"You never saw him again?" Twilight and her friends sat in the downstairs of the Library, late one winter night. Her eyes were wide and blinking, trying to put absorb what she had just been told.
"He left town," Rarity remarked airily, "and never came back."
Applejack nodded her head in agreement. "Rarity's right. Ah dunno what in the hay was wrong with that boy, but whatever it was, it was stubborn as a sack'a potatoes. And about as smart as one, too..." She muttered, a hint of resentment still in her voice.
"Well, where do you think he is?"
"Ah don't know, ah don't care, and ah'd prefer if we let the matter drop." Applejack declared, turning away from the others to head upstairs.
"Applejack, where-"
"Let her go for the moment, Twilight," Rarity interjected, holding a hoof up to her startled purple friend. "She needs to gather her thoughts."
Twilight reluctantly let Applejack head into the bedroom of the library to do... Whatever it was she was trying to do.
"Why is she so defensive about this?"
Rarity sighed a little, rubbing her face with a hoof. "I hardly expected to get into such dirty laundry when we all decided to spend the evening together, but... Applejack has felt guilty for her 'brother's' departure since she was a filly. It's one of the few strong regrets she has in her life, and although there's no way to prove the second time was because of her actions, she feels responsible and takes on the blame, still."
Twilight sat in pure amazement. " I can't believe Applejack has taken on that burden for so many years... I also can't believe you know so much about her, Rarity! I never thought you'd be so in tune with her."
"That's why they call it a mare's intuition, dear. Besides I may not have been friends with the filly in those days, but one had to be simply blind not to pick up on... Er, Fluttershy, are you alright?"
Fluttershy's face was stricken; She looked positively distraught.
"I had no idea so much had happened, I just... I should have made time to model for him, maybe he would still be with us..."
Her phrasing alarmed Twilight. "Be with us? You mean in Ponyville, right? You don't think he...?" Twilight glanced around from pony to pony, but none would meet her eyes.
Rarity lifted a hoof to admire it, being too polite to speak of such things. Rainbow was not.
"I dunno, that colt was always really dark and gloomy, and intense artist types usually off themselves. Nopony ever said he did, but they wouldn't be surprised, either."
"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cried, stunned. "How CAN you be so insensitive? This is a pony's LIFE we're discussing here!"
Rainbow merely shrugged.
Pinkie suddenly came flying from upstairs, letting out a startled cry, and crashed into a bookcase behind the ponies downstairs.
Twilight was the first to react, racing over to the pink pony, mouth agape.
"Pinkie, what on earth happened?"
The pink pony quickly regained her posture and stood up, yelling into Twilight's face indignantly."Applejack bucked me!"
"Bucked you? But why-"
"Yeah! Bucked me right here!" She cried, interrupting Twilight with a wild gesture to her own chest. "All I did was ask why she looked so sad, and she said, 'I ain't sad, and it ain't yer business," Pinkie's impression of Applejack was surprisingly spot on, " And then I said, well, is it none of my business that you're sad, or none of my business that you're NOT sad? Because if you're not sad, but it's not my business that you're sad, then that means you ARE sad but you're NOT sad, and that's when she BUCKED ME!" Pinkie finished petulantly, her bottom lip sticking out childishly. Twilight started to reply, but the rainbow maned pegasus butted in instead.
"What the...? Applejack, you better get your flank down here before I-"
"That's enough!" Twilight suddenly yelled, interrupting Rainbow Dash and startling everypony with her outburst. Even Applejack poked her head over the top of the stairs, eyes wide. Satisfied that she had everypony's attention, Twilight resumed calmly but firmly.
"We've all had a stressful evening and discussed sensitive things; I think it's time everypony went home and got some rest!"
"Oh yes, please," Fluttershy piped up, quiet but anxious.
Rainbow started to protest, but, seeming to think better of it, nodded her head, and moved toward the door.
"As much as I hate to make my exit on this note, darling, you're absolutely right." Rarity followed closely behind, and Applejack descended the stairs in a half-stomp, until she met Twilight's flinty eyes; After that, she seemed to calm her steps a little, apparently spooked of the purple unicorn, to which Twilight responded by relaxing a tad. Pinkie Pie was already over her drama and left with a cheerful goodbye and wave, and Fluttershy seemed more than grateful to follow her, but-
"Fluttershy!" She winced,( Freedom, so close, yet so far!) and gave the door a lingering, longing glance before turning back to Twilight.
"Um, yes Twilight?"
"Can you stay with me here tonight? I want to sort some of this out, and I could use your help."
" Oh but Twilight," Fluttershy half-pleaded, " What about Angel? And all my other animals; I can't abandon my duties to them."
"But Spike is already asleep!" Twilight retorted, also pleading.
"Well, can't Owloysius assist you?"
Twilight immediately brightened up; Of course! The little owl had to be somewhere in the vicinity!
"Of course; Thanks Fluttershy! I guess I won't be needing any- well, any MORE help from you, after all!" She hugged her friend and, to Fluttershy's relief, sent her off. As soon as she was gone, Twilight raced to the window to call her little feathered friend, who appeared from apparently nowhere in the windowsill.
"Great! Owloysius, I need you to take this to the Royal Library," She said, writing out a letter of instructions," -and bring me back whatever they have!"
She finished it and rolled it up, tying it with a green ribbon and leaving a generous space. He flew over to her and offered his claw, to which she tied the letter in question with magic. She smiled and pat him on the head, knowing this would be faster and more efficient than her original plan of rummaging whatever sparse public records were scrambled around in her library and personal files. As she watched him leave the Ponyville Library, letter in tow, she decided to go ahead and get some sleep; He knew to wake her up when he returned, and she had a feeling it would be a long night.
She wouldn't admit to her friends that she liked staying up long nights, solving some new puzzle; It helped make her feel like she deserved the kind praises and status she received from the Princess. She climbed the stairs as quietly as she could, feeling certain that Owloysius would come back with the tools she needed.
Finally as she climbed into bed and snuggled into her unspeakably soft mattress (Crack! Her spine popped as she lay down, a testament to the stress of the day) she was lulled into content sleep by mental images of Applejack and her brother in a joyful embrace, reunited after years of estrangement.
Two hours later (or, as Twilight's brain told her, about five minutes later) a soft but firm "WHOO" came from Twilight's bed side table, jarring her from sleep. "Whuzzat? Back already?" She sat up with a slight groan, opening her groggy eyes to meet those of Owloysius, as well as a piece of parchment in his beak. Resigning herself to busy wakefulness, she levitated it from him and fully got up out of bed, heading downstairs where she could read it without waking Spike. She reached her table and lit a few candles in the area with a quick flame spell, and opened the letter.
Dear Twilight;
Thank you for your interest in the Royal Canterlot Public Records, but I'm afraid sending out Royal Canterlot public records by Owl is prohibited; Royal Canterlot Public Records must be accessed in the Royal Canterlot Library building. If you would like to learn more about the Royal Canterlot Library rules and regulations, please see the Royal Canterlot Library Guide in the Royal Canterlot Library.
~Regards,
Royal Canterlot Library staff
Twilight groaned, sitting back. "Great! Just great, I forgot about that; Those rules didn't apply when I lived in Canterlot with the Princess..."
Now Twilight had been robbed of her evening plans, and it was only eleven! What was a unicorn to do? She stood up, beginning to pace a bit; could she, perhaps, just follow the rules...? She bit her lip, looking up at Spike. She didn't really want to leave him alone... Buuut... It would be so fun to go to the library (The ROYAL CANTERLOT LIBRARY, that is).... Suddenly, an idea sprung into her head; Of course! Owloysius could look out for him! She wouldn't need the little feathered assistant at the Royal Library, so he could assist her here instead.
"Owloysius!" She commanded, galloping over to the little owl, who merely fluttered a bit and stared at her. “Will you stay here and look after Spike while I go to the Royal Library?"
It nodded and blinked.
She perked up. "Excellent! Looks like I have I have a train to catch! Wait, actually..."
Suddenly, she realized she had never tried something; truly long-distance teleporting. She hesitated a moment, but finally made the decision; Why not, after all? It wasn't as if the curiosity would diminish after the idea had struck her. Hopefully, she would make TWO huge discoveries that night. Her mind made up, she started, doing her best to picture the warm, bright lobby of the Royal Canterlot Library.
Her horn was giving off little sparks of white, and she was biting her tongue, when the front door was suddenly knocked on firmly and loudly.