Lies In The Library

"I'm almost done, miss." The green-coated mare said, trying to focus more on transcribing the runes that were flickering through the floating window of light than on the building pressure between her hind legs. Her companion only silently nodded, eyes still closed while she was continuing to maintain the spell.

After a while, try as she might though, the pressure eventually became unbearable, and the pegasus suddenly stood up, dropping the pen and paper filled with alien symbols on the ground. "I, uh, think I saw something move in the bushes, miss. I'll go and investigate first, as per the princess's instructions.

In response, the window of light broke apart, the symbols within disappearing in a flash, leaving only a few scattered and unrecognisable scraps on the dull, black surface. The unicorn opened her eyes, the brilliant orange irises doing nothing to lessen the look of annoyance towards the pegasus.

"If you need to relieve yourself, you can just say so, you know." She said, rubbing her forehead with a hoof while picking up the dropped paper and pen with her magic and floating it towards herself. "We're the only two ponies here, Emerald, I don't understand why you always have to be so secretive about it."

Emerald Streak could only muster a blush in response, before flying off. Luster Dawn rolled her eyes.

'At least don't forget to take your spear with you if you want to make it believable.' She thought to herself, as she started translating the text Emerald had written down.

Things were quiet for a while, the scribbling of the pen on paper putting Luster in an enjoyable mood, until she was disturbed by the sudden soft glowing of the alarm crystal on her right.

Luster sighed, putting the paper away again. Though she was happy that her field detection spell actually worked for the first time, she also knew that whoever triggered it was either just an adventurer exploring the Third Vale, or, and far more likely, someone sent for herself specifically, considering the professor's repeated warnings in her recent letters.

She didn't particularly feel like dealing with the latter option, at the moment.

But a few moments later, she could hear the flapping of wings coming in from the east, and turned to see a familiar figure landing a few steps from her.

"Spike. How good of you to visit." She said drily, a sour look in her eyes.

Spike put up his claws, as if in a defensive position. "I didn't want to be here any more than you, trust me. I take it you already know why I'm here?"

Luster nodded, taking the paper out again and starting her translation again. If it was Spike, then Luster didn't need to worry about revealing the secretive nature of the spell she had been using.

"If it's about my immediate expulsion from the university, I'm afraid you've come for nothing. We were nearly done transcribing all of the dead language writings we could find on the Library walls anyway, so I was going to return tomorrow in any case, if it didn't turn up anything immediately useful."

"Would have been nice if you mentioned that in your letters, then." Spike said, already annoyed at how Luster was treating him.

The mare shook her shoulders, still not looking up. "Didn't see a need to, if I'm being honest. I made it perfectly clear how close we are. Besides, I thought you were still tangled up in that mess in the Crystal Empire?"

Spike sat down next to her, feeling more tired than he thought from his flight here. If Luster minded, than she certainly didn't make an attempt to express it.

"It certainly wasn't clear enough to your teacher then. And the issue with the Yaks was resolved faster than I thought, as it only took Flurry Heart, a bet, and a lot of booze."

The scribbling paused for a moment, before resuming again. Luster spoke again, "Well, you needn't toil here any longer. Like I said, we're leaving soon either way, so shoo."

"No can do, Luster." The drake said, idly playing with the medallion on his neck. "Twilight specifically requested me to make sure you're coming back. She'd hate it if a student, even if it wasn't one of her own, got kicked out for something that was so easily preventable."

The scribbling paused again. Luster finally looked up.

"Princess Twilight did?"

Spike looked up as well, meeting Luster's gaze head-on. He couldn't quite place the look she was giving him though, weirdly enough.

"What, don't you know Twilight already? Heck, I'm sure that if I didn't come back when I did, I'm sure she'd have personally teleported here to come and get you, pressing royal matters be damned."

Luster didn't respond to that, staying quiet for a while. She then turned to her paper again, scribbling again, though Spike could have sworn he saw a glimpse of a smile on her lips, before it disappeared just as quickly.

"Very well, do as you wish then. But don't bother me until we're done."

Spike grunted, agreeing with the thought. He looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time since he landed.
It was quite the cozy place, all things considered. The foliage looming above them, even over the Silent Library, meant there was enough shade during the day, while the camp was set-up in a position so that it could weather even the worst of storms. The surroundings are quiet, too, only the occasional sound coming from the foliage that surrounds them.

Even the Silent Library itself, as imposing as it may seem when seeing it for the first time, gave off an aura of peace. The symbol of a stack of books above the outline of a doorway so tall even two ponies stacked on top of each other wouldn't be able to reach the upper edge seemed taunting, sure, but also inviting.

He also noticed several large sacks lying around, some stuffed to the brim, large writing clear on each of them. 'Provisions', 'Equipment', 'Study', 'Entertainment', just to name a few. Actually, no, there were multiple 'provisions' sacks, but most seemed completely empty, making Spike wonder if Luster ever got more since she came here.

He also saw a large lake while flying earlier not a long distance from here, so that explained where she got potable water from if she never left this site in over a month. 'Prepared and resourceful', as Twilight described Luster yesterday, doesn't even seem to do it justice, now that Spike's taking it all in.

"I wish we could have been more amicable than this.' Spike idly thought.

"You know that I don't want to, Spike." Luster suddenly said, shaking him from his thoughts. He started to blush.

"Oh, sorry, did I say that out loud? I didn't
, eh, mean to." He sheepishly admitted. He really should stop doing that, yesterday as well. It really doesn't suit a person of his function.

"Hm, but I don't particularly mind. I tried to give friendship a chance, and it didn't work out. You know that just as well as I do, though I don't think there's any shame in admitting that. I'm doing just as well without it, after all." Luster said, putting the pen down. It seems like she finished her work. She got up and walked towards the sack with supplies, taking out some foodstuff before coming back. She offered some to the drake, who accepted the offer, though he knew she did so more out of politeness than anything else.

"I... do, yeah. But I don't think that means that you should give up on it all together. Moondancer was like that too, once, but she tried again, and she turned out to be a much happier pony for it."

Luster looked uncertain at his words, nibbling on the dried grapes. "Moondancer? I don't think I ever heard of that name before."

"Ah, right, she, eh... died, a long time ago. But she was happy, in the end. I think. Hah, it seems like more and more of my old friends from when I was still a hatchling are going on without me, and I don't even notice it."

Realizing that the mood took a sudden dip when he brought up Moondancer, as Luster was just looking at him now, Spike hurriedly tried to change the conversation.

"Actually, speaking of friends, wasn't Emerald Streak supposed to be here as well? It's been quite a while since I got here, and I never even noticed she, well, wasn't here. I don't think Twilight is going to like it if she knew one her twilit guards would leave one of her students unguarded out in the wild like this."

Luster tilted her head. "Oh, now that you mention it. She needed to take a piss, but with how long it's taken, I think it might have been upgraded to a dump as well."

Spike couldn't help but laugh at the bluntness of the statement. At same moment, a very red Emerald came storming out of the foliage.

"I did no such thing, miss! I told you I saw something move! Ah, oh er... good day, sir Spike, how nice to see you." She said after slowing down when she noticed the visitor, instead giving a short bow.

"Hey, Emerald." Spike smiled, waving a claw.

Emerald looked at Spike, doubt clear in her eyes. "If I may, sir Spike, are you... informed, as to what we're doing here.?"

Spike nodded. "Experimental time-magic that Twilight banned herself, yeah. I was a bit surprised when she mentioned it, though, as I personally experienced just what that type of magic is capable of, a long time ago."

Luster looked towards Emerald. "Our guest here has been tasked with retrieving me, wouldn't you know it. It would seem I was not 'clear' enough in my letters to professor Paleo. So he's not going to budge until we leave, sadly enough. Anyway, I already translated what you wrote down, and I need to rest a bit longer. You can explain everything to him, if you want to, I'm going to lie down for a while."

"Rest?" Spike asked, but Luster already walked away, not responding anymore, before lying down on one of the beddings.
A soft snoring sound could be heard soon after.

The green mare clad in a dark purple armour sat down next to the flabbergasted drake.

"It's the spell, you see." She said, gaining his attention. "Miss Luster isn't as, well, gifted, as the Princess is, in all matters of magic, and casting the what she has dubbed 'window to the past' is incredibly taxing on her, even for short durations. She needs at least two hours of rest in between every ten minutes of casting it simply from the exhaustion, and if she were to strain herself she would get a severe headache without fail, requiring an even longer rest period. It's partly the reason why we have stayed here for so long."

Spike looked at the sleeping figure. "I... had no idea. She looked perfectly fine when we were talking before."

Emerald let out a small laugh. "Of course she did, don't you know her already? Always has to appear like she can take on anything the world throws at her, never faltering for a moment." She sighed, shaking her head. "Just as she imagines Princess Twilight would have done."

Spike wasn't sure what to make of those words, but as he didn't really like to talk about someone when said person was quite literally laying within earshot of them, he decided to change the subject.

"So, what have you discovered so far? It has been made very clear to me that the sole reason I even had to come here was that the two of you were close to opening the Silent Library, and Luster refused to lose not even a few days, even if expulsion was on the line, so I'm more than a bit curious. And how the heck does this vaunted 'window to the past' even work? With Twilight's permission, this could all make for a very interesting talking point with a drinking buddy of mine back in Canterlot."

Emerald thought for a moment. "Before I talk about that, do you mind if I explained the history of this place a bit more? It's going to help with understanding the whole picture, I promise."

"Sure, go ahead. I apparently have some free time now, after all." Spike nodded. "Though I'm sure you're not doing it just to impress me, right?" He said with a slight grin.

Emerald Streak was taken aback by the comment, slightly blushing.

"I... well, yes, you got me there, sir Spike. The chances for a royal guard like me to talk about a passion such as this are few and far between if it's anyone but Luster, you see? It seems no-one else in the guard seems to care all that much about the grand majesty of things long gone, and the excitement you can get if you tried to delve into it."

Emerald whistfully sighed. Spike raised a brow at that.

"Then I don't really understand why you became a guard anyway. Even rising to the royal guard and even twilit guard. I've heard the rumours, you know, about how... passionate you could get whenever you manage to, how did they put it, 'lock someone down' if they showed any interest in the topic."

He then dropped his tone to a lower volume, almost a whisper. "I've also heard that you're the only pony to volunteer whenever Luster requires an escort or guard detail, and they think it's not just because she shares your interests in history. Maybe I shouldn't ask this, but I'm, well, personally a sucker for these type of situations. So if you don't mind, are you, well..."

Emerald looked him straight in the eyes, blue meeting green, without the slightest hint of wavering.

"Love?" She finished, and the dragon nodded. She shook her head in response. "No, it's nothing like that. She is more than a friend to me, yes, even if she loathes the idea of seeing me as one, but that's because... well, something happened in the past, which I'd rather not want to talk about. And if not for her, I probably wouldn't be here today. If anything, think of it as... well, a dragon code, like the ones you practised as it was written in the Friendship Diary, sir Spike."

Spike leaned back, somewhat surprised at the answer. "Ah, I understand. So that's why you joined to guard, then? To personally be able to help and protect her? Alright, I won't pry further. Thanks for being so, eh, open with me about it."

"It's no problem, sir Spike. I only told you because I trust you'll keep it a secret, as trusted as you are by the Princess herself. I'm sure Luster herself has forgotten what she did for me, so I don't want to bring it up to her again." Emerald said, looking the the sleeping unicorn again.

The drake nodded. "I will, yeah, on my honor of friendship ambassador. That, and I know you can absolutely kick my ass if I didn't uphold that promise. Now, with that cleared up, I think you were going to give me a history lesson next?"

The pegasus looked back to the drake, excitement clear in her eyes. Nodding, she stood up and walked over to the bed next to Luster, picking something up before walking back. All the while, she never even made so much as a sound, which Spike recognized as a testament of her training.

Sitting back down again, she opened a notebook and began leafing through it, before she started speaking.