//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: A Bad Wish Gone Worse - Pt. 2 
// by Burning_Halo 
//------------------------------//

	Later that day, about noon, Twilight had gotten into reorganizing her supply cabinet on the second floor of the library. The extra scrolls and quills that she had been stockpiling had begun piling up uncontrollably, and forced her to put aside some time to make it tidy again. It only took her about a few minutes to return the shelves to a state that she could actually close the doors of the rustic green cabinet, no longer making itself an eye sore next to the stairs as ponies would come in.
Her time freed up, she began wondering what Wildfire had been doing the entire time. He’d been held up in his room all day, and hadn’t even come out for breakfast. Looking down that hall, she could see just a sliver of light where Wildfire’s door was cracked open. She could hardly hear anything from his room though, even with the library silent as ever. She made her way down the hall, coming to Wildfire’s door and knocking on it a few times, nudging the creaky wooden door slightly more open in the process.
“Wildfire?” spoke Twilight. “Are you still in there?”
“Yeah. Come in!” said Wildfire, voice slightly muffled by the door.
Twilight opened the door and walked in, immediately hit with the woody smell the room emitted. Even after cleaning it so much, she still couldn’t get used to the smell. She studied the room some, looking at what Wildfire had done with it. Twilight didn’t see much difference though. The shelves of the room were all empty, as were the dressers and closet, which hung wide open. She stepped into the room some more, looking over to the side. Most of his things lay piled by the door, still contained within the bags he arrived with. Other things that he was using either littered his desk or the floor around it. Though, the room did appear well kept otherwise; clean and dusted, although it looked like it could use another cleaning soon.
Twilight felt saddened by it. Seemed that he hadn’t quite settled in yet, and yet, he sit there on the floor at his desk, the shades pulled over the windows and a candle lighting his desk, letting in very little sunshine as he sat and read his book. Since the end of his and Rainbow Dash’s conflict, Twilight had rarely seen him, or talked to him. He hadn’t been quite as social since then either, saying very little, or nothing at all.
Wildfire had confined himself to exercising at the farm, as well as working at the farm some for a few extra bits, and studying in his room constantly, only coming out to eat, use the bathroom, or to leave and adventure around town by himself. He even sometimes flew out to the Everfree forest, a treacherous forest that was home to many beasts that no pony dared to face. He’d sometimes bring back a souvenir or some sort of trinket; crystals, plants, fruit, which were also littering the room, his desk, and the window sill where a few of the plants sat up in the sun.
Wildfire had remained entirely detached from everyone since everything settled, being able to finally settle in (for what it was worth), and then seeming to forget about everything else.
“Hey. You haven’t come out of your room yet.” said Twilight, still eyeballing the pile of things by the door.
“Yeah. I got caught up in this reading. I’ve been studying and restudying it… but I think I almost got it down.” said Wildfire, back turned to Twilight as his eyes remained glued to the pages of a rather thick book.
“Is this what you do every morning?” asked Twilight.
“Mostly.” said Wildfire, followed by a few seconds of silence.
Spike walked in, eyes wandering the room as he stood by Twilight. The sight of Wildfire stuck at his desk and all of his strewn about possessions seemed to confuse him more than concern him.
“Um, aren’t you worried that you might be spending a little too much time on the books?” asked Twilight, shrugging some.
“Yesh, look who’s talking…” said Spike half under his breath. Twilight scowled at him, earning back a silly false smile from the small dragon.
“I know you have a lot to study up on, but don’t you think you should take a break?” asked Twilight again, showing sincere concern for the orange pegasus. “It’s been almost three weeks since you even really got out.”
“Well… I don’t know. I really have to know this stuff like the back of my hoof. And besides, I’ve got a whole lot of other projects to get done anyway.” said Wildfire, finally breaking his stare with his book to look over his shoulder.
“Well if Princess Celestia is as lenient with you as she is with Spike and I, then you have all the time in the world to get everything done that you need to do.” said Twilight, smiling at Wildfire.
Wildfire lifted his head and stood up from sitting on the floor at his desk. He turned around, Twilight catching eye of Wildfire, her smile fading away slowly as Wildfire’s appearance brought up more concern for him. His thick, long, snow white mane was sloppily pulled away from his face, and his eyes looked a little buggy with a pair of dark circles residing under them.
“You think so?” said Wildfire, his tired expression a hard one to read.
Twilight was a little terrified by Wildfire’s faded appearance, but she didn’t want to worry Wildfire, or offend him for being in such a state. With confidence, she replaced her kind smile, looking him square in the eye.
“Absolutely. Besides, making new friends here in Ponyville was put at the top of your priorities, right? That sounds like getting things done to me!” said Twilight.
“Well…” Wildfire looked to the floor, seeming somewhat ashamed.
“Come on. Take a break from this stuff, clear your mind, and get outside for a while. You look like you could use it.” said Twilight to the haggard looking Wildfire.
“Alright. After half a night of study I guess it couldn’t hurt.” said Wildfire with a sigh, seeming relieved.
“I’m gonna get cleaned up…”
“Ok!” said Twilight, promptly exiting Wildfire’s room, Spike lagging slightly behind her as they made their way back out into the library.
“What’s he been studying so hard for anyway?” asked Spike.
“I don’t know…” said Twilight, eyes to the floor in thought. “I remember one of his books was titled, “Basic Knight Code.””
“Wow.” said Spike. “Sounds pretty cool. He must be training to become one of Celestia’s knights or something!”
“Probably.” Twilight nodded. “Whatever it is though, it’s been causing him a lot of stress lately. And he said he needs to know his studies like the back of his hoof. Sounds like it is pretty... important...” said Twilight as she turned her head back down the hall, putting a curious emphasis on the word ‘important.’