Equestria has been through hard times lately, Princess. I know it’s been a month since the incident, but I still feel obligated to write these. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are still missing. Even then, the country is still moving forward. Even after they disappeared, there was a crew of unicorns brought in to replicate the spells used to raise the sun and moon. There was even an incident where Princess Cadence was brought in to rule, but she couldn’t handle it. Maybe she was only meant to rule over a small kingdom instead of a huge principality like Celestia and Luna. I even remember the day that the Elements disappeared. I know it’s odd, but I still feel as though I should write these to you, even if you aren’t around. I suppose that this is just the way things are going to be now. I’m being given a new teacher, the country is being ruled by a small group of nobles headed by Prince Blueblood, the Academy is being run by some pretty serious unicorns and the entire country is still moving forward, even without our princesses.

Raiju looked at his letter for a moment, his pen hovering with a levitation spell keeping it afloat. He stared at the paper for almost a whole minute before scratching out the last part in frustration.

No. I refuse to accept this. I refuse to accept that you’re gone. You’re my teacher and my friend and I won’t accept that you’re just gone! Spike misses you, your brother misses you, I miss you! I don’t care what resources I have to use, what issues I have to overcome or what I have to do—I’m going to help you and get everything back to the way they were! I promise I will.

Your Loyal Student, Raiju

There was a loud knock at the doors of the study. “Hello? Rai? You in there?” Apple Bloom called. She looked at her friends, getting only shrugs. Ever since Raiju became the main operator of the Golden Oaks Library, the five of them had begun helping their oddly studious friend. After a moment, she opened the door. “We’re comin’ in!” She, albeit cautiously, stepped into the study. She looked around quietly, once again taken aback by the distressed state of the room he spent so much time in.

The study was the room that had once belonged to Spike. Ever since the dragon moved out and Raiju took over, the room had been converted into a sort of lab and study room. By the door was a small set of beakers and vials all filled with bubbling liquid, there were books strewn all about and stacked in odd spaces, and, over all, the room was a dusty, dirty mess. It was a mystery as to how he could even study in here! Near the only window was the desk that Raiju used to read, write and formulate new spells, and, most importantly, was Raiju himself.

Raiju was a very unique creature. He was the product of a unicorn mating with a dragon—a Kirin! He had a pale greyish purple coat, marred only by the darker scales on his flank and the few freckle-like scales on his cheeks, and a wildly styled pale cerise mane, the same as the small trail of hair running down his tail. Atop his head were two pointed horns curving back over his head. His claw-hands were preoccupied as he sat in his chair, holding his chin and keeping him upright. Despite this, he was out cold. He had a light, airy snore that, despite his heritage, was oddly non-obtrusive. Sitting precariously in his chair, he slept peacefully. He didn’t even stir as the ponies looked around the room.

“Wow, he’s really out of it,” Sweetie Belle stated with a grin. She trotted near him, silently inspecting his features. She shook her head. “He’s probably been asleep for four or five hours…” She couldn’t imagine what had kept him awake, but the slight, bruise-like bags under his eyes were a clear indication that he hadn’t been sleeping regularly. She looked at his desk, noticing the mess of scribbles and scrawling words on the letter he’d written.

“He was probably up reading all night,” Dinky Doo stated, brushing dust off the old grimoires around the room. She let out a short sigh, but that only blew more dust into the air. “Why’s he always locked up in here? Doesn’t he run the library? How’s he even able to get free time for th… For this… S-stuff—ACHOO!!” Her sneeze knocked over a short stack of old books, making a small mess into a bigger one. She rubbed her snout and looked around, spotting Scootaloo laughing at her. “Shut up,” she ordered indignantly.

Apple Bloom chuckled as well. Trotting up, she looked Raiju over for a moment before tapping his shoulder. “Rai? You okay?” She shook him gently for a moment, but then motioned for Scootaloo to come over as well. With a couple silent messages and a devious smile, she and the pegasus quickly moved the chair back, nearly tipping the Kirin out of his seat!

That was more than enough to wake him. He looked around in a panic. “Huh!? What?! What’s wrong!?” He looked around for a moment as his pupils screamed in the sunlight. “Ugh… What’s going on?” he asked, rubbing his teal eyes. He looked around and found his friends around, most of them chuckling to themselves. He looked around and found that he was away from his desk and immediately realized that they’d all seen his freak out. “Shut up,” he grumbled, using the simple mannerism that most of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had adopted from him. He stood from his seat, his claws clicking against the hard wood floors of the library “What time is it?” he yawned.

“Way past time to open the library,” Pipsqueak laughed, “We opened up for you. You okay, boss?” He trotted over, looking across the messy desk. It was anyone’s guess as to how Raiju found anything in the mess he called his study or even the atrocious disarray that claimed his desk. “How do you find anything in all this…?”

“I have a system,” he griped indignantly. He yawned again, inadvertently showing off his draconic teeth. “Thanks for opening up for me.” He spotted Sweetie Belle looking at his letter and immediately snatched it out of her magic’s grasp. “That’s, uh, private,” he stated nervously.

“What is it?” Dinky asked as their boss left the messy room.

“A letter to Princess Twilight,” he answered simply. He looked back at them with a nervous smile. “It’s sort of a habit to still write to her…” He did that even more when he was in a rut or simply out of ideas.

“C’mon, Rai. It’s been a month since Twilight and the girls disappeared,” Apple Bloom stated simply.

“Aren’t your sisters in that group? How are you not more worried?”

“Applejack can take care of herself!”

“So can Rarity.”

“And Rainbow, too!”

“And if they can’t, then Applejack can take care of them, too,” Apple Bloom stated quickly, getting glares from her friends.

Raiju chuckled. He was their senior by only a year, but, if maturity was any judge, he was much older than them on a mental level. Maybe that was why Twilight chose him as her student instead of one of them. He came to the ground floor of the library. “Okay, okay, enough bickering. Let’s get to work, crew.”

The five ponies lined up and saluted as if he was a general in the Equestrian army. “Yes sir,” they all cheered before getting to work.

He smiled as the Crusaders got to work, though he quietly looked at his letter again. “I promise, Princess. I will find you—no matter what,” he whispered.

Author's Note

Okay! Chapter 0 is done! I hope you enjoy this. As always, if you find any typos, errors, or inconsistencies, comment below and let me know.

I know, I know, I should work on the fanfics I've already started, but my new job gives me a lot of time to think and not a lot of time to write. I'll be continuing my current stories as soon as I get a couple days off. ...Or, the moment I get fired, whichever comes first.