Honestly, we should get rid of Thursdays. It's just an extra day at its best, with nothing important going on, and at its worst, i.e. the usual, it's just a stupid obstacle of a day keeping the weekend further than it should be. Unfortunately, god is a liar and I had to deal with this crap every week no matter how much I hated it. Anyone who says otherwise is probably a paid agent and a liar and needs to have their mouth stitched shut.

If you couldn't tell, today was Thursday, and like all Thursdays, it was mind numbingly boring so far and I was already losing it.

I was tired and missing my bed after having forgone sleep last night. I was hungry as well, having last eaten yesterday morning, but I was much too focused being bored and thinking about cuddling my pillow to care about that. Besides, I'd be alright anyway, and if I wasn't, I was only reaping what I sowed.

Like most other days, I was at the library at this time in the afternoon, sitting at the front desk, watching as the seconds tick by as I was slowly cooked in the afternoon heat. Like most days this week, there had been little traffic here and I was alone at the moment. There was some light rain scheduled for Friday evening, which would be a nice break from the summer heat, but I wished they’d make it rain today as well.

Unlike most other days, Twilight wasn't at the library right now, having gone out with Spike for some super important work.

What could possibly be so important as to make Twilight leave work?

The answer was quite obviously Princess Celestia being in town for a casual visit.

So, yeah, the princess was in town for a casual visit, all by herself, as heads of states do. Fortunately, Twilight had told me that yesterday along with some details of what she might do, and thankfully, “going to the library” wasn’t one of the things she would do. I wouldn’t have to see her today or do anything extra or worry about it.

Twilight had tried to invite me to come along with her to meet the princess at Sugarcube Corner with her friends, and while I appreciated the gesture, I declined, but not after a whole lot of her trying to convince me otherwise. I was still a bit annoyed over that last part, since she talked my ear off for thirty minutes, knowing very well that I didn’t exactly like Princess Celestia or her friends (I would throw a certain one into a meat grinder). I’d probably blow myself up and everyone else if forced into that room. Twilight only accepted my declination this morning because I pointed out that somebody had to be at the library. It was crazy how I could see that while she couldn’t.

Anyway, after that part of the morning, everything was boring.

There were plenty of books that I could have read to pass time but I wasn’t in the mood to read right now, feeling meh and more interested in thinking about other things.

It had been three days since Voth had taken Ret and I couldn’t help but feel worried. Sure, I could ask Voth for an update on what they’re doing, but I’d rather wait than potentially interrupt at a bad time. But until then, I had to do all the fun things that waiting entailed, like sitting on my ass and being worried. Fun things.

A knock on the main door made me sit up straight and wipe my frown from my face. I looked to the door, expecting someone to walk in. I kind of looked forward to it, since I’d have something to do, be it creepily staring at some poor soul as they perused the bookshelves.

But the door didn’t open. Instead, there was a second knock, which sounded more like a bump now that I had my attention directed at it. I tilted my head at the door when a third bump came. What was going on out there?

I got up and walked to the door. There I waited a second for another bump. When it didn’t come, I opened the door to see what the problem was. The light outside was blinding for a moment and I momentarily closed my eyes.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to look around for the problem, meaning I didn’t have to be in the sunlight for long.

Unfortunately, the problem hit me right in the face, squeaking noisily, right after I opened the door. I stumbled back a few steps as the hot and hairy problem stuck to my face, making damn sure to try its best to make me go deaf and also be annoying. I grabbed it with my magic and pulled it off. I didn’t throw it away because I wanted to make sure it was who I thought it was, and also because it had taken my glasses along with it.

I brought the furry menace close to my face and a quick look over confirmed that I had the moth, Steeve, in my magical hold. He was still squeaking and trying to fly, but wasn’t going anywhere. I stared at him for a good long moment, waiting for him to shut up, which he didn’t. Stupid idiot. Eventually, by which I mean ten seconds later, I brought my right arm up to him and let him grab onto it as I let him go. Seeing that he was now stuck onto me, which was probably the most prestigious thing a bug could do on a hot summer day, he quieted down.

I sighed, slightly annoyed at the bug’s antics. I had left him at home and I expected him to stay at home, but he clearly had his own thoughts, if there even was a brain in his head at all — if there even was one, it was probably damaged. Somehow, he could escape my house but not figure out how to get into the library, especially when there’s an open window right next to the door. I’ll have to see how he got out of my house and fix that.

I looked to the ground and found my glasses quickly. I picked them and put them, blinking a bit before returning to more important things, like closing the door.

Something caught my eye, however, as I reached for the handle. There was a very distinct purple blur coming towards me from across the street. I squinted and made out two shades of purple. It was Twilight. If I were to make an educated guess about why she was running, I’d guess that something was wrong. Accordingly, I didn’t close the door. I did get out of the way of the door, just in case.

Twilight was approaching fast, running like she was being chased and the library was her only escape. She skidded to a stop over a distance that seemed absurdly long, but she managed to stop just as she passed the door. She was panting and wheezing from her run, but she didn’t spend time recovering, instead looking straight at me like I was the saviour.

“What is it, Twilight?” I asked with a raised foreleg, getting to the point right away.

“Anya, I need your help!” she answered, almost hyperventilating and not answering the question at all. A bit annoying, but she was clearly stressed.

“What is it?” I repeated.

“Princess Celestia,” she began, and immediately I was worried. If it had something to do with her I probably shouldn’t intervene, for my own health. However, I probably didn’t have as much say as I wanted. “Her phoenix, it’s gone! I had to keep her visit pleasant, but her phoenix is gone!” She stopped to breathe, and then continued lamenting, “Oh, if only I had kept on task like I should have.”

She looked like she would start crying, but she stopped herself and got to what she wanted me to do. “The princess — Spike is bringing her here to keep her occupied. Could you help him as well? Just keep her occupied. That’s all.”

“what”

I had expected her to ask my help in finding the pet, not that. Why did she even ask me to do that? Surely there’s better alternatives. Although she was my friend, and I should lend a hand therefore, this was a tall order she was asking from me. An order too tall perhaps. I didn't want to interact with the princess, and was going to say no to that.

Twilight suddenly lunged forward at me, grabbing me by the shoulders and hanging on me like a pleading child. She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. “Please, Anya, I n— need your help. I can fix this, but I need time. Please.” She said it like her life depended on it, and I couldn’t help but feel that it did.

I was left staring back at her with my ears lowered and my nay in question. I couldn’t step away from the decision she was presenting or her. She did need my help, and in retrospect, occupying the princess’s time wouldn’t be all that hard. I definitely couldn’t just say ‘no’ to her when she needed it; I’d be a terrible friend if I did. However, it was Princess Celestia she was asking me to deal with and that’s like, a terrible idea. But I couldn’t just leave her hanging, unless I wanted to leave her at the princess's mercy. And I couldn’t spend forever making a choice.

I caved.

“Uh, okay, I’ll do… something.” I didn't know what I'd do, but now I'd have to figure that out. Somehow.

Twilight did a complete 180, losing her hopeless look. She let go of my shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug which I very much did not appreciate. She let me go before I could push her away, and did a 180 physically, turning to the door.

“Thanks, I owe you!” she said quickly to me as she left running.

I was left alone now, staring out the door and watching as she disappeared into the background. For a few moments, I was like a cat that had water thrown on it, recovering from the sudden invasion of my personal space. I just gave her a favour, why did she have to touch me?

Steeve, who had stayed silent the entire exchange, chirped, bringing me out of my recovery. I looked down at him and he stared off into space, as one would. I looked at him for a moment before remembering I had stuff to do. Stuff that I didn’t want to do. Why is the world so comical again?

I had stayed at the window next to the door for two minutes, discreetly watching for the princess, slightly anxious — anyone would be anxious. My head was hurting a bit. Even though I had little to do with it, I had hoped that by some miracle, Twilight found the princess’s pet and returned with it, but then miracles are called miracles because they’re never going to happen. And like all miracles, this one didn't happen either.

I first saw the princess at the end of the street, her height and colour easily distinguishing her from the surrounding blurs. She had an entourage, with at least two guards going by the shiny blurs. There were others as well but I couldn’t tell who they were exactly from how far they were.

Having seen that she was coming, I left the window and returned to my desk to pretend that I hadn’t been watching out for her, though I doubt I’d put up a good enough act. Whatever, I just had to act calm and keep my cool. Yeah, super easy to do that, especially around someone I had been warned to avoid. Why did I agree to this again? Yeah, being a nice but dumb as shit friend got me into this.

I removed Steeve from the chair, where he had made himself comfortable, and dropped him on the table before taking the chair. He didn’t protest and simply crawled onto my keyboard, where he made himself comfortable again. I ignored the cat-like behaviour and thought to myself what I should do about him. I couldn't exactly drop him off back home, not right now at least, but I didn't think it would look good to have a giant bug around... well, the last time she was here, Steeve was also there and she didn't notice. Or rather, she wasn't around long enough to care. Well, I could probably stuff him in a drawer if he gets rowdy. Man, I needed more prep-time for this crap.

The door opened loudly, making me jump a bit in my seat. I looked over just in time to see Spike walking in first.

"...And we've settled in completely here and it's just like our home in Canterlot — maybe even better sometimes! You can make yourself comfortable here," he was saying as he moved to hold the door open.

I watched as the pony I feared stepped in, ducking under the small door to avoid hitting her horn. The whole place seemed to turn brighter as Princess Celestia stepped inside. However, the pomp that I had expected with a princess's entrance wasn't there, not that I was against that — having paparazzi or high nobility in the library would suck major ass and I'd probably beat someone to death. But maybe that was just me expecting more than I should. My head hurt a bit looking at her but that was probably nervousness or stress.

The princess was smiling and nodding at Spike as he continued talking to her about how things were going for him. Should I bow to her? No, thAt'd be stupid. However, she was also looking around and in the split second that I was looking directly at her, she looked directly at me. Hate when that happens. I froze up for a second, almost tried pretending I wasn't looking, and then gave her a little wave. She returned the wave with one of her own, though it felt overexaggerated but that was probably because of her size. That went better than expected. Maybe it'd be fine and I was just locking in over nothing.

And then to dash my hopes of things being okay, in walked Rainbow Dash — I bet she got the dash part of her name for just that. She was still banned from the library as well. Did she really think that just because she was here with the princess she'd be let in? Speaking of the devil, Rainbow Dash turned her head to look at me and very clearly made a 'I'm watching you' gesture. I would have replied with a middle finger or a threat of violence, but neither were options for obvious reasons, and so, I had to take the third option of quietly simmering in my anger and becoming a fresh new batch of bitch soup. I kept my appearance in check as well as I could, though I would really prefer to be seen kicking Rainbow out, literally.

Spike closed the door and walked up to my side. "Hey, Anya, did you see Twilight? She left in a hurry for something."

I looked down at Spike for a moment, making a convincing lie. I started off with a truth. "Yeah, she stopped by to tell me the princess was coming."

"Oh, did she tell you anything about what she had to do?"

"Apparently, she misplaced something. Don't know what but it sounded important." Not a complete lie, yes, but the best lies always carried a shade of truth. Spike was convinced, nodding his head. I still felt a tiny bit nervous however, since it wasn't lying to Spike that mattered — it was lying to the thousand-year old princess that mattered. I had said my answers loud enough to be overheard and I was just waiting for a reaction to gauge how I did.

Unfortunately, the reaction came from the dye factory accident.

"Twilight? Losing stuff?" She snorted to accentuate her disbelief. I wanted to tell her to shut her mouth but couldn't as she suddenly walked up to my desk very fast. She leaned on it like she owned the damn place and said, "Wi— Buddy—" she seemed to gag at that word choice "— Twilight's the smartest pony I know, and I think you're losing your mind if you think that she of all ponies would lose stuff."

She looked at me like she was explaining an obvious thing, ending with an obnoxious smile and a puffed up chest. I stopped myself from looking at her like I wanted to crack her head open and confirm it's empty, but my ears did lower. It would Feel great to sEe her hurt.

"Um, actually," Spike spoke up with a raised finger, bringing our attention to him. "Twilight does lose stuff — quite a lot in fact — but I, her number one assistant, usually stop that from happening in the first place."

He beamed, quite proud of himself. Rainbow stammered meanwhile, having her dumbass statement get noted right after she said it. Her eyes darted around as she put on a nervous smile and tried to play it cool. She looked to the princess, who was watching the situation play out with a poker face. She looked to Spike and then to me when she found nothing. I stared back blankly, hiding my anger. JuSt get losT alreAdy.

"W— well, everypony has bad days. I have bad days, you have bad days, everypony does." She laughed sheepishly but quickly stopped. I hoped that she would shut up and leave now. Quite obviously, she didn't, instead finding something else to attack me over: Steeve.

"Another one of your bug freaks?" she asked, pointing to the oblivious Steeve on the keyboard. Spike stood on his toes to see the bug in question and just shrugged. He turned and went to the stairs, leaving me alone. Rainbow didn't wait for me to answer and continued yapping, "I don't think you know this but nopony wants to see your ugly little horsenstein creatures here."

I wanted to hit back with my own insult, and maybe an actual hit to her stupid ugly face, but I didn't. Not because I believed in the 'bigger person' bullshit, but because the princess was coming up behind Rainbow. It was the perfect opportunity to look like the normal guy being accosted by the weird guy. But having the princess come closer was making me more stressed and my head hurt more. WHY can't thIngs juSt be all niCe for ONCE?

Of course, Rainbow didn't notice that the princess was coming up behind her and took my silence as an invitation to keep running her bitch mouth that was long overdue for a violent and sudden dental extraction. "Like, just because you can do some dark magic doesn't mean you can go and cause problems, especially when I—"

"Ahem," the princess interrupted, getting an 'eep' out of Rainbow. She looked down at us, a neutral but strained smile on her face. "I couldn't help but notice that there seems to be a dispute here."

"Yeah, Rainbow's being disruptive," I said quickly before Rainbow could lie. I was rewarded by the princess looking down at Rainbow with a raised eyebrow and Rainbow looking at me like I confessed to cannibalism. It was quite hilarious and I smiled.

"What?! Me? Disruptive?" Rainbow asked loudly, being disruptive. She guffawed then, in case someone thought she was being ironic. "Funny joke, dweeb!"

She laughed some more, going so far as to lean on the princess for dramatic effect. I cringed as I watched the princess's smile become strained. I half-expected her to swat away Rainbow like the annoying fly she was, but unfortunately, the princess only gently pushed her away. If I was in the princess's place, I'd have broken her teeth by now. It would be so SATISFYING.

Rainbow straightened up quickly to continue her hostility. She pointed an accusatory hoof at me. "Nopony believes your lies, witch. Y—"

"Now now, let us not argue here. Today is a good day to relax," Princess Celestia said, putting a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder and shutting her up. Rainbow Dash looked at her, mouth hung open. I doubted that she could tell the princess to stuff it, but I didn't dismiss the possibility. I was a bit miffed since she seemed to completely ignore the 'witch' remark, but I'll take what I can get.

Rainbow stammered, pointing towards me in general as though the princess would understand all her problems with me just like that. The princess just smiled at Rainbow, staring almost unblinkingly. I too stared at Rainbow but with a sour expression.

Seeing that she wasn't going to do anything besides make more of a fool out of herself — which was quite easy for a dumbfuck of her caliber — she harrumphed and backed off, but not before giving me a nasty look. She turned and headed for the door, muttering something to the princess about work before she left. I breathed a sigh of relief and let myself calm down — the library felt so much more free without her. Everywhere wOUld feel bEtter if she were GONE. Forever.

"Ah, I seem to have upset Rainbow Dash," the princess said sagely, after the multi-coloured mutt finally left. She shrugged with her wings. "Oh well, she'll be alright."

Fortunately, that seemed to be the end of dealing with Rainbow Dash. Unfortunately, no celebration was to happen as there was still the princess to deal with.

She turned around to look, or rather, stare directly at me. Though she smiled disarmingly, I still froze up as we made eye-contact, her presence overpowering — it was the princess of the sun, of course she was intimidating. I couldn't look away from her for what felt like an entire minute. I almost missed having Rainbow since she was distracting enough to blind me from the light.

"So, Anya, how was your day?" she asked, making me blink.

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and answered, "Fine."

She raised an eyebrow at that and tilted her head ever so slightly, prompting me to elaborate, "Sorry, I j— I just look weird."

Her eyes widened. "Oh, no, I wasn't suggesting that. In fact, you look quite good for somebody who's just 'fine'. The answer just confused me a little, we all have different definitions for 'good' after all."

Though her attempt at lying was commendable, I didn't fall for it — I had lived with my face my entire life and I was the one who knew it best. I didn't say anything about it though and just nodded. No need to waste time on 'positivity' nonsense. Besides, I had more important concerns, like keeping her distracted from her missing pet.

There was silence between us. The princess just stared at me, keeping her smile. I stared back at her ears so that I looked like I was keeping eye-contact. I fidgeted in my seat a bit. Doesn't she have stuff to do beside having a staring contest on a Thursday afternoon? I hated to admit it but I really needed Spike's help.

The princess ended the staring contest by taking a look around. “Today must be a rather slow day?”

“Uh yeah."

“I suppose you didn’t expect such… extraordinary company,” she said, walking up to the closest bookshelf. "Spike should be coming down with tea. You won't be alone for long."

It seemed that the princess had caught on to my wariness of her, and that made me cringe. I mean, anybody would be wary around her, yes, but I should be better than that. The one good thing of her being far was that it made me feel a bit better.

I gulped and straightened up while the princess’s back was turned. I just had to be normal now, and I could cry about being uncomfortable later when I have nothing to do. I haTed This.

“I wonder when Twilight will return,” she murmured to herself. I had the same question, but for different reasons. She turned around, not finding any book to be interesting. “Tell me, what is there in the library?”

“Books, probably,” I answered, trying to sound as normal as I could. Obviously, that was a complete waste when the answer itself was weird, which I only noticed after saying it. What did I mean by ‘probably’, this was a library — of course there’d be books.

But what was done was done. The princess raised an eyebrow, like that one bald guy, and asked, “Probably?”

I thought of the best course of action to cover up my own brainlessness: playing it off as a joke. That always worked. I quickly answered, “Yeah, there might be a chance.”

She paused for a moment, before breaking out into a smile. “A chance?”

I almost sighed in relief. She was playing along with my joke now, which was honestly the best case scenario. Now, I had to play along as well. “Yeah, slight chance.”

“Slight chance to have books in the library?” She snickered a bit, which was good. I felt a bit more relaxed.

“Yeah, I know. Preposterous idea, but you can’t be too sure nowadays,” I said as seriously as I could, which was a lot more than what I expected. I even kept a straight face which added to the delivery of the joke.

She actually giggled at that, covering her mouth with a hoof. That was a lot easier than expected, but I wasn’t going to complain or tempt fate. JuSt keEp this gOiNg, ANYA. Or at leAst don't BLOW it like YOu do.

It was now that a spanner was thrown in the works. Steeve suddenly chirped, bringing our attention to him. Seeing that he had the attention he wanted, he chirped again, and took flight so that he could impact me on my chest. Despite the short distance, he had gained quite a lot of force in his flight and as a result I had some air knocked out of my chest with an 'oof'. Steeve was obviously uninjured and clinging onto me while I was left coughing and trying to recover at the same time. If he weren't so damn cute, and also if I wasn't busy with some slightly more important issues, I'd have called him stupid.

The princess laughed at the display, not trying to hide her amusement in the slightest. I didn't mind it too much — I'd have laughed at myself if I could — but it was not something I had planned and it was a bit embarrassing. At least the princess was amused.

I tried plucking Steeve off of myself but he held on firm and squeaked loudly at me, which just made my head hurt more and leave him be. Princess Celestia laughed some more, which just made me more conscious of how stupid I looked. When wAs she gOIng to LEAVE?

The princess laughed a bit more before bringing it under control, though she did smile like she'd break out into laughter again. She took a step to me and said, "Here, let me help you."

Her horn lit up and Steeve was surrounded in a golden aura. He let go of me with no resistance whatsoever and let himself be carried to the princess without any tantrum. I'd be indignant at the biased treatment, but having a tantrum wouldn’t befit me and would also be stupid.

Princess Celestia brought the moth close to her face, looking at him like he was a puppy. “You’re a little rascal, aren’t you?” she said to him before bringing up a hoof to pet him. Steeve squeaked in response, and the princess giggled. She let go of her magic, letting him grab onto her hoof. It was quiet as she watched him crawl a bit before stopping in one spot.

“He has a quite interesting colouring. Where did you get him?” she asked almost suddenly, looking at me.

“Oh, uh, he… he just came into my house one day.”

“He just... flew into your home? From the forest?”

“Yeah.”

"Interesting..." she said, her eyes going back to Steeve for a moment. "In my observations, these moths prefer to avoid people, more so when they're wild. I've a couple in my castle gardens, but they rarely show themselves to anyone — not even their caretaker."

Going from her tone, she didn't seem to believe me, which prompted me to explain why Steeve did that. "He's probably just dumb."

"Dumb?" The princess looked at me like I was a dumbass child who said a dumbass thing, making me shrink back a bit. "Contrary to what you might believe, they're really quite intelli—"

Steeve suddenly took flight, interrupting the princess. He flew over to the entrance, hovering in the space directly in front of the open window. It seemed that he was leaving — for home, I hoped. He hovered for a few more moments before flying forward... into the closed door next to the window. A dull thud sounded as he hit the very solid and very opaque door. He fell down to the floor where he lay silently, probably contemplating how such a thing could happen to him.

The room was all silent for a moment, and I looked over to the princess to see that she was looking at Steeve with a flabbergasted expression. I thought I saw one of her eyes twitch as well, but I wasn't sure.

To get rid of the awkward silence, I said the one thing that came to mind. "Thanks for the demonstration, Steeve."

Steeve chirped in response, which made me snort. Smart enough to know his name but not that he can't no-clip through a door — what a gem.

Princess Celestia couldn't keep silent at the display anymore and broke out into laughter, and not the princess-y kind of hushed laughter. It was loud, rambunctious laughter, like that of an annoying child, which made me lower my ears to avoid making my headache worse. I didn't really expect that kind of laugh from her, or from anyone who would have been in her place — it was just a bug inflicting brain damage on himself, but I wasn't going to ask her to stop. I just silently waited for her to calm down, which took a little while. She laughed for almost an entire minute, almost falling to the floor to roll in laughter at one point, before calming down somewhat and catching her breath.

"Oh, it's been ages since I've laughed like this," she said, wiping away a tear from her eye. She quickly straightened out, though she still held traces of mirth. "Just what I needed after that meeting. You should have been there to see how strained everybody and everything was! Ah, how I wish I wasn't there either."

I nodded in acknowledgement. I didn't know what the burdens of being princess were, having spent more time closer to being a pauper than someone like her, but I could tell from recent events that it was probably very boring.

Princess Celestia walked over to the door and picked up Steeve in a hoof. She then walked towards me, presumably to give him to me.

But she didn't stop at the other side of my desk.

She walked around my desk, up to my right side, sat down, and put Steeve on the table in front of me. Could it get any worse than that, being so close to someone you didn't want to be close to? Obviously, it could. She put an arm around my shoulder. CONTACT.

It had taken at max ten seconds for the whole thing to happen and those were probably up there in the list of the worst ten seconds of my life. IMy stress shot up till the moon, but I was still somehow pretending to not care. My ears hurt as they kept themselves forced up and straight, my heart raced like it was going to detonate, my head felt like it was being used as a drum, my horn pulsed with pain. I was terrified. My entire body was telling me that I was cooked. MAKE THE PAIN STOP.

She didn't notice, or maybe she just ignored my panic and she kept her arm on my shoulder. Instead of putting her arm back down, she began talking. "You know, your Steeve reminds me of my own pet, Philomena. She's a playful phoenix, quite intelligent but using it all on being a nuisance..."

I couldn't pay attention to what she was saying, too busy staring dead ahead at the edge of my desk as I fought to keep myself from shaking or pushing her away. GET AWAY. My head hurt so much more. BREAK IT OPEN. It came from both within and without, like I was a tin can being filled with air while under a hydraulic press. I felt like I was choking. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL HER TO STAY AWAY? WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS? I didn't know why I was like this. The only output I had for all my raw emotion was just flicking my tail, but even that had to be limited because of how close the princess was. I wanted to go home, where I would be all alone, and stay there forever. Why the hell did people think they can go around touching someone after one positive interaction?! KILL THEM.

I didn't know how long I sat there, nodding along and half-listening to whatever the princess prattled on about, but it was for far too long. The pain in my head made me want to smash my head on the desk till either the pain died or I died, and both options were enticing. END THE PAIN. I couldn't, I had to wait it out. The princess seemed oblivious to how I was doing stuck under her, too absorbed in her chattering about her stupid bird which started this whole stupid problem. SHUT UP. If there was a positive to all this suffering, it was that I was at least doing what Twilight asked of me. DOORMAT. IDIOT. I really was one.

The room felt so much hotter and I felt like sardine in a can with the princess who probably revelled in taking up the most inconvenient space in a room. The Door was right there I could get away to somewhere less painful.

I was brought out of my stewing and focusing on looking normal and general anger by the princess suddenly saying, "Anya, are you well?"

I didn't look away from the spot I had been staring at all the while she had yapped but I could tell that she was looking down at me with concern, and I could feel her disgustingly warm breath on my ear. TEAR HER. I sucked in some air, doing my best not to choke or to lash out in anger at her sheer ignorance, and answered meekly, "No."

She shifted in her place, but still didn't take off her arm from around my shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"Headache. Give me some space, please." It was the politest way I could put it, but I still heard the princess huff. She did back off, giving me room to breathe. My headache remained all the same though. PAIN. I did not get the relief I wanted, and that just made me feel worse. I brought up my hooves to hold my head but it did nothing.

"Do you feel better now?" she asked, to which I replied by shaking my head. She hummed, almost as if she was suspicious of me for some reason, but she didn't say anything about that. Bitch. "I suppose the heat is getting to you — it's rather hot today, I admit, even for myself."

I didn't respond, too busy fruitlessly nursing my damned head. At least she wasn't touching me now. NOT ENOUGH.

There was the sound of the upstairs door opening, followed by the sound of feet. I turned my head a bit and saw that Spike was coming downstairs with a tray that had a kettle and probably a cup on it. That's what he left me for, huh — but it's alright though. He can deal with the princess while I figure my shit out. I put my arms down and managed a neutral expression.

"Hey princess, I got lemon tea — your favourite!" Spike said, proud of himself. "Hope you didn't get too bored down here without me."

"Oh, it was nothing. Anya was a quite nice conversation partner," the princess replied, outwardly friendly. LIAR. Her sarcasm would have been near impossible to detect for someone unless they were there with us during the last five-ish minutes. I felt a bit bad and ashamed about staying mute during the 'conversation' that 'we' had. I should have at least tried talking a little even if I felt like crap.

Right after Spike set down the tray on my desk, the princess said, "Also, Spike, could you get a glass of water for Anya?"

I looked to the princess, not expecting that. She looked back nonchalantly. Spike was already off before I could object to that. The princess simply said, "You look like you could use it. No need to thank me."

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. She was probably right, and being a contrarian wouldn't do me any good. I was pretty sure that I had previously drunk water more than a day ago, so I could definitely use that. I just turned back to keep staring at the desk and ignore my headache. I lay my head down for a moment on the desk which made me feel a bit better. Steeve, who had been quietly sitting at the desk, took it as an invitation to climb onto my head and make himself comfortable in my mane. I didn't try removing him since I didn't want him squeaking at me.

The princess stepped away from the desk and went to the window where she took a look outside. "Hm, it seems there is a situation outside."

I sat up straight as she opened the door. "What?"

"Tell Spike that I'll return in a moment," she said before stepping out.

Almost immediately after, the pressure on my head subsided somewhat. Some peace, finally. I don't think I'd ever like to be in the same room as her ever again. I got off my chair and stretched a bit, my legs feeling a bit sore. The time was still about two, but I wanted to go home. Maybe Twilight would be happy to cover for me. She better.

Spike returned, carrying with him a glass of water. He came up to me and handed it to me before taking a look around. "Hey, where's the princess?"

"She went outside for something, said she'll be back," I replied. Spike nodded and went to the window to look for her probably. Meanwhile, I drank the water, which only made me aware of my thirst. Go home. I'd go home and crash out till tomorrow once I've talked to Twilight.

I left the glass at the desk and walked to the other side of the closest bookshelf, out of sight of anyone who'd come through the door. I sat down there, leaning against the bookshelf. Today had been terrible and I felt terrible and tired, and there wasn't anything I could do besides feeling upset. Cry— No, that wasn't an option. I pulled Steeve out of my mane and hugged him. Steeve wriggled around in my hold a bit but didn't do anything else. I just quietly held onto him, waiting for the bad feelings to dilute down to a more manageable level. It'd be better if it was someone and not something we held onto.

I sat there next to the bookshelf for about two minutes, and was just about to get back up when I heard the door opening. Two sets of hoofsteps came inside, and my headache immediately worsened, forcing me to stay seated where I was and do my best to not cry. Steeve made a little squeak as I squeezed him a bit harder, but we were otherwise silent.

"...There's no need to apologise for that, Twilight. It was mostly Philomena's doing," I heard the princess say, followed by some mumbling that sounded like baby-talk. "Spike, take the tea upstairs, I'll be there with Twilight shortly. And where's Anya by the way?"

"She's somewhere in the library but I don't think she'll hear you from here," Spike replied. "Should I get her? No? Okay." I heard the tray being picked up, followed by receding footsteps.

It was silent for a moment, before the princess started talking again, this time in a hushed tone. "Twilight, I need you to do something for me."

It wasn't my place to eavesdrop on whatever they were talking about, but I couldn't stop myself.

"What is it, princess?" Twilight asked in an equally hushed tone.

"I know this request is a strange one but bear with me, it'll make sense when I explain it to you." There was a momentary pause.

"Can you keep watch on Anya?"

I got the very distinct and familiar feeling that I was in trouble the moment my name left ehr mouth. Why were they talking about me? I listened on with both dread and curiosity.

"Why, princess? Is something wrong? Did she say something to—" Twilight's increasing panic was cut off by a shush from the princess.

"While I can't say with certainty that something is wrong, I am fairly strong in my suspicion that something might be wrong with her. I may be incorrect — which I hope I am — which is why I need you to keep watch on her, discreetly. I'll explain more, but not now."

Though I didn't see it, I knew that Twilight probably held an uncertain expression. The princess probably looked grim. In contrast, I was scared. Did she know what I was? The very thought of that being possible had my stomach in knots. Voth had warned me of her — I shouldn't have gotten close to her. I could only imagine what would happen if I was found out. Was it over?

No, it wasn't. She wasn't sure of my true nature yet. All wasn't lost. I just had to consult Voth ASAP and be wary around Twilight. She was my friend and all but Voth's work took precedence over all other matters. Did it? Shut up. I got up quietly, putting Steeve back on my head, and sneaked to the end of the bookshelf. I had to get home, where I could talk with Voth and figure out what to do, but I had to get past the two ponies at the door.

I straightened up and took a breath. Just act normal, like you had a walk. I stepped past the bookshelf and saw the princess was at the stairs, going up with a red bird on her back. Twilight was at the desk, looking lost. She quickly straightened up when she saw me, giving me an obviously fake smile.

"H— hey," she said, doing a very poor job of pretending nothing was wrong.

"Hey," I replied, doing a better job at being oblivious despite my racing heart. "You found her bird, huh?"

"Yeah, yup, found her. It took a lot less time than I thought, and it wasn't as bad either. Thanks, by the way, for distracting her."

"Okay." I waited a moment. "Could you cover the rest of my shift? My head feels like it's gonna blow up."

"Sure!" she replied, a bit too excited as she said that, smiling sheepishly afterward. She didn't ask any questions, which was good. I wasn't going to wait around for her to ask some though.

I nodded, mumbling thanks to her as I moved to get my saddlebags from behind the desk. I wanted to just pick them up and leave, but I didn't since that would look suspicious. Instead, I put them on like I always did, even though I felt exposed with Twilight staring at me.

I didn't bother saying goodbye and left the library in a slight hurry. I had to get to Voth before I did anything else.

Author's Note

24r Au

Sorry Thursday lovers, Anya thinks you're invalid.

I originally had Anya start the chapter off with a sonnet about how much she hates Thursdays, but my editor said that Anya's style is more crazed ranting. The sonnet's here if you want to read it:

Thursdays, oh Thursdays,
you're the week's worst time.
Why must you be so set in your dull ways?
Having you every week should be a crime.
You're quiet, but terribly boring,
seeing my disdain probably makes you smirk.
I'd rather be in bed, snoring,
but Thursday morning I have to go to work.
At your very best, you're merely filler,
a stupid damned obstacle.
At you worst, you make me wish to be a killer,
and bearing you is almost impossible.
But not all pieces of you serve to offend,
since like every other day, you have an end.

sorry for the long wait. i had semester finals and college applications and also the dreaded block.

I have a discord server now if you want to heckle me or see what else I'm cooking up: https://discord.com/invite/waTEUXv9Ea

See y'all next year.