Diary of a Lancer : Tune of Blades

Spike sighed as he compared the address on the library's front door with the one on his card. Twilight Sparkle had given Spike an assignment to read a novel a grade above his level of reading. He accepted the task for his friend and "legal guardian", but he thought otherwise about long novels and much rather stick with comics. Besides, she states that all great adventures start in a good book.

The library was a big, bricked building with a glass dome in the center, the Manehattan Carnegie Hall. Of all her favorite libraries, Twilight dropped Spike off at this one at the center of Manehattan. The doors that allowed entrance to the structure were made of smooth mahogany with golden decorative knockers. The windows on all sides marked the building's two stories.

Spike gazed upon the building with awe, but snapped out of it to get back on track with his task.

"Okay," Spike muttered to himself, "let's do this for Twilight."

There were a lot of ponies in Manehattan, and without Twilight at his side, he was reluctant to show himself to the civilians. The fear that ponies would shriek "LOOSE DRAGON!"  in his presence filled him with dread, so he sought shelter inside the library.

As the mahogany doors shut behind him, he paused to gawk at what awaited him inside. And he thought the outside was big!

The inside was larger than the outside of the library. On either side of him, columns stood to hold a balcony above him. Ahead was a path to the check-out area.

Spike knew that's where he should head, so without hesitance, and a heart full of courage, he strutted down the aisle.

In the dark room he'd entered from, he couldn't have noticed the rows of bookshelves to his sides. Each row sectioned with numbers and letters. Beyond the bookshelves were staircases, which lead to balconies with even more books.

Spike had no idea that his feet were still moving when he crashed into the front desk, his library card dropping from his claws. He had been freed from his trance and faced the librarian before him.

She was a grayish-blue coated mare with a styled, black mane. Her snout was raised, but she still looked down to Spike to represent her superiority. She cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses to perfection.

"Uh, hello Miss-" Spike squinted at the label on her desk that stated her name, "-Blurb?"

The librarian nodded slowly, "Precisely."

Spiked picked up his library card. "I'm here to check out a book." He handed her the card that he held from Ponyville to Manehattan.

"Sparkle?" Miss Blurb examined the card which had Twilight's name on it all along.

"I'm here to run an errand for Twilight Sparkle," Spike corrected, "or do an assignment, I don't know." Spike shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.

The librarian squinted her eyes at Spike, which made him even more nervous.

"Very well, then," Miss Blurb finally responded. She then explained the sections of the library to Spike, to which he nodded in understanding.

And with that, Spike roamed about the first floor for anything he could find interesting enough to read. There were many to choose from, but Spike tried to stall himself from reading them. Heck, some of them were even ones Twilight read to him as bedtime stories.

After browsing through the first floor, he advanced for the second. He gained access to the second floor by climbing up the stairs adjacent to the last row of bookshelves he checked. The books on this level were much thicker than the ones on the first. He knew that these are the books he was looking for.

Minutes turned to hours of searching for the right book, but that's still because he stalled his way through the entire library. That's when he realized that there was no hope. After flipping through the pages of a random book, he closed it and buried his face in his claws.

Spike groaned, "How am I supposed to explain to Twilight that reading books are hard!" He raised his face and stared through the glass dome that showed the outside.

Tall skyscrapers blocked the sun, but a small space showed that the celestial orb was just settling beyond the horizon.

"Wow! What time is it? Have I been in here all day?!" Spike shouted out loud.

"Yes," the librarian must have heard him, "I forgot you were here. Having a bit of trouble? Come here."

Without a question, he obeyed Miss Blurb's order. He zoomed down the stairs only to be stopped by a bark from Miss Blurb,"Hey! Is this your first time in a library? No running!" She certainly had great ears, for she could hear the soft pitter patter of Spikes feet in the vast library.

Spike finally reached the main desk and waited for something Miss Blurb had to say. But instead of talking to him right away, she looked around and observed her surroundings. After supposedly checking for anyone surveying them both, she bent over under her desk to get something. Spike heard her rummaging through objects and the sound of muttering. She let out a distinct "ah-ha" before Spike could say another word.

Miss Blurb came out from under her desk with a strange looking book. The front of the book was brown and rough, not like regular books. Spike traced the golden lettering, which was written in some sort of foreign language. Spike's finger traced off the front and touched the exposed paper within the book. The papers were thick, which made the book thicker, and the whole thing was dusty.

"I haven't taken this out in ages," the old librarian stated, "and I think that you should read it."

Spike ran a claw through the front print that shone golden in the light. "What does that say? That doesn't look Equestrian to me."

"I studied it for a long time, but i found some sort of ancient language that existed long ago called Erithian. It says Guide to the Equinaquai Wars"

Spike knew what war was, but that wasn't a common term in Equestria.

"Wars? But there wasn't any war in the last 4,000 years! At least Twilight told me that," the skeptical dragon exclaimed.

The librarian simply chuckled at his remarks. "I suggest you read it."

Spike looked at Miss Blurb puzzled. "What's it about?"

"Well...are you looking for adventure, excitement, romance, and tragedy? Well, believe me, it's not only a work of fiction! This here novel is based entirely on real events!" Miss Blurb was advertising this book to Spike. It was in her name, anyway.

"Real events? That's nonfiction, right?" Spike asked.

"Heck yes!" she shouted aloud.

"But how long ago? Isn't the whole thing written in Eritha- something? How can I read it?" the dragon interrogated the librarian, expecting her to answer all his questions in one sentence.

"My my, what so many questions you have! Listen here, the book has Equestrian in it. So you can understand it," the mare handed the book to Spike, "and, believe it or not, this is one of the first pieces of the Equestrian language!"

"Woah! Where'd you get-" Spike was interrupted.

"Just read it! You'll see what I mean by exciting!"

Spike smiled at Miss Blurb and turned to walk to the nearest table. He stopped when he found that he forgot something. "Do I need to check it out?"

The librarian held up the card. "Done!"

"Okay, then," Spike continued on towards a spot to read.

Spike turned another corner of bookshelves and found a table and a few chairs, which were spotlighted by a lamp from above. Spiked looked around for anypony, but soon found that the whole library was mysteriously vacant. Well, it was almost closing time, so Spike had limited time in the library. He couldn't bear to be outside in Manehattan after dark.

Spike slowly approached the table and placed the book on top of it, followed by a soft thunk. The room suddenly turned deathly quiet.

"Okay, let's get started," Spike tried to sound quiet, but the silence made him sound like he was yelling.

Then, Spike opened the book. For no reason at all, a chill went through his scales and up his spine. He shivered in his seat and tried to find the starting point in the book. Spike noticed that the first signature and page were written by mouth. It wasn't as neat as Twilight's writing, as she wrote with her magic, but it'll have to do.

"Okay, let's start," Spike rubbed his claws together rather rapidly.

"

Forever will my mind be tortured by the screams of terror and sounds of the long battles I have fought in. Numerous times was I able to live through each one and watch as other innocent ponies died behind my survival. The Fourth Equinaquai War started in times where my kind was caught up in everlasting peace and a chance to rebuild our great society in Eriath.

But besides the pain I've endured, you, the reader, must know what happened, what events that should lead to this time of hell and damnation.

Let me start all the way back to the simple life of me, Navin Ink Pot, before it all started..."