Time keeps slipping away

[chaotic_scribbles]

Scribble was dumbfounded at the sight of the Llama kids they'd seen what felt like an eternity ago. And, in the children's eyes, that was almost the truth. It came as a startling revelation to him that it had been-

"Twelve years..." He muttered, still staring in confused happiness at the kids were embraced by Ako. That was one good thing to come of this. Ako was actually smiling now.

Atoc waved over the writer. "Hey! You still got that dumb bag!"

...Scribble huffed. Some things didn't change. "Yeah." He marched over to the Llama kids and Ako, getting a good look at the now much older kids. "It's... been a while, I guess?"

The Llama kid nodded.

"..." Scribble frowned quizzically." H-how did you... find us here?"

And why did the voice in my head warn me like that?

Studier's Block

[zervziel]

Watching in exasperation as the obsidian wall faded away as the pegasus drew away, Riptide grabbed his tail with a hoof and pulled Sharpwit to her, book and all. Before he could squirm free, she grabbing his head with with her head tentacles and started turning his head this way and that, tapping random spots with her hoof, as she inspected his skull for any sign of damage.

"Inspector, did a book fall on you when I wasn't looking?" Riptide asked as she finished her inspection. "Harness and Goldie are standing right over there."
,
She gestured towards the two ponies as they strengthened the barricade at the library's main door ignoring the protests of the chief librarian as he tried to stop them from moving the desks and tables only to be pulled aside by Black Ops.

And while she had Sharp's undivided attention, it seemed like a good time to voice something she had noticed ever since they had left Sharp's apartment.

"And while we're here, why are you being an even bigger flank than usual to that unicorn?" she asked in a hushed voice. "We might not like each other much, but I'm not blind to how you act, Sharp, and something about that unicorn is seriously bothering you. What is it?"

Study Sessions (Part 2)

[sharpwit]

 Sharp gestured towards Primeval and the Agents to follow him as he flew down the corridors of the library. "Primeval, how close are we to the Starswirl Wing?" Sharp shouted frantically.
"Only 128 paces, and dropping," the proto-pony recited calmly, keeping in pace with the rest of the group. "It should be marked by an arch between those two bookshelves."
The grey pegasus came to a sharp halt as he came to the indicated bookshelves, and was not the least bit surprised to find that there were no such arch there. "Agent White, if you please?" he nodded to the mare.
White Noise nodded before closing her eyes and focusing. Before long, the air began to shimmer, and an arch of obsidian materialized out of thin air.
Sharp grinned at the unicorn before he flew into the arch, entering into a large room that led into even more corridors, all filled ceiling to floor with books. A large hourglass stood in the middle of the intersection, the emblem of the great unicorn.
"Well, isn't this just great," Agent Black Ops sighed in annoyance. "It'll take forever to find that damn book!"
The Inspector responded by zooming down one of the corridors, coming back with a large tome. "Journal of Starswirl the Bearded, volume 16," he smirked. "You do realize that the point of a library is to keep things easy to find, right?"
The Torchwhoof agent opened his mouth to retort, but thinking better on it, snapped it shut. Silver Lining grinned at his associate. "What's wrong, Ops? Cat got your tongue?" he teased.
Sharp set the book down and began to flip through the pages frantically. "Let's see here... Time-travel, time manipulation, time acceleration, time deceleration... AHA! Time lock!" the stallion whooped in triumph. Reading over the expansive chapter, however, his smile quickly vanished. "I have NO idea how to do any of this!"
White Noise looked over the pages as well before looking up with the same incredulous look. "This is incredibly complex magic." she admitted. "I could be locked in this library for twenty years, and I probably wouldn't be able to conjure up the initial time-warp!"
"Oh, just excellent!" Black Ops snarled sarcastically. "What are we supposed to do now?!" 
"Just a minor setback!" Sharp insisted, albeit a bit nervously. "We can focus on the time lock later! What's important is that we have the information we need! We just need to go outside and help Harness and Golden with the changelings outside!" Snapping the book shut, he tucked it under his foreleg and began to fly towards the exit arch. However, before he could even step outside the wing, the arch sealed up with a wall of solid black obsidian. "Oh yeah," Sharp said, eyes widening in realization. "We aren't allowed to leave the wing with the book."
Wow, you REALLY didn't think this through, did you? the Dark Voice snickered.
Why, thank you, Captain Obvious! Sharp replied venomously. Now shut up and let me think!