“Your… old teacher, darling?”
Twilight nodded. Her eyes were squeezed shut in preparation for her friends’ cries of astonishment and shock. There were none. The lavender unicorn furrowed her brow, but kept her eyes closed, not daring to meet such an outcry unprepared. Only when the seconds stretched out to eternity, that is, they went into the two-digits-count, Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her.
Slowly, she lifted one eyelid, spying intently through the small crack to discern the situation. Then she widened both of her eyes in bewilderment. As it turned out, her friends hadn’t even the slightest notion of astonishment about them. In fact, not even something remotely comparable to shock could be seen in any of their expressions.
Instead, their reactions were rather mild, with Applejack having furrowing her brow contemplatively, Rainbow Dash looking more annoyed at the revelation than confused, Rarity clearly having several questions just dancing on the tip of her tongue, and Fluttershy being more concerned about Pinkie Pie, who was still as motionless as a statue.
“Is… is there something wrong?” asked Twilight, not being able to shake the feeling that it should be her who was answering questions instead of stating them. Rarity seemed to just have waited for such an opportunity, immediately stepping forward, but Applejack cut the fashionista’s question short from the very first breath.
“Well, y’know, Twilight, we’re just a bit confused, is all. Y’see, as far as we know yer the Princess’ personal student, right?” Twilight nodded, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. Where was Applejack going with this?
“Well then how come this Stone Quill fella is yer old teacher? Didn’t you learn everythin’ from the Princess?” Now it was Twilight’s turn to look baffled. For a moment, she just blankly stared at Applejack. A few seconds later however, Twilight’s expression lit up in comprehension and a small chuckle escaped her. Of course, now she understood! What a silly misunderstanding.
Smiling, she turned to her friends who were still looking at her expectantly and opened her mouth to answer, when the door of the library creaked open behind her. In its frame stood a white pegasus in a Royal Guard uniform with an uncomfortable look on his face. “Uhm, Ms Sparkle?”
Twilight turned around and regarded the guardspony quizzically. “Yes? Can I help you, Mr…Flappy?”
The pegasus grimaced. “It’s Swift Wing actually, Miss,” he began, but quickly stopped himself from any more explanations and cleared his throat, “Magister Stone Quill sent me. He, erm, desires your presence, Ms Sparkle. He said, that, er, your familiarity with the layout of the library would be most welcome in the task of finding the necessary documents.”
Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity looked at the winged guardspony in surprise upon his fluent rendition, while Fluttershy was still focused on Pinkie, slowly waving her hoof back and forth in front of her face and slightly prodding her in the shoulder to elicit a response, but to no apparent success.
Twilight also wore an expression of surprise, though for an entirely different reason. “Me? Why? My assistant should be able to help... out...” As Twilight’s words slowed down, her surprised look faded and a tired expression took its place. A sigh slipped from her lips. Right, of course. She had completely forgotten Stone Quill’s attitude towards dragons.
Twilight’s resignation lasted only a for moment though, as she soon pulled herself together and gave the uncomfortable looking Swift Wing a nod. “I’ll be right there.”
Swift Wing nodded, looking surprisingly - and worryingly - relieved at the prospect of somepony else getting Stone Quill’s attention. He then turned around and walked back into the library.
Twilight’s gaze lingered a little while longer on the spot Swift Wing had stood, a worried look briefly appearing on her face, before she turned to the others. She gave them an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry girls, can you all just wait a little while longer? I promise I’ll explain everything to you as soon as I have more time.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a glance, looking not quite happy with the riddle’s solution being delayed. Yet before any of the two could say anything, Rarity spoke up, smiling gently as she walked up to her friend and put her left forehoof on Twilight’s shoulder in a soothing gesture.
“Of course, darling, take your time. This does seem to be a rather complicated topic, especially with this Stone Quill being such a,” Rarity paused for a moment, having obvious trouble trying to think of a word that was not an insult, “ …charming stallion and all that. I’m sure we all can wait for an explanation just a little longer. Can’t we?”
On her last two words her tone changed from gentle to strident and the white unicorn turned her head, shooting a glare in Applejack’s and Rainbow’s direction. The farm pony scrunched her nose in slight indignation and the rainbow-maned mare turned her head to the side with a pouty ‘hmph’, but neither of them voiced any complaints.
Twilight gave them a grateful smile. “Thank you, all of you. I won’t make you wait long.” while Rarity smiled and nodded, Rainbow just kept on pouting and still didn’t say anything. Applejack on the other hoof, seemed to be caught between the two of them, with dissatisfaction still lightly gleaming in her eyes, but a crooked smile also appearing on her lips when Twilight beamed at her in relief.
“Just warn me before he turns up on the farm. Ah don’t think Ah’d appreciate a surprise visit from this Stone Quill fella very much.” Rarity and even Fluttershy nodded affirmingly at the orange earth pony’s words, eliciting an involuntary smile from Twilight.
“Yeah and tell him, when he comes around he better not bring this Night Watch pegasus with him!” Rainbow Dash added, finally breaking her pouting.
“But I suppose you wouldn’t mind him arriving in the company of that pegasus private from the Royal Guard, hm?” Rarity chimed in, a playful smirk on her lips.
Rainbow looked confused for a moment, but when she saw the mischievous gleam in Rarity’s eyes she laughed. “Who, Flappy? Nah, he and I aren’t like that. I just know him from way back from Flight Camp.”
The cyan mare then stretched her legs before spreading her wings and shooting herself in the air with one strong beat of them. “Anyway, I’m gonna go now. Gotta make up for my missed nap. See ya!” And before anypony could say another word, Rainbow Dash looped around and raced down the the street, towards her favorite napping tree.
All the while Rarity’s smile hadn’t vanished and the gleam in her eyes just shone brighter when Rainbow lived up to her name and dashed away in a matter of seconds. She only gave an absentminded “hmm”, before turning back to Twilight.
“Well, I’d best be off now as well. There are preparations to be done, after all. see you later, darling, and don’t let that mean old unicorn scare you.” She waved towards the others and then left as well, taking the path towards Carousel Boutique.
“Don’t think there is much sense for me stickin’ around any longer as well. Best be going,” Applejack decided, but before she could leave, a soft voice spoke up.
“Excuse me, but, uhm… what about Pinkie?”
Twilight and Applejack turned towards Fluttershy, for the first time since the train station realizing that Pinkie still hadn’t moved or said anything. The yellow pegasus stood besides the rigid pink earth pony, looking rather helpless, letting her gaze wander from Applejack and Twilight back to Pinkie.
“Right, totally forgot about that,” Applejack mumbled to herself, but when she saw Twilight’s worried expression, she smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Twi, Fluttershy and Ah will find some way to help Pinkie. We’ll just take her home, the Cakes surely will know what to do.”
Twilight’s doubtfully raised eyebrow faltered quickly against Applejack’s confident smile. She sighed and nodded. “Alright, you do that. I guess if anypony knows what to do when it comes to Pinkie, it’s the Cakes.”
Applejack gave an enthusiastic nod, and then trotted towards the rigid earth pony and the timid pegasus. “Alright, Fluttershy, let’s get Pinkie home. Think you can lift her up a little bit?”
Twilight turned around and walked back towards the library.
Heading inside, Twilight was prepared for a most horrific scenario, but when she entered she found her fears to be completely unfounded. Nopony had perished, there was no pile of burning books and Spike hadn’t turned into his greed-powered adult form, laying waste to everything around him.
Yet not everything was just fine as well. An air of discomfort permeated the reading hall which now doubled as Twilight’s living room. Swift Wing, who had positioned himself besides the door, had an expression of poorly restrained dissatisfaction, virtually emanating an intense desire to just up and leave the room before anything bad could possibly happen to him, like Stone Quill’s attention. Yet he still had the courtesy to give Twilight a friendly smile upon noticing her, a hint of gratitude in it.
Spike had retreated to the other exit out of the room on this level, standing in the passage from the reading hall to the kitchen. He stared at Stone Quill with an uneasy expression, from time to time shooting quick glances in the door’s direction. When he spotted Twilight, relief immediately swept over his face and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to just run over to the lavender mare and embrace her. Or maybe hide behind her, Twilight wasn’t really sure of his intentions. Yet uneasiness kept her number one assistant from abandoning his safe spot, leaving him only with the option of staring at Twilight pleadingly, silently begging her to save him from this situation.
The other two, who seemed completely unfazed by the awkward silence in the room, stood more in the center of the hall. Moon Beam stood next to the wall, in front of one of the many bookshelves in the room, her back turned to the literature and her eyes closed as she waited patiently, almost looking like she meditated. Only a slight twitch that went through one of her ears every so often showed that she still kept vigilance with her other senses. She opened one of her eyes when Twilight came into the room, but she closed it again as soon as she saw who had entered.
The only one who did not give any kind of reaction when Twilight entered was Stone Quill. He stood in the middle of the room, at the table with the wood sculpture of a horse head, focusing on the stacks of paper in front of him. Twilight wondered briefly why the sight of the piled documents seemed so foreign to her. Then she remembered, with an intense blushing of her cheeks, that there had been no stacks whatsoever beforehoof. Only countless single sheets strewn about the table surface after a long and desperate evening of going all over them in an effort to spot any kinds of mistakes in them.
It came to no surprise that this sudden revelation caused Twilight’s steps to turn even more cautious, making her almost tiptoe across the room, until she stopped only a few paces shy from the elder unicorn, her breath caught in her throat.
Twilight’s heart beat loudly against her chest and for a very brief moment, the lavender unicorn was a little schoolfilly again, gazing upon her teacher’s back fearfully, awaiting another class filled with steep expectations and judgemental gazes.
Yet then the moment passed and Twilight was in the present again. She was not high up in one of the library towers of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but on the ground, inside her home, the Golden Oaks Library, grown up and free of the need for acknowledgment.
Calm down, Twilight, the lavender unicorn reprimanded herself, this is different from back in school. You’re a grown mare now, so act like one!
Her heartbeat slowly grew quieter as she regained control of her thoughts, breathed deeply and then spoke up. “I was told you needed my help, Magister Stone Quill?”
For a moment there was no reaction from Stone Quill. He just kept on levitating one of the documents in front of him, his eyes wandering from line to line while he ignored Twilight’s question so completely that she began to wonder if he had even heard her. Yet before the lavender unicorn could ask the question a second time, Stone Quill finally spoke up. “Yes, indeed Miss Sparkle.”
An electric jolt went through Twilight’s ears at the sound of his voice, causing them to twitch nervously, and a shudder of discomfort ran down her spine. After all these years, his schoolmaster-like voice still had the same effect on her as always. “So pleasant you could finally join us.”
His words flowed right into her soul, unlocking feelings of inferiority she had thought to be long since buried. Stay strong Twilight!, she encouraged herself, planting her hooves firmly on the ground, not allowing them to take even one step backwards. She could do this! She was no longer a schoolfilly who didn’t know the difference between empathy and telepathy, she was Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic! C’mon, speak up! Don’t just take this lying down!
“Magister Stone Quill, I’ll have you know—” began Twilight, but before she could continue any further, the spectacled magister placed the document back on the table and turned around, fixing his piercing gaze upon the lavender unicorn, impatience clearly written all over his face.
Twilight paused, her mouth opened and her eyes looking directly into Stone Quill’s. Her thoughts ran rampant inside her head and the shaking of her hooves she had experienced back at the train station returned. It was as if somepony had thrown a wrench inside her very being, causing her entire body to just malfunction.
Further, Twilight! This isn’t Canterlot anymore, this is Ponyville! C’mon, say it. Say it! Twilight opened her mouth a little bit further, an inarticulate noise involuntarily escaping her throat, which caused Stone Quill to raise an eyebrow at the strangely behaving librarian.
“Yes?”
“... that I’m very sorry for making you wait.” Twilight mumbled, her eyes looking down to the ground, as they had done so many times in front of Stone Quill. Great job, Twilight! She praised herself sarcastically.
There was another brief moment of silence, in which Stone Quill regarded Twilight a little while longer, impatience and a little bit of confusion in his expression. Then he turned back to the table. “Well, at least you’re here now. And I used the spare time to construct a system for the documents I actually can work with.”
Twilight flinched under the less-than-subtle side blow at the state she had left her notes in, but then raised her head again and breathed silently. Best get it over with, then. “Then I suppose everything is now in order?”
Stone Quill gave her a quick side glance with a raised eyebrow, before focusing on the documents again, once more picking up only one to levitate and continuing to read it intently. “Not quite. I admit, there wasn’t enough time yet to completely survey your partially detailed notes, Miss Sparkle, but a brief glance over them had me notice that there were some documents missing, apparently. I’d be most thankful if you could fetch them for me.”
And you couldn’t just ask Spike where they are, or even send your bodyguards to look for them? Twilight wondered, but didn’t say it out loud. Childhood memories told her that she would only make herself look like a fool again if she tried to confront Stone Quill about this. So she just gave a silent sigh and then straightened herself.
“Certainly. Just a moment, please,” she said, before closing her eyes and slowly beginning to focus. Her horn lit up with her magical aura and the very next moment the documents on the table flew up in the air, each of them surrounded by the very same purple energy that glowed around Twilight’s horn.
After Twilight had finished the gathering spell, she opened her eyes again and looked upon the floating documents, quickly skimming through them before nodding and turning towards Stone Quill. “Here you go, Magister.”
Yet Stone Quill didn’t seem satisfied in the least. In fact, his mood seemed to have worsened after Twilight’s little magical demonstration, almost glaring at her.
“Is… something the matter?” she carefully inquired.
“Well, I was hoping for a bit more addition to the already existing collection of your notes. Yet it seems there were none whatsoever,” Stone Quill replied
“Oh,” made Twilight, “well then there aren’t more.” The next moment a furrow appeared on Twilight’s brow and she looked at Stone Quill quizzically. “Why were you so certain that there were missing documents anyway, Magister?”
“Well, that’s because,” began Stone Quill, but interrupted himself and shot a rather annoyed glance at the hovering piles of paper, almost as if he took this display of magic ability as a personal insult. “I’m sorry Miss Sparkle, but could you please put down these rather important documents? Seeing how you have a rather infamous history with spontaneously combusting and transforming things, having them float inside your telekinesis field makes me feel somewhat uneasy.”
A hint of red snuck back into Twilight’s cheeks upon the mention of her mishaps during her childhood. Nodding abashedly, she floated the documents towards Stone Quill and then releasing them from her grasp to pass them to the elderly unicorn. Only no second magical field took over.
For the fraction of a second, the papers seemed to float in place without any magical support, staying perfectly still. Then the very next moment they started to scatter themselves, giving themselves up to the playful mood of slight winds while others stuck together in their packs, choosing instant acceleration instead of limitless floating, aiming to strike at the ground with force.
Twilight’s and Stone Quill’s eyes grew wide at the spectacle, frozen in place out of shock for a few moments. As soon as the shock subsided, Twilight stepped forward, already preparing her magic to try and order in this chaos. Yet before her purple aura could captivate any of the floating papers, a russet-colored field spread over the chaos, freezing the documents immediately in their place.
Twilight once more was completely thunderstruck, but recovered faster than the first time, looking around to see what the cause of the other magic was, and found Stone Quill as the source.
The elderly unicorn had been frozen in shock for a few moments less than Twilight, immediately reacting with a mass telekinesis spell to halt the progress of all kinds of paper in the air. In contrast to Twilight however, he didn’t seem to have an easy time levitating so many objects at the same time at all, something about his expression was off. Twilight couldn’t really put her hoof on it, but it seemed less exertion making him contort his face and more like … pain?
Before Twilight could speculate any further though, Stone Quill turned to her, pressing the words through his teeth. “A little help, maybe?”
Twilight blinked, then nodded hastily before grabbing at the documents with her magical aura. “I got them.” Immediately Stone Quill relaxed, dissolving the russet aura and breathing out in relief and exhaustion. While Twilight carefully levitated the documents to the table, she shot a side glance towards the elderly unicorn, but there were no more traces of any kind of pain to be found on his face. Had it been her imagination?
Stone Quill interrupted her thoughts for a second time, when he turned towards the lavender unicorn with a rather peeved expression. “Is there something about your telekinesis ability I should be aware of, or did it just strike you as amusing to suddenly relinquish all control over the objects in your grasp?”
The blush returned on Twilight’s cheek, this time not so discreet. “I’m sorry, Magister, I just thought you would take them …”
“I told you to put them down, didn’t I? Not to levitate them over my head and then just let go!” Twilight didn’t know what to say and instead just hung her head, embarrassment once more burning brightly inside of her.
Stone Quill glared at the lavender unicorn for a little while longer, still quite angry, but then he just dropped it with an angry snort and turned his attention towards the documents, starting to look for the particular set of notes he had read so intently before the accident.
“Anyway, as I was saying, I am so certain that there are missing documents because there are crucial informations that are not available to me.” As the elderly magister spoke, singular sheets of paper kept floating up as he grabbed at them with his magic, only to put them down the next moment and levitate the next one in his search for the document he previously had read. After a while he gave with a frustrated expression, turning back to Twilight. “The names of everypony involved in the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, for example.”
Twilight raised her head at that statement, a confused look on her face. “But you just met them.”
Twilight’s confusion was met with bewilderment from Stone Quill. He slightly arched his eyebrow at that statement, obviously needing a moment before comprehending what the lavender librarian meant.
“I meant everypony, not just the ponies in charge. I need a list of every single pony involved in the Summer Sun Celebration, every worker that helps out, every merchant that applied for a stand or supplies us with materials, everypony that made reservations at the inns and hotels here in Ponyville during the stay of the Summer Sun Celebration and, preferably, the name of every resident here in Ponyville as well.”
As Twilight listened to Stone Quill, her puzzlement only deepened and a furrowing of her brow told this better than any words could. What was the magister talking about? There was a list! Though the documentation and listing of everypony that visited Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration was a task she left to Pinkie and creating another list of every resident was superfluous since one already existed in the mayor’s office, Twilight had gone to great lengths to note down who worked where and what their promised payment was, as well as documenting which merchants had put in a petition for which places to put up a stand, what they were supposed to pay and if they had already done so.
Yet as Stone Quill started to ponder the additional use of a list about everypony who had a permanent residence in Ponyville, Twilight’s confusion slowly started to mix with fear. She was absolutely certain that she was in possession of that list. Or was she? While she could distinctly remember writing them, she could not for the life of her remember where it would be at the moment.
She had been so sure that all the necessary documents had been placed on this table, but now with Stone Quill demanding it, a thousand other locations popped up in her mind, every one of them nothing more than a hazy assumption. Had she forgotten them in the mayor’s office? Or had they end up in one of Pinkie’s cakes? Maybe they lay somewhere inside Applejack’s barn, beneath the hay? She just didn’t know!
“Miss Sparkle?” The impatient tone in the magister’s voice clutched around Twilight’s roaming thoughts like a bear trap, dragging them back to the library immediately. “Are you listening?”
Twilight blinked briefly, confused and disoriented from this abrupt callback to the present, before fully realizing her surroundings; a stern and impatient looking Stone Quill among them. “Er, yes, of course” she replied hastily, causing Stone Quill’s eyebrow to arch once again.
“Well then, where’s the list?” Immediately, the panic that Twilight had briefly lost, attached itself to her thoughts like a persistent parasite, swallowing any kind of rational and calm thought in a matter of seconds.
What should she do? If the list had not been on the table then it was nowhere in the library. This meant, however, that Twilight would have to look for it elsewhere, which would take time and she could only gain this time if she told Stone Quill straight up that she did not have the list in her possession right now, that she had failed to prepare accordingly.
As soon as the word ‘failed’ even so much as hinted at being materialized in her head, Twilight’s panic reached a new height, making her need her entire mental strength to not have an immediate breakdown on the very spot she stood.
Calm down, she reprimanded herself, I have to calm down. Think! How can I buy myself time to look for the list? Wait ... of course!
“It’s not here.” In his long years of raising his eyebrows at ponies, Stone Quill had learned to never go all the way on the first move, since there were always moments when just one time wasn’t enough to express your curious disbelief, or disdain, if the situation demanded it. This was one such moment.
The eyebrow of the elderly unicorn slowly arched itself a little bit higher at Twilight’s words, letting his expression change from ‘well, I somewhat expected this’ to ‘well, I wasn’t quite prepared for this’. “Excuse me?” He inquired, for the first time disbelief more prominent on his face than irritation as he even turned his head a little bit to the side to make sure that there was absolutely no way he could mishear anything now.
Twilight’s answer didn’t change. “It’s not here.”
Now Swift Wing and Spike joined Stone Quill in staring at Twilight in disbelief and even though Moonbeam had her eyes closed, the lavender unicorn noticed that both of the dark blue-colored pegasus’ ears were now turned into her direction.
Yet Twilight only caught this out of the corner of her eyes. Her attention rested mainly on Stone Quill, whose eyes had now widened in utter surprise and for the first time since his arrival in Ponyville, the elderly unicorn seemed at a loss for words. The lavender unicorn didn’t give him time to collect himself though, and instead continued.
“the lists for the guests and residents, I mean. Since the mayor was already in possession of a list of residents there was no need for a second one and I gave the list of the guests to the pony in charge of the entertainment. After all, knowing how many of which cultural groups are coming for the festivities is important for the preparation for such things, right?” Her ‘right’ didn’t sound as confident as she had wished for, but her argumentation seemed to accomplish its goal nonetheless.
Stone Quill remained motionless for another moment, before the expression of disbelief vanished from his face, making space for the same old look of dissatisfaction. “I suppose there is some merit to that,” he grumbled, talking at a volume though as if he was talking to himself, before glaring sharply at Twilight. “Still, you could’ve told me so earlier Miss Sparkle, it would’ve saved us both a lot of trouble and wasted time, wouldn’t’ve it?”
It would have, if you would’ve just told me what you were looking for right from the start, Twilight growled on the inside, but on the outside she just nodded and put on an apologetic face. “I’m very sorry for the trouble, Magister Stone Quill.”
Stone Quill just gave an irritated snort as an answer and then turned away from the document-filled table, heading for the door. “Well I suppose I will just have to go meet with the right ponies then. You said the guest list is with the pony in charge of the entertainment. That is Miss Pie, right?”
“That’s correct Magister”, Twilight answered, suppressing a gasp of relief.
“Splendid”, Stone Quill commented, but his grim visage didn’t fit his exclamation at all. Upon seeing this, Twilight’s desire to express her ease vanished instantly. It seemed like the elder unicorn had kept the Welcome Wagon more prominent in his memory than Twilight had hoped.
“Should I show you the way, Magister?”, Twilight offered, feeling uneasy at the thought of Stone Quill and Pinkie Pie meeting completely unsupervised, but the elder unicorn shook his head.
“No need, Miss Sparkle, I familiarized myself with the town map before coming here. Besides, finding the biggest bakery in Ponyville should not be difficult.”
Twilight nodded, uncertain if the last sentence was supposed to be a joke or a statement and finally deciding that not saying anything was probably wiser. Instead she waited for Stone Quill to continue, shifting from one hoof to another, not sure if she should insist on accompanying Stone Quill to Sugarcube Corner or instead use the free time to search for her missing documents.
Surprisingly, it was Stone Quill who helped the lavender unicorn out of her uncertainty. “It would be best if you stayed behind and sorted out your documents so that they are up to date, Miss Sparkle. Princess Celestia also needs to be notified of my arrival and seeing how you can contact her at a moment’s notice I’d like to leave that task with you.”
“Oh”, made Twilight, blinked and then nodded, a surprised look on her face the entire time. “Sure, I can do that.”
“Thank you.” Stone Quill nodded towards Twilight and then gave Moonbeam and Swift Wing a look before turning around and leaving the library with a brisk step. Only now did Twilight notice that the dark blue pegasus had silently positioned herself at the other side of the door. As soon as Stone Quill left did Moonbeam the same, slipping silently through the door like a winged shadow.
Swift Wing’s exit was not quite as elegant. The white pegasus needed a few seconds before realizing that Stone Quill had already left the library, making him rush outside all the more hastily, the door closing behind him with a bang.
Twilight waited a few seconds, making sure that Stone Quill hadn’t suddenly changed his mind and then gave a sigh of relief. A slight shudder went through her legs, making it somewhat difficult to stand, but not impossible. Yet such a moment of weakness could not pass unnoticed by a certain pair of eyes.
“Twilight! Are you alright?” The lavender unicorn smiled and looked at Spike, her number one assistant who had finally left his hidey hole at the entrance to the kitchen and stood beside her now, a worried expression on his face.
“I’m okay, Spike, don’t worry. I just wasn’t expecting things to get so … hectic.”
“No kidding”, replied Spike, his left eyebrow raised when he turned towards the door through which Stone Quill and his guards had left. “So much for hoping that he might have changed. But I guess he’s still the same old surly codger, isn’t he?”
“Spike! That’s not a nice thing to say,” Twilight reprimanded him, giving a small smile. Spike’s complaints about Stone Quill had always helped Twilight to tolerate the elder unicorn’s demanding lessons, even though his apparent dislike of dragons had made her number one assistant quite wary of the old magister.
“Not like there’s a lot of nice things to say about him...”, Spike murmured, but he kept it to himself and instead looked expectantly at Twilight. “So what now? Do you want to look for the list?”
Surprised and a little bit shocked, Twilight stared at Spike. “How did you …?”
“Come on, Twilight”, said Spike, rolling his eyes. “I know you! I know you write down everything. Well, or at least you make me write down everything. The point is, you would’ve definitely had the kind of list Stone Quill was asking for. So the only reason why you would send him to Pinkie Pie of all ponies is because you don’t know where the list is.”
For a moment, the lavender unicorn could only stare at the little purple dragon, completely dumbfounded. But then a smile spread on her lips and an amused laugh escaped her. “Oh Spike, I can’t keep anything from you, can’t I?”
“Of course not, I’m your number one assistant!” Spike grinned, childish pride resonating in his voice which made Twilight giggle once again. “So anyway, do you want to look for the list?”
Twilight shook her head. “Not yet. First I want to write to the Princess that Stone Quill has arrived. We should take care of the small things first before I go wandering around Ponyville. Besides, Pinkie is sure to keep Stone Quill occupied for a while.”
“If you say so…,” said Spike, not completely convinced yet.
Twilight gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m sure. Stone Quill will need quite some time to adjust to Pinkie. Now come on, we don’t want to waste more time, right? Help me draw up the letter!”
“Alright, alright”, Spike grumbled while he walked over to a pedestal, hopped on the stool in front of it and grabbed the quill, letting the point saturate with ink before he let it hover over the paper, ready to write on Twilight’s command.
As soon as her number one assistant was ready cleared the lavender unicorn her throat, breathed deeply, opened her mouth, and was interrupted by a knock on the door. Surprised, Spike and Twilight looked at each other.
“Is he already back?”, asked Spike, more panic in his voice than he would ever admit.
“Can’t be, he’d never turn around so soon. He’s as persistent and stubborn as rock”, replied Twilight, but a worried wrinkle had appeared on her brow nonetheless. The knocking came a second time, this time sounding more urgent.
“Yeah, but what if he remembered something and wants to see the other lists now?” Spike’s horror scenario elicited a nervous gulp from Twilight and once more a shaking inhabited her legs. Again somepony knocked on the door, this time loudly banging against the wood. “Twilight …”
“It’s alright Spike, it’s fine.” If only those words could calm Twilight herself. The nervous shivering didn’t restrict itself to her legs anymore and instead wandered up her body, making her teeth chatter slightly.
Don’t be foolish, what are you afraid of? Spoke Inner Twilight once again. Even if it’s Stone Quill, he’s not a ghost. Besides, ghosts don’t even really exist, they’re scientifically impossible!
Hadn’t she realized she wasn’t a little schoolfilly anymore? She needed to stop acting so silly! Frustration and wounded pride started to rise up inside the lavender unicorn, fighting more effectively against her nervosity and fear than false bravado and before Twilight even knew it, she made one step after another towards the door that was now constantly banging loudly.
With almost childish anger the purple librarian reached for the door handle, drowning her hesitation in stubbornness, and opened the door with one forceful pull.
Suppressing any urge to blink, Twilight stared through the door, right on the other side of the threshold. However, the very moment she saw who stood there her eyes went wide, her jaw slackened, disbelief written all over her face, and then a exhausted groan escaped her lips.
“You’ve got to be kidding me …”
“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle, and be amazed at the company of The Great and Powerful Trixie!”