Trapped In Canterlot

by TartarusFire

C28 - The Things That Happen

If it wasn’t the hoof quotes on the word ‘legally,’ most of the other ponies would’ve probably missed it.

"So, we’re not doing anything?"

Red Cross grumbled under her sheet, "Evershade, for bringing the topic up in the first place, you sure are clueless."



***



Whatever had the investigative cataloguer spooked, it wasn’t going easy on him. He was a bit winded from running from all over the place, his hair was a bit frazzled, and his mouth hung open slightly. "Can I please speak to some pony who knows about curses?"

The guard outside of the Canterlot Archives looked at him. His expression didn’t change, but he made sure to let the intruder know he didn’t believe in curses.

"Uuuhh, not a curse, it’s an enchantment then!" The guard and his partner parted from the doorway. "Well thank you then." Quickstamp moved inside quickly before they decided to bar him again even though he as on the VIP list. Out of sight and back in place, the guard rolled his eyes at the supposed curse.



"You didn’t fill out any form or take prior precautions. Yet you come here and ask for a containment mage? What kind of operation are we running?" The senior operative for the crime unit berated Quickstamp. "Still, if it’s as bad as you say it is, then we should get some pony on the job." She pulled an index card out of a desk drawer and wrote something on it. Touching it to a candle it blew away into blue smoke. "Don’t let me catch you in my office for at least another month, Dismissed."


He never liked visiting the higher ups, even when something wasn’t entirely his fault, they blamed him anyway. Still, she had made sure that he would finish his job, and with the pony in a trench coat with the coat of arms on it, he would surely be able to catalogue the rest of the cart.


One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight boxes were all that remained. Compared to his previous spook, it was rather anticlimactic to his tastes. "So, just checking, but that album is pretty bad right?"

"Yeah, it has some serious magic woven into its covers. I don’t think there’s anything on the inside though, from how I had to pick it up." He stopped, dragging the book under his coat. "Don’t ask me about my job, just do yours." He left, followed shortly by Quickstamp who planned on asking for the next day off.



***



Princess Celestia was feeling pretty well after the meeting with the Parliament. Since it was headed by nobles who were mostly stripped of power, the only function it served was a stopgap to certain liberties of the populace. Of course the topic had come up and was quickly silenced as instant investigation would have been a breach of privacy.

So all in all, nothing had changed, and it was a good day to end. There was no alarm for nine at night due to the complaints about noise, so lowering the sun for the night had been the agreed upon communication. With that wrapped, up, the nine p.m. shift replaced the day shift.

Lo and behold, to her consternation, Relic chose to enter into the moonlight, presenting an enchanted vessel. "Princess," he bowed, "I have come to deliver this. Whatever it is, it has powerful, dangerous magic attached to it. I am obligated to bring this to you before storing it into the vault under normal circumstances."

She looked at him funny. "I realize that it may be orders, but honestly, what do you expect me to do right now?" Trying not to laugh, she instead cracked a smile. "I’ve been up all day dealing with the government. If I was to try to tangle with some volatile magic, it wouldn’t end well for me, would it when I am so tired?"

"I retract my offer then. I will store it in the vault for the time being." Relic finished his bow, intent on leaving.

"You know, you don’t have to feel inept by me declining. It is only your job."

He paused, knowing it all too well. But it was hard to feel nothing after being told no by a princess.



***



Book Drop was running the library currently. She was on the first night shift, so it was rather surprising when she found a sleeping pony.

"Wake up, there’s no sleeping in the library, no matter how late it is, miss.." She had finally noticed the purple fur and the six start cutie mark. "Twilight."

She jolted awake once she heard her name. "I’m awake, I swear." Still not fully awake, her eyes were glazed over, fully prepared to relapse into sleep onto her nice, soft stack of books.

"Oh, sorry miss Twilight. I suppose since you are the student of Celestia, we can make an exception, but I must stay firm that you really shouldn’t sleep here. It’s not fit for proper sleep."

"Oh." She perked up even further, "I have to obey the rules like every pony else. Sorry, miss Book. I was only studying, and then, uhm." Squinting really didn’t help. Her tongue scraped the inside of her mouth in search for an answer. When no answer was found, she looked to her book, The Comparison of Gryphons and Ponies: Biologically. "I think I fell asleep."

Book Drop found Twilight’s thinking to be rather amusing, "No harm done. I see you stopped drooling when you sleep, or is that just a rumor?"

Yawning, she stopped by covering her muzzle. "Nope. It’s not a rumor anymore. I stopped awhile – wait no, it was never a rumor in the first place, hehe!" She looked at the clock, "Oh no, it’s twenty three minutes to midnight! Got to go, bye!"

Book Drop watched the usual occurrence as Twilight levitated Spike off the ground and whisked him away to sleep in their tower. "Huh. I guess I have to put her books back." Book Drop groaned as quietly as possible, it was a library.

Author's Note:

I had no Idea how long this was taking just to work back around to Caedes to set up all the plot points. Well, it's closing in on midnight, so we'll get to that very soon.

Next chapter is delayed by another day due to life stuffs.