realitywar_drwhvs / Entries tagged with sharp wit

Sharp readied himself for an all-out brawl with Grubber's goons, only for a dark shadow to fall over all of them. Looking up, he let out an audible sigh of relief upon seeing the familiar visage of Riptide looming all of them.

"Well, I believe introductions are in order," the kelpie growled, her eyes flickering hungrily to the crime lord. "Sharpwit, who is this whale of a pony and is he the one responsible for Primeval's current condition?"
Sharp grinned at his associate. "Riptide, I would love to introduce you to Don Money Grubber, a local crime boss here in Canterlot. And yes, he IS responsible for Primeval's curent condition, as it was one of his hired guns that shot her.
The Don looked up to the kelpie in fear. "Wait a sec now!" he wheezed worriedly. "You gotta understand, it was nothin' personal! I mean, it's just business here, lady! If someone gets in my way, my guys gotta take em down!" His eyes darted every which way, as he looked for a way nout. "I'm a very rich stallion, you know! Perhaps I can make it up to you?"
The kelpie grinned, showing off her sharp chompers. "Hmm... Now let me think," she mused, her hungry gaze never leaving the fat pony.

amused
Canterlot Library

zervziel

Riptide marched down the hallway towards the sounds of fighting which was interrupted by another shot. Flinching a bit at the sudden sharp sound, the kelpie's mood became even more dire, her mass of tentacles already writhing in her barely contained rage.

Legs now practically slamming into the marble hallway with each step, Riptide finally happened upon Sharpwit and Golden Scales. An obese pony had already wounded the elder pony in the leg with one of those infernal weapons. That was bad enough, but now the bloated skinsack was siccing his subordinates on the two!

Shooting two of her tentacles out, Riptide brought two of the four goon ponies down and began dragging them towards her, their surprised shouts quickly cut off as the tentacles started to squeeze them tight.

However it was enough that everypony turned to look what had a hold of the two goons. In the fat pony's moment of distraction, Riptide saw a chance for a more practical application use of magic. A flowing blue glow surrounded the crimelord's gun before it was forcefully yanked away from him.

The foul contraption now floating safely above every ponies reach, Riptide took an exploratory bite from the pegasus goon in her left tentacle. The green pony gave a muffled gasp of pain at the small chunk of flesh now removed from his shoulder.

"Well, I believe introductions are in order. Sharpwit, who is this whale of a pony and is he the one responsible for Primeval's current condition?" She growled from around her snack.

pissed off
Canterlot Royal Library, Invasion Day.

multaekappae

And with flash of golden light the two ponies vanished. "Crap, crap, crap!" The unicorn snapped her head up from the scope, slinging the rifle to the side and swearing under her breath. 'One alicorn, two alicorn, three alicorn...'

There was just the slightest puff of wind before the hissing pop heralding the arrival of a teleportation sphere. Sharp Shot was already leaping for the floor below when the pegasus, not fully materialized, lunged after her, hooves still glowing as he grabbed her back legs and slammed her head into a joist in the shelves.

Sharp Wit let the murder's unconscious body drop to the floor before landing next to it. Golden jumped down, catching a lower shelf to ease his descent. The pair eyed the unconscious shooter, eyes flicking from the long range rifle to the dark gray packs distributed along her belt and webbing.

"A professional. Should I take that as a compliment?" The unicorn stallion made a noise halfway between a cough and a laugh.

The gray pegasus frowned, "They had no idea we would be here, it wasn't especially for you." The inspector frowned, his eyes repeatedly drawn back to the rifle, which fired a far larger caliber of ammo than what the autopsy would –

"–should be able to walk through it, pace by pace." Agent noise nodded, not quite daring to be optimistic about their chances. "Even a complex spell can be considered a collection of simpler cantrips working in..." She trailed off, noticing where the kelpie's gaze had turned.

Agents Ops and Lining carried the unmoving body of a cybernetically integrated eohippus.

Riptide didn't trust herself to speak just yet, so she instead speared the black stallion with a glare of inquiry.

Black Ops withered under the Deep Queen's gaze. "Sniper shot, to the head. It was instant." He frowned when all that happened was the kelpie's brows furrowed. "A sniper, you know, long distance covert gunner–"

"Guns." Riptide snarled. "It's always 'guns' with you ponies."

The silver stallion cleared his throat, "She, uh... she died protecting the old guy. Um, if that makes any diff–"

The sharp retort of gunfire interrupted the pegasus's stammered speech.

The kelpie's eyes narrowed further. "Put her somewhere comfortable, I doubt she's going to be up and moving any time soon."

The dark furred stallion started to open his mouth and quickly slammed it back shut, nodding sharply to Riptide "Ma'am." For once Silver Lining moved without having to be asked as they brought the body fully into the Starswirl the Bearded Wing.

"Any time soon?" The pegasus mouthed in confusion after the kelpie had made her exit. All he got was a shrug in response. Agent Lining shook his head, "Man, time travel is really annoying."

Sharp Wit wondered what it said about him as a pony that he was learning to suppress his reactions when it was possible someone had just killed his partner/mentor. Sure enough, the shot had only taken Golden Scales in the leg, and not near any arteries or other vulnerable tissue. The elder pony didn't seem to recognize the good fortune of his wounding.

"Hades in Tartarus, Grubber, not only are you a complete slimeball, you are also –oww– one hay of a lousy shot!"

Money Grubber stared in disbelief at the firearm in his hoof before turning to smack one of his goons. "Whadd'ya waiting for? Get them!"

The mooks, to their credit, moved as soon as ordered to. Unfortunately, two of them immediately started sliding backward, blue tentales wrapped about their barrels, eyes widening as they turned to look at the furious armored creature advancing down the hallway.

Grim
Canterlot Royal LIbrary, Invasion Day

sharpwit

Sharp's eyes widened in shock as he watched the protopony crumpled to the ground, her face stuck into an almost comical expression of annoyance as she dropped. It took but a second for the Inspector to regain his senses, flying up to the balcony from where the shot had come from, but by then, the assassin- whoever it was- had wisely left after making the kill. Seeing this, the pegasus roared in rage before swooping back down to the rest of the group, who were standing just below him. "Golden," he said in a deadly calm, "I need you to perform that tracking spell to find the shooter." He quickly swiped a bullet off the ground and tossed it to the unicorn. "Here's a source- now all you need to do is perform the spell."
Golden looked sadly at his partner. "Sharp- it won't bring her back," he murmured.
"DAMN IT, GOLDEN, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE!" the pegasus roared in anger. "IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOU THAT DIED TODAY, AND PRIMEVAL DIED INSTEAD! NOW, EITHER WE FIND THE BASTARD WHO DID THIS, OR I'LL JUST DO IT MYSELF!"
Golden stood quietly before turning to the agents. "Take the body back to the Starswirl Wing," he stated calmly. "Let the girls know what happened." He turned to his partner, a gleam of golden rage in his eyes. "We're going together," he said firmly. "She saved my life- time to pay her back."
Sharp stared for a moment before nodding solemnly. In a flash of gold, the two partners disappeared in pursuit of Primeval's slayer.

determined
Canterlot Library, Main Hall

multaekappae

The slide mechanism pulled back smoothly, placing the ammunition was like poetry. Sharp Shot lined up the scope as she prepared the punctuation.

Primeval frowned.
[Anomalous readings detected]
[Querry: Nature?]
[Report: Anomalous reading is anomalous, no further inference is currently possible]

Golden Scales frowned. "Hey, Sh... 'Inspector," He began. "That friend of yours looks little odd, is she–"

"Primeval is an eohipus, and Riptide is a kelpie." The dark gray pegasus interrupted, ears flicking in annoyance. 'Why does he always have to ask unrelated questions while I'm trying to concentrate?'

"That's not what I–" the unicorn's response was interrupted by the report of a gun firing.

The gunmare took her time, lining up a perfect kill. Best to start with the old one, he was starting to look a little cautious – bad news for a pony in her line of work.

"Nn–"

The lavender proto pony's irises shrank so quickly they seemed to disappear.
[High velocity object detected, inbound, from the area of the anomaly]
[Query: Trajectory?]
[Calculating... most probable course leads to lethal impact with pony: Golden Scales]
[Alert: priority order, activate psionic focus]
[Warning: use may cause residual damage]
[Override: Priority 1, Protect Herd]
[Psionic Lens Activated, attempting kinetic inversion]

"–nno... ?" Sharp paused, heart rate elevated, and tilted his head to stare at the small cylindrical object suspended in the air.

For his part, the elderly stallion seemed as perplexed from his perspective. The bullet had stopped inches from his chest. A quick glance showed that the weird lavender mare in the silvery getup was staring intently at the projectile with an expression he recognized. "Good work, lady. Thanks." He nodded, absently, eyes flickering over the stacks looking for

Sharp Shot swore under her breath, quickly but deliberately reloading. How the hornless pony had noticed her shot, let alone stopped the bullet with what didn't look like any magic she'd ever seen was beside the point. Shot has just enough time to find out if this mysterious mare could stop two bullets in a row...

The Inspector shook his head, "Everypony get behind cover n–"

Bang

[Warning: second projectile dete–

Sharp With stood, helping Golden Scales back onto his hooves. 'I... I did it. Paradox be damned, I actually...' his train of thought derailed as he glanced up to see Primeval falling to the floor, a look of vague surprise tinged with annoyance frozen on her face, with a single red spot in the middle of her forehead.

vague surprise

sharpwit

Sharp, Golden, Primeval, and the agents all made their way cautiously to the exit of the Starswirl wing, peeking outside that the hallway suspiciously empty. "Grubber's goons have all cleared the hallway... That can't be good," Sharp muttered to himself. "Primeval, mind doing a scan of the vicinity? I'd like to know about any magical concealment traps that you can pick up."
Primeval nodded before her eyes lit up. "Detecting no magical concealment spells within a 50 meter vicinity of the premise," she reported.
Sharp growled and reluctantly stepped outside of the wing. Looking around just in case, he sighed and motioned for the rest of the team to follow him. "Alrighty then, we'll have to play this cool. We should divide into two groups- I will lead the Captain and Agent Black Ops while Golden takes Primeval and Agent... Gray something." the Inspector finished lamely. Quickly, so as to cover up his gaff, the pegasus turned on his hoof and went down one of the hallways, leaving Primeval, Golden Scales, and the agent to decide which direction they would go.
Meanwhile, Sharp Shot prowled along the corners of the main hall, scanning the library for any possible targets. She wasn't disappointed to find a large group of unfamiliar ponies standing in the middle of the hall like sitting ducks. The mare grinned to herself before heating up her horn...

aggravated
Canterlot Library, Main Hall

multaekappae

Sharp Wit groaned, barking orders to the agents, and then turned to the distracted cyborg, "Primeval, come with us."

[begin calculating probability of successful vent–]
[override, primary priority: preservation of the herd]
[override acknowledged]

"Very well." The lavender eohippus stood and trotted after the departing assemblage. Catching sight of the door, she frowned. "Qu... a moment, Sharp Wit. How will we pass the barrier?"

The Inspector snorted amusedly, "Don't think so linearly, Prim, we couldn't leave before because we wanted to take the book with us."

Primeval blinked, "And the gateway can now tell that we do not?"

One by one the ponies filed out what otherwise appeared to be a solid brick wall. Sharp's expression softened slightly, "Obviously. It's just magic, it doesn't require over-thinking. Spells always follow their own internal logic, with little to no regard for physics."

The silver-suited quadrupen frowned, but nodded, trotting up to the gateway. It didn't so much vanish as simply ceased to exist between one moment and the next. Her frown deepened but she crossed the threshold.

Money Grubber ran a hoof down a particularly stubborn hoof, scowling. 'Of all the places to run into the fuzz, it had to be here?'
Movement to his left caught the rotund pony's eye. An almost comically thin tan unicorn with thick glasses made to move forward until the crime boss interposed a hoof. "Hold on, where do you think you're going, senora?"

Sharp Shot backed up quickly, as though she was loath to be touched by Grubber. "My contract is to take care of unforeseen difficulties. I believe this qualifies."

The well dressed stallion chuckled, running a hoof through his thinning mane. "That is indeed your job, but you're not going to be worth anything if you step into whatever nonsense the kid and the old man have planned." He grinned, noticing he had the gun-mare's interest. "I do my homework, many of these wings are magically sealed against theft and in some cases even ... 'unauthorized' entry."

The unicorn shrugged, "I am not interested in the minutia, if you don't want me to go to where the targets are, what should I be doing?"

Money Grubber's smile verged on a sneer, which was it's default. "Just find somewhere nice and comfortable with a good view of the main hallway. I figure you'll know when the time comes."

The feather drew a loop in the air, seeming to undulate slightly as it darted forward.

"That was... very good." Agent Noise commented.

Riptide let the comment sit for a moment, "Ok, it was good, but... ?"

The white unicorn started, "Huh? Oh, no, it was perfect. I was just contemplating why you... um... why you made the feather ripple like that?"

The kelpie's head turned to glance at the gray tuft. "Huh? Oh, it just made sense. Swimming... and..." her eyebrows raised, "Is that really going to be a problem?"

The Torchwhoof agent shook her head, "Oh no no no... everypony's magic has its own quirks."

Several moments passed in silence; the Deep Queen tried to be patient as long as she could. "Ok...what's next?"

White Noise looked up again. "That... um. You've learned the basics... I really don't know what else–"

Riptide sighed, "Look, you're kinda quiet, I get that. But this is working... more or less. We need to keep going. What's the next thing I need to learn before I even have a shot at using this spell?" She held up Starswirl's book.

Another moment of silence passed as a slow smile grew on the unicorn's muzzle. The Kelpie wasn't quite sure what she was looking at until Riptide realized she had levitated the book to make her point.

The agent cleared her throat, "I think this is about as ready as I can get you. We'll go through the incantation step by step, and I'll try to explain what it should feel like..."

tense present
Canterlot Royal Library, Invasion Day

zervziel

Riptide sat there as White Noise took her lecture from the top, the first few times through having escaped the kelpie due to an initial inability to mentally visualize and conceptualize what the fluke White Noise was saying. Now that the unicorn realized she needed to use more appropriate parallels opposed to rocks and the like, it was a bit easier to understand. In this case it was water. Riptide knew water. Heck every seapony knew water better than anything else as they lived and breathed the stuff. Heck for sea ponies that have lived in the deep sea all their life, they found it almost impossible to comprehend a lack of water.

Still things were starting out small. For example moving things with magic, a task that Riptide found frustratingly difficult as it required at least some level of concentration and yet she kept getting distracted by the impending threat of changeling intrusion either by the sounds of fighting outside or Sharp Wit and the others shouting as they tried desperately to reinforce the barricade as well as find good defensive positions to hold out.

As is, it was proving hard enough moving feathers with magic with distractions that Riptide didn't even want to think what it would take to start tearing open a hole in time itself, a task so daunting it was hard not to despair which in turn made it even harder to concentrate. On top of that, her teacher was a meek little thing that seemed half confounded how to approach the bewildered sea pony.

distressed
Canterlot, Royal Library, Starswhirl the Bearded section

sharpwit

Golden and Harness were both dragged to see none other than Money Grubber himself- a fat, well-dressed stallion who nevertheless exuded an aura of greasiness. "Well, if it isn't my old friend, Golden Scales," the stallion wheezed, a grin across his face. "Tell me boy, how have you been keeping up lately?"
"Well, no thanks to you, Don Grubber," Golden spit out, eyeing the older unicorn with discuss. "I have to say, I knew you were a disgusting excuse for a stallion before, but teaming up with the changelings- that's treason under Equestrian law!
Money Grubber shrugged. "Eh, you call it treason, I call it business. But then again, it doesn't really matter what I call it, does it?" The sleazy smile melted off the Don's face as he turned to the large brown unicorn that had captured the pair earlier. Uccidete i bastardi. Ho la sensazione che troveremo le informazioni necessarie al più presto.
Golden grinned at his captors. "Non oggi, le borse di grasso!" he crowed before lighting up his horn. Before anyone could react, a flash of gold filled the room, momentarily blinding everyone in its range. By the time the Don and his lackies could open their eyes again, the detective and the Captain had escaped.
Money Grubber, realizing what had happened, slammed his hoof to the ground in rage. "Trovarli, idioti!" he bellowed to the stallions, who nodded quickly before galloping through the halls. The Don then turned to the changelings, who were still rubbing the light out of their eyes. "And you bugs keep searching for that book! That mistress of yours will have everyone's head if she doesn't get what she wants!" he ordered harshly. The changelings resentfully nodded before returning to search for the library. Don Grubber sighed before wiping his forehead with an embroidered handkerchief. "Così il ragazzo imparato l'italiano..." he muttered to himself. "Fantastico."

Sharp growled as he plucked yet another feather from his wings, spitting it out comically at the table. "If you ladies don't finish soon, I'll go bald," he quipped before going back to his pacing.
Suddenly, a golden flash filled the room, revealing Golden Scales and Captain Harness had teleported into the entrance. "Sharp, we've got trouble," the detective called. "Money Grubber's here, and he's made a pact with the changelings! They're looking for a book of some sort!"
Sharp groaned. "Just what we needed, that fat old stallion making deals with bugs." He turned to the Torchwhoof agents and Primeval. "Alrighty then, new plan. Agents, make sure nobody gets in the Starswirl wing until Agent White and Riptide are ready. Primeval, come with us."

infuriated
Canterlot Library, Starswirl the Bearded Wing

multaekappae

Agent Noise frowned, trying her best to straighten out the mangled feather before giving up and putting it with the other two. "I... I'm sorry, this is the most basic unicorn exercise I know of. If you can't feel the flow of magic then nothing I can tell you will be of any–"

The kelpie, who had been laying her head against a comfortable table looked up. "Flow? You never said anything about currents."

The white pony stopped in mid step. "Ah– I didn't?" She glanced into blank space, running the conversations of the last ten minutes through her head. "No... how in Equestria..." the unicorn shook her head. "Yes, flow, currents of magic, are fundamental to unicorn magic and to the spells of ponykind in general."

Riptide frowned but decided to let the oversight slide. "As frustrating as this has been... can we try it one more time, and this time don't skip on anything even remotely related to water, ok?"

White Noise noded once, sharply. She turned to glance at the pegasi... only to notice that the lighter gray pony seemed to be missing. Shrugging she turned to the remaining, darker stallion. "Um, Inspector?"

Sharp Wit turned a baleful look upon the torchwhoof agent, already aware what was coming. "Yes?"

"We, well that is I... uhhh..." Agent Noise winced, "we need another of your feathers, please, sir, if you would?" she spat the request out.

"C'mon Sharpie, take one for the team, right?" Riptide grinned, getting far more enjoyment out of the predicament than was strictly polite.

The Inspector sighed and used his teeth to pluck another small feather from his eiderdown, which he hoped he could do without.

resigned
Canterlot Royal Library, Invasion Day

sharpwit

Sharp groaned. "Listen kelpie, we don't have time to worry about your moral conundrums or your personal paranoia. The fate of the time space continuum hangs in the balance, and you expect to-" the grey pegasus suddenly felt Riptide's tentacle wrap around his neck, squeezing threateningly. "Fine, we'll alter the plan," he wheezed through his crushed windpipe, upon which the kelpie dumped him on the floor. Gasping for air, he shot the kelpie a glare as he rubbed his neck. "I have no idea how you expect to achieve it, though, given that we are extremely limited on time.
"I may have a solution," chirped Primeval. The Inspector turned around to find that protopony had surrounded herself with various tomes from around the wing. "And if I am understanding this material, it doesn't involve mind magics at all."
Sharp raised an eyebrow. "We're all ears, Primeval."
The protopony cocked her head in confusion. "Are you sure, Sharp Wit? Because no one in this room is a sentient hear apparatus."
"No, I meant- Just tell us your plan," the stallion sighed in confusion, putting his hoof to his face.

Golden and Harness watched as the invaders worked quickly, scouring the library for their as-of-yet undetermined target. Despite the severity of their situation, the unicorn couldn't help but suppress a smirk at the thought that this could very well be the first time that many of the stallions here had ever entered a library, much less searched one with such gusto.
"What do you think they want?" Captain Jack asked quietly the law-stallion, peering from behind the railing of the balcony.
"Who knows, maybe Money Grubber just wants to steal any valuables he can in the chaos," Golden shrugged. "What I'm worried about is why the changelings have agreed to help him. He must have made a deal with them or something, or else they'd treat him just like anyone else."
The pegasus sighed, trying to plan out the next course of action. "Do you think you can teleport us to a better attack position?" he asked.
The older stallion shook his head. "It took a lot out of me just to get us up here. I only know enough teleportation magic to get me out of a tight jam, so I'll need at least half an hour or so to charge up." He glanced up to the sturdy chandelier that hung at the center of the main hall. "You think you could fly us up there?" he asked. "It'd be a better vantage point."
Jack thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I wouldn't be able to carry you and go fast enough to avoid the changelings flying around. I guess We'll both just have to wait."
"Perhaps you gentlestallions would like to wait with us?" a menacing voice growled behind them. The two stallions turned around to see a massive brown unicorn looking down on them expectantly, his horn glowing with an ominous orange tint. Three changeling flanked him, their horns also glowing with magic.
Golden and Harness both looked at each other before either one spoke. "Well shit," the Captain groaned before sitting down and raising his hooves in defeat. Growling in frustration, the golden stallion soon followed suit.

frustrated
Canterlot Library, Main Hall

zervziel

At the inspector's words, Riptide's ears flattened against her head as she gave vent to a rattling hiss.

"No. No mind magics of any kind. Adjust your plans, Inspector, as this is a point I'm willing to kill over."

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how one sees it, something else caught her attention and it was eerily familiar to her keen hearing. It was the sound of a muffled explosion echoing down the halls. Ignoring, Sharpwit and White Noise for the moment, she cast her eyes about for Primeval, before relaxing somewhat as she spied the metal-coated pony scanning book after book.

determined
Canterlot, Royal Library, Starswhirl the Bearded section

sharpwit

Sharp sighed as he struggled to get his thoughts in order. "The reason YOU have been selected, my dear kelpie, is because from what I've seen, you have the highest magic potential out of the three magic users here," he stated calmly. "You, as a kelpie, have already shown great aptitude in transformation spells, which take up a great deal of magic. The fact that you can also channel magic in the same way a unicorn gave me the idea to let you try the spell rather than Agent White or Golden. Unfortunately, I forgot that you also were fairly unskilled at magic, meaning that you probably lack the basic training to channel your vast amounts of magic properly..." Sharp's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Hold on a second, ladies."
The pegasus zomed down one of the corridors of the Starswirl Wing, searching vigilantly for the spell that could make things a bit easier. Seeing the book he had in mind, he grabbed it from the shelf and flew back to the kelpie and agent, both looking at him in confusion. "Starswirl's knowledge transfer spell," he explained, opening the large tome and flipping through it frantically. "If Agent White can successfully transfer her knowledge of basic magic to Riptide, we might have a bit of hope in this!" Finding the page he wanted, he shoved the book towards the unicorn. "Now, please do try to follow the instructions, I've heard one can accidentally give away all of their memories... Also, since you'll be giving Riptide your magical knowledge for the time being, you won't be able to use magic yourself..." He gave the mare a not so reassuring grin. "But I'm sure it'll be fine!" he insisted.

The apparent leader of the ponies approaching the library, a fat, well-dressed stallion, pointed towards the door. Several stallions began to charge up their horns, as well as the changelings.
"Oh shit," Golden gasped. "Their gonna blow down the door!" Without a moments hesitation, the unicorn grabbed Captain Harness and teleported the two of them to the balcony in a flash of gold. They disappeared and reappeared just in time to see the library door disintegrate into piles of dust, scattering everywhere.
"Alright, boys." the leader said, straightening his tie. "Loot the place!"

anxious
Canterlot Library

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?"

Canterlot, Royal Library, Starswhirl the Bearded section

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!

nervous
Canterlot Library, Starswirl the Bearded Wing

multaekappae

"Damn, this is too soon!" Sharp Wit cursed.

"I... I don't understand, how did they follow us?" White Noise frowned.

"Sweetheart, I kinda doubt you're specifically on the menu... not that they'll let any of us go when they find out this place isn't empty." Golden muttered, eyeing the rows and rows of bookshelves, sculptures, chairs, and unlit chandeliers. "You guys have some sorta' plan that obviously doesn't involve me, so go do it, I'll buy you some time."

"Absolutely not!" Sharp all but shouted.

"Hey, you're the one who didn't want me slowin' ya down... also, if you keep shouting, they're going to notice us..." the unicorn stallion's voice trailed off as he glanced out the window.

'Arrgh!' The dark gray pegasus moaned inwardly. 'Plans not working out quite right?' the dark voice purred. '...nothing I can't handle.' Sharp sighed. "Riptide, we can't use you until we have the right spell, so can I count on you to do what I know you're going to go do anyway?"

The kelpie rolled her eyes.

"And, Captain Harness, can you keep that old fool from getting in anypony's way?" 'Ah, campaigning for prom queen, I see.' 'Not. Now...'

The blue stallion nodded, though his expression made clear that there was going to be a conversation about this later.

The former EIS agent couldn't care less. 'If there is an afterwards in which I can apologize for this, I will be deliriously happy – even if Gold never talks to me again, it will still be worth it.'

"Well, what the hay are the rest of you standing around for? Let's get moving."

No Bucks Given
Canterlot Royal Library (Invasion Day)

sharpwit

Golden Scales trotted along the ragtag group of creatures as they walked into the Royal Library, a familiar sight to him. He had spent many an afternoon in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns studying in the vast facility, sweating over the ancient tomes in preparation for the dreaded exam days. However, rather than bring comfort to the stallion, these memories only made Golden more anxious- the sharp contrast between the bustling library he knew from his training days and the haunting emptiness of the current environment brought chills down his spine.
Sharp's voice broke the unicorn out of his pensive thoughts. "You may have a point, Riptide. Agent White, do you happen to have any knowledge of temporal magic?" the Inspector asked, pointedly ignoring Golden.
The unicorn shook her head. "I'm afraid I'm rather specialized in my field, Inspector," she admitted. "Even if I did, I'm using most of the energy I have on keeping us concealed."
"Lovely," Sharp sighed, pressing his hoof to his forehead. "Very well, Primeval will just have to keep us posted on whatever she finds. In the meantime. I think we'd better keep to the subject at hoof. I don't suppose you could locate the Starswirl wing for us?"
Primeval nodded and focused her attention to the front. "Starswirl the Bearded Wing, ahead by 300 paces," she stated, moving forward almost mechanically.
Golden took the opportunity to trot up to the grey pegasus. "Sharp, what's going on?" the unicorn asked, exasperated. "First, I find you in your apartment with the strangest bunch I've ever seen. Then, you throw me out of the apartment and don't let me back in till the lot of you are done discussing whatever it is you've been discussing. Now we're here, and you still haven't given me a straightforward explanation, or even made eye contact!"
Sharp kept facing forward. "I'm sorry Golden, but perhaps its best you keep to yourself if you insist accompanying us," the stallion said flatly. "It's all very hush-hush, you know, very secretive. Things that you should keep out of, to be honest."
Golden growled in frustration. "For Sister's sakes, Sharp! You've been colder than a Windigo's breath these past few weeks! I've put up with it because I thought I could help you, but I'm starting to think that I'm mistaken!"
"Perhaps," Sharp said quietly, "it would be best if you kept out of my way for a while."
The older stallion's eyes grew wide in surprise before he turned away from his partner. "If you think that's best," he shrugged coldly. "I'll be with the rest of the platoon, if you need me."
Sharp didn't even bother turning around as his mentor began his calm trot back outside the library. Captain Jack, noticing this, flew up to the Inspector in curiosity. "Marital strife?" he asked teasingly.
"Very funny," Sharp snarled. "For your information, this is for Gold's own good. He'll be safer with the others. For all I know, I might have just saved his life."
A sudden slamming of the library doors made everyone turn to the front of the library to find Golden barricading the entrance. "Uh, guys? We have an issue here!" the unicorn yelled. "The changelings are on their way here!

aggravated
Canterlot Library

multaekappae

The Canterlot Royal Library was an imposing structure, three stories tall, spanning some ten city blocks, surmounted by a sturdy brick wall, and built to a scale that dwarfed the average pony build. The front courtyard area was populated by fanciful topiary sculptures meant to convey various genres of writing or specific famous works... or at least that was what the gardeners claimed, it was rather difficult to tell if one was looking at a treatise on the nature of humility or a proof of Ponythagoras's Theorem.

The imposing main hall branched off into a labyrinthine sequence of ever more obscure (and restricted) wings.

It felt odd simply walking through the gap in the broken gate, but White Noise's spell seemed to be working... so far. There were signs of struggle, including several craters in the garden... Sharp Wit had to remind himself that, despite appearances, things would indeed get better. The pegasus mused for a moment, 'is this how the Doctor feels when he runs into an event he can't interfere with?' 'Your weakness sickens me, don't ever compare yourself to that Coward.'

"Are you alright?" Primeval asked, peering at the pegasus.

Sharp had nearly leapt out of his feathers, the proto-pony had been silent for so long he'd almost forgotten she was here. 'Wishing for some other female companionship, are we?' 'Shut up, shut up, shut up!' "...I'm fine, thank you for your concern." The inspector snapped.

"Good." The cyborg nodded, seemingly satisfied, before trotting up to the rest of the group.
[calibrations continuing, unable to gauge veracity]

Sharp Wit took a deep breath and counted to ten. "Alright, focus." he muttered, catching up to the others. "Alright people, we are looking for the Starswirl the Bearded Wing, which is normally protected by a 'Don't Notice Me' spell..." his gaze unconsciously drifted toward agent White, who nodded. "...Though, for several reasons, I don't think that will be an issue today. In case I have to spell it out for you: nopony wander off, stay away from the windows, and for Celestia's sake don't damage anything you don't have to. No, really, the library was established in trust to Princess Celestia, these books are all technically her property." He enjoyed the look of bewildered concern that reminder seemed to impress on most of the group... his companions the obvious exceptions.

"Oh... so you can get here normally." Hunter Stompson muttered in what was probably as close to an apology as he could make.

Scribble looked up from his musings, noticing Ako still carefully picking her way along while Cain seemed to regard her as an unbalanced three legged table made from porcelain.

'Third Annual Canerlot Writer's Expo, Today Only!' Proclaimed a jaunty banner over the doorway. A trickle of ponies passed in and out of the doors more or less continuously, and a gentle susurrus of conversation poured forth.

This is it, Champ. Once you go in there you won't have any time to spare for notes... if you're going to use the pen, you'd better do it now.
'...why would you think that anything you say would make me do what you suggest?'
Heh heh heh... how do you know which course of action I want you to take?

Apprehensive
Canterlot Royal Library

sharpwit

Sharp's eyes widened in realization. "Why didn't I think of this earlier! Idiot!" the grey pegasus chastised himself, beating his head with his hoof.
Golden looked at his partner with concern. "Sharp? What's going on?"
Taking a moment to compose himself, the Inspector resumed his impassive expression as he talked to the unicorn. "Golden, would you please excuse us for a bit?" he asked politely before shoving the stallion out the door and slamming the door in his face. Turning back to his compatriots, his face returned to its panicked state. "We have only two hours before I return home, which means we have to grab the materials we need, go to the Canterlot Royal Library, and return here before I can notice that they're missing!"
The Torchwhoof agents all stared at the Inspector. "The Royal Library? Notes? What are you talking about?" Agent White Noise asked.
Sighing, Sharp Wit trotted over to the locked door and, pulling out a small key from seemingly nowhere, opened it to reveal a rather unsettling sight- each and every inch of available wall space was devoted to pictures, documents, and even paintings- all of which included the Doctor or the TARDIS in some way, shape or form. Strings of color-coded yarn crisscrossed across the walls, and a combination of chewed up pencils and notes ripped from notebooks littered the floor. In the center of the room was an old, unkempt desk with various knicknacks and notebooks were scattered on the desktop.
Sharp flew in the room, examining his old study. Yikes, was I really that obsessed? he asked himself, cringing at the state of the room.
Wow... I'd forgotten that you were so pathetic, the Dark Voice scoffed in contempt. Not to mention a slob!
Hey, I was going through some stuff, ok? Sharp snapped back, causing the Voice to chuckle arrogantly. Ignoring the Voice, Sharp effortlessly located the document he needed and plucked it from the wall, gliding back to his associates. "I was researching the Doctor for quite a while- something of a pet project for me," he began. "Anyways, in my search for him, I began researching time-traveling magic, particularly Star-Swirl the Bearded's various theories on the matter. It turned out to be a complete waste of time," he sighed, his ears lowering in annoyance. "The Doctor's method of time travel has almost nothing to do with magic as we know it- but it did give me an elementary understanding of the time-space continuum from an equine perspective. Which brings me to this!" He lifted up the document high in the air. "In Star Swirl's private journal, he recorded several spells and incantations involving time- INCLUDING a spell that locks in items in time indefinitely. The only known copy of the journal is in the Canterlot Library, so I'd say that would be our best bet would be there. Any questions?"
Everyone stood dead silent for a moment before Agent Silver Lining spoke up. "Dude, I think you really need to get laid," he said in awe.
Sharp sighed in annoyance. "Any ACTUAL questions- about the topic at hand?

aggravated
Sharp's Apartment, West Canterlot

multaekappae

Jack Harness opened his mouth, and snapped it shut very quickly. He could practically hear the Doctor growling. "I uh... yeah, I've um, got some experience with kelpie anatomy – I – medical, medical knowledge." He shut up again, instead gesturing for the kelpie to take a seat on the couch, which Silver Lining and Black Ops scrambled to get off when they saw the pair approaching.

Riptide found laying on her stomach put the least strain on the wing... flipper... on the wounded limb. "So, how does it look?"

'Exquisite – ack, no! bad brain!' "It, uh..." he ran a very tentative hoof over the fin, noting the way it tensed. "Hmm," Harness frowned, "that's definitely not good, it needs a hard splint." The pegasus frowned, not wanting to remember why he was so familiar with damaged limbs.

"Hey, Inspector, do you have anything to set a splint – a chair you don't like much, maybe?" Harness noted the golden yellow unicorn but didn't comment. Instead he made eye contact with White Noise, who pulled out a small black plastic device and tapped on it several times.

"What?" Sharp snapped, distracted and resenting it. "A... chair? The one at the end of the kitchen table is–"

Silver Lining had already grabbed the seat and begun snapping off the legs.

"... my ONLY good chair." The darker gray pegasus glared at the Torchwhoof Agent. "Was my only good chair. Thanks." 'Well, on the bright side, now you know why it was broken when you got home in... oh my, is it only two hours from now?' "Wait, what!?"

"I uh, I said I was sorry. I know how important a good chair is, dude. S-sorry" Silver's ears were flat against his head as he looked at the evidence of his misdeed, shortly before grabbing the two longest pieces and delivering them to Captain Harness.

Distracted
112 Cobblers Lane, Canterlot (Invasion Day)

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Dr. Whooves and the Reality War

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Dr. Whooves and the Reality War

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Study Sessions (Part 8)

Please keep all mayhem to a dull roar while in library

Making noise

Study Sessions (Part 7)

...click...

Study Sessions (Part 6)

... Ickt ...

studying intensifies

Study Sessions (Part 5)

...tick

Study Sessions (Part 4)

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Study Sessions (Part 3)

Studier's Block

Study Sessions (Part 2)

The division of labor.

Study Sessions (Part 1)

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Time keeps on slippin' (slippin', slippin')

A bracing conversation

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August 2023

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