A Process of Elimination

With my ID missing and no other viable avenues left to me for the moment, I had no choice but to inform the Princess of my situation and intentions and find another chaperone willing to take me into the city. The Grand Canterlot Library was a fair distance away from the capital—past the wealthier districts infested with the nobility and sitting right in the middle of the most populated part of Canterlot.

I'd been out and about a few times during my stay in the castle and of course when I've visited my family on occasion, usually during the holidays. Outside of those specific occasions, however, going outside to do anything was usually the furthest thing from my mind. I had everything I needed in the castle, everything was more or less provided for me courtesy of the Princess and the castle staff.

I don't want to give the allusion that it made me spoiled or anything, the issue was that I didn't mesh well with a general crowd of strangers. Before the incident and during social gatherings within Canterlot Castle my anxiety was manageable—negligible even. If anything like what happened before happened again, I knew I could bring it up with the Princess.

Out in the city proper, there were no such assurances. There was only a vague sense of paranoia and fear that something might go wrong and that it might end up being my fault. Needless to say, having been forced outside to confront those fears in a situation where I was already wary that something was about to go wrong didn't help my nerves in the slightest.

That was to say nothing of my escort, a diminutive and rather mousy unicorn mare who looked almost as uncomfortable wandering around town as I did. From what I understood, she normally acted as one of the maids within the castle. Evidently, it was an off day and she had no pressing matters to attend to so she agreed to accompany me to the Grand Library.

She was a nice enough mare, but her somewhat timid disposition was only making me more nervous as we made our way deeper into the city. The soft rain pattering against our umbrellas as walked, fairly soothing though it was, did little to quell my unease. Though I couldn't quite shake the nameless apprehension, we thankfully managed to wade our way through the crowded streets and make it to the library without incident.

The Grand Canterlot Library was a step down from the Royal Archives, but admittedly it wasn't by much. It was a sizeable building with several wings, including one dedicated to everything we knew about Star Swirl the Bearded. Just as Floral Delight had said, the information contained within the Grand Canterlot Library should've been more than enough to fulfill my research needs.

The problem wasn't the lack of resources—it never had been, not really. The real issue I had with having to go to the public library as opposed to using the Archives in the castle was the sheer amount of traffic coming in and out of said library. Dozens of ponies used the library each day for both work and recreational purposes during the day, even in this weather.

While something could definitely be said for a well-read population, it made the place a nightmare for a borderline recluse like me. I felt like I was going to get lost in the crowd, and my escort looked exactly how I felt as we pushed our way through the procession of patrons. After some excessive apologizing from the off duty maid, we entered the library and headed straight to the front desk near the entrance.

Fortunately, I'd remembered to bring my public library card with me when I moved to the castle. It was one of the first things I remembered to bring with me and I'd gotten a good bit of mileage out of it before I was allowed into the Archives. Funnily enough, it was also a gift for my previous academic achievements—a laminated little number that had no expiration date.

A single flash of that card to the stallion attending the front desk and I had unfettered access to almost every wing in the Grand Canterlot Library. That didn't mean as much as having access to every bit of the Royal Archives, but it was still something I was thankful for. The next half hour or so was spent locating everything I needed for my research.

Once I'd collected everything I needed the next couple of hours melted into a haze of theories, algorithms, abstract diagrams, and complex terminology. The rest of the world faded into something incomprehensible as I lost myself in my studies. I had no clue where my escort had gone or if she'd even left to begin with nor did I care if that was the case.

This, for me, was complete bliss... of a sort. There was nothing I loved more than immersing myself in my academic pursuits, especially after what happened with Blueblood in the dungeon. It kept my mind active, focused—distracted from other things I would've rather not had to think about. I could shut everypony and everything else out and be the exceptional student I strived to be.

It was the first time in a long time that I'd had a study session outside of the Archives and at that moment a fleeting thought crossed my mind. I entertained it, realizing that being away from the castle—away from the toxicity of the nobles and their vicious rumors—wasn't such a bad thing. it might actually do me some good to do leave the castle more often.

And naturally, it was as I was entertaining that fleeting thought that I heard it.

It was a nothing statement spoken by a complete stranger sitting all the way at the opposite end of the same lengthy table where I was taking notes. It was a meaningless bit of background dialogue between two ponies that should've gone in one ear and out the other. They were words that should've passed right over me like an unobtrusive breeze. And yet for some reason, those simple words were enough to shatter my concentration to pieces.

"...nah, I'll be transferring schools once the semester's out."

My quill stopped, hanging suddenly forlorn over a sentence half-written near the bottom of the parchment. I flicked an ear towards the distant conversation almost involuntarily. Something—I wasn't exactly sure what at the time—made me pause and listen. Perhaps it was due to that vague sense of foreboding I hadn't been able to shake until a moment ago.

The unicorn who'd spoken seemed to be a student in his teenage years, not a colt anymore but not quite a full stallion just yet. His words were tinged with a bit of melancholy and a weary sigh escaped his lips as he leaned back in his chair. Sitting across from him was a unicorn mare who'd looked about the same age. In response, she leaned forward, her expression full of concern.

"What? Why? I know you enrolled late, but it's only been two years!" she replied in bewilderment, "i-if it's about the curriculum, I know somepony who can help! My older brother works as a part-time tutor, he can—"

"It's not about the curriculum, Azalea—well not entirely anyway," the stallion interjected with raised hooves, "that's part of it, but it's mostly my mom."

"Your mom?" the mare replied, more bemused than before, "I thought she was all for you going to CSGU? She even paid the additional tuition for enrolling mid-term."

"Yeah well, that was before the whole 'exploding magical filly' thing," he sighed, "you know how overprotective she is. After that mess, I practically had to beg her to let me stay this long."

And there it was, a fear I'd nearly forgotten about—a fear hidden somewhere deep in the back of my mind. The fear that if I went out somewhere I might run into somepony who recognized me from the incident. Other concerns had buried it somewhat, but I had never quite gotten over the guilt of what happened during the exam.

The Princess had assured me that she'd take care of the issue regarding what happened back then, but I had my doubts. Having just heard what I did, I felt those doubts turn to certainty. The incident hadn't been forgotten by the public. Even if the teachers didn't say anything, there was no chance in Tartarus that the students wouldn't.

The thought nearly made me sick to my stomach, but what made it worse was having to hide the almost reflexive smile that crossed my face at the memory of what I'd seen during my catastrophic magic surge.

"Now all she ever talks about is how the school doesn't care about the safety of its students," the stallion complained, "says the school board should bar foals who haven't gotten past the 'magic surge' phase from enrolling—not that I really disagree, but still..."

"But you weren't even there when it happened," the mare replied indignantly, "and besides, they've already taken precautions against something like that happening again."

"Yeah, I told her that already but she's not having any of it," the stallion groaned, "says as long as they're accepting unstable foals in as students then there could be another incident like that one."

"That wasn't a normal magic surge though!" the mare continued to argue, "that was... I don't even know, but from what I've heard, the filly had some abnormally powerful magic that went out of control. Normal foals don't cause that kind of destruction when they surge, Alpine."

I desperately needed to leave before they noticed me—I wanted to, but I was rooted to the spot. I don't know if was a twisted sense of curiosity or some perverse delight in hearing about the incident, but something kept me listening despite every nerve in my body telling me to flee the library. Torn between wanting to run and wanting to hear where the conversation went, I remained silent, my eyes fixed on my unfinished notes.

"Tell that to my mom," the stallion grumbled bitterly, "no matter what either of us says, the decision's already been made. Come the end of this school year, I'm out and headed to some fancy public school just south of the noble district."

"But it had nothing to do with you," the mare muttered despondently in turn, "well... y-you'll keep in touch, right?"

"What? Y-Yeah, 'course I will, Zelly," the stallion—Alpine, replied with a reassuring, if slightly flustered smile, "it's not that far from CSGU, and even if it was, the commute back to this part of town wouldn't be all that bad. We can still... y'know, hang out..."

The conversation at that point seemed to veer off to other topics. I breathed a small sigh of relief and tuned the apparent couple back out. They'd known of me but there'd been no confrontation and I was free to collect my things and leave before anything else happened. That had been my intention at least, but the moment I turned to leave—

"You're that filly, aren't you? The one who's irregular magic surge ruined the exam?"

—I was immediately greeted by the sight of another unicorn filly standing mere inches away from my face.

Startled by her sudden appearance I shrieked and stumbled away a step or two, dropping all my notes and books in the process. The filly looked about my age, maybe a little younger, with a mane and tail that were strikingly similar to my own. Hidden behind thick black horn-rimmed glasses were dark violet eyes that shone with intelligence.

Everything about the other filly's demeanor—from her stiff posture to her words and expression—conveyed a cold and clinical sort of curiosity that only served to make the unexpected encounter all the more unnerving. Save for a slight furrowing of her rather bushy brows, the other filly stood unphased by my reaction and simply waited silently for a reply.

"U-Um no, I... how did you—"

"I was there—at the exam, I mean," the filly interjected, cutting off my clumsy, unprepared response. With a flick of her horn and a bright greyish glow, she gathered up all the notes and books I'd dropped as she spoke, "I was actually next in line to take it after you. I saw the whole thing."

"You... you did?" I asked in a panicked near whisper.

"I did," she replied simply. She motioned for me to take my things and reluctantly I did, though my hesitation went ignored as she continued to speak, "it was... quite a fascinating spectacle to say the least, though I have to say, I wasn't expecting to ever actually meet you face to face like this."

Having taken back my things, I didn't really know what else to say. I was mortified, terrified, and the forwardness of this filly more than anything put me at a complete loss for what to do. I opened my mouth to make some kind of response when I suddenly got the eerie feeling that I was being watched.

I turned and sure enough, the two older students from before had stopped their conversation and were eyeing us—eyeing me. I couldn't gauge either of their expressions from where I was standing but there was a sudden shift in the atmosphere that I didn't like. No doubt my outburst had caught their attention and I was almost certain they'd heard my exchange with the filly.

With that conclusion in mind, I finally decided to make my exit.

"I-I'm sorry," I quickly stammered, pushing my way past the surprised filly, "thanks for the help, but I have to go."

"Wha—h-hey, wait!" I heard the filly call out from behind, "wait a minute!"

But rather than look back I just kept going, not even knowing where I was running off to. The only thing I wanted at that moment was to get as far from those three as possible. Completely ignoring the usual etiquette I showed whenever I was in a library, I quickly scurried past surprised and offended ponies, occasionally muttering an 'excuse me' or 'sorry' as I passed.

By the time I finally stopped to catch my breath I realized I had no idea where I'd gone. I knew the Grand Canterlot Library fairly well from the days before I lived at the castle, but I didn't know everything about it. There were several places in the library I'd never been to either because I wasn't allowed entry or that particular section of the building held no interest to me.

It was in one of those sections that I wound up, surrounded by countless bookshelves full of unfamiliar books. Looking around I couldn't see any other ponies in the immediate area and the silence was oddly pressing. I was reminded heavily of the empty corridor that led to the abandoned dungeons. The memory of it made me shudder slightly as I turned this way and that, trying to find out where I'd come from.

"W-Wait! Please, just hang... h-hang on a minute!"

A cacophony of panting and wheezing and the clop of hurried and uneven hoofsteps against the carpeted floor caught my ear and made me turn, my eyes wide with a mix of panic and surprise. A short distance behind and getting closer with each moment was the bespectacled filly from before.

Her glasses had gone askew and her face was positively shining with sweat but she didn't stop. I wasn't exactly an athletic pony to begin with, but I wasn't on my last legs like the other filly seemed to be. The idle thought that the filly was even more out of shape than I was crossed my mind, but I quickly discarded that in favor of the situation at hoof.

"What? What do you want?" I cried, taking another step back as the filly stumbled to a stop in front of me, "i-if it's about the exam I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"It's... it's not about the exam," the filly panted wearily. She paused and hung her head for a moment as she desperately tried to catch her breath, "okay, well... it kind of is, but... g-gimme... just gimme a second..."

I was unsure of what to make of the situation as a whole, but looking at the worn-out filly and taking in her words, it didn't look like she'd chase me down to antagonize me. If anything it seemed like she had something important to tell me. My curiosity grew just a bit more and rather than take the chance to run again, I chose to wait. It was, sometime in the near future, a decision I'd both come to cherish and regret in equal measure.

"You... your name is Twilight Sparkle, right?"

I flinched at her question.

"Yes, but... how do you know my name?"

She let out one last winded breath before straightening up and adjusting her glasses. When she spoke again, it was in that same clinically cold tone of curiosity as before.

"My name is Moon Dancer, and if you don't mind, I'd like to pick the brain of the filly whose magic surge single-hoofedly turned the thaumatological community on its head."