JUL 21 Wednesday.

I watch as she seems to recognize me after a few moments of looking up at me. "S-Shade?" She asks, shocked, and with a slight blush.

I'm confused by the blush, but she barged in next to me so I guess she's just embarrassed. She's grown since we last met and now stands a little taller, but at this point in my life, my height is becoming really obvious. I stand a few inches taller than her and she seems to have also noticed that now. "Umm, sorry, about ... That." She's awkward about her actions and I just keep my smile.

I take another step back while moving my things a little further to one side of the table, giving her more space, it seems she needs it. "It's fine, curiosity is nothing to be sorry for, even if you could be a bit more subtle. As for your question, I'm working on some scanning spells." I answer and take a moment to study the spell matrix before letting it dissolve into nothingness.

She looks even more surprised now and starts to look at the books I have open on the table. "Wait what? You're becoming a healer!?" She exclaims and I raise a brow. She stares at the text intently for a few moments and her embarrassment seems to be forgotten in her new excitement.

I shake my head. "No! No. I just practice in my free time, it's more of a hobby than anything. I mostly just find it interesting to study and learn." I excuse and downplay things a bit. "But enough about me, how have you been?" I blatantly try to move on from the topic involving me, old habits die hard after all.

That takes a little wind out of her sails and she seems to calm down again, but she still looks excited about the magic involved, that's just my guess though. "I've been well, great actually! Learning for the Princess is always fun. The Princess is amazing!"

"All the different types of magic she's shown me, she can even teleport! The calculations alone!!" I get the sense she's trying to show off to me a bit, not that I can blame her, it is certainly an accomplishment to be Celestia's student. She also has a glint in her eye when talking about Celestia, it seems her authority figure worship is already there.

She sits down next to me at the table with a few feet of space between us, she puts down several books she brought with her, most seem to be about magical incantations from what I can tell. "Also... I sorta noticed you weren't around the library that much anymore, I heard you repair books now?" She asks again, awkwardly trying to start a conversation.

It seems her dam told her about that. I tilt my head a little and half nod, "I did, but now I'm onto administration work. Paperwork can be a tiring thing, but It's a decent job. So, incantations huh? It's an interesting topic, although I find them to be a little unstable for my liking. Although, I haven't used them much beyond my curiosity." I again move us past things like my job to less specific things about myself.

It seems that just like Avalon talking about magic is a good way to veer the topic away from something. She smiles wider and nods happily, "Maybe, but the Princess says it's important and gave me a test for it. You said you were working on a scanning spell?" She asks back.

I nod. "For the lungs, yes, but I'm not sure I got it right. I'll need more practice and time." I think about it for a moment and gather my will and magic to reform the spell matrix in the air again. "I cast it earlier, but the result was nothing, just a blank page. So I either have nothing wrong with me, or I have to make sure I actually got it right." I explain while looking over the matrix closely.

"Wait! Did you learn this today!?" I nod slowly. "It's a healing spell, those can take weeks to learn properly!" She asks seemingly impressed with my actions. She moves closer and looks over the matrix again looking it over for something, probably flaws, not that I would mind her checking my work.

I raise a brow, I know I'm a fast learner when it comes to spells, but I didn't expect it to cause such a reaction from her of all ponies. "Yes, that is true, but it's really not that hard. I'd expect you to be able to do that same thing, it's just memorization and visualization." If I remember correctly she does just that several times in the show, and she is the element of magic for a good reason.

She nods slowly after a moment and blushes a little again, ok this is just getting odd. "Yes, but... Well, I'm the Princess's personal student, she hoof picked me to learn from her, and you're a librarian." She seems to have enough awareness to realize that's a little rude and looks apologetic a moment later. "S-sorry! Not that I'm better than you, or anypony! At anything! I'm just... Better trained than most!" I nearly laugh a little as she scrambles for an excuse.

I keep my smile and after a moment I can't hold it in and just chuckle at her, which doesn't help her embarrassment. If this is what Cadance feels like when teasing me then I can see the appeal. "Don't worry, I'm very hard to insult." I wave her worry away easily. "In fact, feel free to try your best. But you're also right, most aren't as proficient." I agree with some humor.

"But, I am interested in what specifically Ce- The Princess has you testing for, it must be interesting for her Majesty to assign it to you." I'm a little too relaxed about this and nearly let something slip before correcting myself quickly.

Luckily she seems too embarrassed to notice it. She looks relieved for a moment and seems more than willing to move on and even moves over a book from her pile to me. "Thanks, and sorry again. Right the test! The Princess is testing me about different incantations and how they affect fire spells, oh, and why, that's also important." She explains quickly, obviously trying to change the subject.

I look over the books again and see that it is mostly fire spells and incantations. It's a specific topic, but it is good at visibly showing the effects of incantations. Fire is prone to change depending on the words used more than other spells, a good way to teach Twilight, maybe I'll complement Celestia later.

"Hmm, it is interesting, just don't cast anything like that here. We already had an incident like that before, and I was one of the ponies fixing those books, such a mess." I chuckle at both the memory and the slightly horrified look Twilight gives me after putting it together in her head.

"WHAT!" Even though I was expecting it, it still made me flinch a little when the normal quiet of the library was disrupted by the Irate mare. "Who would cast a fire spell in a library?!! Were the books ok?!" she gets a little in my face again and I quickly nod to try and placate her.

She calms down a little after that but still looks ready to yell at somepony. :OK, lesson learned, don't do that: "Good. Fire in a library, so..." She trails off and takes a deep breath. "Still, it is cool you got to fix that, probably took a while though." She shows a slight appreciation for a job most never even consider.

I decided to try and just ignore her outburst and move past it. I'm really not doing a good job here, then again I don't really know her at all. We've barely ever talked or interacted, and she's also dealing with puberty so that doesn't help. I shrug, "Not really, the copy spell made it easy, and some other pony made a spell to remove old binding glue. We just take it apart, copy it, check for errors, and put it back together." I still don't know who came up with that spell.

She looks excited for a moment. "OH! I know that one! Another spell from The Veil Winter!" :I nearly forgot she was a fan, fuucck: "I even got to help h-!" She stops abruptly for a moment as her eyes widen a bit too wide looking almost comical. "I mean got to... Help the Princess. Yup! I got to help the Princess with something!" She tries to hide her slip-up behind some more excitement, and fails, badly.

:Oh, thank magic she stopped: At least she's mostly able to keep it hidden. I settle for raising a brow and giving her a, 'ya obviously' expression while nodding, mostly just to keep up appearances. "Well, ya? Who else would you help?" I tested her a little but she didn't answer me for a moment and I moved on. "... Anyway, how has your brother been? Last time I saw him he was barely walking around." The last time I saw Spike he was mostly immobile but did move around some, and it's been a while so I'm curious.

Yet again she looks a little confused. "My brothe-? Oh! You mean Spike?" I nod and notice the smile she gets when I confirm her guess. "He's doing great, he even said his first word a few months back! They were 'Dam' he was so cute!" She shows a newfound excitement. "Although, he did say it to me. But he calls me Twi now." She adds for some reason and overshares a little, I get the feeling not many ask about Spike.

I just chuckle at that and try not to laugh outright. "Well, you are his big sister. I'm happy to know he's doing well, I hope those recipes helped out in the end."

She seems to think for a moment before nodding with a slight grimace, but not an overall bad reaction. "Actually I think we've cooked a good number of those. It's kind of gross, but dam insists I learn how to cook at least a few of them for Spike." She adds some teenage snark that shows just how that annoyed her. I also wonder if this is an alteration to the timeline or not, it could go both ways I guess.

:Ahh, teenage angst, I did not miss you: "Well, regardless I'm glad you found some use in them. I myself prefer to eat meat, but that's just a preference. Have you ever tried any?" I ask back and she gives me a slightly more grossed-out look while seeming to remember something.

"Blah, it was so... Fishy! Even with sauce! I have no idea how you and dam deal with it!" She complains a bit, but the conversation is less and less awkward as we continue talking. "She got a taste for it and now me and my sire have to try it every time she makes something new!" She complains some more about her parent.

I just straight up laugh, she looks a little annoyed at my reaction, but more cute harmless annoyed than truly annoyed. "Well, I have no regrets then, another pony on my side," I say jokingly. "But seriously, that's nice to know, maybe we could swap some recipes?" I wonder out loud and she gives me a light glare.

She groans a little and just looks back to her books, after a moment she stops and looks like she has an idea. She looks a little more hesitant and looks over at me while not making eye contact. "Hey, could you... Well, do you want to, maybe, help me study...? I-I could help you too!" She offers with a hopeful look and a slight hesitation, enough to make her fumble her words a little.

I stare at her for a few moments, she's obviously nervous about something yet again. From what I remember she had fewer friends at this time and might already be drifting away from the few she does have, so she could just be nervous about trying to make new friends? Honestly, I have a similar problem, for me it's just my paranoia that gets in the way.

I can't see a problem with her offer and she's obviously trying to at least be nice and offer help in return. I'm also pretty curious just how good she is at magic. After a few long moments of silence, I eventually nod with a half smile. "Sure, why not? I know a little about incantations so how about we start there?" I offer in return.

Her eyes seem to sparkle a little and she moves closer to me while opening a book. "Well, part of the test is learning how different languages affect spells and how to best pick words that coraspon-!" She gets excited and starts to rapidly ramble about her test while flipping through a few books and pages of neat notes.

I keep my half smile seeing her enthusiasm, this could be interesting. So as we dive into the technical mumbo jumbo I let my magical senses slip for the moment and ignore most of the world to focus my mind on the task at hoof while relaxing a little.

It can't hurt to let my guard down a little, right? After all, I think I'm due a little good luck.

POV shift Cadance.

I smirk slightly as I walk into the large library as the day nears its end.

I walk through the shelves looking for the right aisle and keeping an eye out for my special somepony. My smirk widens at the thought of getting to spend some time with Shining outside of the palace, he always knows when I need a break. As I walk I look around and a few thoughts surface in my mind.

The library itself is an interesting place with a long and storied history, but what I personally find more interesting is a specific pony who works here. Shade Evergreen, is an enigma that never seems to be solved. The more I learn the less things seem to make much of any sense.

He rarely talks about himself to others, even Aunty doesn't know everything about him, and talking to him doesn't really help. He is good at answering without really answering, you can ask him what color he likes best and he will tell you, but only in such a way that never leads to more information then necessary to answer.

He will say a great many things, and you will learn little at all. If Aunty is to be believed then what little I learn about him is already more than he ever says to anypony that isn't a close friend, it makes me concerned about his life sometimes. But, he seems completely fine with being this way.

He walks through life with possibly more secrets than me and yet he lives like it doesn't really matter. But above all of this is the simple fact that he makes no sense. He has immense wealth and could have even more fame, but instead, he works in the last place you'd expect a library.

Although I suppose I should be grateful, very VERY few would be as humble as he is with the power he wields. But all of this, the secrets, the magical skill, the rare abilities, it's all less interesting to me than one single thing he does. He makes Aunty smile, and I mean truly smile.

Before he came around she would show that smile, the same smile she had when I first ascended, but not very often. The smiles she shows other ponies are still genuine, but they lack something, it is not a full smile that forces its way onto your face and won't let you stop.

Only with me and a few others would she show that smile, even then it was relatively rare to see, but a few years ago things changed. That smile that she rarely showed started to pop up more and more, and for a long time I bothered her about the way and how. Eventually, I learned the reason, a seemingly ordinary colt.

As I came to learn he is anything but normal, but that's not the point. My Aunty was smiling because for once in a very long time she had a true friend, not a royal who became a friend, not a fellow ruler like me, a simple friend. Even if it also involves some business it seems to come second overall and doesn't hinder them. That's also not to say that those other friends aren't real or genuine, the friendship is just of a different form.

I have many types of love, and I KNOW the difference between her friends. Shade is, well, just a friend. I see it in the way they talk and interact, he looks at her as just his friend. He knows who she is, and what being her friend means, but I know that if Aunty was just a normal pony he'd probably still be her friend all the same.

I can't help but smile even more at the memories of seeing them talk and joke. I think they are good for each other, and I couldn't be more happy for Aunty, she needed more friends. To circle back around though, recently Aunty has had the smile again and I've seen her around a little less.

I asked, but she said it wasn't her place to tell, and the only pony that makes her smile like that is Shade. So, after a lot of nagging and a little pranking, she said he gave her a very nice gift. I know about the other gift he got her, mostly because I was the first test subject.

I huff at the memory of that dinner now long ago. I also know he tattled on me, but I can get them both back for that later. I'm also begrudgingly impressed with the idea he came up with, and as a silver lining, I got to see it be used on a few particularly annoying nobles.

But it just makes me wonder what the other gift was. It has to be something a bit personal but I have no clue and I can't tease him if I don't know, It's all a little frustrating. Although, I could just tease him about Aunt's good mood? Maybe, but I'd need to mix it in with something else.

Aunty did seem rather pleased with the odd metal flower now sitting on her desk, but she didn't share anything about that. I'd have to confirm if it is a gift from him, if it is from him it wouldn't be that hard to confirm, just tease him about it and joke about her looks with him.

I keep forming plans in my mind as I walk before eventually finding my Shining. He's at the end of a row of books and seems to be, hiding? I raise a brow and walk up behind him, he hears me and turns around quickly, only to relax and smile when he sees it's just me.

He puts a hoof on his lips before I call out to him from a distance, after a moment I walk up next to him. "Spying isn't really like you my Shining knight, are you up to no good again?" I tease him a little, but he's too used to it for that to do anything but make him roll his eyes a little.

He smiles and moves to kiss me on the cheek. "Yup, but I have a good reason this time." He says in a low tone with a smile that is far too mischievous for him normally. "Don't let them catch you, but look." He keeps the quiet tone and I keep my brow raised as he stops further back so I can peek around the corner.

When I look around the corner I'm still confused, but that cleans up quickly when I see Twilight sitting at a table reading. This would normally be uninteresting, but this time she's not alone. Sitting next to her and talking with her is a Colt I recognize immediately.

Shining moves a little closer but keeps out of sight. "They have been talking for a while now. Also, you remember how I said I think Twi likes somepony?" His words are all I need to start and pay attention to the feelings that are coming from Twilight. She's giving off a particular feeling of love, but most would just call it a weak crush.

It's not full love by any means, but it's there and from the way things are going it's not leaving anytime soon. I do notice that Shade isn't really feeling the same, but regardless I feel my smile grow more and more as I watch. They do seem to be getting along rather well even without any feelings on Shade's part, maybe I don't need to tease him about Aunty, or rather not only Aunty.

As I watch Shade stops abruptly, and after seemingly waving away the question Twilight just asked about his sudden reaction, and then he turns. A moment later he looks across the room right at me, and after a very small moment, I see his eyes widen as he seems to recognize me.

I give him my biggest smile in return. "Shining, I think it's time we go find a book to read, I'm sure those two will be fine until we get back." It seems I'll have some things to adjust for.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :D
Current year is 994

I'm not sure if I got Twilight right in this chapter, she feels a little off but I kind of struggled to her her personality to come out right. I was going for the introvert trying to be likable while also trying to impress someone. Along with a dash of her being a teenager.

Tell me what you think. If you want of course, if not please ignore my words. Regardless I hope you liked it.