Moondancer

Twilight didn’t have an orgasm when she first saw all the books in the library, but it looked like she came close.

“Oh my gosh! Look at all these books! And they’re so old and so well preserved and so beautiful and *squee*” She clapped her hands together in delight.

“Easy, Twilight, easy. You can’t read them all today, and you can come back. What are we looking for? A history book?”

“Um, Moondancer…”

“What? Was that a stupid question?”

“Um.”

“Spit it out, Twilight.”

“Uh, if someone wrote a history book on why the castle was abandoned, they probably wrote it after it was abandoned.”

“Okay, yes, stupid question. You see? That’s why I brought you along. So, what are we looking for?”

“I– I don’t know.”

Moondancer fell back onto the shelves, laughing. Twilight glared. She also blushed.

“Can’t keep away from a library, huh?”

“Oh, shut up. Let’s look around since we’re here.”

“Okay, but no reading any books. Not unless they’re really sexy.”

“What?!” pouted Twilight, “Moondancer, just look–”

“No books, Twilight. We’ve got better things to do this weekend.”

“Come on! Please…”

“Wow, you really sound disappointed. Wait.” said Moondancer with growing excitement, “Do all these books turn you on? Do you want to do it on a pile of books or something?”

“No! Make a bed out of books? Who would do that? Just think of the damage to the covers, never mind how hard it would be. Ugh.”

“Ah well, you can’t blame me for trying.”

The pair wandered down the great library reading room, Twilight trying hard to not look at the book titles, and so avoid temptation.

“So, large quantities of books don’t turn you on. I won’t lie: I’m surprised. But we’ll find something. You were certainly turned on when you first came into the tent…”

“Can we please focus on the research?”

“Twilight, we are looking through a library that will not have any useful books in it. We’re in this castle for two things, and if you want to focus on research then we should leave the library right now.”

“But we only just got here!” pleaded Twilight, before relenting, “Okay, fine. We can talk about my sexuality if it means that we can stay here a little longer. Just look at the upper bookshelves... Yes, I was turned on when I got in the tent with you. Your striptease was, um, absorbing.”

“Good. We’re getting somewhere. You liked the show, eh? And you seemed to like the after-show party at first, too.”

“Well, it was the first time I’ve been, um…”

“The first time you’ve seen a beautiful naked girl up close? Well, one that isn’t you? It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Twilight, you warned me that you were… inexperienced. I was happy to let you ‘look around’ and get a feel for the lay of the land.”

Twilight was clasping her hands tightly together, and looking all over the room for something to say.

“But then when I offered to help, you cooled off…”

“That’s because–”

“Yes?”

“That’s because you became obsequious and servile. Passive.”

“Wait. That’s why you lost interest? My naughty servant girl act was that bad?”

“Ugh. Let’s just get out of here.”

“No. We are making progress here. What was wrong?”

“Moondancer, I am attracted to you. Really attracted to you. And part of that is because you’re smart, you say what you mean, you don’t back down, you don’t kowtow.”

Moondancer stared at Twilight for a moment, and then slapped her own forehead with the palm of her hand.

“Twilight. Are you seriously telling me that you got turned off because I tried to be nice, and not push so hard?”

Twilight nodded, clearly embarrassed.

“And I spent hours with my tongue in your pussy, wasting my time trying to get you off, and you didn’t say anything?”

“Um, sorry.”

“Twilight, first rule of sex: communicate! If you want me to be less ‘obsequious’, say so!”

“Sorry,” said a contrite and aroused Twilight.

“So, for example,” said Moondancer, turning to Twilight, “and tell me to stop the moment you feel uncomfortable by the way, how would you like me to push you against these shelves?”

Moondancer raised her hands to Twilight’s shoulders and walked forward. Twilight, wide-eyed, stepped back in step with Moondancer until her back hit the stacks behind her. Twilight started breathing faster.

“And then,” said Moondancer before leaning in to whisper into Twilight’s ear, “Order you to strip naked.”

Twilight felt paralysed by Moondancer’s proximity and the thoughts playing through her head. A tingle flittered down Twilight’s spine. Moondancer pulled back enough for Twilight to stare at Moondancer’s tongue as she licked her lips. Twilight whimpered, quietly.

“And then,” breathed Moondancer, “forbid you to move, or say a word, as I lick you to within an inch of your life. Would you like that?”

“Yes,” squeaked Twilight.

“Okay, good to know. Let’s keep going,” said Moondancer in a normal voice, turning back towards the entrance to hide her smirk.

“What?” asked Twilight, failing to hide disappointment.

“Twilight, you’re being rewarded for progress in exploring this castle, not your psyche. I now have a better idea of how to reward you. The question is, what are you going to do to earn that reward?”

The library was well-lit, with the windows in the high ceiling letting through plenty of the evening light. The shafts of sunlight coming in through the windows illuminated empty desks and chairs, rows of them stretching down a long chamber lined with dusty bookshelves heavy with books.

"I'm amazed at the state this place is in," Twilight commented, "after a thousand years untended, this whole castle should be nothing more than mounds of rubble buried under tall trees. This place should have been over-run with life, but it's dead. The protective spells on this place are incredible."

"Would that really be so unusual, if this place was as important it must have been? Canterlot Castle is covered in protective and preservative magics, from what I hear.”

"Canterlot is preserved because Princess Celestia insisted. She knew that she’d be around forever, and wanted everything to be built to last. Whoever lived here may well have had a similar outlook.”

“Makes sense, I guess.”

“Well, it’s a clue, at least. Look: there’s no signs of violence, and these books have been just abandoned. If someone had relocated, I would have expected them to take the books with them, unless maybe people feared that they would be carriers of whatever doom they were fleeing. More weight to the ‘disease’ or the ‘curse’ hypotheses, I think..."

“Books are heavy, Twilight. Maybe they just couldn’t carry them?”

“Uh. Okay, that could also be true. It does imply a quick exit though. This many books, a thousand years ago? Before the printing press? ‘Valuable’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

"All this is interesting, Twilight, but why are we still wandering around here?"

"I don't know. It's just... I've lived in a library almost all my life. I've spent years talking to librarians, helping them. I've spent ages wandering the Canterlot collection. I'm half thinking of becoming a librarian myself some day."

"Librarian, huh?", said Moondancer with a grin.

"What I'm trying to say is that I KNOW libraries. I know books. I can FEEL something here. I may be a librarian only in spirit, but I feel kinship for whoever loved and cared for this placed back then. Something is calling me here. Some voice that wants to be heard."

Twilight cast her eyes around, looking for something, anything, to catch her attention, but nothing did. Moondancer reached out to touch her arm when suddenly Twilight held up her hand. Moondancer froze. Twilight closed her eyes and stood still for a long moment, barely seeming to breathe.

She opened her eyes and suddenly moved with new confidence to the librarian's desk at the entrance. It was blackened and worn with age, and being near the door had done it no favours.

The desk was mostly clear: an ink well with centuries-dry ink, a puddle of wax complete with wicks sitting next to a pile of waiting lanterns, a plain looking penknife, a few other knick-knacks that were well-enough made to survive the heavy touch of time. Twilight's eye was drawn to a large glass paperweight. With a hesitant hand she touched it with a finger, which she then pulled back quickly when the weight started to glow with its own light.

The ball of light left the glass blob, drifting towards Twilight. Twilight backed away. The light stopped, and hovered over the ground. It flickered and expanded, until where it stood was the glowing form of a middle-aged, blue haired, green skinned, gentleman dressed in flowing black robes with silver highlights. He seemed to be in a state of grief, trying to collect himself.

Moondancer was shocked, mouth agape. "This isn't... What is that? This isn't part of..."

She cut off when the man started to speak to them in a whispery voice that barely carried, even in the still air. Both women leaned in closer to hear more clearly.

"... name is Moon Reader. Deputy chief librarian of the Library of the Royal Sisters. How can I help you?”

It took a moment for the women to recover from their shock. It was Twilight who spoke.

“Moon Reader, can you tell us what happened here? Why is this place deserted?”

It must have been the wrong question as it caused the apparition’s face to crumple in misery.

“P– Princess Luna is gone. My princess. How can you have a ‘Library of the Royal Sisters’ when there’s only one sister?

“I, we, were told that we must leave this place. I begged to stay, but the guard would not be argued with. Princess Celestia was still in mourning. S-She was sobbing every night in the main hall, begging the moon to forgive her blindness, she wouldn’t even acknowledge our presence. She was lost without her sister. What could we do?

“The library feels empty without Princess Luna. She never seemed to want attention, always kept her distance, but her quiet presence enfolded this place in a protective embrace. The protector of my dreams, ever since I was a child– How could I have abandoned her?! Why couldn’t I find the courage to tell her what she meant to me, to us?

"The court needed to move out. The castle was full of memories of Princess Luna, Princess Celestia seemed almost haunted by them. ‘If we move elsewhere,’ they said, ‘she may recover her senses and once again lead us’. Some wag suggested Canterlot. Princess Celestia loved flying in the mountain air, and it is so different from the Castle that she might not be constantly reminded of her sister. We had no better plan, so there they went.

"They told me that I couldn’t stay. The forest had turned against us and it wasn't safe. They forced everybody to abandon this place. They even abandoned the books! Too heavy, when the only way to cross the forest safely was to fly.

“Princess Luna was– I saw her face, two nights before it happened. I saw her eyes–

“I was ordered to go. I grew up in this library. I lived here, worked here, and never wanted anything else than to continue to do so... I was so scared.

"We all failed Luna. We all abandoned her. They left here rather than be reminded of that. I– I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t turn my back on her again. I couldn’t– I couldn’t– I–

"They, they buried my body in the garden. Princess Celestia insisted. I’m very grateful for that.”

The figure broke down into sobs, before retreating back to his crystal phylactery.