Sunlight pouring in from the window roused Twilight and Spike from slumber. Twilight got out of bed slowly, Spike followed suit. Star Swirl was asleep at his desk. Twilight walked over to him. His lips moved as he snored, Twilight could tell he was mumbling something. He looked as though he'd been up for most of the night. He probably didn't get to sleep until a couple hours after Twilight and Spike. The spellbook was open in front of him.
"...I love you..." he said. Twilight took a cautionary step back and accidentally bumped the desk. Star Swirl was roused by the noise.
"What? What is it? Who's there...?" Star Swirl asked groggily.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... to wake you." Twilight said.
"Oh, it's all right, it's all right. I had trouble getting to sleep last night." Star Swirl explained. He sat up in his desk.
"Were you working more on your book?" Twilight asked. She tried to look over his shoulder at the open book itself but couldn't tell if he'd written down anything more. A knock at the door drew both their attention.
"Oh, right... um... could you get that?" he asked. Twilight trotted over and opened the door. She almost leapt when she saw Princess Luna standing in the doorway.
Luna's eyes went wide when she saw Twilight. "Um, excuse me? What are you doing here?" Luna asked in an accusing tone.
"Uh, nothing, I was just-"
Luna advanced to the door. "Where is Star Swirl? Star Swirl!" she called out behind her. Twilight's heart started racing. Had she done something to anger the princess?
Star Swirl ran over to the door. "Luna! What are you doing here so early?" he asked.
Luna did not look happy. "What is SHE doing here?" she asked in an angered tone. Twilight still didn't know what was going on.
Star Swirl's eyes went wide and he gasped. "Oh... oh no. This isn't what it looks like." Twilight's eyes darted from Luna to Star Swirl.
Luna strode up to the door, right into Star Swirl's face. "Well? What is it then? Because it LOOKS like you're seeing another pony behind my back!" Luna accused Star Swirl.
Twilight turned around to Spike. His face was frozen in a mile-long stare with his mouth wide open. Twilight felt her entire body go cold as the realization hit her. Her and... Star Swirl the Bearded?! She felt like she might faint. Luna thought that her and Star Swirl... this can't be happening.
Twilight shook her head. "No, no it's not like that! We just came over last night to see his new book!"
"Celestia sent both of us! Honest!" Spike added as he held onto the door behind them, half hiding behind it.
Luna raised an eyebrow as she saw Spike. "You both came over just to see his book?" she asked.
They both nodded. "Yes! It was getting late and to forest is dangerous so he offered us to stay for the night." Twilight explained.
Star Swirl walked up to her and took a knee. "Luna, you know you're my special somepony. I wouldn't let anything come between us, I promise. I love you Luna." he tried desperately to assure her. He grabbed her right hoof with both of his hooves and they locked eyes for a few moments. Twilight was at a loss for words. Spike remained silent too as they all watched for Luna's response.
"You said you just came over about the book?" Luna asked Twilight.
Twilight nodded emphatically. "Yes!"
Luna gave out the slightest of sighs, whether in relief or out of frustration, nopony could guess. "Okay... I believe you." she said at last.
Star Swirl nuzzled Luna's hoof. "Thank you, it's the truth."
"So, who are you both exactly?" Luna inquired.
Twilight thought frantically. Telling Luna her real name was probably a bad idea considering they would meet... in the future. "I'm uh..." What was a name to go along with her cutie mark? "My name's uh... Dark Spark. And this is..."
"Minister Spine of the Dragon Kingdom, at your service." Spike bowed. Twilight rolled her eyes and felt like putting a hoof to her face. Quickly, she turned back to Luna hoping none of them had noticed.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. minister and Dark Spark. I am Princess Luna. I haven't seen either of you in Canterlot before." Luna remarked.
"Why, Ms. Spark is part of our diplomatic party. She's Canterlot's newest ambassador to the Dragon Kingdom. We've been away away on business, you see. What with the Crystal Empire disappearing, it's not surprising that you didn't hear about our latest visit." the 'minister' went on. "We've just came here to see Star Swirl's latest book with the hopes that it could be released in dragonese."
Luna looked a tad puzzled. "Dragonese? I wasn't aware dragons could use Equestrian magic."
"Uh, they can't. But they like to read a good book now and then and believe it or not, Star Swirl's books are actually quite a big hit in the Dragon Kingdom." Spike quickly fabricated.
"How exactly does an Equestrian spellbook become popular with dragons?" Luna asked.
Star Swirl put a hoof to his chin. "I knew my books were popular but I never realized they'd become a hit with other species." he said.
Twilight thought Spike had finally been cornered but the little 'minister' continued. "We dragons are very fond of poetry. Your spells are poetic, almost musical in nature and they're quite an inspiration to us. Star Swirl's one of the favorite authors in the Dragon Kingdom."
"I see." Luna said. "So you've come to see if could be translated into dragonese?"
Spike nodded. "Yes indeed. It's quite troubling for us to translate copies of the books after they've been released so we're hoping the publisher would release a dragonese version for use by dragons."
"I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem. I'll talk to the printers about it when I go to see them about the book." Star Swirl said.
Luna turned her head to Star Swirl. "I... actually came to see you about your latest book too. Is it okay if we had a little privacy Mr. minister?"
Spike backed out of the way. "Oh, please go right ahead. We were just leaving anyway."
Luna walked up to the door and passed Twilight as she entered the shrine. "It was nice meeting you both." Luna said, although her manner was nice, her expression didn't convey happiness. The door closed behind her as Twilight stepped outside.
Twilight turned to Spike. "Where did you come up with that story from?"
Spike bashfully put a claw behind his neck. "I, uh, got it from a book I read." he admitted. Twilight sighed.
"So, what do we do now?" Spike asked.
"I think... I think Luna might have something to do with his masterpiece spell. I don't know why he hasn't started working on it yet. Why would Princess Celestia send us back to this specific time if there wasn't something she wanted to prevent? Or fix?"
"Maybe we went to the wrong time. Or maybe, she wanted us to stop the whole book from being made." Spike guessed.
"But if he never completes that spell... I'll never have anything to complete in the future. I'd never become a princess." Twilight thought. The situation was delicate. Working with time spells, despite knowing the future, you never knew really what to expect with spells about time. Twilight had only used one before and it hadn't worked out. This was the second time she'd traveled back in time and she still didn't have any clue what she was doing. But she was certain the princess sent her back to this time for a reason and she was determined to figure out exactly what it was.
"I don't know what we can do for now Spike except watch and wait." Twilight said. They took position behind a tree and settled in. Twilight would wait for as long as it took. She had plenty of time.