Chapter Six
The following day, Derpy arrived at the train station bright and early, to find Twilight Sparkle in the midst of one of her traditional panics.
“Oh hi Professor, you're in compartment one. I need to find Rarity, have you seen her? Have you?”
“Twilight, I said you may call me Derpy away from the university. And no, I haven't seen Rarity. I can fly down to her house if you like?”
“No, no, she will probably have left by now. Oh my, there's so much to be done. Wait, Pinkie! Don't touch that!” Twilight rushed off to prevent Pinkie's latest mishap. Which was more likely to turn into a mishap for Twilight, Derpy thought, as she loaded her overnight saddle bag onto the train. Her allocated seat was by the window, so she put the bag in the overhead locker and took a good look around outside.

The platform was busy with ponies coming and going, mainly at the orders of Twilight Sparkle who was now looking through a weighty checklist, the bulk of which was being held by an overworked Spike. Rainbow Dash was her usual self, relaxing on a trolley which was being pushed by Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked far from impressed, and spent most of their time glaring angrily at Scootaloo, who appeared to be enthusiastic about pushing her idol across a railway platform.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders' misery was cut short when Applejack spotted what was going on and delivered a short, angry lecture to Rainbow Dash about the evils of letting young ponies do work for you. The sight of this made Derpy giggle. Chastised, Rainbow Dash got off the trolley and zoomed into her carriage, which Derpy assumed she would be sharing with the rest of her friends. There was no way Twilight would lose the opportunity for extra time rehearsing on the train.

A shrill peeping sound came from the chuffing engine, suggesting that the drivers were ready to go. This sent Twilight into a double-panic, and she ran down the platform, eyes wide. Derpy decided this was the time to withdraw to her seat, to prevent being press-ganged into triple-checking the luggage or something.
A few ponies that Derpy recognised were in the compartment with her, so she shared a good-natured laugh about Twilight's organisation before settling into her seat for the journey. The window offered an excellent view of the route she normally took to work, but from a wholly different perspective.

It transpired, of course, that Twilight would be last one onto the train, almost missing it in her haste to round up the remaining ponies on the platform. Once the purple unicorn was safely on board, the train whistled again and the gears began turning, pulling the carriages into gentle motion, speeding up as they left Ponyville Station behind them.
“I'm so excited for the play later!” One of the ponies who had a market stall in Ponyville said.
“I totally agree. I just hope that my clumsiness doesn't strike midway through, I wouldn't want to embarrass the Princess.” Derpy replied, laughing a little.
“So do the rest of us, Derpy! You'll be fine, I'm sure.”
Derpy smiled, pleased to have the encouragement.

“Oh, and thank you for delivering those cards the other day. I'm sure your post bag was quite heavy.”
“You're very welcome. It is my job, after all.” The clumsy pony beamed, hoping that her wall eye didn't diminish her sincerity.
“Still, it was very cold then. With the snow falling and everything.”
“It's okay. It didn't take too long.”

Looking back out of the window, Derpy admired the scenery. Travelling through the mountains was always a treat, but with the snow everywhere turning them white, it was an extra bonus. Glancing down at the carriages behind, Derpy noticed a few ponies waving at Ponyville in the distance. She followed suit, sticking her head out and smiling at the buildings which appeared tiny all the way back there.

Canterlot quickly approached from the front of the train as the mountains gave way to the capital city. Derpy felt a little rush, as she always did when she saw the beauty of the city in which she worked. The towers and spires were were inspiring.
Canterlot Central Station was as busy as ever, perhaps even more so due to it being the holiday season. Derpy alighted as soon as she could, glad to exchange the interior of the train for the crisp air outside. Her saddle bag was thankfully light as she bounded towards the city, careful not to lose the rest of the ponies.

It turned out that she didn't really need to worry, since everypony was keen to do their own thing and see the wonders of the city. Derpy waited to see if anyone wanted to go with her, but in their haste she seemed to have been forgotten. Twilight and the others steamed past, in quite the hurry, which surprised Derpy a little. She had expected Twilight to be a little indifferent, since she was an ex-pupil of Canterlot Magical Academy and had lived in the city prior to moving to Ponyville.

Derpy blinked as her eyes watered, wondering whether it was the cold or the sting of loneliness that was causing it. She resigned herself to be the forgotten one and thought about visiting the university library before a small voice caught her attention.
“Professor? Professor?”
Her head whipped around, maybe a little too quickly, her blonde mane flying in all directions.
“Yes?”

The voice belonged to a small filly named Apple Bloom, whose thick red mane was swaying slightly in the breeze.
“We're not sure where my sister and the others have gone... did you see them?”
Apple Bloom was with her friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, all of whom looked a little shy and embarrassed.
“Oh, they dashed off a minute or so ago. Sorry.”
“I knew they'd do this. And we even pushed Rainbow Dash on that stupid trolley to try and get her to let us tag along.” Sweetie Belle moaned, scraping her hoof through the snow in frustration.

“Sorry to hear that, girls.” Derpy said, smiling. “Hopefully you can find someone else.”
“Aww, and I wanted to see all around Canterlot.” Scootaloo complained, looking at Apple Bloom. “Why couldn't you have been nicer to your sister?”
“Well, you made us push Rainbow Dash!”
“So? Sweetie Belle should have got Rarity to show us round!”
“I asked her and she said she was busy! It's not my fault!”
“It's Rainbow Dash's fault, which makes it Scootaloo's fault!”

With this, the three friends descended into a quick tussle, blocking the path out of the station. Derpy was not used to dealing with kids, but did her best in the situation.
“Come on girls, break it up.” A well-placed hoof prised them apart and pushed them aside, so that the path was free again.

Chapter Seven

All three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked a little embarrassed to have been fighting on the path.
“We're sorry.” Apple Bloom said, addressing Derpy.
“That's quite alright, Apple Bloom. Just try not to fight in people's way, okay?”
“Hey, we should ask Derpy to show us around!” Scootaloo suggested excitedly.
“Yeah, that's a great idea!” Sweetie Belle confirmed, looking at Apple Bloom expectantly.
“Why do I always have to ask the grown up ponies when we want something?” Apple Bloom replied a little angrily.

“Hey, girls, calm down. Of course I'll show you around.” Derpy said, hurriedly, anxious not to have to break up another brawl.
“Yaaaaaay!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders said in unison.
Maybe their special talent is falling out... or speaking at exactly the same time, Derpy thought as she led the way into the city.
“So, where would you like to go first?” The grown-up pony asked, looking down at her companions.

“Um... how about the Princess' palace?” Apple Bloom said, touching her hoof to her chin in thought.
“Yeah!” Was the reply from the other two.
“Okay then, we should go left here. It's really not far away.” Derpy said, keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn't fall behind. “I don't think we can go inside though, because the Princess is living there at the moment and we weren't invited. Just look from the outside.” She advised, using her working knowledge of Canterlot to take a short cut and avoid the busy marketplace.

The Palace appeared at the end of the boulevard, resplendent as normal.
“Woooow!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders said, looking up at it with wide eyes.
Derpy also drank in the beauty of the spires and towers, mirroring the majesty of Celestia herself. It really was the crown jewel of Canterlot.
“So which bit does the Princess live in?” Scootaloo asked.
“She lives somewhere in one of the towers. Most of the main part is banqueting halls and the royal garden and stuff like that.” Derpy replied, trying to sound knowledgeable.

“It's so pretty!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“I want to live in a palace like that some day.” Sweetie Belle added, her hooves on the railings so she was as close as possible.
“Maybe your special talent could be living in a palace.” Scootaloo smirked.
“Hey, be quiet Scootaloo!”
“I'd prefer a palace with a couple of ramps, and maybe an obstacle course.”

Derpy decided it was time to move on before the three of them got into a pickle.
“Okay, so where next?”
“Umm...”
“Well, I think we should go to the grand theatre last, since it's where the show will be. That leaves, well, the market... the restaurant district, the main park... um... and the university, I suppose.” Derpy said, racking her brains for places that wouldn't bore three young fillies out of their minds.
“The university sounds boring.” Scootaloo replied. This was what Derpy had hoped nopony would say, since the university was the bit she knew most about.

“I say we grab some food! I missed breakfast because of Rarity's fussing.” Sweetie Belle said, excitedly.
“Seconded!”
“Thirded!”
Derpy sighed and laughed a little. “Well, okay then. We'll grab some famous Canterlot doughnuts to be going on with, how's that?”
“Sounds excellent.” At least Sweetie Belle knew what she wanted.

Derpy took the three of them to Doughnut Delight's Delicious Doughnut Deli. It wasn't really a Deli of any description, but Derpy knew it was for the alliteration. Anyway, on a street with at least four other doughnut shops, it was pretty obvious what was being sold.
“Could it be... Professor Hooves?” Doughnut Delight said when Derpy entered, with three fillies in tow.
“Hi Doughnut Delight.”
“Please, call me Delight. It's been a long time since you were last in here! Not since your days as a student, I suppose.”

“You must have a long memory.” Derpy said, blushing a little at the memories of late night doughnut feasts.
“I sure do, I can remember almost everypony who I've sold a doughnut to. But anyway, who are these delightful girls you're looking after?” Delight said, looking down at the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Scootaloo announced.
“And we are here to earn our cutie marks!” Added Sweetie Belle.
“Maybe we'll get the doughnut eating cutie mark!” Cried Apple Bloom.

Delight looked sceptical.
“Sorry. This is Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom.” Derpy explained, pointing to each one in turn. “And I suppose I'd better get them... a chocolate whirl each. But only one, mind, they're only little.”
“Would those chocolate whirls be with sprinkles?”
“Girls?” Derpy thought she might as well let them decide for themselves.
“Yes!” Once again, they spoke in unison.

Derpy took them over to a table where everypony sat down, before Delight appeared with a tray of four doughnuts. Derpy paid with the coins she had in her saddlebag, treating her young friends.
“Thank you Derpy.”
“Thank you Derpy.”
“Yes, thank y'all Derpy.”
“You're welcome. Hopefully this will make up for your missed breakfast, Sweetie Belle.”
“It sure will!”

Three hungry young fillies really didn't take long to wolf down their doughnuts, so Derpy rushed hers a little to keep up. It certainly was a delicious doughnut, but it didn't really compare to a nice, warm muffin. Still, better than nothing.
“Okay, so where next, Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Derpy asked, looking down the table at them.
“Is there anywhere we could try and earn our cutie marks?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Probably not, I'm afraid. This is more of a sightseeing visit.”
“Aww.”

“How about we go to the main park? It's really nice there with the snow, and you could probably make a snowpony?” Derpy tried. She really needed to be better with kids.
Scootaloo didn't seem convinced. “A snowpony? Aren't we a little old for that kind of thing?”
However, her answer was provided by the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, who stared at Derpy with huge grins.
“I love making snowponies!”
“I'll race you!”

As soon as they said it, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran out of the shop, despite the fact that they had no idea where the main park actually was.
Unimpressed, Scootaloo got up to follow her friends, and Derpy did the same, waving goodbye to Delight as they left. Exploring Canterlot was reminding her a little of her own days as a filly in the big city, and it was giving her a warm nostalgic feeling.

“Uh, Derpy?”
“Which way is it to the park?”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked suitable embarrassed for running off without directions.
“Follow me. It's not really very far from here. In the summer, ponies eat their doughnuts on the grass, but it's a bit cold at the moment.” Derpy explained, leading the three of them through a couple of twisting streets that came out at the side of the huge park, which was a pure white colour with fresh snowfall relatively undisturbed.

“Yaaaaaaaay!” It took a fraction of a second for all three fillies to be charging towards the snow, eager to make a snowpony. This included Scootaloo, despite her earlier reservations.

Chapter Eight

The snowpony was actually surprisingly good, much better than anything Derpy had made when she was younger. Although, she totally lacked any artistic talent, and hers usually ended up looking like snow piles rather than snowponies.
More tired, and a lot colder and wetter, the Cutie Mark Crusaders checked their flanks for signs of a snowpony-building cutie mark. As normal, though, there was nothing there. They returned to Derpy no less enthusiastic, however.
“Can we go someplace else?” Apple Bloom asked, hoping to see more of Canterlot.
“Sorry girls, but we've got to make our way to the theatre now.” Derpy said, having spotted the clock tower saying it was only three hours until the curtain went up.
“Awwww.”
“You might be able to persuade somepony else to take you out tomorrow, though. The train doesn't leave until the afternoon.”
“Okay Derpy.”

Derpy pointed out a few more sights as they wound their way to the theatre. Normally the theatre was used for putting on plays and musicals, but it always set aside Hearth's Warming Eve for the special play. The good news was that it could seat hundreds upon hundreds of ponies, and the facilities were the best in all of Equestria.
The four ponies arrived at the front door and were quickly ushered backstage. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were clutching their tickets and disappeared off to some corner to make trouble as soonas they got inside.

Looking around, Derpy tried to find a friendly face that wasn't the crazed face of Twilight Sparkle. Although, to be fair, Twilight had calmed down quite a bit. Listening to the general hubbub, it seemed that Derpy had missed a visit from the Princess earlier, which has probably done wonders for Twilight's nerves.
“Professor! The Pegasi are rehearsing over there.” Twilight said as soon as she spotted Derpy on the way in. This time Derpy didn't bother correcting her and simply went over to join Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and the others.

“Hi Derpy. Are you r-ready?” Fluttershy stuttered. She seemed to be suffering from stage fright, even this far before the show.
“Yes, thank you. I'm all ready to go. Once I put my costume on.” Derpy replied, trying to reassure the quiet pony.
“G-good, I suppose.”
“How about you?”
“Oh, oh m-my. I'm a tiny bit ready... just a t-tiny bit.”

Derpy donned her costume quickly, adjusting the helmet so that it sat squarely on top of her head without flattening her ears too much. Rainbow Dash was prancing around, acting as if she was the greatest Commander Hurricane in history, which seemed to be putting Fluttershy off. To try and keep the peace, and subdue Rainbow Dash as much as possible, all the Pegasi rehearsed their lines and did their best to perfect the cheers and boos they needed in the play.

Swept up in the excitement, Derpy didn't notice as the time slipped away until it was merely a few minutes until the curtain went up. There had been some bickering over the windows to the theatre which threatened to worsen, largely because of Rarity's arrival in immaculate clothes.
Derpy had to deliver a list of ticket-holders to the security ponies on the door, to resolve some dispute over seating. She took this as a good excuse to get away from the tension, and removed her costume before she went so as not to spoil it for the audience.

On her way back from delivering the list, she heard her name being called.
“Hey Professor Hooves, over here!”
Looking to see who was asking for her, she discovered it was a few of her old students, who must have graduated at least four years ago.
“Hi there, how is everypony doing?” She asked politely, not wanting to stop for long because the curtain was imminent.
“Wow, Professor, I didn't expect to see you here! You're in the play?”
“Indeed. Look out for me in the Pegasus crowds.”
“Good luck, break a leg! Oh, and could you wave to the student ponies in the middle, near the front? We know them from the university and you probably taught a few of them.”
“I'll do that. Nice seeing you.”

Derpy returned backstage, then made her way to the curtain. Peering out, she spotted the ponies in question and gave them an enthusiastic wave – they cheered and all waved back.
A tapping on her flank made Derpy look back behind the curtain, where an angry-looking Cherry Pop was waiting.
“Stop that. We're about the start.” He scolded.
Feeling a little silly, Derpy made her way back to the other Pegasi and put her costume back on. Being told off was never a nice feeling, and she was still stinging a little as the curtain was raised and Spike began the narration.

Chapter Nine

Once the play was over, Derpy felt really pleased. Her role had been minor, but exciting, and now that her costume was safely stored, she only had the rest of the holiday to enjoy.
This feeling of freedom was quite short-lived, though, because just as everypony else was packing up to go to the wing of the town hall that was available for the actors to stay in, one of the university librarians hurried up to Derpy with a concerned look.

“Professor, may I have a minute? It's very important.”
“Of course. What's the problem?”
“It's, well, it's terrible, actually. It's the library.”
“What about it?” Derpy asked, alarmed. Normally, the library was so quiet over the holidays that they barely needed the librarians.
“We're not sure what it is... but it's eating the books.”
“Eating them?!?”
“Yes, eating right through them. Biting the pages and leaving nothing, only the covers.”
“Oh my. I'll come right away.”
“Do you think Twilight Sparkle could help?”
“I'm not sure where she's gone.”
“I'll keep looking. Please go to the library.”
“I'll be there in a flash, don't worry.”

The librarian hurried off, looking very worried, and Derpy quickly weaved her way through the crowd leaving the theatre and took off, heading straight for the distinctive roof of the university.
Once there, she hurried into the library complex, almost running straight into a librarian who was also rushing around.
“Professor! Thank Celestia you came so quickly!”
“What's the problem? The books are being eaten?”
“Come with me.”

In a corner of the library was a stack of book covers... with no paper between them. There were scraps, with huge bite marks taken out of them.
“It started this evening... we can't figure out what's done it. We just go to an area of the library to find chaos, and eaten books everywhere.”
“Oh my, this is terrible!” Examining the books that had been eaten, it appeared that the plague had eaten its way through the 'Magical Diseases' and 'Rare Herbs' sections, and that was merely the tip of the iceberg.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before, Professor? Or read about it?” The librarian asked, sounding worried.
“No... I'm the Professor of Mathematics, not magic, or literature. It's way outside my field.”
“Well, all the other Professors are home for the holidays and we can't reach them until tomorrow at the earliest. I'm afraid you're our only hope, along with Twilight Sparkle, if she arrives. We've heard she's solved many of the problems in Ponyville, from Parasprites to Ursa Majors.”

Derpy felt like she should tell the librarian the truth about both of those incidents, but decided it was not the time.
“Well, if anypony knows, Twilight knows. Just hold on, and try and save any books you can about magic, books, eating... diseases, anything relevant.” Derpy said, surprising herself with her serious tone of voice. “I'll go and search the library for whatever's doing this.”

The search was futile. Derpy went up and down every section, every shelf, and found nothing. She turned the corner into the Gardening section to find it ravaged, with two librarians quickly collecting all the ruined books and taking them to the growing pile. But apart from that, whatever the mysterious plague was, it was invisible and impossible to find.
Frustrated, Derpy sat down at a chair and began leafing through the books that had been saved. Most of them were meaningless, academic tomes meant for students of Horticulture or Medicine, not Mathematics. The Mathematics section, however, was still untouched, which meant a lot to Derpy. Nothing else to do, she nipped over and rescued her precious book on Fluid Dynamics, the one which had inspired her all those years ago. If any book was going to survive, it was that one.

Salvation arrived, however, as soon as Derpy got back to the foyer clutching her book. Twilight Sparkle, standing defiantly with her horn raised, had obviously been found and was ready to save the library.
“Professor! I'm glad you're here. Did you discover anything about this?”
“No, I'm sorry Twilight. This is much too difficult for me to figure out.”
“Of course it's not. If we work together, this... this, whatever, we can defeat it.”
“Have you come across this before?”
“No... this is advanced magic. Far more than I've never encountered, apart from the magic of the Princess and Discord.”
“Do you think it's Discord returning?”

“No... Discord's style is more open than this.” Twilight was deep in thought, so Derpy didn't pry any further.
“Whatever this is... it's ancient magic. Older than even the founding of Equestria.” Twilight finally said, narrowing her eyes. “The sort of thing Star Swirl the Bearded would have been battling.”
“Can you do anything?”
“I'm not the Element of Magic for nothing. Hopefully if I use my unicorn magic, the unseen plague will reveal itself... at least, in theory.”
“Well, do it!” Derpy said, hoping for the best. “Anything that might give us a clue.”
Twilight nodded, and focused her energy. Her horn glowed purple in its usual way, bathing the library in its magic. Derpy looked around for any sign, anything that might help them defeat whatever was attacking the library.

“It's no good!” Twilight moaned, giving up abruptly and collapsing in a heap on the floor. “I can't do anything! And it's going to spread back to Ponyville and eat all of my precious books!”
“Come on Twilight. You have to try more.” Derpy said defiantly. The library in Ponyville was important to Twilight, but the library in Canterlot meant so much more to Derpy. This was the university, the seat of learning for all of Equestria! Allowing its most precious resource to be lost forever was unacceptable.

“I-I can't!”
“You have to, Twilight.” Derpy helped the unicorn to her feet. “You're the only one who can act in time to save these books. The same books you must have learnt from when you were a student at the Magic Academy.”
“You're right... but this magic is too powerful.”
“Nothing is more powerful than the Elements of Harmony. Use your magic, Twilight.”
“Um, okay, I'll try again.”
The purple glow returned as Twilight doubled her efforts.
“Think about those books you learnt from as a filly.” Derpy said, doing her best to encourage.
Twilight nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating extra-hard.

Chapter Ten

This time, it did the trick.
A strange glowing white appeared, somewhere amongst the shelves, so Derpy cantered up to it to see what was going on. The white blob of energy slowly formed into something... it looked like some kind of fat worm or caterpillar.
Twilight's magic continued, focused on the blob, which grew larger and more defined. It definitely looked like a caterpillar now, and Derpy was forced to retreat a little because of its size.
The magic suddenly stopped with a flash of white, and the white blob appeared in its true form.

It was some kind of caterpillar, as Derpy had guessed, with huge round markings on its face. It was jet black in colour, with white feet that were distributed along the length of its body. Two beady eyes stared straight at Derpy.
“Were you the one who... who found me?”
“No... that was the magic of Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?” Derpy demanded, angry that this creature was destroying books.
“I commend you on revealing me. That was truly powerful magic.”
“Who are you?” As Derpy repeated the question, Twilight and the librarians came running up behind her.
“Oh, my...” Twilight said, lost for words at the huge being that was looking down at them.
“It is of no consequence who I am. I must know who my foe is... whose magic revealed me? Who is this Twilight Sparkle?”

“I'm Twilight Sparkle. Why have you been destroying this library?” Twilight demanded, angrily. “Nobody should destroy books, it's, it's awful!”
“Ah, you are Twilight.” The thing said, ignoring the accusations. “You are certainly a powerful unicorn. In the interest of fairness, I suppose I should tell you... who I am.” After saying this, the caterpillar fell silent and simply looked at the ponies before it.
“Well, who are you?” Twilight asked.
“I... I have no name.”
“What are you, then?”
“That's a much better question. I am a Vermilibri.”

“A Vermilibri? I've never heard of that in all of my reading.” Twilight said, a little confused.
“That does not surprise me. A unicorn with magic as powerful as you must spend time practicing spells, yes?”
“Well of course. Why is that important?”
“You have wasted precious time practicing... and not reading, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight looked exasperated. “Well, why are you destroying these books? Why do you need to destroy our library?”
“That is a good question as well. Clearly no other Vermilibri have appeared in your time. Very well, I will explain.”

“I am... similar, to what you call a library. I am made of pure knowledge, which is why I am black like this. A library is full of knowledge... and so am I.” The Vermilibri smiled, exposing razor sharp teeth.
“When I appear, I must... find more knowledge. My goal is to know everything. I already know more than anything else on this earth, but I must know, everything.”
“No-one can know everything.” Twilight said, trying to reason with the Vermilibri. “You just have to specialise, and read what's important.”
“Twilight Sparkle, you are mistaken. I am never mistaken, as I am perfect. I will know everything, because as I learn more, I grow larger. Once I know everything, I will be the size of the universe.”

One of the librarians pitched in. “But, if you're so small now, surely you know barely anything compared to what you need to learn?”
Twilight saved the Vermilibri the bother of explaining. “There's far more knowledge in the world than just in books. If you know everything, you know every thought that everypony has ever thought, and every animal and every blade of grass.” She said. “That would be... knowing everything.”
“Thank you Twilight Sparkle. That is correct. The fact that you have revealed my true form is regrettable, since now I can no longer hide from you ponies who value paper so much.”

“It's not just paper. It's about teaching, about spreading knowledge!” Derpy said, angry that this Vermilibri should still want to eat all of the books.
“I care nothing for... spreading knowledge. That is why I am here. This university... it is worthless. So much knowledge, yet you spend your time trying to force it into the minds of younger ponies. This knowledge will serve me... much better.”
“No! You can't eat the books! We won't let you!” Twilight said, pointing her horn at the Vermilibri's mouth.
“Twilight Sparkle, I cannot be... stopped. The more knowledge I consume the more I know. I could know exactly what all of you are thinking... and stop you before you even begin.”

With that, the Vermilibris slithered back onto the shelf and began eating. Its jaws passed through the covers, like a ghost, but tore through the pages and swallowed them down. As it did so, the being grew very slightly larger.
“Stop it!” A librarian cried.
“Wait... it's pointless.” Twilight said, hanging her head. “The Vermilibris is right, it can't be stopped. What we must do is look for information that tells us about it... if they have appeared before, then someone might have written down their weakness.” She said.
“Can you find something like that?” Derpy asked, curious.

“I have an ancient magic section to my library back in Ponyville. I'll go straight back and have a look. Someone needs to tell the Princess about this, and Derpy, could you search here?” Twilight said, in an authoritarian voice.
“Of course, Twilight.” Derpy said, nodding.
“I'll send Owloysius with any news.” Twilight added, before leaving the library in a hurry.

Left alone suddenly, as the librarians hurried off, Derpy retreated from the horrible eating sounds coming from the Vermilibris. She headed for the history section, hoping to find something there that had information on Vermilibris appearances in the distant past.