The Librarian

Note: Before you comment somewhere during this story saying: “This is too fast paced.”, please read until the end, as it will (hopefully) solve that, somewhat.

You knock shortly on the door, before opening it and entering. Looking around, you are greeted by a few candles, providing the little light that the room has. It's a quaint little light, making the room seem cozy. The purple mare in front of you turns around, noticing your presence.

“Oh, hello. ” She greets, cocking her head slightly as if posing an unspoken question.

“Um, hi Twilight. I'm here to return this book I borrowed.” You reply, levitating the book over to her with your magic. She accepts the book eagerly, now using her magic to float the book down on top of a giant pile of other books. You glance over towards the pile, and notice a label in front of it that reads: “Books to be sorted”. You quietly ponder where Spike could be, as it seems he has fallen behind in his work.

“Oh, thanks. I've been looking forward to reading this myself actually, I'm just glad I don't have to hunt you down for it.” She says, adding an almost silent chuckle. You snap out of your thoughts and attempt to laugh along, but it doesn't go very well. You decide to voice your thoughts.

“Spike has fallen behind, huh?” You question, glancing over at the backlog of books once more. “I usually see that pile having only two or three books in it.”

“Well, in a sense. He's actually over at Rarity's right now. I sort of gave him the day off, although it was more self-imposed than not.” You silently chuckle, knowing of Spike's scarcely kept secret. It's a wonder the whole of Ponyville doesn't know, you think. “So anyway,” Twilight continues, interrupting your thoughts once more, “it's just me today. I've been trying to sort through these all day, but I keep getting distracted by all these interesting books!” Seeing this open opportunity, you jump on it.

“I'll help you!” You yell suddenly, causing her to raise her eyebrows quizzically. “Well...if you'd like...” You add, now feeling slightly nervous. She seems to consider this for a moment, before coming to a decision.

“Well... I'd be a fool to turn you down, wouldn't I? With Spike gone for the day, I suppose I'll need all the help I can get.” You grin widely and feel overjoyed, but settle for smiling being an appropriate way to express your feelings. Or at least, discreetly.

“So,” Twilight continues, “where shall we begin?” You shift through the piles, seeing all kinds of topics, ranging from Magical Mysteries of Equestria to You and Your Bits: The Stallion's Guide to Financial Fissures. You decide to start with Magical Mysteries of Equestria, seeing as you are a magic user yourself.

While resisting the urge to open it and start reading, you gently levitate the book over to the section of bookshelf labeled 'Magic', and tuck it into the correct space.

************

As you finish sorting the last book, you peer around the room. It did take a while, but every book is finally in it's place.

The library sure does look a lot cleaner without all these stacks of books everywhere.

“Looks like we're done.” Twilight states, turning towards you. “Thanks for your help. Most of these books were from my studying last night, but some of them were still there from when Rainbow Dash crashed into my window a week ago. I'm just glad to have them out of the way, finally.”

“Yeah, I'm sure Spike is too.” You add, jokingly.

“Well of course he is. Why wouldn't he be?” Twilight says, questioning you.

“Oh, I was just joking.”

“Oh!” She realizes, blushing slightly. “In that case, I'm sure he is.” You both share a quick laugh, but, glancing outside, you see that it is getting quite dark outside.

“Well Twilight, it's getting dark, so I probably should be on my way.” You say. Even though I don't want to go, I probably should...

“Right. I was so invested in sorting that I didn't notice the time passing. Well, I guess I'll see you around. Thanks again; I'll have to figure out a way to repay you for your kindness.” She responds.

“Oh, you don't have to do that, I'm happy to help...” You start to object, but you are quickly met by a retortion from Twilight.

“I don't have to, but I want to. Don't worry about it, I'll find something.”

“If you say so,” you reply, unsure of yourself. “Anyway, see you soon.” You open the door, walk out, and by doing so, get drenched in rain.

“Oooh!” You hear in the background. You look back inside to see Twilight cringing.

“Why don't I go get you a towel...” She suggests.

“That'd be nice.” You reply, unable to hide your sarcasm. As she goes to get a towel, you are consumed by your own thoughts.

Great, just what I need. I'm going to have to travel home in the rain? That's even better.

Twilight comes back with a towel, interrupting your brief thoughts.

“I'm sorry, I didn't notice it was raining outside.” As she barely finishes her sentence, a crack of lightning splits the air. “And storming...” She puts the towel over you, and you feel slightly warmer.

“Uh, thanks, I guess. I should get going if I want to make it home in time. Here's your towel.” You sigh, as you hand Twilight her towel back. She takes it and presses it down on you again.

“What? You can't go home in this weather! You'll have to stay in the library for the night. Oh, I know! We can have a slumber party!” Twilight finishes, smiling widely. You hear a weird squee sound afterwards.

“I don't know... are you sure you want to do this? Where will I sleep?” You question nervously, looking around for a spare bedroom.

“Don't worry, you can just sleep in my room!” Twilight answers, that big grin still on her face.

“Um..” You query, still unsure.

“What's the matter?” She questioned back, the grin turning into a frown.

“Well, I've never had a sleep and I, um... really lik-” You were cut off suddenly, by another crack of thunder. Both Twilight and you jump, not expecting it.

Of course.

“I haven't had a sleepover since AJ and Rarity showed up. I'm sure you'll be fine.”

“Uh huh...”

“You stay right there, I'll go get some sleepover supplies!” Twilight said, taking the towel off of you and rummaging through an unseen closet.

************

“Okay, let's see,” Twilight read, holding what appeared to be a sleepover manual in her hand. “Step 8. Games.” You sit next to her, patiently waiting for the next strange activity from Twilight's book.

“Pin the tail on the pony, truth or dare, pony pose up...” She listed off, reading from the book. “I guess we could play truth or dare. That's a classic, isn't it? Although there's only two people, but that doesn't matter.” You squirm in your place a little, although Twilight doesn't see to notice.

“Uh, yeah...”

“Great! I'll go get a bottle.” You start having panicked thoughts about all the things that could go wrong, when Twilight returns with a bottle.

“Well, let's get started. I guess I'll be using the sleepover book for this game as well, as I'm not very good at it.”

“Likewise...” You mutter, mostly towards yourself. Twilight doesn't seem to hear you.

“Okay, I'll go first.” She spins the bottle, and it lands on you. “Um,” She ponders for a moment, looking through the book. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Hmm. I dare you to...lick the floor.”

“Um, sure...” You lie down, lick the floor, and then sit up, like you were doing a minute ago. “Tastes like...dust.” You reply, much to Twilight's enjoyment, in which she's laughing at you having to lick the floor.

“Alright, my turn.” She says, passing the bottle to you. “Do you want the book too?”

“No, I'm fine without it.” You reply, taking the bottle and spinning it. It stops on you, so you spin again. This time it stops on Twilight. “Alright,” You start, “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What is your favorite...book?” You ask, causing Twilight to go into thinking mode.

“Hmmmmmmmm,” She wonders. “I can't decide....”

“What happens if you can't answer correctly, then?”

“Let me consult the book for that.” She picks up the book, flipping through a couple of pages. “Ah! It says here that the person who fails to do the truth or dare has to do a separate dare, determined by the players of the game. So,” Twilight questions, putting the book down, “What should the fail dare be?”

“Well, I guess they could....drink pickle...juice?” You answer, your face scrunched up from the thought of it.

“I guess that's....suitable.” She replies, her face contorted in what appeared to be mild disgust.

************

After returning with a jar of pickle juice and some small cups, the game resumed and heated up, after many strange dares and truths.

“Okay, next one.” Twilight continued, the pickle jar about half empty. “Truth, or dare?”

“Truth.”

Reading from the book once more, she asked: “Okay, um..the next suggestion in the book is 'Who do you like?', but I don't know if you want to answer-”

“Um, that's okay, the rules are the rules, right?” You reply somewhat nervously, cutting Twilight off.

“I suppose so, if you're sure about this. Truth; who do you like?” She stated, giving you an unsure look.

“Well, to be blunt,” You started, “I like....you.” After being said, you glanced around the room, not wanting to see Twilight's reaction very much.

“Oh,” She responded, her cheeks tinged by pink, joining yours. “Well, I like you...as well.” She replied, casting her eyes down at the floor. You say nothing, but just glance up at her quizzically. She looks at you back, and you just stare at each other for a few minutes. Or what it seemed like, anyway.

“I, um, think that's enough excitement...for one night.” Twilight says, breaking the silence. “I suggest we get to bed.”

“Yeah...I guess you're right.” You reply, still staring at her.

“I actually have a spare bed that I can set up, let me go get it.”

************

As you settled into Twilight's spare bed, you reflected silently on the events of the day. It was a very strange day.

Twilight settled into her bed as well, just after you did.

“Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning.” She says, winking at you before rolling over and closing her eyes.

“Goodnight, Twilight.” With those last words, you roll over in your own bed, seemingly too excited to sleep. But it comes anyway, and you drift off into a peaceful slumber.

And then you wake up.

A/N: If you read this far, please tell me what you thought. You might want to thank FiMFiction for causing me to write 1,000 words more, as I was going to upload this at ~700 words, and I saw the 1000 minimum limit (and now we're at ~1900 words).

And if you're not sure, the ending is a cliffhanger. c: