Rune stood at the entrance of the Lunar library. She had been waiting for Twilight for some time now. Twilight wasn't late, she was just compulsively early. Rune wondered about what books Twilight would bring, how old, how many? What secrets did the princess know about magic that she could learn? It all excited her greatly. While Rune enjoyed her work as lieutenant she did miss her job at the school. Research was really her forte', well that and runic magic. She had become proficient on her casting very quickly, almost to the point she didn't need to vocalize her spells. The more complex ones still needed to be drawn and chanted but she could cast with a thought. As long as she could visualize the rune circle and hear the chant in her mind she could cast simpler spells. The thought came to her that Twilight would ask her about her magic, and to demonstrate her very rare style of magic. Her lack of practical spells would make that difficult, almost all of her spells were offensive. All she could do was hope Twilight wouldn't ask.

"Ma'ma?" Flash Sentry had approached her, but she was to deep in thought to notice him. "Ma'ma?"

"Huh? Oh!" Rune snapped out her thoughts, "Lieutenant Sentry! What is it?"

"Im looking for Rune Shift, is she in the library?" Flash asked to her surprise. Her natural colors must be enough to completely mask her appearance to him.

"Lieutenant, I am Rune Shift." She giggled at his shock. He was genuinely surprised and very embarrassed.

"Lieutenant!" He saluted, "My apologies. I am to escort you to the Startswirl Wing of the Royal Library, There Princess Twilight is waiting."

"Oh. Well then, lead on." Rune's calm expression hid her excitement. She had never been in the Starswirl the bearded wing. It was a bastion of knowledge from magic to science to extinct species to cooking recipes. Rune could barely contain her excitement.

While Rune had permission to go in and use the Starswirl wing she had still had the stigma that it was restricted. She held her place in the door way. Pensive on entering the once forbidden and ancient library of one of Equestrias greatest minds, Rune took a small swallow and entered the library. The shelves were lined with scrolls and tomes from all sorts of research from all sorts of fields. Starswirl was truly a prodigy. A mind before his time and Celestia's first true student.

"Lieutenant, this way." Lieutenant Sentry led her deeper into the shelves. They came out into a little reading room where Twilight was already waiting with books and tea.

"Rune, Im sorry I didn't get you myself, I just had to dive in," Twilight's tone was rushed as she looked up from her book.

"I understand," Rune swiftly put down her bag and took up some of the books Twilight had brought. Swiftly taking the chair opposite she cracked open the ancient book and began to read feverishly. The pair left Flash Sentry standing in the doorway rather perplexed as to what the two ladies before him was so excited about. They never dismissed him, they just went back to their books, he took the liberty and let himself out.

Hours passed as the pair tore through book after book. They had run through all the books Twilight had brought and they had gleaned no new data. Seamlessly moving into Starswirls books on magical studies the pair moved out into the halls leaving piles of read books in their wake. Book after book fell under their silent gaze, volumes of data, figures, research consumed with feverish vigor. Such wealth of knowledge and most of it seemed useless, unrelated articles, research on unicorn magic. Nothing on non-unicorn magic, and Rune was beginning to get upset at the prospect that the greatest mind Equestria had ever seen had nothing on non-unicorn magic.

"Fantastic!" Twilight's voice broke the silence of the library and echoed slightly in the empty halls. Rune dropped her book out of shock from the sudden sound.

"What!?" Rune nearly shouted, "What is it?"

"Look! Look here!" The pair clambered to look at the book Twilight held in her magic. "Look here!" Twilight points to a passage.

"Its a story somepony told Starswirl as a colt?" Rune began to read the passage aloud, "Alabaster called forth his anger, his eyes alight with righteous rage. The runes of his magic engulfed his adversary, trapping him in place. The earth ponies spell took quick effect binding the Pegasus to the ground." She looked over to Twilight, "It sounds like arcane magic, but this Alabaster is an earth pony right?"

"Right, which means that this Alabaster can cast magic while being a earth pony." Twilight flipped through to another passage. "Here too."

"Alabaster rose a hoof to the sky calling on his magic once more. His eyes alight with arcane power, his anger fueled by his adversaries actions. He cast his magic rending his foe into pieces." Runes voice stammered at pieces, "To pieces?" Rune trailed off.

"Seems like the non-unicorn magic is emotion based, and uses runes sort of like you do." Twilight flipped through the book again. Her ability to read at a unheard of rate truly impressed Rune. "Those are the only mentions of non-unicorn magic we have found in the entire magic section."

"It works off of emotions AND runes? So how do they cast? Whats with the glowing eyes? I dont see how they can cast. Do they just will the magic into existence? Is that even possible?" Rune asks Twilight, her being the authority on unicorn magic.

"I guess, Unicorn magic works off of the will of the caster, but Unicorns can access magic naturally. Earth ponies dont have the ability to feel magic, so calling on it to cast would seem impossible. Unless its a sort of sub-conscious thing?" Twilight supposes, her theory was strong but the fact that earth ponies cant sense magic really shot holes init.

"A whole library and only two vague passages from a story somepony else told Starswirl a thousand years ago?" Rune grabbed another book with her magic and quickly flipped through it. "Nothing on non-unicorn magic, decades of study, miles of scrolls, and he never once did research into non-unicorn magic? Strikes me as strange doesn't it you?"

"Well, its not a popular subject of study. Nopony really has done that kind of research, like, ever." Twilight begins placing books back on the shelves with a long yawn. It was after all now nearly the next morning, the reading and the searching had lasted all night and the Princess was beginning to feel the effects. "I am disappointed but not surprised at the lack of research left behind." She gave another yawn, "However, it is surprising that there is no resear-" Twilight stopped mid sentence as she looked at the shelf. Her eyes going wide at what she saw there.

"Twilight?" Rune leaned in to see what had stopped Twilight. Hidden on the shelf was a button, written around it was a simple message, which Rune read aloud. "For those whom wish to know the true nature of magic." Twilight and Rune looked at each other.

"I really want to press that button." Twilight said, leaning in, hoof outstretched. Almost in a trance, she seemed driven, pressed along. It reminded Rune of when the armor had taken her over. Her hoof lightly pressed on the button. In a flash of light runes lit up on the floor. "What in the-?"

"Teleportation?" Rune could read the rune's after all. As the light began to engulf them both. Twilight spread her wings in an attempt to flee. "No, Its safe. Starsswirl left this for somepony to find. Twilight, just don't cast any magic until its done." The magic crawled slowly up their bodies.

"O-okay, why is this taking so long?" Twilight could feel the magic slowly pulling her away to someplace else. This sustained teleportation was uncomfortable to her, usually it only lasted a second, but then again her magic was new. This spell was almost a thousand years old.  

"Its old is all, just let it-" Rune was cut off by the spell completing. Leaving the library empty except for the piles of books and unsorted scrolls.