Echoes of Harmony

by BronaFides

Patterns In the Dust

“I was told I might find thee here.”

“I'm sorry, did I oversleep for the test,” Twilight mumbled. She could feel Celestia's calming presence near her as she awoke, so she forgot at first where she was. Suddenly, she bolted upright, knocking a stack of books off the edge of table, scrambling after them with her hooves instead of her magic in her grogginess, tumbling after them as a result.

“Apologies, Twily,” Celestia said with a smile, and the hint of a politely repressed laugh.

“My own fault,” Twilight countered, righting herself, then the books. “I must stop this habit.”

“I admire thy dedication,” Celestia said, scanning the titles of one of the stacks of books. 1,001 Aurelian Nights. Legends of the Aurelian Court. On Loyalty. Twilight mentally recounted as Celestia read, then checked again subtly to make sure that the spines on the stack that she had just knocked over were faced away from Celestia. 108 Rare Potions. Curses and Charms – Real or Hooey? Love Me!: Desperate Methods to Win Your Love. The real reasons that she kept researching long after Starswirl excused himself.

“I just hope we end up being able to help thee,” Twilight said, suppressing a yawn. “How did things go with thy cousin?”

“She has her mother's vibrancy, and her fathers quick wit. She saw the merit in our plan, and our execution thus far. Alas, she knows nothing of the missing element.”

“Are... art thou sure?” Twilight responded, wincing even as she spoke.

“Dost thou think perhaps she holds something back?” Celestia asked, drawing back at the suggestion. Twilight wasn't sure if the motion was just surprise or disapproval. At least the tone lacks offense.

“Of course not, she has given me no reason to doubt her,” Twilight managed. I cannot think of her as she will be! Twilight paced a few steps away to the nearest window. This one was encased with glass, unlike most in the castle, which had open shutters, likely to ensure the books were protected from the weather. The halls coming from either end, as well as the main double-door in the front, which remained open to the main castle corridor, provided enough of a cross-breeze. “Perhaps... she might recall something Lord Sombra or Lady Parrot Song may have mentioned offhand, something as a clue.”

“Indeed, she thinks it may be so as well,” Celestia nodded, walking over to the window beside Twilight. “As I said, she has a quick wit. She had kept a diary of the advice given to her by her parents on ruling, and she has promised to review it.” She turned and looked directly at Twilight and added, “I did not mean to call thine abilities into doubt, Twily.” Her tone was level and quiet, and she looked towards the floor as Twilight turned to meet her gaze.

“I'm sorry!” Twilight blurted immediately. “I took no offense, it's just... I don't want more sadness.” She reached over and lifted Celestia's chin so their eyes met again. No more sadness, Tia. “Princess Chrysalis had enough to deal with.”

Celestia smiled gently. “Thou hast a kind heart, Twily. I have steeled myself so greatly, I sometimes lose sight of how others must feel. A weakness I must rectify before we retake the throne, I fear.” She turned to look out the window again.

Twilight closed her eyes and smiled, “Worry not, I am sure thou will shine as Princess.” She, too, turned and looked out the window.

As they watched, the sun rose gracefully, gently from the east, as normal as any day. Maybe Discord grew bored of playing with it, Twilight mused. She could see an embankment of trees in the distance, a strange lighter shade of green of this distant foreign land, and she recognized the forms of three pegasi consulting near them.

“Thy friends are as dedicated as thou said,” Celestia nodded out the window, “to be up so early. Have they found anything?”

“I haven't had a chance to speak with them,” Twilight admitted. “Look, here comes Rainbow Dash... or possibly Iris, I cannot tell from here...” She shrugged and watched as the three pegasi flew in three different directions, one heading towards the library, and it wasn't until she flew by the window, waving, that Twilight realized it was Iris Dash.

“Well, I'll leave thee to consult, and Starswirl will surely check on thee later,” Celestia said, turning to leave.

“Thou needn't leave,” Twilight said. “Thou should spend more time with my friends, I think thou would find them as delightful as I do.”

“I do not doubt it,” Celestia countered, “but the castle is waking, so I must resume my enchanted appearance. Plus, there are actual matters of state with Chryssie.” She winked as she used Luna's nickname for her cousin. “There will be time enough later.”

“Yes, that's right,” Twilight said reassuringly. Much later. “Good luck!” She waved to the departing princess as Iris arrived from the side hall.

“Fell asleep in the library again, huh,” Iris teased. “Easier when you're living in one all the time, I guess.”

“Yes, feels just a bit like home,” Twilight said, smiling lightly. “I don't think I've found anything useful for either the element or the poison. I was hoping to find another antidote in case we can't stop it in time, or something that would help us identify it.”

“Yeah,” Iris said, pushing back the blue hairs as she spoke, “Applejack said if we'd had more time, we probably could have asked Big Macintosh if he remembered how it smelled or looked.” She shrugged. “They've spent a lot of time in and out of the kitchen, and they said your hunch was right, Cocoon has been in and out all night.”

“All night?”

“Yeah, Rarity said he's something of a night owl by reputation, which is why Chrysalis didn't expect him to be awake for dinner.”

“That makes sense. Moths are more often nocturnal.”

“Yeah, but he sure doesn't seem to be pining after Chrysalis at all, that's for sure. Are we sure that the tale is about them?”

“Iris? Luna and Celestia are here right now. This wasn't something they heard about secondhand.”

“Oh yeah, right.” She grinned sheepishly before continuing, “We've not noticed anything suspicious in our patrols. Fluttershy thought she'd finally broken the language barrier, and that they wanted her to look at something, but they don't actually seem to be leading her anywhere. She's been going in circles all morning. I'm going to grab us some breakfast and we'll keep looking. I'll get you something, too.”

“Just be back for dinner. I expect we might be required at court at some point.”

Iris saluted before flying down the side hall toward the kitchen. Twilight yawned, and lifted the books that she had carefully hidden, the stack following her back to the shelves. I'd better put these away before somepony else sees them. She carefully slid the first one back into place, subtly recovering the spine with dust. She was almost to the shelf where the second one went when she heard the echo of hooves against the marble floor of the empty library. She looked up, half-expecting Applejack with food, or Starswirl checking up on her already. Instead, she saw Chamberlain entering from the side hall. He was muttering to himself, his pocketwatch hovering inches from his nose.

Twilight opened her mouth to explain herself, but the words stuck in her throat as she realized he hadn't seen her yet. She had already begun hovering the books higher out of site, so she lifted them to on top of the shelves, then silently teleported herself around the corner. His hooves continued to echo until he stopped directly across the shelf from her, where she had been standing moments before. Straining to hear, Twilight almost jumped as he sneezed, affected by the dust she had just moved about. She heard the sound of two leather bound covers rubbing against one another as he slid a book off the shelf. Then the sound of pages turning. She heard his hooves echo again twice as he turned to leave, but then they suddenly stopped. Don't notice the holes from the books I hadn't put back yet, she pleaded fervently. It felt like minutes that she stood there, fully holding her breath, before she heard the sound of another book sliding off the shelf, and his echoing hoofbeats resumed.

Twilight exhaled sharply, rounding the corner and looking down the shelf row both ways before lowering the books that she had hidden and putting them back where they belonged, blending them into the shelves. She too, turned to leave, but stopped suddenly as she turned, then turned back to the shelf. “Something's not right...”

“What do you mean?” Iris responded, startling Twilight so badly that she ended up teleporting to the next row over again. She walked back, and Iris was holding a tray with a breakfast for Twilight, and wearing saddlebags that were too full to be fastened in addition to her amused expression.

“Chamberlain was just here,” Twilight explained, only glaring slightly as she hovered the tray over to the table. “He took two books and left.”

“I admit, something about that guy still feels off to me, but how's that not right?” Iris said, taking one of the local fruits out of the saddlebag and taking a bite. “Are you not supposed to check books out of this library?”

“Iris Dash, look at the shelf,” Twilight thrust her hoof at the empty space. “There's only one book missing.”

“Are you sure it wasn't just two very thin books? He seems like a busy guy, not as much time to study as you.”

“No. Look,” Twilight lit her horn. “The outline in the dust is a uniform shape. Even if they were two books of roughly equal size, there'd be a slight indentation in the outline between the two. Any librarian worthy of their charge knows that.” She nodded sharply, then inhaled just as sharply.

“I guess you'd know,” Iris said glibly in response to the explanation, then in response to the gasp, more seriously, “What is it, librarian senses tingling again?”

“No!” Twilight scowled – not at Iris but at her own flank. “That is.” She watched as some of the sand in her hourglass cutie mark trickled into the lower half. “You saw that, right?”

Iris nodded, “What does that mean?”

“I think I might know,” Twilight said, carefully removing the two books that she had just returned. She held her lighted horn close to the empty spaces. “I thought so.”

“I don't see anything back there,” Iris said, flying slightly above Twilight so she could peer into the space.

“Exactly.” Twilight lifted the adjacent books out of the way, keeping them in order. “See, there's an outline in the dust where another book had been wedged in the shelf behind the others. And if I hadn't had this book out...”

“He wouldn't have seen it.” Iris rubbed her chin briefly, then concluded, “so the sand moves when you change something?”

Twilight nodded. “And we have a limited amount we can change before the sand runs out.” She shivered visibly. “I wish I knew which book he took. Either way, he can't see the titles I returned, or he might suspect something. I'll have to put them back... out of order.” She shifted the books so that the previous gaps were closed, then began to carefully insert the books at the end of the rows. She pushed them in ever so slowly, sweat forming on her forehead as she winced and looked away.

“You can't do it, can you?” Iris said after a minute.

Twilight looked and the books were barely slid in an inch. “It's... it's just not where they go!” Twilight said in a defeated voice.

“Here, just turn your back, I'll take care of it.” Iris grinned as Twilight turned her back to the shelf, then flew over to the books. “Listen, I'm going to take the food to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, then I'm coming back here.” Twilight heard the sound of the books sliding in as Iris talked. “Somepony has to help you keep an eye on that guy.”

“Just promise me you'll be discrete.”

“Hah! Nothing to worry about. I'm probably like the most discrete pony you've ever met!” Twilight turned back toward the shelf so she could gaze dubiously at Iris. “Yeah, yeah, got it. He won't even know I'm there.” Iris gave a dismissive wave as she took to the air, leaving the library to deliver the supplies.

Author's Note:

Sorry about the delay, I lost one of my main free blocks of time... I should pace better from here on out.

Comments

[Mermaid]

So that's what the sand does.

[Razzy]

Twilight is using the Sands of Time!

Oh, come on, we all know that Rainbow Dash is a master of subtlety.

Cya
Raziel-chan