The Stallion in the Library

by leonidas701

Beginning of the End of the Beginning

Celestia was bored. This on its own was not an unusual phenomenon. After all, Celestia had to spend most of her time listening to ponies complain, managing the domestic budget, and resolving quarrels, none of which were particularly exciting. Boring as those activities were however, it was still a form of boring she could deal with. At least they gave her something to do. That was not the case this time. No, this was a boredom sprung, not from tedium, but from inactivity.

This inactivity was really not surprising given the circumstances. It was New Year’s Eve, and she had given all of the staff the night off to celebrate with their friends and loved ones. A kind gesture to be sure, and one she certainly did not regret, but it had left her with precious little to do. Celestia had never been very good at amusing herself, a weakness that she cursed frequently, especially with no one else in the castle to play with.

Well, the castle was not completely deserted, Luna was still around. However, as much as Celestia adored her sister, the two of them had wildly differing opinions on what could be considered ‘fun’. Luna was perfectly happy to lay in her bed and think to herself, a prospect Celestia shuddered at.

Such was how it came to pass that Celestia was wandering the halls of her own castle, trying to think of something to do. I could go through the statue garden. No, that would still just be me walking around alone, only colder. Celestia sighed. How did Twilight deal with this? she wondered, remembering all of the times she had found her apprentice wandering around alone with her nose in a book. Wait…, Celestia remembered that the last couple of letters Twilight had sent had mentioned that she was going to a New Year’s party. A party that was being hosted by her dear nephew, no less.

Well, surely they won’t mind me popping in for a little bit. Celestia smiled, and with a bright flash of light, teleported to the outskirts of the Everfree forest.

-----Meanwhile, at the Party-----
-----(30 Minutes to Midnight)-----

“See Twilight,” Trixie said as she gulped down the last of her hay fries. “Aren’t you glad that I convinced you to try one of those?”

Twilight smiled a little bit and finished off the grilled vegetable skewer she was levitating, her fourth one of the night. “Yeah, you were right. These are really good. Thanks.”

“No problem. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I let you only eat those tiny little hay sandwiches all night while you neglected all of the rest of this?” Trixie swept her free hoof across the two tables that were placed against the wall, loaded with fried potatoes, fried carrots, puddings of all flavors, raw veggies, those delicious grilled skewers, and small bite-sized hay sandwiches.

Twilight made a noise of agreement as she tossed the bare wooden skewer into the garbage. “Well, I’m stuffed. You?” she asked.

“Yeah, same here.” Trixie threw her plate into the can as well. “You wanna play something?”

“Maybe.” The two mares headed towards the part of the large room where a pool table and a ping-pong table were set up, right next to a large television that the teenagers were watching a movie on.

“So, you up for ping-pong?” Trixie asked as she grabbed a paddle off of the table, along with the ball.

“Sure.” Twilight picked up a paddle of her own. “One question though.”

“Go ahead.”

“What exactly is this game?” Twilight looked at her paddle quizzically.

“Oh, it’s really simple.” Trixie gave Twilight a quick run-down of the rules, and the two started playing.

Twilight’s inexperience quickly made itself known, her wild swings either missing the ball completely or making the ball miss the table more often than hitting it. Still, she kept a fairly good humor about the whole thing, aided by the fact that Trixie wasn’t much better, laughing off each failed shot before using her magic to bring the ball back to her. Then she heard a squeaky little voice.

“Come on Twon, show me the twick!” exclaimed Dinky as she walked over to the pool table, dragging Polar Neutron behind her. Well, attempting to drag; it’s rather hard to drag a pony that’s nearly four times your size and age.

“No, no, Dinky, come on, I’m talking to your dad,” Tron said. He shot a pleading look at Dr. Whooves, who was watching the whole thing with an air of faint amusement next to his wife.

“Oh no, don’t worry. I can wait for a little while. You go have fun!”

Tron made a noise of annoyed desperation, before turning to face Dinky. “Fine,” he sighed, running his hooves through his hair. “But just one trick, okay?”

“Okay!” said the overjoyed little unicorn. Tron shook his head and began setting up at the pool table.

“Twilight? Twilight!” Trixie clapped her hooves in Twilight’s face.

“Huh? Wha-?” Twilight said as she tore her gaze away from Tron.

“Your serve,” Trixie said with an amused expression on face, knowing exactly what had captured the attention of her friend. “Or would you rather pause a little while to watch his trick?”

Twilight blushed. “O- uh, n-” Fortunately she was saved from much embarrassment by a knock at the door.

Silver opened the door, and in came Princess Celestia, completely bare of her royal regalia. Surprisingly, almost no one took notice of her. She walked over to Twilight.

“Hello Twilight, Trixie. How are you this evening?” she asked.

Twilight let out a small sigh of relief, “I’m fine thanks. Uh, Princess, what are you doing here?”

“I decided to come and check up on my dear little student, see how she’s been doing.”

“I think I’ll leave you two to catch up a little.” Trixie wandered off to go find Card.

“I’ve been fine.” As she spoke, Twilight’s eyes kept on flickering towards Tron as he got ready to take his trick shot, his eyes locked and dead focused, an air of absolute confidence around him.

Celestia noticed this, and turned to look at what was making her student fidget like that. When she saw that it was a stallion, she grinned. Then she noticed who the stallion was.

Tron took his shot, bouncing the cue ball over the eight ball, making it hit the backside of the eight ball on the way down, sending it into the corner pocket.

“There, now can I get back to talking?” Tron asked Dinky.

“Again!”

Doctor Whooves finally intervened, placing a hoof onto Dinky’s head. “Come on, sweetheart, he did what you asked. Now leave him be for a little while.”

Dinky pouted. “Don’t wanna.”

Celestia choose this moment to break into the conversation.

“Hello, Dr. Whooves I must say I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah, well, I came into some free time so I came home early and found out that Tron invited us here.”

“Oh?”

“I heard my name, what’s going on?” Tron came over to the conversation.

“Oh, perfect, just the stallion I was hoping to speak with.” Celestia’s grin grew wider.

“Oh no.”

Celestia ignored him. “Twilight, would you mind coming here?”

Twilight nodded and began walking, only to freeze when she saw that Celestia was standing next to Tron. She shakily began walking again. “Y-y-yes?” she asked quietly.

“Dr. Whooves, if memory serves me correctly, you wished to find a teaching position for Tron, correct?”

“Oh yes.”

“Well, I would like to offer Tron a position as Twilight’s personal magic tutor.”

“What?!” Tron and Twilight shouted.

“Oh, that would work out brilliantly!” Dr. Whooves said.

“What? Why?” Twilight asked. Is Celestia sick of teaching me? Is she just giving me off to someone else? What’s happening? she thought.

“It has recently come to my attention that I have taught you all that I could while still maintaining my other duties. As such, I believe that it would be best for you to have a proper teacher to help you where I can not.”

“How?” Twilight made a confused gesture at Tron, specifically at his wings.

“I assure you, Dr. Neutron is quite qualified to instruct you in magic, despite his lack of ability to channel it himself.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Tron said.

Twilight felt a soft pang in her chest. Why wouldn’t he want to?

“I insist. I believe that you would be the best possible choice.” Celestia smiled at Tron in such a way as to make it clear that she wasn’t giving him a choice in the matter.

Tron sighed in defeat.

“Well that’s that settled then! We can work out the details later, right now I must go find my dear nephew. So long.” With that Celestia went looking for Card, leaving a stunned Twilight in her wake.

“So, I guess you’re going to be my student. Twilight, right?” Tron asked.

Twilight tried to respond, but in the face of looking directly into Tron’s, well, face, she found that her mind refused to work long enough to string together a response.

Tron sighed. “Oh great, now I’m going to have to move again. I just finished unpacking.”

“You’re taking this well,” Dr. Whooves said in surprise.

“I’m tiiirrred,” Tron whined. “I’ll be more pissed off in the morning.”

“Tron!” Ditzy said sharply, pointing at Dinky.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Author's Note:

So, this is the start of the final, short, arc of The Stallion in the Library. Let me make one thing clear, this is not the end. It’s just that this particular volume had gone on long enough, and with the introduction of Card’s friends the title doesn’t work anymore. There will be two more chapters in this story, with the final one coming out on the story’s anniversary, February 20th.
Once this is done I will be taking a couple of months to edit this and plan out the next volume. That’s all the news out of the way. As always, thank you all so much for reading.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

I liked this story, though I have a few questions;

1. Will the next volume be it's own story?
2. Will the next volume include Romance involving Card his friends, and the 7 girls?
3. Will me meet Discord in the next Volume?
4. Which month should we be expecting the first chapter of the next volume?

I have enjoyed this story. I can't wait for the next one to come out

[forrest yuchnitz]

dang a couple months itll be a pain to wait that long but understandable plus let the shipping start

[QPaysTaxes]

WARNING: LONG COMMENT AHEAD.

I've only got one complaint. You seem to have a few typoes here and there, and in a few cases there appear to be words missing or homophones used. I'd give examples, but I'm on mobile right now, plus I'm tiiirrred. If you want I can proofread for you; I need something to do with my spare time.
That offer also extends to your other works, not just this one. Note, however, that I said proofreader. I'll give plot/non-grammar advice if asked, but I try to stay away from that kind of thing. I'm pretty bad at it.

Comments, in story order:
Odd how, despite N and Aoc not being there, Card can argue with himself. And kinda awkward.
Stupid manticores, hunting outside of their territory.
"Donuts, go nuts"? Whaaa?
I like how you have the narrator and announcer as characters who Card can hear, but that seems to be an underutilized technique. I'd love to see more of it, especially in the next story since this one is ending.
I love the way that you used an interview-style format without the names of the people. It is quite interesting to imagine the other side of the "conversation".
The double twist about Solaris being King and Card being Crown Prince was brilliantly executed. Well done. What the hay was that orb, by the way? Is it just one of those things about Card?
Great job introducing Card's friends. I especially enjoyed how you introduced Polar Neutron, though his first appearance outside of a mirror was better IMHO. Tron's thoughts compared to Twinkly's - erm, Twilight's - is a wonderful juxtaposition.
I like Guile, he reminds me of myself in many ways.
It's not 51.4 degrees, it's 51.428571 repeating. Sorry.
When Odd's healing thing is shown, how does it happen? I'm confused.
For the scene where Tron becomes Twi's tutor, it seems like EVERYONE wants Twilight to get with Tron. Even Celestia.

I'll edit this comment to add more comments and move it to the last chapter of this volume once that comes out.

Some random questions:
Why is Pinkie immune to the white powder?
Do we meet Card's mom ever? That would be interesting.
When is the first chapter of the next story coming out? I can't wait!

Overall, great job sticking as much as possible to canon. I quite like the original story arcs though, I'd love to see more of those. Maybe something about Card talking with the Changelings?

Great song choice, though links would be nice instead of forcing readers to take a break from reading to look up the songs.

Another bugbear: sometimes you use the author's note bubble, other times you write it into the bottom of the text, and at least once you did both.

I can't wait to read more.

Applogies for any typoes, as I said I am on a mobile device and I am not used to typing on their keyboards.