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Teahouses of Saddle Arabia

by Amber Spark

Chapter 4: Wandering Pages

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Wandering Pages

While the snow had increased, thankfully the wind hadn’t. Sunset adjusted her scarf as she trotted beside Twilight while the other mare rambled on about Lost Page’s ‘Wandering Pages’ shop. She’d been going on about her since the moment they’d left Basil’s bookstore. Each new corner seemed to just make her even more excited. By the time they reached Thoroughbred Avenue, Sunset suspected nothing could have stopped her.

“I can’t believe this!”

Then again, considering Sunset’s last conversation with Basil Blitz, she was glad Twilight was rather preoccupied.

“Lost Page is a legend in the Royal Canterlot Archives!” Twilight squeaked for the third time. “She led hundreds of missions for the Acquisitions Team! I’m sure A.K. Yearling got a ton of her inspiration for Daring Do from her exploits! She’s… she’s just done so much!”

As Twilight gushed, Sunset’s mind wandered toward the look on Basil’s face.

And that’s when her angry little pony started to slam her with memory after memory. Lemon Hearts sobbing face. Terrorized students at GU. Screaming at Moon Dancer and destroying nearly every vial of her waterwalking potion. All things that had happened years ago, but remained so painfully fresh.

It didn’t matter how many times she shouted back that she’d changed. There was always another memory.

Exactly, Sunset. You have so many memories. So many sins. Basil was right. There’s nothing that can help you. Nothing that can save you.

It took everything Sunset had not to scream.

“She actually went hoof-to-claw with five dragons just to save a pair of phoenix eggs! In fact, she got a special commendation from Princess Celestia for that! Oooh! Oooh! She’s one of only twenty ponies in all of Equestria with a standing invitation to see the Council of the Clutch Mothers! Apparently, she even once brought back a special book lost in the Caves of Forgotten Shadows containing the recipe for a healing potion for Philomena herself!”

Sunset swallowed hard, trying to focus on Twilight’s voice instead of the evil little thing that lived in the back of her brain. It seemed to be especially vicious tonight. She did her best to fend the monster off, but she knew she couldn’t last forever.

Twilight squealed, bouncing up and down in the snow. The sight brought a little smile to Sunset’s face and enough strength to deflect the next few memories.

“I’ve only met her twice and those were official RCA events. I’ve never had the chance to see her store! She’s like… the greatest pegasus the RCA has ever known! Her shop is… it’s supposed to be all about Griffonstone and the lands beyond! She’s even rumored to have a personal collection donated by the Griffon High Scrollkeeper! Not to mention the rumors about her being the current holder of one of the fabled Scepter of Scrolls, the key to unlocking the forgotten leylines of—”

“Twilight?” Sunset said, her voice sounding hollow to her own ears.

“I know! It’s so exciting! Sunset, you can’t believe the places this pony has been! Her shop is going to be amazing! Rumors say it’s built on an ancient unicorn spell nexus once used to move the sun! I can’t wait to see it! Oh my gosh, do you think she’d let me see the Scepter of Scrolls? This one is supposed to be an ancient heirloom passed down from Archivist to Archivist! Maybe? Maybe I can just get a peek!”

There were stars in her eyes. Somehow, there were actual stars in Twilight’s eyes.

Narrative causality, Sunset decided with a mild grimace. Only thing that makes any sense.

Without warning, her own personal demon retreated, but she could feel its smile. That made Sunset nervous. Her angry little pony never stopped until she truly beat it down or chained it in the back of her head.

Maybe… this wasn’t such a good idea after all…

“This is going to be great!” Twilight’s voice had surpassed squeals and entered ‘squee’ territory.

“You’re sure?” Sunset asked, her voice carefully even, knowing full well she couldn’t put a stop to things when Twilight was about to meet one of her idols.

“Of course! I’m sure it’s a glorious tribute to the adventures she’s had! The amazing journeys! The death-defying feats of librarianship! I have to warn you… I might squeal a little when I see her.”

“No… really?” Sunset managed to quip.

She sucked in a deep breath and her heart began to slow. It was okay. She could do this.

She could do this.

“Yes! I know!” Twilight giggled. “Now… wait… you wanted to say something. What is it? Something about Lost Page? Something about how excited you are? What you think her shop’s going to look like? Something like—”

“Actually.” Sunset grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around. “I was going to say we’re here.”

Twilight let out a noise that sounded like some strange griffon tribal call as she stared at the corner storefront. Two dark frosted glass doors set into thick wooden frames stood solidly against the cold. Above them was a simple stone arch. The words ‘Wandering Pages’ had been chiseled in them with meticulous care.

A glint on the stone wall to Sunset’s right caught her eye and she stepped forward.

“Twilight, come take a look at this,” Sunset muttered, interrupting Twilight’s nearly soundless squeals of glee.

Twilight trotted over and peered at the bronze plaque, a massive grin still on her face. It listed the establishment’s name, address, owner and the hours of operation for Wandering Pages.

The hours of operation included 3:04 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. on every other Thursday, all day—and night—on every third Wednesday, from 7:41 on Friday morning to 11:43 at night. On Saturday nights, the store opened at 6:07 in the evening and didn’t close until Sunday at 3:29 in the morning. There was also a three line warning about how any attempt at entering the premises on any Tuesday would result in the immediate incarceration of the perpetrator plus several other punishments which progressively became harder to read as the font became smaller.

“Okay.” Sunset shook her head and stepped back. “And this is the shop of the greatest Acquisitions hero ever?”

Twilight didn’t seem to be put off by the darkened—and rather blocky—appearance of the shop. If anything, Twilight now vibrated with suppressed glee.

“Twilight, the doors are dark and I don’t see any windows.”

“Basil wouldn’t have sent us here if she’d closed! Anyway, those hours clearly say Wandering Pages is open right now!”

Twilight braced herself on the snowy sidewalk and stepped forward. Then, she moved to knock at the door, only to freeze with her hoof only a few inches away.

“Well?” Sunset asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t do it!” Twilight squeaked with an almost hysterical giggle. “This… this is her shop. She could be on the other side of this very door! Inches away! Inches, Sunset! Inches!”

Sunset sighed and pushed open the door with her magic. Twilight squealed—again—for just a second before biting down on her hoof.

The door swung back to reveal… nopony.

“Yeah, Twilight. Inches.”

Twilight didn’t move. She stared into a stone entryway lit with small blue lanterns. She did it as if she were peering into an alcove in some lost temple devoted to the librarians who had already ascended beyond the mortal coil.

Or something like that. The effect was somewhat marred by the simple frosted glass door set on the other side of the entryway.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake…”

Sunset hefted Twilight in her magic, shoved her inside and followed. With a shiver, she closed the doors behind them. However, the shop wasn’t even half as warm as Basil’s had been. In fact, a draft seemed to flow from… somewhere. Definitely not the door, though. It felt like it came from to the right of them.

“This is so exciting,” Twilight squeaked. “Greatest. Entryway. Ever.”

Sunset turned and stared at her friend.

“Twilight, you weren’t this hyped up for meeting Princess Celestia,” Sunset pointed out. “Did you drink coffee in the diner when I didn’t notice? Is this some weird delayed reaction thing you failed to mention?”

“Um…” Twilight flushed scarlet. Then she jittered. “Maybe a little?”

“I thought you swore off any caffeine!”

“It… it was free with the meal! And I only drank a single cup! Then I got the tea! That was completely non-caffeinated! I checked!”

Sunset turned and rolled her eyes again. A small war roared in her mind. On one side of the epic struggle was the part of her who wanted to chastise Twilight for breaking her ‘no-caffeine’ rule—though Sunset really wasn’t one to judge anypony on that. The other part wanted to fall over laughing at Twilight’s hyperactive antics, which would probably give Minuette a run for her bits.

She settled on a snort, a smirk and a sigh.

“Come on, I’d like to get out of this cold.” Sunset trotted to the inner door—she could see faintly flickering light beyond it. “You coming this time or does Lost Page get to see me haul you in by my magic?”

“S-shut up,” Twilight muttered as she stepped up beside her.

Sunset smirked at her, then pulled open the door to Wandering Pages.

“Oh… oh wow…” Twilight whispered. “I never… I never imagined this…”

For the first time since Twilight had started gushing about Lost Pages, Sunset had to agree with her.

Bright orange arcane crystals hung from dangling copper wires in the ceiling, seemingly placed at random throughout the shop. While the interior of the bookstore continued the gray stone motif, the sense of entering some ancient wonder faded to something far more practical.

The shelves were surprisingly utilitarian. The simple wooden planks laid on metal braces reminded Sunset of a stockroom more than a bookstore. They were still packed with books, each section labeled in neat, narrow wing-writing.

Lost Page’s bookstore didn’t feel anything like any bookstore Sunset had ever come across. It felt like an archeology storage chamber run by an absentminded bibliophile. There were more than a few shelves with trinkets or relics on them in glass cases. And the place seemed… oddly small. Like it was taking up only a quarter of the building space.

Sunset stepped inside with Twilight close at her heels.

“This is… unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Twilight scampered up to the first row of books and ran a hoof along them, whispering titles to herself and occasionally squealing. Sunset forced herself to let her overeager friend have her fun for a full minute before she yanked on Twilight’s tail with her magic.

“What?” Twilight whined. “Come on, just a few shelves! There are things here you wouldn’t believe!”

“Any of them Teahouses of Saddle Arabia?”

“Um… no.” Twilight’s ears drooped.

“Saddle Arabia?” said a new voice emerging from a string-bead curtain. “You’re looking for Saddle Arabian books?”

Sunset cocked her head, trying to see through the curtain of beads. She hated those things. Thankfully, she was prevented from going cross eyed when a pegasus mare stepped through, blinking owlishly at the two of them.

The petite newcomer—she was even shorter than Coco—had a dark tan coat and a massive bushy mane of bright purple hair streaked with grey. A pair of thick half-moon spectacles perched at the tip of her muzzle. The pegasus mare rustled her wings, as if chilly, and Sunset caught a flicker of paler feathers, making the pegasus look like a sand dune at dawn.

“I’m so very sorry, I didn’t hear anyone come in. Curses, my chime spell must be on the fritz again,” she frowned absently at the door.

“M-Miss… Miss Lost… Lost… Lost P-P-Page?” Twilight’s ears were pointed straight up as if she were a puppy listening for her little filly to come home.

“Yes, that’s me,” Lost Page replied, stepping forward and studying Sunset. “You look… familiar.”

I don’t believe this, I don’t believe this, I don’t believe this…” Twilight whispered at a volume Sunset hoped only she could hear. For Twilight’s sake.

“Hello, I’m Sunset Shimmer,” she said with a smile, “We’re hoping you can—”

Lost Page’s eyes wandered and landed squarely on Twilight. While there had only been a glimmer of recognition when she’d looked at Sunset, her eyes visibly widened when she looked at Twilight.

“You’re…” Lost drew her hoof to her chest. “You’re Twilight Sparkle, aren’t you? I… I can’t quite believe it. I’ve wanted to meet you properly for quite some time and here you are! Oh my, happy day indeed!”

Twilight stiffened. Her eyes went wide. She mumbled something Sunset couldn’t make out.

Then she fell over.

Sunset facehoofed.

Sometimes I really want to smack you, Twilight…

“Oh dear. Is she alright?”

“She’s fine.” Sunset lifted the slightly-twitching Twilight in her magic. “She just needs a minute or two. She’s been a little overexcited lately. If it’s not too much trouble, do you maybe have a couch or chair or something we could borrow? Something to wait… this out on?”

Sunset kept her smile and tone pleasant, but what she wanted to do was shake Twilight like a rag doll or at least smack her upside the head. Sunset had thought she was used to Twilight’s various neurosis. Apparently, she’d been wrong.

“Oh, yes. Nothing out here, I’m afraid. There’s a fold-out sofa in the lab, though!”

“Lab?” Sunset repeated, cocking an eyebrow at her. “You have a lab… in a bookstore?”

“Yes, one would think that rather silly, I suppose,” Lost adjusted her glasses and gestured for Sunset to follow her back through the beads. “But take my word for it when I say there’s quite a good reason for it!”

Sunset did her best not to hiss at the beads, focusing on keeping Twilight aloft and spreading the beads to either side. She didn’t breathe easy until they were in the stone hallway beyond.

Lost Page continued to glance back at them as she guided them through a series of hallways, all lit with blue flames. Curious, she ran a hoof through one. It didn’t do anything more than a tickle.

“Mageflames,” Sunset muttered. “And good ones too.”

“Why thank you!” Lost said from ahead, beaming at Sunset over her shoulder. “I feel bookstores should have a certain ambiance, don’t you?”

“To be honest, I’ve seen a little more than my share of ambiance lately,” Sunset replied, thinking back to the odd hearth at Basil’s. “But it’s a nice touch.”

Lost nodded. They passed at least six stockrooms, all with beaded curtains and all stacked to the rafters with books, enough to fill a bookstore twice the size of Wandering Pages. Why would a pony have this much backstock? Not that she knew all that much about used bookstore economics, but it still struck her as strange.

Twilight, meanwhile, simply babbled quietly to herself.

She was about to ask about the extra books when Lost opened an actual door… and led them inside something impossible.

Sunset tweaked her levitation spell to essentially give Twilight a soft slap across the cheek… then another. A third did the job when she yelped and rubbed at the reddened cheek in midair.

“Sunset, what was that—”

Sunset didn’t say a word, but her expression stopped Twilight in her tracks. Instead, Sunset just pointed.

“So, do tell me your thoughts.” Lost Page said with a toothy grin. “Not bad for a retiree, yes?”

The building containing Wandering Pages had to be almost half a block square, about the size of a run-of-the-mill retail franchise bookstore. However, Lost Page had decided to utilize most that space in a rather unique fashion. If Sunset had to guess, the bookstore section would likely only take up a little less than a quarter of the total floorplan for the building. What lay in this room comprised the rest.

And Sunset could see why.

It was a vast open room, lined on all sides by the same gray stones she’d seen from the beginning. A series of worklights had been rigged up to shine down on the floor, while various harnesses and digging equipment had been suspended from a series of scaffolding over much of the floor. There was, in fact, a rather large foldout couch in a corner, along with a nightstand and a small lamp.

In the center of the vast chamber, lay nothing less than a full-blown archeological excavation. The floor dropped by about three feet, then a whole new floor—made of some stone Sunset didn’t recognize—stretched out to the walls. Designs and patterns seemed to be scattered all over the uncovered floor, all of them practically covered in ancient runes.

“What… is this place?” Twilight whispered, her curiosity overwhelming her idol worship.

“I knew you’d thoroughly enjoy this, Miss Sparkle,” Lost replied, looking just a bit too smug for Sunset’s taste. “After all, one rarely gets to see the origins of history itself.”

Twilight glanced back at Lost Page and made a small squeaking noise. “Origins of history?”

“I’ve heard one or two rumors about what Wandering Pages was built on. My personal favorite is an ancient alicorn burial site. Pure poppycock, I assure you. No, the truth is far more interesting.” Lost Page took a deep breath, the same kind that their professors had done before ‘educating’ somepony back at GU. “I know you happen to be well-regarded at the Royal Canterlot Archives, Miss Sparkle. Very-well regarded, in fact. There are those who say that one day, you will wear the jacket of the Head Archivist.”

Sunset blinked, trying to figure out the sudden change in topic. She never got a chance to respond though. Twilight got there first.

“What… that’s… what?!” Twilight squawked, flailing around with her hooves as her eyes went huge. “I’m… that’s impossible! Utterly impossible!”

“Ink Method says otherwise, my dear!” Lost Page said with a chuckle.

“You’re… you know Ink Method?”

“I was a member of Acquisitions for nearly fifty years, Miss Sparkle. It would be rather impossible for me not to. He speaks of you often. The youngest Assistant Lead Archivist on record. Immensely gifted with all manner of spellwork focused around books and beyond. And with special talent that surpasses anypony on staff. He claims books leap into your hooves like beloved friends. Remarkable. Simply remarkable.”

“But being Head Archivist requires so much more than knowing books!” Twilight cried, her chest heaving. “You can’t be serious. I’d have… I’d have to manage ponies! I’d have to lead them!”

Sunset jumped in before things could get even more out of hoof—or Twilight passed out again. “Sorry for cutting in, but I think we’re a little off topic here, aren’t we?”

Lost Page blinked a couple times and then smiled. “Oh yes, but of course. I do tend to flit from thing to thing these days, save for one or two exceptions. And this is one of them!”

Despite evidence to the contrary, Sunset thought, rolling her eyes.

“The rumors were right in one regard: it was built upon something else.” Once again, she gestured to the excavated floor. “What you see at your very hooves is nothing other than the original home of the Royal Canterlot Archives, nearly six hundred years ago, before they moved to their current location in the Academia District!”

Twilight let out an enormous gasp.

Sunset just cocked her head. She might enjoy study sessions, but Twilight was on a completely different level. It was interesting, but… did it actually matter beyond nostalgia? Sunset lifted a hoof, but Lost Page continued without even noticing. Sunset grit her teeth and forced herself to take a calming breath.

“Not only that, but this is the floor of the very heart of the former RCA. Part of a chamber forgotten by both pony and time. From what I have translated in the runes at your hooves, this, my dears, used to be none other than the core of Linking Chambers.”

Sunset blinked a few times. Even Twilight seemed to hesitate at the ‘revelation.’

“Okay…” Sunset scratched her head and stepped a little closer to examine the patterns. “I’m… sorry, I’m going to just come right out and say it: I have no idea what that is.”

Lost Page chuckled before Twilight could react. “There is no need to apologize, my young filly. Those who do not follow the librarian's road rarely understand the significance of such things. I can’t remember how many times I told A.K. that, yet she always tried to take shortcuts… silly mare.”

Lost Page stared at the floor, as if lost in memory, smiling distantly.

“Wait a minute,” Twilight squeaked. “A.K.? As in A.K. Yearling? You know her?”

“Twilight…” Sunset protested, but Lost Page was already off again.

“Oh yes, of course, we’ve worked together on occasion. Though I hear after that unfortunate incident in Ampathi Territory, she is pursuing her life’s work solo now. Quite sad, really. I aided her research on the location of the Sapphire Stone, you know. Of course, it didn’t help that the manuscripts she uncovered were not only copies, but also partially mistranslated! She was so eager to jump into the fray, she never double-checked her work.”

She sighed and shook her head, smiling fondly.

“Wow,” Sunset scratched her mane, a bit startled by that little random tidbit. “A.K. Yearling actually had ancient manuscripts translated for a series of adventure novels?”

“Of course she does!” Lost Page burst into laughter. “Why wouldn’t she? She’s the—”

She suddenly stopped and blinked a few times.

“She’s the what?” Twilight demanded, nearly bouncing up and down on her hooves. “I’m… one of her most devoted fans! I’d love to hear anything you know about her!”

Lost Page smiled wanly. “Ah, it’s nothing of great import, I assure you. After all, it’s impolite to spoil secrets she may use in a book one day.”

Twilight’s ears fell. Sunset almost laughed considering how crestfallen she looked.

“Now… Miss Sparkle, I assume you are familiar with the ancient Linking Chambers?”

Twilight’s eyes drifted over to Sunset. She was even biting her lip! However, Twilight looked like she was about to unleash the devastating Adora-Stare. Sunset took the path of least resistance, laughed and raised her hooves in surrender.

“We are actually here for a book,” Sunset replied, bringing all her diplomacy to bear just to keep her growing annoyance out of her voice. “But it can wait for a bit as we explore… whatever these Linking Chambers were.”

The old mare might be a little melodramatic and slightly off her rocker, but Twilight lived and breathed libraries. Her whole world revolved around books. And Twilight was willing to help Sunset find Teahouses of Saddle Arabia. Sunset could afford a minor distraction to keep Twilight happy.

Sure. That’s the only reason you’re doing it.

“So, Miss Sparkle and… Miss Shimmer, yes?”

Sunset nodded.

“Please, step onto the chamber floor,” Lost Page said. “Do not worry about harming the surface. The magic used to etch the runes into the foundation are nearly impossible to break. Likely why they were only covered and not destroyed when the building moved!”

Twilight all but leaped onto the floor and nearly dropped to a crawling position as she inspected the etchings.

“So, tell me, what do you know of Linking Chambers?” Lost Page asked as she took flight and hovered above them. She adjusted her glasses as Sunset stepped over a vaguely-familiar rune.

“Legends,” Twilight muttered as she peered at a circular pattern within the floor. “Something to do with leylines?”

“Quite so!” Lost Page clapped her hooves together and rose higher into the air. “Take a moment and look around you. There are a great many arcane patterns I haven’t yet deciphered, but see if you can find something familiar, perhaps a pattern?”

Neither of them had the advantage of Lost Page’s point of view, but as Sunset slowly walked around and turned in a circle, she started to see hints of something. Something very familiar. Twilight apparently had, too, if her grin was any indication. It wasn’t surprising, since they’d been working on something like this for months. Both of them laughed quietly.

Lost Page hadn’t missed their reactions. “Why don’t you show me, my dears?”

Sunset pointed at what she guessed what probably north. “I’m seeing what’s probably the Great Northern Leyline, the one that stretches from Canterlot into the Frozen North.”

Sunset looked down at her hooves and a familiar castle lay right there, encircled by runes, connections running in almost every direction.

“I see the Great Southern Leyline, running from the Mysterious South to the Everfree!” Twilight pointed south and jumped up and down.

“And around you?” Lost Page prompted.

“The Circumference Line, of course,” Sunset replied, her smile growing as she started to understand what she was seeing. “With what looks like nodes for almost every major Equestrian city…”

“Well, the ones that were founded before seven hundred years ago, right?” Twilight asked.

Lost Page clapped her hooves again. “If you searched, you’d also find the Conduit of Arrows, leading to Griffonstone and the lands beyond, the Conduit of Flame running beneath the ocean to the Dragon Lands. Not to mention hundreds of other lines, many of which there may be no other record of, both inside and outside Equestria.”

“But wait… this can’t be right.” Sunset looked down at her hooves and studied one more etched leyline in the floor. “There’s… a leyline connection between Canterlot and the Everfree? I’ve never seen that on a map.”

“Yes,” Lost Page whispered. “That is a mystery indeed. One I believe Star Swirl himself once researched from what I managed to discover in my—”

“Wait!” Twilight shouted as she studied the runes around Canterlot… which Sunset only now realized were set in a series of circular patterns in the floor. “I know these! But they’re misaligned! And… um… well, in the wrong order.”

“Misaligned you say?” Lost Page flitted down and peered at the spot with a small etching of Canterlot Mountain. “How odd…”

Sunset blinked and rubbed her eyes, wondering where—or when—she’d put down her tea. She straightened up and tapped Twilight on the side, then gave her a look. Twilight sighed and nodded, straightening and stepping back.

“Miss Page?” Twilight asked, catching the mare’s attention. “I’d… well, I’d love to spend the next week here studying this map, but that’s not why we’re here.”

“Oh?” Lost Page adjusted her glasses. “Well, I suppose not. This is a bookstore, after all. What were you looking for?”

Sunset tried her best not to get her hopes up but felt them rise all the same. “Teahouses of Saddle Arabia.”

Lost Page took a step back and rubbed her chin, frowning slightly. “That old tourist rag? I may have a ninth edition printing around here somewhere—”

“No,” Sunset shook her head. “I’m looking for first edition.”

“My dear,” Lost Page shook her head slowly. “Forgive me, but the only reason I remember that book is it became quite the rage with the Canterlot upper crust about forty years ago. I made a great many bits selling copies I printed myself. But a first edition? You’re looking for a three-hundred-year-old book!”

“Oh, I know,” Sunset said, not letting any of the frustration leak into her voice. “But you yourself said later editions were—”

“Tourist rags, yes,” Lost Page frowned again. “They were edited down to about a quarter the size of the original and shoved onto magazine stands in tourist shops and those odd franchise bookstores. If I may ask, what in Celestia’s name are you doing seeking a book like that? At this time of night? At this time of year?”

Sunset smirked a little. “Trying to get Princess Celestia a Hearth’s Warming gift.”

Lost Page’s eyes went wide and her wings flared. “Oh my… forgive an old mare’s forgetfulness, I didn’t realize you were… um… that is… the Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset did her best to stop herself from rubbing her temples in aggravation. “It’s… look, I’m just trying to find the book. It has sentimental value and… the rest is complicated. Do you have it?”

Lost Page closed her eyes and muttered to herself, playing with her glasses, her wings twitching slightly. “Most copies of such a book would be located in private collections or bookstores that focus on the rarer books. I do have a large stock, but I’m not sure I’ll have that particular title.”

“I would appreciate it,” Sunset said evenly. “If you would at least check? Perhaps you might know somepony who would have it?”

“Well, there’s… one place…” Lost Page shook her head. “Oh, no. Sorry. They wouldn’t even be open this evening. Their hours are the oddest of all, really. Rather foolish for me to even mention it.”

“It’s for Hearth’s Warming, Miss Page,” Sunset insisted, her voice straining a little. “Time is a factor here.”

“Yes, right. Quite so.” Lost Page nodded absently. “Then, I’d best check my records. Please, make yourselves at home while I investigate!”

With that, she darted out of the room before Sunset could get another word out.

“That mare may actually be slightly crazy,” Sunset commented. She rubbed her eyes. Where had she put her tea? “Like, legitimately.”

“Doesn’t Minuette usually say ‘We’re all a little crazy?’” Twilight said from behind her.

“Some more than others,” Sunset muttered as she turned… and froze in midplace. “Twilight, what are you doing?”

To Sunset’s shock, Twilight had dropped to her belly and was slowly adjusting the… runes in the floor around Canterlot?

“Wait, how are you even doing that?” Sunset asked as she dropped down beside Twilight.

Only then did she see the truth.

“The runes are etched into stone rings that are inset into the stone!” Twilight whispered excitedly. “I think they may be some sort of combination lock or even an encoding system! You know what these runes are, right?”

“Of course,” Sunset said as she played with another ring. It moved smoothly in her magic as if it weren’t several centuries old. She spun it to match the proper alignment. “It’s the same basic configuration as the Spire. But all the Spire does is spout light… when it’s working right.”

“The Spire is also created by us. This… this was built by some of the greatest minds in the RCA from several centuries ago! In fact, I think it might essentially be one enormous rune!” Twilight squealed softly. “Can you imagine? I wonder what secrets this might unlock!”

“Maybe this isn’t the best idea, Twilight,” Sunset said hesitantly, but found herself adjusting the fifth rune circle to the correct alignment. “I mean… do you actually know what a Linking Chamber does?”

“I’ve heard the phrase once or twice. Leylines and communications, I think? I once even heard a story they could teleport small objects, but that’s obviously some fairytale. Nopony can teleport across a leyline.”

Sunset eyed the final runes—three large circles, in fact—centered around Canterlot. They didn’t match anything she’d ever seen on the Spire or any of the material Celestia had given them. The rune circles seemed to link up with the various leylines for some purpose.

The entire room began to hum very softly and Sunset could feel the magic in the air intensify by a factor of fifty. “What was that?”

Twilight leapt to her hooves and looked around, but nothing seemed to have visibly changed. “I… finished the sixth rune.”

“Well, you did something!” Sunset said as her eyes swept over the room again. “Maybe we should get Lost Page in here. She knows something about—”

“Sunset!” Twilight had spotted the large runic circles around the city. “I… I recognize these! They’re not runes! They’re pictograms! Symbols!”

“I know what a pictogram is, Twilight,” Sunset snapped sourly. “So what? Look, we’re playing with a magical device we don’t understand here—”

“They’re names,” she whispered, ignoring her entirely as she knelt again. “Names of… places.”

Then, before Sunset could react, Twilight shifted two of the three circles.

This time, the result wasn’t subtle in the slightest.

Bright blue light shot through the etchings of the leylines, while pink light ran through the vaguely geometrical runes and spell patterns. Different spots on the map shot beams of light into the air, some yellow, some gray and some white. There was a large red spot in the Frozen North, as well as a couple more along the Circumference Line.

In less than ten seconds, they were both standing on a massive web of shimmering, multicolored light.

“I… can’t believe this,” Twilight whispered as she gaped in foal-like wonder. “All this when… all I did was…”

“Twilight,” Sunset gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to immediately teleport them out of there because she didn’t have a clue what it would do with this much magic roiling around them. “Please tell me what you did.”

“I… I was thinking about the book and… I simply aligned the runes to Eastern Leyline. But all this device does is allow communications over distances… I think.”

“You think?” Sunset demanded, trying not to facehoof. “Twilight, I know you’re curious to a fault, but come on!”

“I didn’t think it would actually work!” Twilight squealed and she nibbled on a bang. “And… nothing’s actually happened! So we should be fine!”

“I… really wish you hadn’t just said that. What was that theory we talked about earlier?”

Lost Page surged back into the room before Twilight could answer. The moment she laid eyes on the floor, she fell out of the air in shock at the sight of her project actually functioning.

“It’s real,” she whispered. “It’s real! I knew it was real! So many years I’ve hunted for it! Was it the runes? I had tried to manipulate them, but with a total of nine runic circles the odds of finding the correct combination was… simply astronomical! I can’t believe it! I don’t believe it! But it’s right there! Oh, I can’t wait to shove this in Ink Method’s smug muzzle!”

The pulsing magic around them was starting to make Sunset’s horn itch. She could feel the matrix below them primed for something. And she didn’t want to know what it was.

“Look, I’m thrilled we helped solve a seven-hundred-year old mystery for you, but that’s not what we’re here for and we’re going to be leaving now, as long as that’s okay!”

“What?” Lost Page looked like she’d completely forgotten they were in there. “Oh yes, uh… probably.”

“Probably?” Sunset demanded, throwing up her hooves.

Twilight got back to her belly and studied the final, unactivated ring.

“Don’t you dare!” Sunset snapped at her.

“I didn’t do anything!” Twilight squeaked, adjusting her glasses nervously with a hoof.

“You were going to!”

“I wanted to see if I could disable it!” Twilight cried.

“No, no, no!” Lost Page shouted, waving her own hooves as she ran to a desk Sunset hadn’t noticed before stacked with papers. “You musn’t! I’ve worked on this for years! Please! I’ve changed my mind, just… remain there a short time and… let me… let me get some data!”

“We’re not going to sit here all night!” Sunset looked at the boundary separating the magically-charged floor and the floor of Wandering Pages. There didn’t seem to be any actual barrier. “We have things to do!”

“A little longer, Sunny!” Twilight pleaded.

“Yes, yes! A little longer, Sunny!” Lost Page echoed as she scrambled around the perimeter, scribbling notes furiously.

“No!” Sunset shouted. “Absolutely not! I can feel the magical charge of this thing! It’s not going to explode or anything, but there’s some serious magic working here. It’s like the Spire’s power times a thousand!”

“Then let me just try and dissipate it!” Twilight begged. “Just one adjustment!”

“We’re walking out of here, now, Twilight!”

However, instead of getting up, Twilight’s hoof went to the last circle.

“Twilight, don’t!”

For a split second, Sunset forgot she was in the middle of a massive spell matrix the size of a third of a city block. For a split second, Sunset lost her temper. For a split second, Sunset ignited her magic—a magic which had once interwoven itself with one Twilight Sparkle—on said Twilight Sparkle in attempt to yank her back by the tail.

In her defense, she was trying to stop her from letting this massive spell do… whatever it was designed to do.

It didn’t matter much.

The moment her horn ignited to stop Twilight, the entire system seemed to pull at her magic. She gasped as her magic was redirected into a swelling orb of multicolored light floating above the Canterlot symbol.

Twilight yelped as her own horn lit up, and another stream of magical energy joined Sunset’s in the form of raspberry light. It streamed into the growing orb like water poured into a bucket.

Lost Page was yelling something but Sunset couldn’t hear a damn thing. She clutched her head. The sensation in her horn wasn’t painful or unpleasant, but supremely strange, as if someone had put a straw to her core and gently sipped while never actually taking anything away.

And then, just as suddenly, the sensation stopped. Both Sunset and Twilight staggered forward a few steps, until they were inches away from the orb. It was now the size of a large buckball and swirling with every color of the rainbow and then some.

Sunset’s eyes drifted to the third runed circle.

“Oh, horseapples.”

Through either the magic or Twilight’s hoof… It had moved.

And it was glowing bright orange, just like all the other runic circles.

Sunset fixed Twilight with a piercing stare. Twilight grinned awkwardly at Sunset and laughed a little.

“Oops?”

The Eastern Leyline—Conduit of Arrows—etching flashed from blue to orange in a split second.

“Oh dear,” Lost Page cried, hesitated and then spoke as fast as she could. “Um, the book! You might be able to find it at The Store. But be careful! It’s not on the list!”

Sunset glared at her. “Oh, thank you ever so much.”

With a deafening crack, the sphere of magical energy erupted, swallowing them both in the blink of an eye.


Author's Note

Well. That just happened. Never meet your idols, kids. Next thing you know you'll get swallowed by strange magical orbs after activating ancient magical communications systems!

Fun Fact: This chapter was completely rebuilt from the ground up after I wrote the original draft. The first one had to do with Lost Page going nuts over Twilight literally being the "Librarian Chosen One" and putting her through some sort of initiation ritual, and that was only after Sunset and Twi went through a blue tunnel that looked like it was out of a Daring Do adventure... which was just Lost Page's back door.

I like this version better.

I'm sure the two of them will be fine. After all, it's just a bookstore. Nothing to worry about.

Right?


If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

Next Chapter: Transit: Unknown Conduit Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 59 Minutes
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