Touch

It had been almost a week since the neophyte had encountered the princess and each night had brought a fresh wave anxiety to the young stallion, who expected the princess to pop in at any time. More often than not, the stallion would go to bed without even catching a glimpse of the blue skinned beauty and wake up late to a furious librarian.

Today was one of those days.

"I'm getting tired of dealing with your all nighters!" The older stallion hissed as he stood in the neophyte's doorway." Your job is to stay up until 3 and shut the library down so we can set it up the very next day! All you have to do is lock up the door, put up a few books and go to bed! How is that a hard thing to do!?"

The younger stallion could only drown his mentor's voice out with his tooth brush, as he attempted to blink the sleep out of his drowsy eyes and scrub the horrible taste in his mouth away with minty toothpaste. The job was getting a bit easier, but his mentor was still as angry with him as ever and it always put a damper on his mood.

"What do you need me to do, boss?" The stallion grunted, before he spat out a mouthful of toothpaste into a small, white sink.

"Easy. Just go out and check out and check in books. Can you handle that champ?" the old stallion never waited around to hear an answer before he wobbled his way back into the large library.

The neophyte let out an exasperated sigh, before he gave himself a good look in the mirror. His gray mane was a mess and his creme colored coat was a smelly mess.

"It's going to be a loooooong day."

"It's going to be a looooonger day if you don't get your ass out here right *now***!"

Later That Day...

The day had actually gone rather well for the newest librarian, although a few awkward withdrawals were made with a few of the castle's sexually frustrated guards. The neophyte gave stood up from his wooden chair and gave his aching body a nice stretch, before he sat down with a loud thud.

He was tired, but the work day seemed to be flying by and he was eager to spend another night alone with a decent book. Maybe I'll get to see Luna again. the stallion thought, as he leaned back in his chair and day dreamed of another conversation with the princess.

His day dream quickly came to an end, as another armored pony wandered into the library. A solar guard was quite a sight to behold, but the Lunar guard was truly something special. The mare that walked in had a startlingly bright, snow colored mane. Her anxious eyes were a dull shade of amber and her lean body was covered in plates of dark purple armor.

"Is there something I could help you with miss-

"Pearl." The mare replied, as she hesitantly made her way to the desk. "Pearl Plum."

"Is there something you're looking for, Pearl?" The stallion asked as respectfully as possible, sitting up straight in his uncomfortable chair.

"I'm looking for a.....Umm....Well you know." She replied quietly, with a small blush growing on her grey cheeks. "A romance novel."

Judging by the way the mare was fidgeting in her armor, she was looking for something a little more explicit than Twilight Sparkle's books on vampires and werewolves. "Oh! Sure I can help you with that."

The neophyte led the awkward mare through shelves and shelves of books until the two finally came upon a smaller, darker shelf that had been stowed away in the farthest corner of the library where it be hidden from the prying, judgemental eyes of the public.

"Is there anything you're looking for in particular?" The stallion asked as he watched the mare search the book shelf. " simple clop? Mare on mare?"

"I don't know. Maybe a something with.......Food?" The mare stated awkwardly, trying her best to avoid eye contact with the stallion.

WIth a few awkward coughs, the stallion stood up on his toes and pulled a small white book from the top of the bookshelf. A quick glance of the cover, which was composed of a naked mare wedged into a banana split, told him that it was what he was looking for.

"Umm. Here ya go."

The mare quickly pulled it from his hand and held it to her chest. "Thanks." She muttered, before she glanced at the stallion with a hint of curiosity. "So umm.....I haven't seen you around here before." She stated, still staring at the ground.

"The name's Fluent Voice. I've only been here for about a week." The stallion replied, as he made his way to a table with the anxious mare in tow. " I'm just glad that I made it as a librarian."

"You wanted to be something else?" The mare asked as she took a seat opposite of the stallion.

"I wanted to be a guard, but things didn't really work out the way I hoped. I did terrible at the physical's and I couldn't keep up with any of the other rookies." The stallion could still the look of disappointment on his father's face when he made back home covered in bruises with no armor to show for it. "Hell, even if I did keep up, why would they choose an average earth Pony over a skilled unicorn or a fast pegasus?"

"How in Celestia's name does a failed guard make it as librarian?" The mare asked, as she fumbled through several pages of her book. "What's your special talent?"

"Learning different languages." Fluent stated, as he watched the mare flip through the pages of the white book with more than a little interest. "My dad had always been about traveling all over Equestria and eventually I got my hands on a book on the griffon language. Several hundred pages later and I got my cutie mark."

"That's pretty cool. I got my cutie mark for throwing a sharpened pencil at a teacher." The mare said, her eyes still glued to pictures of stallions covered in whipped cream and mares soaked in chocolate. "I got a week of detention, but I got my cutie mark."

"So you're an archer?"

"If spear throwing counts as a from of archery, than yes I'm an archer. I'm usually sent to deal with natural invaders like manticores and hydras." She replied, her eyes settling on the image of a wonderbolt posed in a ripped up latex suit with a bowl of fruit in between her legs. "Not too hard if I have a few other pegasi to help me out."

"That's so cool!" Fluent voice gushed, as he rested his head on his hands. "Have you ever been sent out to deal with another pony!? Have you ever had a chance to see Shining Armor in action!? Do you get to protect the princesses!?"

"No I haven't, I'm only a private. Yes I have and he can really kick some ass and no you have to be at least a lieutenant before you're allowed to even spend time in a room with a princess." Pearl stated, as she closed the book and sat it down on the table. "We like to keep an eye out for changelings and the best way to weed them out is through attrition and time. Before long, they mess up or they get caught by a fellow soldier. Case closed."

"Wow." Fluent whispered, as he stared at the scrawny pegasus with awe filled eyes."That's awesome!"

Pearl Plum let off a loud yawn, before she stood up from table and snatched her book from the table's wooden surface. "I should be heading out. My commanding officer takes curfew seriously and I don't want to do anymore than I already have to."

Fluent Voice gave a weak farewell as the Lunar guard marched away from the table and out of the library, leaving the awe struck stallion alone in the painfully quiet library.

As soon as Pearl Plum set foot outside of the library door, her anxious expression evolved into a cocky smirk and a relaxed walk to her employer.

"So what's he like? What's his name?" Luna asked, as she followed after her personal guard.

"His name is Fluent Voice, his special talent is different languages, he failed as a guard and he's a real loser Luna!" Pearl exclaimed, as Luna wrapped her arms around the disappointed guards's elbow. "Couldn't you chase after some guard? Hell, I would even support your little games if it involved a cook, but a librarian's understudy?

"That's what makes him such a perfect little play thing!" Luna squealed, as she lead her favorite guard down the immense hallway.

"You'll see what I mean Pearl. He's going to be a perfect little play thing."