The girls had all shown up at the train station to see me off. My decision to move to Canterlot had been met with joy and sadness. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were happy that I was taking life by the hooves and trying to make something of myself. Pinkie had thrown me a farewell party. Rarity promised to check in on me whenever she came for business. Fluttershy gave me the biggest hug. And Twilight would be seeing me in a few weeks when she came for a royal meeting.
There were a few others that had shown as well. Spike had of course come to say goodbye. He was trying to be tough. Time Turner had come to see me off as well. He’d been sad to see me go, but he knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. The last one was Starlight. She was smiling at me, happy for my new adventure.

“All aboard for Canterlot!”

I turned towards the train. This was it. I looked back at my friends and smiled.

“Wish me luck!”

Twilight gave me her fifth hug of the day.

“You don’t need it. You’ll be amazing.”

The others nodded their agreement. I walked onto the train and found a seat. I looked out the window at my friends, sorry to have to leave them. Ponyville had become my home.
Twilight had assured me that I was making a good decision. Celestia wanted my help. She was trying to repair the bridge that she had unnecessarily burned. And I was doing the same. It was true. I wanted everything to be normal again. Well...normal for me.
The train lurched forward. I gave a final wave to everypony on the platform. They all called out their goodbyes as the train moved away. I watched them shrink behind the train as it picked up speed. I was on my way!

The journey took a couple hours. Nothing exciting happened. I hadn’t expected there to be anything out of the ordinary. I had read one of my favorite books. I had been trying to read fiction at a slower rate recently. I found I enjoyed it more when I took my time. I had just closed the book as we pulled into Canterlot Station. There were a lot of ponies waiting on the platform. I grabbed my bag and walked to the exit.
As soon as the train stopped, I jumped onto the platform. I got curious glances from a few ponies. I had made sure to groom myself before leaving Ponyville so that my mane and tail looked as normal as possible. I felt less self-conscious now then I used to. Even with my pony features though, I still looked different. One of the holes in my leg had never healed up fully, and my eyes were still very much changeling. I’m not sure what it was that was drawing the stares, but I tried my best not to let it bother me.

“Excuse me. Are you Shade?”

I tensed up, turning to find a stallion in armor. At first I wanted to panic, but I remembered that I wasn’t part of an invasion force now. I was here as a guest. I relaxed visibly and smiled.

“Couldn’t you tell? I didn’t think I blended in that much.”

“I remember you from the last time you were here actually. I just wanted to be polite. I’m here to escort you to the castle.”

“You remember me? I haven’t been here in years.”

“I was on one of the shifts that um...guarded you.”

Wow. Awkward. I had to force my smile just a bit.

“Got it. I’m glad I won’t have to find my own way. Lead on...”

“Flash Sentry. I’ll be at your service when you need me.”

Why did I recognize that name?

“Lead on Flash. I could use a decent meal.”

Without another word, he turned and began walking into the city. I followed closely behind, taking in the sights. I hadn’t taken the time before to really look around, but that would change quick enough. It was amazing! There were so many shops and restaurants. And the castle at the center of it all towered up to the sky!
We came to a gate and walked into a beautiful garden. The smell of flowers and freshly cut grass permeated the air. Everything was groomed and cut neatly. My brain pulled up everything I knew about landscaping and I became even more impressed at the time that must have gone into perfecting the grounds. I’d have to see if I could acquire a bush to practice on some time.

We entered the castle. A beautiful entrance hall. I hadn’t noticed the architecture on my last visit. My brain fired off again and I was amazed at how old the designs were. I guess some things never went out of style.

“Shade. I’m glad you made it.”

Celestia was at the top of a large staircase. She walked down to the bottom and embraced me. This was new.. I hadn’t realized we were at this point. She pulled away and hooded to Flash.

“Thank you for accompanying him from the station.”

“It was nothing Your Highness. I shall return to my post now. It was nice meeting you officially Shade.”

Celestia led me up the stairs as Flash exited.

“You must be hungry. I’ll show you to the kitchen. Then I’ll show you to your room.”

The kitchen! My stomach was beginning to growl in anticipation.

__________________________

A full stomach and a comfy bed! This was beyond my best dreams! My room was huge with an oversized mattress at the center. I could already picture how I wanted to set the other furniture in the room. This was going to be where I did a lot of late-night studying. As I was circling the room, Celestia drew back the curtains. Light began to pour into the room. So much light and color!

“I hope this will do.”

She was joking right?

“This should do..”

The princess laughed. It had been a joke. Celestia making jokes? She’d changed a bit over the last few years.

“How far am I from the library?”

“You’re down the hall from the my personal library. And the main library for Canterlot has a connection to the castle via the West wing. That’s about a five minute walk from here.”

“Which is the better selection?”

“Both have their strengths. There is a greater selection in the Main, but you may find some of the rarer materials among my personal collection.”

“That settles that. It’s down the hall?”

She smiled at my enthusiasm.

“Hitting the books already? Twilight would be proud.”

“What’s the point of being the Librarian unless I bury myself in literature immediately?”

“Follow me Librarian. I’ll show you your new domain.”

She led me to another room four doors down from mine. She opened the door to reveal a library with shelves that went up to the ceiling. I looked up in awe at the plethora of knowledge in front of me.

“This...is the smaller collection?!”

“Think you’re up to the task?”

I was feeling dizzy. It was so much! But it was the most excitement I had felt in a long time thinking about reading these books.

“Definitely.”

“Then I’ll leave you to it.”

She exited without another word and closed the door behind her. Where should I start?

“Top or bottom?”

Bottom and work my way up. I walked to the nearest shelf and pulled out the first book. I looked along the spines for a moment. A lot about history and magic. How could there be so many books on those two subjects alone? It was amazing!

I had been brushing up on my reading skills in the days after I’d agreed to come here. Now it was time to see if I was up to the task. I opened the first book and began.

____________________________

An hour passed and I decided to take a break. All this reading was making me hungry again! I left the library and found my way back to the kitchen. One of the chefs was prepping dinner when I walked in. He looked up as I entered and smiled.

“Back already?”

“I’ve been reading. All those pages worked up my appetite again!”

“How long have you been reading?”

“An hour.”

“And a few dozen pages made you that hungry?”

“Not as much a few dozen pages as a few dozen books.”

The chef paused his cooking for a brief second.

“Say again?”

“Thirty-eight if I’m being exact.”

He slowly began whisking again.

“You read thirty-eight books in an hour?”

“It’s kind of my talent. I can absorb large amounts of knowledge.”

“That’s certainly an interesting talent. What does your cutie mark look like?”

“I don’t have one.”

This made him pause again. I sighed, realizing I’d have to explain.

“If I tell you my story, will you make me a snack and stop delaying Celestia’s dinner? I’d hate for her to be mad at me.”

This made him smile and he nodded in agreement.

“You have a deal..”

“Shade.”

“Shade. I’m Butter Whisk by the way.”

“It’s good to meet you.”

“So..cutie mark?”

“I used to be a changeling. I was one of the ones that invaded Canterlot close to six years ago.”

Butter Whisk hid his shock well.

“I got stranded after our defeat and nearly died. Princess Twilight saved me though. She helped me get better. And in the process, I became a pony. But I guess I didn’t develop the ability to earn a cutie mark.”

“Became a pony huh? That explains why you don’t look like the other changelings I’ve seen.”

“It’s complicated. I was..converted before the changelings figured out their true forms. Kind of missed that boat.”

“Well I think you don’t look half bad. Better than the buggish look. Oh! I hope that wasn’t too rude.”

“No offense taken.”

He pushed a plate in front of me with a slice of pie. Cherry! With whipped cream and another cherry on top! I began digging in.
Butter Whisk and I continued to talk as he and the kitchen staff finished preparing dinner. We covered several topics. I asked a lot about cooking. I wanted to ask more, but he sent me off to have the dinner he’d made.
I followed a corridor from the kitchen to the dining room. I was greeted by a table filled with the delicious trays I’d seen prepared. Somehow they looked even better on the table. Celestia was sitting at one end. I glanced at the other end and saw Princess Luna.

“Welcome Shade. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you in a more normal setting.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Luna. I hadn’t realized you’d be here.”

“The sun has gone down. It’s my turn to take care of Equestria.”

Made sense. I turned to Celestia.

“So you have the night off then?”

“If only. I have some new bills to go over that Parliament wants to pass.”

“Do you need help?”

“No. I’ll be fine. I should read them myself. Besides, I’m sure you have your hooves full.”

“I suppose. But I’ve been taking a break.”

Luna piped up at that comment.

“A break? Haven’t you only been here a few hours?”

“Yes, but once I’d gotten through book 38, I thought I deserved a cool-down period.”

That surprised her. I saw Celestia stifle a laugh. It seemed nopony had been privy to the knowledge of my talent until today.
I took the seat near Celestia and began digging into dinner. Luna regained her composure and continued her meal.

“So how long will it take you to read every book in our possession?”

“Not really sure. There’s hundreds in the private library. It will probably take six or seven days. Then depending on the volume of the Main library, another month or so?”

“Can your head really hold all of that information accurately?”

“It seems that way.”

“And what do you think you’ll do with all the knowledge of Equestria?”

“Overthrow the duel monarchy and insert myself as overlord.”

Luna dropped her silverware. I looked at Celestia and winked. She couldn’t hold it back now. She began to laugh out loud. It wasn’t long before I joined in. Luna looked between the two of us, confused at first. As she realized that I had made a joke, she rolled her eyes.

“He has a sense of humor like yours Celestia.”

“I know! That’s one of the reasons I knew he’d do well here.”

Luna shook her head slowly and returned to her food. Celestia and I continued to laugh for another minute.

I think I’m going to like it here.

Next Chapter: A Lack Of Information Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 11 Minutes