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// Chapter I 
// Story: Lessons in quirks 
// by Mike84 
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	Few ponies were on board of the train arriving from Canterlot at this early hour of the day and less even were to board the train as the first glimpses of sunlight announced the early dawn of the upcoming summer day. Two drowsy looking unicorns trudged to board the train, two sizable trunks levitating after them the second of which hit the edge of the train door before passing through in the second attempt. Most of the passengers on board were fast asleep, heading for Applelosa or Dodge Junction, granting them sufficient time to get their rest before they would have to leave the train. 
Only one colt left the train for the platform of Ponyville station. He was an earth pony of light brown color and even lighter blond color of mane and tail. Not much of his mane and fur were revealed to the dim light of the first dawn. He was wearing a blueish-gray turtlenecked shirt with some pockets. A kind of wrap-around that might have been black at some point, but had been washed-out to a dark-grayish tone was covering most of his body. The mild temperatures even of the nights during the warm summer didn't necessitate for any of this clothing. Strapped to both sides the colt was wearing two saddle-bags bulging out so much that there was little doubt about both of them being crammed. The worn out condition of the bags and the seam of a strap, testifying of a makeshift repair, suggested not only that these bags had been long in use but also that their current bulging was not an exception but the rule. Most uncomely of the entire attire however was the headgear of the colt that would have certainly gained him many raised eyebrows, puzzled looks or blank stares had anypony been around at this early hour to give them. It was a wide brimmed bowler hat which by itself would have looked out of time and out of place and out of fashion except perhaps in some of the arid southernmost regions of Equestria whose inhabitants tended to pay less attention to the fashion trends of Canterlot or Manehattan. This particular hat however might have attracted attention even down there. So twisted and bent was the brim as if it had been deliberately mistreated until parts of it looked like they had been rolled around the ears of the wearer. 
For all the worn or just plain odd state of the colt's attire however it appeared that he had made sure for it to be kept spotless and free of any tears or holes and the wearer himself too didn't match the shabby look of his hat. 
With a quick, almost jerky motion the colt produced a paper from one of his shirts jackets and cast a look on what a bystander would have identified as a map of Ponyville and its surroundings. He straightened a pair of thinly-rimmed spectacles he was wearing, scanned the map and cast a look in every direction as he stuffed the map back into his pocket before he left the platform. 
As he strode through Ponyville he was constantly casting looks in every direction much as if he feared he might miss something if he happened to keep his gaze in the same direction for too long. Other than the unlit buildings there was not much to be seen however; the streets were still empty. 

After a few minutes the colt arrived at his destination, Golden Oak Library, where Princess Celestia had told him he would meet the recently crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle who had kindly offered to help with his studies. Since Princess Celestia had brought up the suggestion the previous day, he had done his best to gather what information he could find about Equestria's most recent Princess without pestering her highness Celestia herself with questions. Newspapers that had appeared around the time of her coronation had been stuffed with stories, articles, even interviews most of which however seemed to come from Ponies who happened to know somepony who happened to know an acquaintance of the princess to be. The colt didn't care about the bridle gossip that seemed to imply that the future of Equestria would depend on the color of the princess's to be attire during her coronation, but years of study had taught him to screen for the bits and pieces of helpful information among all the printed trash talk.
The colt stood a bit lost in front of the large oak tree that harbored Ponyville's library and was at the same time the home of the princess. He liked the idea of a princess living in a library, but he noticed that the library, same as every other building he had passed since he had left the train platform was still unlit. 
He silently cursed his rash conclusions based on little evidence that had suggested for this early hour of the day to be best suited for his arrival. 

One early morning a few days ago Princess Luna had entered the royal library where he had been sitting over a tome in a fruitless search for some kind of cutie mark lore. 
Princess Luna had reacted with more acceptance than her elder sister Princess Celestia when he had offered the bow and address with the full regal titles to her. 
During the audience, in which he had first requested access to the royal library, Princess Celestia had stopped the litany of titles bestowed upon her throughout the centuries with a friendly smile and a firm wave that left no doubt she wouldn't hear the titles to the end, but was more intent to get to the core of matters. He hadn't been sure if it was modesty on her part or lack of time with other applicants for audience queued up before the gates of the audience hall. Maybe both of this had played a role. 
With no queue of waiting ponies in sight Princess Luna in any case had been listening to the regal titles to the end. In her case the list was somewhat shorter than her sister's would have been but when he had finished, he thought that for a short moment there had been something like the flicker of a smile on her stern face. Perhaps the show of courtly etiquette had reminded her of the time before her banishment when such formalities had been more closely observed than was the case these days. Having missed the long gradual development to the somewhat less strict contemporary etiquette had probably posed some challenges to her since her return little more than a year ago. When talking she sometimes resorted to archaic words and phrases which tempted him to ask more about a time of which hardly anyone could give eye-witness accounts. He hadn't mustered the courage to ask anything though. When the princess had asked about the subject of his studies however, he had burst into into an enthusiastic lecture and almost forgotten whom he was talking to. He had barely managed to come to a stop before facing the embarrassment of being cut short on his lecture as he had been by her sister during the litany of her titles. 
Princess Luna had graced him with a little more small talk and throughout this exchange she had mentioned that Celestia had remarked being reminded of her former student Twilight Sparkle's habit of hardly getting any sleep during her times of intense study. 
It had been the first time either of the two Princesses had mentioned the new Princess to him. When yesterday Princess Celestia had made the suggestion of visiting and interviewing her, he had been wondering if perhaps the idea had been Luna's. He hadn't seen her again after the talk in the library.

Other than this remark of shared waking-time habits he had only speculated with Princess Celestia being associated with the days and the sun and Princess Luna being associated with the night and the moon that perhaps Princess Twilight might be associated with and be most active in the times of dusk and dawn. He had convinced himself that her cutie mark too might bear reference to the morning and the evening star most prominently visible during those times. In hindsight his conclusions seemed ridiculous to him. In his mind he scratched out a long passage on the correlation of cutie marks and sleeping- respectively waking-time habits that could have become part of his studies.