Radiant, Celestia, and Luna (having long dropped their disguises) all sat on the library sofa while Night Light paced back and forth in front of them. At this point he had developed a pattern. He would pace left and right, mumbling to himself for a while. Then he would sit down and rub his temples, maybe close his eyes or stare off into space while doing so, before returning to pacing and mumbling.
After watching this routine for about a minute-or-so, Radiant cleared her throat. “Uh, not to be rude Light, but your pacing is getting a bit annoying.”
Light whirled around to face her. “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to process an insane amount of information here!” He snapped, “Not only do you disappear, out of the blue, for years, you come back out of nowhere.
“On top of that, you also bring along the two highest figures of authority in all of Equestria! Please tell me you realize how ludicrous and absurd that is!”
“Look, I get it! You have questions! But I’m pretty sure I have more than you and that they’re a lot bigger,” Radiant shouted, “So can you please stop pacing so that we can both get the answers we want?”
A blue aura surrounded the two bickering ponies, and lifted them up and away from each other. They kicked and struggled in the air before realizing who was doing it.
The two unicorns looked to Luna, who regarded them with an unamused look and an arched eyebrow.
“Are you two done?” The Lunar Princess asked.
“Yes, Your Highness.” The two unicorns said, as if they had just been scolded by their mother.
“Good.” Luna places the two unicorns back on the ground.
“Now, how about we work out our problems peacefully, so that we can all get what we want?” Celestia looked to Radiant, “Radiant why don’t you go first?”
Radiant looked to Celestia in confusion. “What? Why me?”
“Because I have the distinct feeling that his questions are easier to answer than yours.”
Radiant sighed, and looked over to Night Light.
“I’m guessing you want to where I’ve been, how I got back, and why the Princesses accompanied me?”
“Well, yeah,” Light confirmed.
Radiant pulled over two chairs and a small table with her magic. She motioned for Light to take a seat.
“Well then, brace yourself,” Radiant said, calling on her memory to recall everything it could, “I think it started the night after I got my acceptance letter from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns…”
She told him everything.
She told him why she ran from The Empire. Why she sought out the Princesses in the first place
She told him how she trudged through the frozen tundra and camp out in caves. How she pressed through thickets, hillsides, and mountain cliffs, all in order to reach The Royal Sisters.
She told him how she pleaded for their help. How the three went back through the lands she traversed to reach The Empire. The snow wave, the running, the wild beasts she had to avoid.
She capped her story off by briefly summarizing their entry into The Empire and what they saw before entering the library.
Night Light stood there dumbfounded.
Radiant simply waited for him to respond.
“Okay,” Night Light said, “If it weren’t for the fact that I know that you’re a well meaning friend, the first part of the story, the whole reason you went and got the Princesses, would probably force me to have you arrested for conspiracy against the crown.”
“That actually leads into what I was going to ask,” Radiant said, trying to condense all her questions into one, “What happened in the time that I was gone?”
Light rubbed the back of his neck, “That’s a simple question with a not so simple answer.”
“Well,” Celestia roze from the couch, “Would you happen to know where we could get the answers we seek?”
Light thought for a moment, “l…I think I might…”
Radiant practically jumped over to him, “Really! Where?”
“Calm down,” Light pushed her back and down into a chair, “I can’t take you there right now.”
“Why not?” Radiant questioned.
“Because they aren’t meeting tonight!”
“...‘They’?” Luna asked.
Night Light sighed, “Look, it’s complicated. I can definitely take you tomorrow. Until then, you’ll have to wait.”
Radiant bore a look of disappointment, “Alright…but I better get the answers I’m looking for!”
“I’m fairly sure you will,” Light said, “For now, until my shift is over, you can wait in the staff office.”
Night Light lead them back towards the front of the library, over to a door that read “Staff Only”. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door
“In ya go,” Light said holding it open for the trio.
The three ponies walked into the lit room and took seats around the table in the middle.
“My shift ends in 15 minutes, so…don’t destroy anything, okay?”
“Wait,” Radiant called before Light closed the door, “What will we do for 15 minutes?”
“Uh,” Night scratched his chin before pointing to a shelf, “We’ve got chess and cards over by the lockers. Do what you will with that.” He then closed the door and walked off into the library to return to his job.
“‘Lockers’?” Luna questioned, as she turned in her seat, only to see a line of small metal closets.
“I’m guessing that those are the lockers.” Radiant said, a bit unsure of herself.
“And if that’s the case,” Celestia reached over to a shelf on the wall, “Then these must be the chess set and card deck.”
Celestia opened the box housing the cards, and began to use her magic to shuffle them in the air. “How about a nice game of 8’s?”