Blue groaned softly to himself, laying back on the couch in the library’s reading area. The old place was pretty quiet that day, more so than usual that is. His flight practice with Rainbow had been pretty strong the day before, leaving him sore all over and, at Twilight’s insistence, he was to rest for the day.
Still, the pegasus felt himself become restless as the morning hours dragged on. While he appreciated a good book, he didn’t quite share his land lady’s obsession. Instead, Blue decided to explore the library. He’d already been shown where the bedrooms were, as well as his own spare room down in the basement which was thankfully kept separate from Twilight’s personal laboratory. The kitchen and commons area were already well known to him and the shared bathing room for them all. Yet many of the twists and turns of the tree were still unknown to him.
The tree itself was supposedly several hundreds of years old, rumored to have been planted not long after the Apple Family had settled the area, and even still the inside seemed larger than it should be from the outside. Row after row of books lined the innards of the library proper, ranging from the fictional exploits of Daring Do to ancient text books from the apprentice of the great wizard, Starswirl the Bearded. Blue found it hard to believe that the capital city, Canterlot, had a much larger collection, but he had to take Twilight’s word for it.
As he wound his way throughout, he found himself thinking of the many tales Twilight had told him since coming to this world. How she and her friends had gotten their cutie marks from the same event caused by Rainbow Dash called the Sonic Rainboom, Twilight herself becoming the personal protege of the ruling princess. He had yet to meet any of the other princesses, though he’d been told quite a lot.
Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria for over a millennia and controller of the sun. Something he was still coming to terms with.
The same applied to the sister, Princess Luna, who controlled the moon and supposedly patrolled the realm of dreams as a defender against nightmares. He’d been told she had quite the history that included being possessed by a spirit of malevolence called, ironically, the Nightmare, which had led to the creation of Twilight’s own daughter. Blue found himself glad to have been told the story behind that whole adventure before his mind drifted to the remaining princess.
Twilight had explained that the third princess of Equestria was one Princess Cadance who ruled the Crystal Empire to the north and was married to Twilight’s own brother by the name of Shining Armor. Blue remembered having to take a few moments to come to terms with how much royal power he’d ended up surrounded by if only by simple proximity to Twilight.
Another turn through the rows of books, Blue found himself in a small open space with shorter book shelves. A cursory glance told him this was a small alcove for younger foals to read on their own. There were simple story books as well as simple work books for practice as well as lounge space with a cozy rug for resting little tired eyes accompanied with the soft light from a large paned window on the nearby wall. Not far from there was a small little work area with a round desk and short seats for little ones to read and write.
And to his surprise, he found a young filly there now.
Nyx was lost in thought, surrounded by several larger tomes on the table as she tapped a quill against her cheek, staring at a paper with a soft frown. She mumbled softly to herself as her little wings ruffled, lost in some frustration as she glanced back at one of the open books.
Curious, Blue approached the filly, trying to look over her shoulder, seeing the scribbles on her paper seemed to be some kind of spell work.He thought of leaving the filly to her work, especially since he was far from familiar with magic; the pegasus was still coming to terms with the fact that magic was what let him fly at all in his new body. Yet being so close had caused a shadow to loom over the young alicorn’s work.
She blinked at the sudden darkness and glanced back to the window before her slitted pupils drifted up at the adult over shoulder, jumping slightly in surprise as she held a hoof to her chest.
Blue couldn’t himself and chuckled a little after the small, adorable gasp she let out. “Sorry there, Nyx. Didn’t mean to surprise ya. I was just touring around the library and wound up over here.”
She let out a soft breath as she gathered herself, settling back down on her stool. “It’s ok, Mr. Blue. Guess I got a little lost in my studies.”
“Speaking of,” Blue moved over to her side more as he looked over the books. He saw titles such as Rune Magic 101 and Defensive Spells and You which caused him to tilt his head slightly. “What are you studying? Is this some kind of school work?”
Nyx fiddled with her hooves a little before shaking her head. “No, this is personal stuff. Just a random thought I had, but it’s probably pretty silly.”
Blue blinked at that, looking down at the filly with a raised brow. “What could be so silly about this?”
The filly slumped her shoulders some as she let out a sigh. “Ever since I got my cutie mark, I’ve been trying to think of how to use it, but I’m still not really sure.” She looked down at her flank where the picture of a night-blue shield was emblazoned. Seeing his questioning look, Nyx elaborated, “It’s supposed to mean that I’ll be a protector, that I can help save ponies. But, I’m really not sure how. I thought if I looked into some of these books I might get an idea.” She then sighed again. “But I’m not sure if it’s what I’m looking for. They’re just general magic books and, while great, don’t seem all that helpful right now.”
Blue tapped his chin as he thought about the filly’s dilemma. It certainly wasn’t lost on the former human how many of his kind could easily get lost without purpose as his vague memories told him. Even now, he was only going day by day as he sought about whatever his destiny would be, if there even was such a thing. Then he had to remind himself that these cutie marks were representations of a pony’s destiny, but even that didn’t seem quite right.
That’s when it hit him.
They were representations, not strictly a definition. It could mean many things to observers and it was on the pony themselves to decide which one was what they followed and it gave him an idea.
“Well Nyx, I may be new to all this, but could I ask you a question?” She tilted her head up at him before nodding, her own curiosity glimmering in her cat-like eyes. “Why did you go right to magic books for protecting others?”
That gave Nyx a pause, looking at the books before down in thought as she tapped her chin, putting on an adorable thinking face, though Blue kept his mirth concealed so the filly could think. A few moments passed before she finally had an answer.
“Because, I like learning magic,” she answered surprisingly simply. “It makes sense to me because Twilight has been teaching me magic since she took me in. It makes me happy to learn magic.”
Blue nodded to the explanation while picking up one of the books. “You know, I can’t understand a lick of this right now. Do you think it would be bad if I suddenly tried one of these spells?”
Nyx’s eyes widened as she tried to take the book back. “No, don’t! You could hurt yourself, Mr. Blue!” She yanked the book away, hugging it close, expecting some kind of response as she kept her eyes closed. When none did, she opened her eyes, looking at the stallion who was smiling softly at her. “Wh-what?”
Keeping his smile, Blue nodded. “Thank you for protecting me, Nyx. It certainly would be dangerous if I tried magic without knowing what I was doing. I wonder what other ponies would do if they didn’t have you around.”
Silence took over as Nyx stared at the adult in front of her for a few moments, eyes questioning in the quiet. She blinked a few times as her gaze drifted back over to the magic book in her hooves, staring at it as she put together the puzzle in her mind before her eyes lit up with a big smile and turning back to Blue.
“That’s it! I can learn all about magic to keep other ponies safe from magic they don’t understand!”
Blue couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. “That sounds like a worthy goal.” He gently rustled her mane with his hoof, blinking before taking it back. “Sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t mean to mess up your hair.”
Nyx giggled before fixing her messy locks, pushing them back out of her eyes. “Thanks, Mr. Blue. I’ll learn everything I can and there won’t be a single magic that will hurt somepony.”
He shook his head gently. “You didn’t need me, Nyx. You would have figured it out on your own in time. You’re a smart filly.”
A tinge of pink touched her cheeks as she held the book close. “U-um, w-would you wanna stay and read with me, Mr. Blue?”
Blue smiled and moved to take a seat next to her at the foal’s table. “I’d be glad to, but let’s drop the ‘Mr.’, eh? Just call me ‘Blue’, alright?”
Nyx smiled brightly and nodded. “Sure, Blue!”
As she began showing Blue the wonders of rune magic, hidden among the shelves would be a snooping alicorn, unable to stop herself from the big smile on her muzzle watching her daughter get along with the guest.
‘He’s pretty good with foals. Pushing her gently enough to find a path for herself. And look at that adorable smile on their faces. And the way his mane just falls right in front of his eye to be brushed-’
Twilight pulled herself back from her thoughts as well as from watching the pair from afar, eyes widened. She put a hoof to her chest, feeling her heart thumping much more than it should. She glanced at her wings and saw them slightly bristled before moving down the hall to where a small mirror was hanging to see her face flushed. Putting her hooves to her face, the pieces fell right into place.
‘Am I falling for him?’