happy to aid you in your search. As a…Miss Fire Walker here requested." He questures to Fire Walker, "It would be a good start to see where the book was kept, but I would also like to get the name of the carrier who was supposed to deliver the book in the first place, and his route. If it did simply just get lost in transit, then checking the route could prove…Fruitful. Otherwise it would help if we put a notice out to the public about the books absence. Though…" he looks at the reporter, "maybe not mention it’s evil, since Ponyvillians have a habit of panicing. So ust say it is valuable to Princess Twilight or somthinf… and its return would be appreciated? Something like that.” His head snaps around to look at the other poines, “Does anyone else have any ideas? I would also love here your names.” He gave a fake, but goofy looking grin.

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The engineering stallion rounded the corner of a shelf from his little shanty adobe, and noticed the large gathering of ponies, and a well armed griffon. He didn’t need any pony to repeat anything given that this was a library. And when the silence is broken, it generally carries very well to all but the deafest of ears. But he did take a moment to observe the each individual member.

One seemed to be a rather enthusiastically dressed reporter. While the colors did actually hurt the ponies eyes, he couldn’t really insult him for his choices of dress. Especially when Java had known himself well for wearing mostly grays, blacks, and argyles. His taste in fashion was low as is, and this pony before him was the epitome of such a disaster. However, it was kind of interesting to see a reporter on the scene just as quickly as this “end of the world” causing disaster had began.

Then there was the red mare. Java easily recognized her for one of the mare’s that his friend had hang out with. Though he couldn’t really figure out why she usually wore her armor. Then again, there were two cases of well-armed pedestrians in the same library. But, this didn’t really cause to much concern for the stallion! After all, this has actually grown to be one of the norms in his already chaotic life.

The librarian, who was probably making a mountain out of a molehill. A book goes missing, and he already begins to flip his stack. Now, maybe the pony couldn’t blame him as there were several instances that a book or magical item has caused some a LOT of devastation in ponyville. But magical anomalies seems to be the norm of Equestria now a days. Oh how he wished his colleague was here. A bit of Will-o-Wisp clairvoyance would be enough to disarm the situation.

Java only half heartedly listened to everything going on. Instead, his gaze had been fixed on the empty cart before them. The pony slowly approached it, and lowered himself down onto his stomach so he could look under it with a gaze of interest. His eyes shifting to and fro from the wheels. One hoof, casually moved it’s self. It firmly planted on the side of the cart and gave it a gentle push, letting it roll forward. Usually, such an action would cause the cart to escape. But thanks to a nifty addition to the stallion’s shoe, the cart remained attach to his hoof instead.

The eccentric stallion allowed his maw to adopt an energetic smile before quickly sliding his hoof off. A moment later, he quickly bounded up into the air and landed in the cart. His gaze dipped downwards to check around to see if landed on anything important before finally looking back up to the group. Apparently names were desired.

“Name?! Ah yes yes yes! Java! Java’s my name! Is it a real one? No, my profession has nothing to do with coffee! Wonderful as it would be! My name is simply much longer than that! But it’s more efficient to say two syllables in a dire situation than three plus two more! Plus I am not very fond of my own name! Bad luck, good luck, unwanted nonsense. Yada Yada…”

The pony then leaned back, and consequently, the cart sparked to life and rolled backwards with the motion. That was until it bumped against a desk. Allowing the stallion to pluck up the invoice from where it lay. His eyes quickly scanned over the manifest. Both observing the books names and the weight of the shipment, while comparing everything to the total weight.

“Now! I am kinda curious about how a detective and a reporter end up in the same boat! But oh well! The real question is what is this book called,” the pony chimed softly. He was leaning back and forth, causing the cart to roll forwards and backwards a ways.

“PLUS! The good ole mail-ponies are real good about making sure nothing is lost! If something really is missing! I’d recommend checking the invoice’s shipping weight and comparing things~. The gross is what they shipped as a hole. If the book in question was counted for, then it’s either lost on the way here, or floating about as mysteriously as a squiggly in your eye!”

Finally, the pony brought it to a stop, and scooped a variety of books from their piles back into the cart.

Java then quickly turned his head to look to the Librarian. And in turn the cart seemingly spun in place till it too was facing the other stallion. “Oh! And… how do you organize this library? By Hash Indexing? Alphabetical? Or Dewy Decimal?”

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The librarian had explained that a book had gone missing. This sounded like a typical problem for a library, and indeed 'Spring Breeze' got the sense that even Lore Weaver wouldn't have brought it up if not for the nature of the book, which was apparently a tome of volatile magic. A serious problem and worth helping to address, even if it seemed like the standard course of things for Ponyville.

Not a minute after she moved over to investigate, two separate ponies were already demanding her name, one a reporter and the other a private investigator. It almost made her wonder if there was some sort of secret investigation going on, looking for ponies like her. Granted they both introduced themselves first, so it wasn't like they were demanding information for nothing in return. But then, they could afford to have their identities out in the open, with no consequences.

The reporter had been content to sit back and let things play out so far, but the PI kept talking. 'Spring Breeze' thought going on a bit, and veered off topic once or twice. Though he did make a couple good points, suggesting talking to the courier and a way to talk to the rest of the town that would reduce the chance of panic. He also gave her a strange look, but she brushed it aside for now.

The final two potential helpers were a royal guard, and...somepony eccentric. 'Spring Breeze' couldn't tell what he did. He asked about the name of the book and how the library was organized. The guardspony, after introducing herself, wanted to investigate where the book was to be stored. The presence of a guard was both a benefit and a risk. It was good to seem them attentive to Ponyville's safety, though it also meant she'd have to be even more careful than usual.

Of course, all of this went on solely within 'Spring Breeze's head, as the others spoke. From the outside, she looked like she was attentive and patiently waiting, or so she thought. Finding a lull in the conversation, she relented and gave her name before she voiced her opinion. “For those asking, I'm Spring Breeze. I agree with talking to the courier, that's probably the best place to start. While I like the idea of searching the route, that could take weeks depending on how far away it came from, if we can't narrow down the search. Just one thing I want to know,” she looked over to Lore Weaver, “in case things go wrong, are there any telltale signs of the book being used? It might help to track it down or give somepony some advanced warning if one of us stumbles onto it in the field.”

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As the first page in his red notebook filled with shorthand notes, Earth Writer felt a tense excitement wind his nerves up like an anchor chain. *Good old Ponyville! One can always count on this town for a sensational story!* Missing magic books, possible theft, maybe a line in on the next big threat and the random band of heroes that would stop it? Oh, this was a reporter's dream!

All the names were noted (except for the griffon, who went down as 'Grump' until such time as he favored the journalist with any attention or answers), and the unicorn listened carefully as the problem outlined itself. He was a fan of mystery novels, and could only feel the presence of the Private Eye to be appropriate. And this was pretty much a perfect set-up for one, too. A book leaves one place, doesn't arrive at the destination, what happened to it betweentimes? All very neat, and it seemed that the investigators, both amateur and professional, were taking the situation well in hand. "I can send a quick telegram back to my editor." He piped up in response to Quickshot's suggestion of a general notice. "The Chronicle has subscribers all down the line from Canterlot to here. A quick word, and we'll have the notice in this evening's edition."

And then there was Java, a stallion who seemed bound and determined to make a spectacle of himself. Earth had met eccentrics that almost equaled that in the Bohemian club, albeit not often; and yet, his suggestion was again cogent and valuable. This really was a run of good luck. On the other hand, the reporter knew a thing or two about deliveries himself, having sent in so much remote copy in his day. "Hm, unless the book was a sizable tome, its weight might not amount to much more than a rounding error in a particularly large shipment. That's assuming, of course, that nopony diddled the paperwork to cover their tracks. Seems to me to be the first thing any thief would do, if this was a deliberate theft." It said something about his reading habits that deliberate theft stood as the most likely possibility in Earth's mind.

Closing his notebook, he took out a wrinkled telegram form from his shirt pocket, bracing it on the notebook's cover. "Right," he said, nodding at Spring Breeze. "I'll put the salient details to look out for to the editor. The wider we're able to cast our net, the quicker we can track down this grim grimoire."

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Fire Walker couldn’t help but smile as she watched a few more ponies heed the call for aid. She was happy to live in a land where just a simple request for help, even one sent to strangers would garner so many volunteers. The librarian was quite alarmed, but he had every right to be. While looking like standard tomes, these magical books could be filled from standard spells for the beginner, to powerful sorcery to be used by only the most skilled of wizards. She also had read about books, sometimes known as 'Grand Grimoires' that while containing only one spell, could do anything from controlling its host to having the ability to unleash powerful destructive spells. Most of these contained spirits of long lost unicorns who escaped their mortal coils by transplanting themselves into their books in hopes of acquiring a new living body, so that they might be able to continue their dark arts anew.

The Pegasus mare was not sure how much she had read was true, but she knew that only a fool would underestimate any magic item they were unfamiliar. Magic could be summoned and stored anywhere, from simple amulets, to the very uniform the mare wore. Her golden armor not only was marked by Celestia's sun, it was also enchanted to be comfortable in most environments and weather, and was as light as a feather, but could withstand all manners of physical assault. Thankfully, Equestria was mostly peaceful these days, but it didn't hurt to have the extra protection.

Beyond the librarian, an armored griffon caught her eye. She would make a note to ask her father what Ponyville's policies on carrying weapons. While being an officer in the R.E.A gave her the right to carry such a thing, she was rarely armed while in the cities and towns of Equestria. For the most part, there was hardly any need to bare weaponry during these peaceful times. A skilled officer's words were far more effective than a bladed instrument. And speaking of words, a somewhat familiar coffee-colored stallion started to chat up a storm. While she tried to take in everything the chatty pony said, she couldn't help but wonder if she had met him in the past, as he looked so familiar. Was he one of Dunder's friends?

There was another stallion, who reminded her of her older brother Punk Walker. Both in manner of dress and the need to stand out in crowds. Like the others, he tossed out a few helpful ideas on where to go. Fire Walker simply nodded her head in agreement. A few others spoke, thankfully they did not speak all at once, but the mare decided to remain silent, knowing they would need to ease this sense of chaos before they could all properly put their heads together and work out a plan. She glanced towards Lore Weaver as the others continued to speak, hoping the stallion would take command of this situation.

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Never did Lore Weaver expect that there would be such an outpouring of help! It wasn't that saving the world was an unimportant thing, or that ponies were wrapped up in their own lives. It was just he expected maybe one or two to assist him.

"Thank you all for helping, and now I will address all your questions before we begin."

The purple unicorn then gathered his thoughts as he thought about each individual question or concern, hopefully able to address all concerns. First would be Quickshot.

"It would be a good start to see where the book was kept, but I would also like to get the name of the carrier who was supposed to deliver the book in the first place, and his route. If it did simply just get lost in transit, then checking the route could prove…Fruitful. Otherwise it would help if we put a notice out to the public about the books absence. Though…" he looks at the reporter, "maybe not mention it’s evil, since Ponyvillians have a habit of panicing. So ust say it is valuable to Princess Twilight or somthinf… and its return would be appreciated? Something like that.”

"Well Quickshot the book would find its home in the Restricted Library. This library is not in the main library but in the private part of the castle. It is accessed only by Princess Twilight Sparkle and myself primarily, although if others such as the Princesses require access to this library then it is certainly up to the discretion of the Princess of Friendship. Alas I cannot show you this area as this could pose a threat to the safety of Ponyville even more. Please understand it isn't a lack of trust on your parts, but the fewer ponies know where it is the better. What I can tell you though is this library contains no ordinary tomes. Even rare books are not there but in a rare book part of the library. These books contain powerful magic that would be too dangerous if a pony or other individual gets hold of it. This is for both intentional and accidental usage. The procedure is that when a delivery is made, Princess Twilight has a list of books that I will be receiving. Those that are restricted are written in red ink like so."

With his magic Lore produced the list for the recent shipment, some names in red ink.

"The courier in this case was very reputable, a Fleet Hoof. He has delivered many books for myself, including any from the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters where these books came from. As you can see, I sorted the books into three piles: Fiction, Nonfiction and Restricted. The one in question though was missing. My guess is that the book was lost between here and the castle in the Everfree Forest."

“PLUS! The good ole mail-ponies are real good about making sure nothing is lost! If something really is missing! I’d recommend checking the invoice’s shipping weight and comparing things~. The gross is what they shipped as a hole. If the book in question was counted for, then it’s either lost on the way here, or floating about as mysteriously as a squiggly in your eye!”

"The trouble is that this was a courier, not a mail pony Java. Gross weight, while mentioned on other shipments, is not on this list, only how many books there are supposed to be along with the title, author, subject, and brief description. As for the book's name it is the The Noctus Occultum, and it is by description a dark grey book with the title in black writing."

“For those asking, I'm Spring Breeze. I agree with talking to the courier, that's probably the best place to start. While I like the idea of searching the route, that could take weeks depending on how far away it came from, if we can't narrow down the search. Just one thing I want to know,” she looked over to Lore Weaver, “in case things go wrong, are there any telltale signs of the book being used? It might help to track it down or give somepony some advanced warning if one of us stumbles onto it in the field.”

"The book Spring Breeze is known to amplify a pony's talent, namely a unicorn's magical ability. How it affects the talents of say an earth pony or Pegasus is anypony's guess. Yet what is known is that this book while amplifying magic corrupts it making a certain talent be used for dark purposes. So telltale signs would be ponies who have surges in their talents or acting not like themselves I believe."

"Hm, unless the book was a sizable tome, its weight might not amount to much more than a rounding error in a particularly large shipment. That's assuming, of course, that nopony diddled the paperwork to cover their tracks. Seems to me to be the first thing any thief would do, if this was a deliberate theft."

"I don't believe that anypony changed the paperwork as the Princess had three copies of the book list: one for herself, one for me, and one for the courier. So we are all on the same page as it were."

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Well, there were some newcomers to the group now, one being a guard mare in full armor. Well, that made two of them that were armored, so one less he had to worry about if a fight broke out. Counting himself, there were now three individuals that he knew could take care of themselves in a fight. Actually, in Spring's case that was more of an assumption, but she was former military, so it was a pretty safe one. Tehengu listened in silence through the rest of what was asked of the librarian, as well as the unicorn's responses. This book sounded like bad news, especially if it was found by someone that didn't know how dangerous it was.

"We could split up the group here. Have some go talk to the courier, then have the rest start a sweep of Ponyville, probably a bit of the surrounding area too, to be safe. The longer we take to find it, the more chance it winds up in the hooves of some civ, possibly worse." The griffon said to the group, opening his beak to continue only to shut it again for a couple seconds. "Course then we'd have to find some way to stay in contact." He added, mostly to himself. He also briefly wondered who would be leading this retrieval mission, then he realized that between the three of them he knew to have military experience, they'd be set well enough in that regard.

"I'm Tehengu, by the way. Forgot to do that earlier." The griffon said idly to the group, still trying to think up ideas to help them find the book. Even if he wouldn't get paid for this, this town was his home now, essentially. It certainly was the closest town to his house, and a lot of his job searches started here, so he was in the town a fair bit. Anyways, he didn't want to see it destroyed or whatever by a book with magical powers.

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The 'Chronicles' reporter responded immediately to Quicksho's notice suggestion. Stating that he could get a notice in the evening edition of his tabloid. This was very good news, as it would defiantly help in their efforts to stop this incident. The first pony to answer the call for suggestions was the strange brown earth pony who had been in the book fort. He introduced himself as 'Java' and bounded up onto the cart that had been carrying the books. While doing an impressive balancing act, he suggested that perhaps the books weight may have been accounted for. This was an interesting idea, but the reporter also brought up that if it were theft, then they may have tampered with the paper work. However, Quickshot wasn't sure how useful it would be know whether or not the book was stolen. If it were stolen, then clues could be found at the crime seen, but it didn't seem like a book worth stealing in his opinion. The Library was full of rare and valuable books, so for someone to go out of their way to just steal one very evil book, would have to either be very stupid, or want to use it. In which case they were already to late, but it didn't seem like the world was panicking yet, so maybe it was just lost.

The next pony to chime it was the cute maroon Pegasas mare. She introduced herself as Spring Breeze, such a beautiful na~, and she wanted to know if there was a way to narrow the search, do to the idea of combing the woods taking far too long. She also asked if there were any tell tale signs of the books effects.Quickshot worried that if this book were like the usual Ponyville calamities. The signs of the books effects would probably be very obvious if not down right destructive.

Lore Weaver seemed to wait patiently as he was showered with suggestions. As everypony seemed to have no further input. He thanked them all for their help, and then calmly started answering questions. The Librarian had much to cover, but he started with answering Fire Walker's inquiry about where the book was being kept. Unfortunately, it seemed that the section of the library it was suppose to be in, was strictly off limits to everypony but him and the Princess. This made it less likely that it was stolen. He then went on to answer Java's question about the courier and possibility of the weight being accounted for in the shipping report. However, this proved fruitless as the shipping list didn't gave weight on it, but Lore to reveal the title of his courier 'Fleet Hoof', and informed them that the book had been transported from the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. This helped narrow the search considerably as it meant they now had a possible route to follow. The next question he answered was the troubling one about the books power brought up by Spring Breeze. Lore explained that the book apparently acted as an amplifier for special talents, but it corrupted those special talents and the hearts of those under its effects.It was defiantly something that could wreak a lot of havoc in the wrong hooves, but it really did depend on who got a hold of it. He took some comfort in the idea that the book wouldn't even work on him. He after all had no special talent to begin with. Lore went on to state that the list had several copies, so even in the event that one was tampered with, unless they changed all the copies. There was little chance of anypony covering their tracks by altering one.

Quickshot pulled out his own pen and pad, and took notes of what he had learned from Lore, and snapped a quick picture of everyone present, as he did this the Griffon suddenly spoke up and startled him, "We could split up the group here." he said, "Have some go talk to the courier, then have the rest start a sweep of Ponyville, probably a bit of the surrounding area too, to be safe. The longer we take to find it, the more chance it winds up in the hooves of some civ, possibly worse." he opened his beak as if to continue only to shut it again and pause a moment. "Course then we'd have to find some way to stay in contact. I'm Tehengu, by the way." he quickly mentions, "Forgot to do that earlier." Quickshot happily noted the name, and wrote it down in his notes, along with the names of the others. He took a moment to go over the data, then calmly put the notebook away and cleared his throat. He turned to face the group, then took a deep breath, "Before we continue I think I need to make something clear to everyone." He looked over the group with a serious expression on his face, "We are not trying to find the book." He paused a moment, before raising a hoof to continue, "Now hear me out. I am not saying we shouldn't find it, but we you all must realize we have a more important job to do, and that is to prevent a disaster. I mean It would be nice if we could find the book before it is picked up by somepony, but the odds are against us. We need to turn these odds in are favor, and we can do that by eliminating the worst case scenarios." He starts to pace, "We can do that by eliminating the possibility that someone bad picked up the book. After all Ponyville has dealt with a lot of strange and dangerous magic in its time, so I would like to think that most ponyvillians, upon seeing the notice in the paper, will simply return the book if they find it I mean no one wants to get the town destroyed again." He throws his arms up, "We instead want to make sure that the book hasn't fallen into the hooves of anypony who would actually be foolish enough to use it. The main targets, then, being the young, the rash, and the...simple minded. If we eliminate those possibilities, then we increase the odds that the book will be found by somepony sensible. Of course, the best case scenario is that the book is actually lost in the forest, because that would mean no one can accidentally find it, and Lore here," he gestures to Lore, "would have all the time in the world to allow the courier to search and retrieve the book from the Everfree. As long as we can eliminate all the problem foolish from the list of ponies that could have found it, then we could very possibly stop this incident before it ever gets out of hand."

He pauses again to take a breath and allow the others to process what he said. However, as he does so a troubling thought crosses his mind, and a panicked look spreads across his face. He suddenly launches into a fast paced rant as his mind recounted the troubling idea, "I just had a thought. That book doesn't do something stupid like activate upon contact? Because if that were the case, then we would have to switch all are worry to ponies with powerful talents. I mean think if Princess Twilight got it. Dear Celestia. I mean having the special talent of magic or amplified and turned evil. We would be so boned if that were the case. What if one of the other element bearers picked it up!" He laughs hysterically for a moment, "That isn't the case right Lore?" he gives Lore nervous look before quickly turning his attention back to the group and letting out a deep sigh. He takes a breath, then clears his throat again. He speaks, but in a calmer, but still excited tone, "Let's assume it is not. For the sake of sanity. We should start are search from the entrance of the Library and work are way towards the entrance of Everfree forest. I am not a local here, so I will need help identifying some of the possible problem ponies. The young are easy enough identify, but I don't know who in town is known for rash or umm stupid behavior. Also I wanted to know if there was anyone in town that is may be a combination of these trait, young, rash, full of bad ideas, maybe even have a strong interest in their special talent. Anypony come to mind?"

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