//------------------------------// // Realization // Story: The Stallion in the Library // by leonidas701 //------------------------------//         Honey. Cream. A strange hint of hickory that should have seemed out of place but flowed beautifully into thick scent of the coffee. This strange, enticing mix of smells brought Twilight back into consciousness. As she opened her eyelids, she became aware of a blurry figure standing over her. The groggy blurriness that accompanies waking up soon based and the figure soon resolved itself into Princess Celestia.         “Oh good! You’re awake,” Celestia said as she lowered the mug she was levitating in front of Twilight’s nostrils onto the floor.         “Ughh,” Twilight said as she attempted to force herself to sit upright. “What happened. Ow.” She gingerly touched the side of her head, finding a small bump that wasn’t there before.         “You fainted,” Trixie said from the place where she sat on the floor, drinking from a mug that had the same smell as the one that revived Twilight.         “Why?” Twilight asked. “Did another pillow hit me?         “No,” Trixie said.         “Well then what happened?”         “Beats me,” Card said as he walked out of her kitchen with a recently refilled mug. “I was in the middle of being suffocated by my dear old auntie- Oh there she goes again.”         *Thunk*         Fortunately, Twilight was still sitting down and fell back onto the pillow they had placed under her unconscious head. As such, reviving her was a much simpler task the second time around. This time it was Card who was standing over her as she awoke, Trixie still at her side.         Twilight reacted with the grace you would expect her to, “Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-” she said as she did a stunning impression of a fish gasping for breath.         Card lightly smacked her to get her back to her senses. Once that was done he asked, “Are you okay?”         Twilight nodded dumbly.         “Are you sure?”         “Yes.”         “Good,” Card said as he helped her back to her feet. “What are you looking at?” he asked Celestia.         Celestia was gazing at the three with the most peculiar expression upon her royal visage. “Nothing,” she said with a slight smile.         “Right. Well, if that’s all.” Card left the library room and went back into the kitchen. Shortly after, the three mares could hear the sink turn on.         “Twilight, are you sure you’re okay?” Trixie asked.         “Y- yeah. I’m fine.” Twilight’s mind cast out, looking for something, anything that could change the subject. She finally saw her opportunity when her gaze fell upon an unclaimed mug on the table. She quickly levitated it over to herself. “What’s this?”         “That is Klava,” Celestia said. “It’s a very good drink that is quite popular farther in the north-east.”         Twilight gave it a try. As she did, her mouth became overrun by sensation. The sticky sweetness of honey, diluted and yet strengthened by the strange thickness of cream. Right there alongside it, not melding together but not completely separate either, was the fresh, rousing taste of coffee, but without any of the bitterness accompanying it that she had grown accustomed to. All of these tastes, held together by the faint undercurrent of hot cinnamon and smoky hickory.         “Wow,” Twilight said, her vast vocabulary taking a momentary leave to allow her brain more processing power to enjoy the experience.         “I know,” Trixie agreed.         As Twilight prepared herself for another sip, her eyes fell upon her clock. “10:25! How is it so late?”         “The first time you passed out, it took us a while to wake you up,” Celestia explained. “Card had the idea of using the klava as a type of smelling-salt.”         This reminder of her fainting and, more importantly, the reason she fainted, caused an awkward silence come over Twilight as she stood there sipping her drink.         Eventually, the sink in the kitchen turned off and Card came out.         “Well it’s been fun, but I really need to get going,” Card announced as he head to the door.         “Oh no you don’t,” Celestia said.         Card groaned. “What? I still have to send in my report, and I have work in the morning.”         “You’re not heading out alone like that.” Celestia was firm. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”         Indeed, in the hours between Card arriving and having his Klava, his body had gotten over the initial caffeine rush and signs of tiredness were once more decorating his face. Signs that became obvious to Twilight and Trixie once Celestia had pointed them out.         “I’ll be fine,” Card said. As he turned to face his aunt, he caught sight of the looks of worry on his best friends faces. He sighed. “Look, if it bothers you that much, I’ll call up an escort.” He reached into his jacket and drew out a small bell made out of some strange purple substance.         The sound it made as he rang it was quite quiet, almost non-existent, but it seemed to reverberate in the bones of those who heard it. He tossed it back into his jacket and took a seat by the door.         Trixie, deciding that now that one of her friends was no longer unconscious it was the perfect time to tease the other one, said “So, your Highness-” And was immediately cut off.         “Don’t,” Card said as he held up a hoof. “Please, just- don’t.” This wasn’t like Celestia where the dismissal of formalities was done with a small smile, showing that she did get a thrill out of being called Princess. As Card asked Trixie not to call him, “Your Highness,” His expression was uncomfortable, almost pained.         Suddenly, Card stood up. “Come on Trixie,” he said.         “What?”         “I’m not going to have you coming into work tomorrow all drowsy. Come on, I’ll take you home.”         “Oh.” Trixie was taken aback by this proposal, but agreed. She walked over to the door, the Princess and Twilight coming up as well to say good-bye         “Good-night Princess, Twilight.” She bowed to the Princess and hugged her friend.         “Good-night Auntie.” Card gave his aunt a hug, quickly struggling his way out of it as she started to squeeze him too tight. “Sweet dreams Twinkly,” he said as he lifted up a hoof and messed up her hair. “See you tomorrow.”         “Yeah. See you,” Twilight said hollowly, heading back towards the center of the library.         “Oh, that reminds me!” Celestia said. “Card, I know you haven’t met Luna before but it’s her birthday soon. I would like it if you could come over for a couple of days.”         “Yeah, I know,” Card said as he opened the door. “The old fogey already told me. Can’t wait.”         He and Trixie stepped outside into the darkness. “Wait, what about your escort?” Trixie asked.         Card spotted a pair of glowing lime-green eyes. “There he is.”         The eyes grew closer and closer, until finally they came into the light pouring out from Twilight’s library. They were attached to a large wolf, that seemed to be made entirely out of wood.         “Timberwolf!” Trixie shrieked. She began backing up, and started gathering up magic to repel the vicious animal.         Card reached out and stroked the wolf along its head. “Good boy,” he said as the timberwolf sat down, its tail wagging.         Card turned back to Trixie, “Come on,” he said with a jerk of his head. “Let’s go.” He started down the path and, after she picked her jaw back up, Trixie left as well.         Celestia closed the door behind the two, and started chuckling to herself as she put on her tiara and necklace. “He’s growing up,” she whispered. She then turned her attention to the lilac mare in the center of the room. “Well Twilight, I must be going soon. While I’m here would you like to give me your friendship report?”         “...How?” the downcast mare muttered.         “Excuse me?”         “I told him everything, I trusted him, why won’t he trust me?”         “What do you mean?” Celestia asked.         Twilight finally noticed that Celestia was still in the room. She decided to ask her the question.         “How do you know if somepony is your friend or not?” Twilight asked. “Even if you think of them as one of your best, how do you know they think the same thing?”         Celestia was left speechless. “Is this about Card?” she finally asked.         “Yes!” Twilight yelled, tears boiling in her eyes but refusing to fall. “I told him about Shining Armor, about being an Element of Harmony, everything! And in return, he tells me nothing! How is that a friendship!?”         Celestia attempted to comfort her apprentice, but her attempts were shaken off. She tried to think of someway to assure her pupil that things were alright. Her eyes came upon the pillow that lay where Twilight had fainted.         “You know, Card is the one who put that there,” she said.         Twilight looked upon her with confusion. “What?”         “He heard that you had fallen and forced himself out of my grip to rush over to your side. He even carefully checked you over to see if you were okay,” Celestia continued. “When he saw that you were fine, he grabbed a pillow and put it under your head. Then he went off to make you Klava for when you woke up. Whenever he saw that it was starting to cool, he drank it and quickly made you a new cup.”         “He really did that for me?” Twilight asked disbelievingly.         Celestia nodded. “My nephew is very slow to open up about his history. Even I don’t know all about what he’s been through. But I do know one thing. It’s a very rare occasion indeed that he goes out of his way to inconvenience himself to help someone else. Even if you know very little about someone, even if they are unwilling to tell you about themselves, it does not mean they do not care for you.”         Twilight nodded her head. She understood, “Card will tell me about himself when is ready. If ever. Thank you, Princess.” Twilight bowed.         Celestia put on a subtle smile, embracing her student. “I think that the friendship report will be unnecessary today. This was very fun.”         “Good night Princess.”         “Good night, my little pony.” And with a flash of light and a little pop, Celestia teleported away.         I think it’s time for bed. Spike can let himself in. Twilight made her way up to her bed and collapsed, taking a well deserved rest.