3:16pm

Pound scratched his head. “Well, I know it’s just the afternoon, but why don’t you just come over to Sugarcube Corner?” he suggested. “There really isn’t much to do at the library is there?”

“Well, we could study-” Twilight began to say before Pound cut her off.

“Let’s just go straight to Sugarcube Corner, huh?” Pound said, speed walking away towards his home. “I know there’s a bunch of things to do there!”

“Really? Like what?” Twilight asked, somehow able to keep up with her slower pace.

“I’ll explain when we get there,” Pound, doing a small skip with the flutter of his wings. He desperately wanted to avoid the topic of studying. While he did enjoy being with Twilight, her lessons were mind numbingly boring. However, lost in his train of thought, he crashed into someone.

Pound fell onto his back, his wings buckling underneath a bit under his weight. He winced at the pain and dawned upon his mistake. His eyes darted up to see a beautiful white unicorn, Sweetie Belle. She giggled. “You bumped hard into me, didn’t you?” her sweet voice asked.

“Sweetie Belle, are you okay?” Twilight asked holding out a hand to her. The young unicorn wore a small white dress that was nothing too fancy or too plain.

She gently took it and got back up on her two legs. “I’m perfectly fine. It’s just Pound that I’m worried about.” He was already up on his feet, flustered and trying to apologize.

“Swee-Sweetie Belle, I-um-”

She shushed him and placed a finger on her lips. She gave a wink. “I wasn’t watching where I was going anyway.” She wiped the dust off her dress. “Anyway, what are you two doing? On a date?”

Twilight chuckled. “Does it look like we’re on a date?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, her eyes darting between Pound and Twilight. She smiled. “I don’t know why, but you two look like a great couple. I just don’t know why.”

Twilight took one step back to take a good look at Pound. She crossed her arms and then leaned against him. He felt her entire small delicate frame. Her sweet scent wafting up to his nose. “Are you serious that we look like a couple?” she asked.

Sweetie nodded with a serious expression. However, that began to crumble when she bursted out laughing. “Hahahaha!” she pointed at Pound. “Your face, Pound! It’s priceless!” Pound’s face was a face mixed with anxiety and utter horror. Twilight turned around and snorted, joining Sweetie Belle in a fit of laughter. Pound stood there, biting his bottom lip. His heart was beating fast, leaving him a bit short of breath.

Sweetie Belle hugged her sides, her laughs slowly coming down to a few small chuckles. “Pound, did I make you too uncomfortable there?” she asked, cutely sticking her tongue out. Pound did not know how to reply to that. “I would love to stay and chat, but I need to get going!” She walked off with a wave.

Twilight and Pound stood together, with Twilight waving goodbye back to Sweetie Belle. She turned towards the disturbed Pound Cake. “Does it look like we’re dating?” she asked. Pound choked. “Uh, well, in a sense, we do look like we’re dating.”

Twilight giggled. “Your face is really red, Pound,” Twilight said, leaning in close to his face. “Sweetie Belle must’ve really got you, huh?” He stammered and looked down to the ground. “She’s, uh, she’s always been like that to me,” he replied.

“She must really like you then,” Twilight said, standing up straight again. “What do you think of her?” Pound gave a second of thought. “She loves to tease me like that constantly. And she always does it when I’m caught off guard.” He rubbed his head. “But anyway, let’s get to Sugarcube Corner.”

He paced off quickly, still trying to shake off the shock. Twilight followed behind him with a thumb under her chin. Maybe she was onto something.

3:19pm

The moment Pound opened the door, he was met with a gust of sweets and baked goods. This was home. At the moment, no customers were in Sugarcube Corner. He gave a sigh of relief. This was good. The bell above the door gave a ring, where Pound’s mother walked out of the kitchen shortly.

“Oh, Pound, you’re home early. I thought you were at-”

“Hello, Mrs. Cake!” Twilight greeted with a smile.

“Oh, Twilight! So good to see you!” she wiped her hands on her apron and approached them. She gave Twilight a small hug and she happily accepted it. “What brings you here to Sugarcube Corner?” she asked.

“Actually mom, I invited her over for dinner. Th-”

“Is that only it?” Mrs. Cake asked. “Twilight, you’re always welcome to come over. Besides, Pinkie is more than happy to make dinner for an extra guest.”

“Ooh, is that Twilight I smell?” a voice in the kitchen asked cheerfully. Pound gave a weak smile. Aunt Pinkie Pie seemed to always have a screw bolt in her head, she always did unexpecting things.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight said, watching her walk into the room.

“It is you, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, dusting the flour off her hands. “Why are you here?”

“Pound invited me over,” Twilight said, “That isn’t weird or anything, right?”

Mrs. Cake giggled. “It looks like you two are dating.” Mr. Cake’s head popped out from the cellar. “Pound’s dating who?” He asked. Pumpkin’s head came out from the kitchen. “What?!”

Twilight blushed. “Oh, no no no!” She exclaimed, “We’re not dating!” Her face flushed a deep red. “Jeez, I didn’t know it would be this embarrassing.” She waved her hand in front of her face. Pound also became red, but not intense like Twilight’s. Her knees buckled a bit by blushing so hard.

“Twilight, even if you dated Pound, it would be sort of cute!” Pinkie piped up. “I mean, you’re pretty old compared to Poundsy, but the age difference isn’t that bad.”

“Pinkie, how would you feel if you dated Pound?” Twilight asked, squatting low to the ground while covering her face with her hands. She shook her body side to side in sheer embarrassment. Pound stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Pinkie, on the other hand was staring at Pound.

“Hmm,” she said, rubbing her chin. “I don’t think Pound would be even interested in dating me. Besides, I’m basically his auntie. Right, Pound?” She asked, giving a cheerful smile. Mrs. and Mr. Cake gave each other uncomfortable looks, but kept their mouths shut. Pumpkin raised an eyebrow, not knowing if she should continue watching or head back into the kitchen.

“Yeah. Right,” he mumbled.

“See?” Pinkie said to the cradling Twilight. “How about that?”

The bell above the door gave a ‘ring’. “Oh. What’s going on here?” A deep voice asked. A large drake’s head stuck into the door of Sugarcube Corner. “Did I come by at the wrong time?”

“Oh, Spike!” Twilight exclaimed with tears in her eyes. She scurried to the door and jumped towards him.

“Whoa, hey!!” Spike yelled, her entire weight pushed into his muscular frame. He gave a groan, while her arms were wrapped around his neck. “Twilight, don’t do this in front of the others.” Spike stood proud and strong, his stature and size towering even the tallest in all of Equestria. He had a little trouble fitting into the door, but he managed to push through.

Pumpkin’s face lit up. “Are you here to pick up your order?” She asked.

“Yes,” Spike said, trying to gently pry Twilight off of him. Pumpkin headed into the kitchen. Pound turned towards his parents. “W-We should call the dinner off.” Mr. and Mrs. Cake agreed very quickly.

“Spiiiike!” Pinkie Pie said, jumping into the dragon. She crashed into next to Twilight. Spike gave a ‘oof’ underneath Twilight’s sobs and Pinkie Pie’s squeal of delight.

“Hey Spike,” Pound said with a weak wave.

“Damn, Pound, you don’t look so good,” Spike said, very concerned. “I’m guessing something happened?”

“I need to also ask you the same thing. Twilight’s been worried about you.”

Spike looked down to the ground. He gave this startled panicked look and sat down on the ground “Yeah. Yeah.” He gave a large sigh.

Pound gulped. What the hell happened to him?

“Here’s your order, Spi-” Pumpkin paused. “Oh.” She saw Spike collapsed with Twilight and Pinkie Pie on top of him.

“I’ll take that off your hands,” Pound said, stretching his arms out. “I’ll get the payment later.”

“No need for that,” Pumpkin said, “I already got them through a letter.”

“I see, I see,” Pound said, holding the somewhat heavy cake in his hands.

“You’re not really dating Twilight are you?” Pumpkin asked, giving an unsure look.

Pound gave his sister a very glum look. He stared at her for a moment and shook his head. “We’re not. Also, I’m not going to eat dinner here. Just fix dinner for four.” Then he walked towards Spike in a similar depressed state. “Spike, here’s your order.”

“Just give me a moment. A lot of things happened to me,” Spike whispered.

“I understand.” Pound stood in the middle of Sugarcube Corner with the boxed cake in hand. “I really understand.”

3:30pm

“It’s complicated,” Spike said, scratching his head. “I really can’t explain it.” He sat on a tiny little chair in the library, as if his sheer weight would shatter and buckle underneath it. “Besides, Princess Celestia told me to keep it a secret.” He cradled the box of cake in his claws.

“That’s… understandable,” Pound said, glancing over at Twilight, who was face down on the table.

“Is Princess Celestia keeping secrets from me?” Her muffled teary voice asked.

“It’s just something embarrassing that Princess Celestia entrusted me to keep a secret,” he said quietly, giving a look of worry. He turned around fast as lightning before blinking quickly. He gritted his teeth. “I can’t tell you.”

Twilight gave a small groan. “But hey, I’m not going to be executed or something!” He said with a somewhat fake smile. He chuckled nervously and almost crushed the cake in his hands. “I really need to go back to the Canterlot Castle. Princess Luna really fiended for a Chocolate Truffle Cake for some reason.” Spike held up a small relic and gave a nervous smile. “Later!”

With a poof, he was gone, leaving Pound and Twilight alone in the library. Princess Luna? Did she like Chocolate Truffle cake? Secrets? How did Spike disappear like that? Pound Cake had all these questions swimming in his head. Perhaps it was important royal business Spike needed to attend to. It was hard to imagine what a burden it was for Spike to hold such a secret. After all, he was a strong and powerful dragon. From an young age, he had always admired Spike for his abilities. An awkward silence soon filled the air.

“What are we going to do?” Pound asked.

“I don’t know.” Twilight replied with a whisper. “What are we going to have for dinner? We can’t go back to your place. Can you imagine how awkward it’s going to be?”

Pound silently nodded in agreement, mouthing ‘Yeah’ multiple times.

“Twilight, how about we do something fun?” Pound asked instinctively. He realized his mistake and regret his decision.

She sprung up from her chair and nuzzled her snout to Pound’s. He choked for a moment, feeling her breath stroke his mouth. “Oh! I know just the thing!” she giggled, backing off from him. Her horn lit in magic and looked behind her towards the upper part of the library.

Pound was blushing hard yet again from her being so close to her. For some reason, studying didn't seem so bad. “Are we going to study?” he dreamily asked.

“Nope, even better,” she said happily. “Follow with me to the back!”

Now, what was this? Being in private with the hottest librarian in all of Equestria? Perhaps this was it? Perhaps this was when he was going to finally pound it? She got a head start, letting Pound fantasize for a moment. Soon thereafter, the entire library vibrated with intense force. A large crack seemed to have fractured the library.

“What the hell was that?” Pound exclaimed, on edge from the tremendously large noise. Owlicious flew down far from the ceiling and landed on Pound’s shoulder.

“Who?” he hooted.

“I don’t know.” Pound replied.

Upon stepping a hoof into the room Twilight had entered, he felt both his throat and testicles drop. “By the gods.”

Books of all sizes were littered on the ground, like an aftermath after a parasprite infestation. The river of books created a massive passage on the grounds in the library. Twilight smiled gleefully, using her magic to levitate multiple books and developed a ring.

“Princess Celestia gave me so many of these books!” she exclaimed. “It feels so good to reread these! So nostalgic!”

“Who?” Owlicious hooted again.

“The history of the Royal Twins!” Twilight said so excitedly. “It's so romantic and-” she grabbed the thick hardcover book and hugged it tightly to her chest.

“Mmmph!~” she moaned.

“I wouldn't mind being that book,” Pound whispered.

Owlicious nodded in reply.

“Who?” Pound asked towards the owl.

Owlicious gave a small smirk before he got plastered in the face with a giant book. Wham! Did the little owl fly into the stars. Pound gulped when a legion of books spiraled around him and an approaching Twilight, her snout deep in something titled, The Royal Twins: Flayed Twins.

“You need to read this,” she said with a powerful booming tone filled with authority.

“Okay,” he squeaked.

Next thing he knew, he held the thick book, The Royal Twins: Flayed Twins in his hands. Before he could say anything, Twilight started to talk.

“Since you asked who the Royal Twins are, I'll start a very short and brief history lesson!” Twilight said, resting her rump on the edge of a table. Pound sat down on the book infested floor with the book cradled in his hands. “Throughout the past and even to today, historians are still debating today if the Royal Twins actually existed.”

Pound began to say something before Twilight continued on. “You might’ve thought that the twins were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, but that's far from it. The Royal Twins were both the heirs to the throne. One was a handsome valiant stallion that served as the commander of the military. His name was Crimson Bloodstone. The other twin was a beautiful mare that ruled with an iron, but just fist. Her name was Ruby Bloodstone. Together, the brother and sister established perfect order and harmony in Equestria. The brother believed his twin sister was in a better position to rule. She had suggested for both of them to rule together, but he politely declined it. This predates even Celestia and Luna!” Twilight paused for a moment to catch her breath. “Now, this coincides with King, or Queen Dragamoria,” she giggled, “Historians found the Royal Twins and Queen Dragamoria to be similar. Queen Dragamoria may have ruled half of Equestria while the Twins ruled the other half. It was also rumored that the Royal Twins were children of Queen Dragamoria. But there wasn't any historical proof of her having any children. Do you know what happened after the After Dark Ages, Pound?”

Pound quickly shook his head due to all the information crammed into his head, not really answering her question.

“It was the Ruby Age!” she exclaimed. “I’m surprised it wasn't called the Bloodstone Age, but it might be something to do with the debates today.” Twilight pointed at the book in Pound’s hands. “That history book there is written by a strong historian wizard, Purist Thunderwrath. He managed to capture the point of view from both Crimson and Ruby Bloodstone. It's also known that many of Purist’s works inspired Starswirl the Bearded! And that book only captures a general gist! There's two more volumes that focuses on each of the twins.”

“If it's that good, should I read it right now?” Pound asked, his fingers almost opening the leather hardcover.

“Oh, no no no!” Twilight said, using her magic to shut the book in his hands. “Once you start reading, you'll be wanting to read the whole thing! Besides, you can read at home. We’re going to do something better than studying and reading!”

“And what’s that?”

“Organizing books!” she said, getting her butt off the table and let an array of books fly high in the air. “What's even better is that when you go through the books, you can pull them aside and read them for later!”

“Oy vey.”

“Are you ready, Pound?!”

7:24pm

Pound’s tired eyes stared at the book in his hands, Mechanics of Wings. How interesting. He shoved it at the highest point of the shelves with vigorous force. His wings flapped at a calm pace to stabilize at the height he was at. A few hundred feet down, Twilight still was in a cheery mood, the shelves almost filled and a gigantic pile of organized books next to her.

How can she do this? Pound thought to himself. He gave a shrug and slowly descended down towards her. Twilight’s eyes gleamed, her eyes glazing over the cover of each book, aged and new alike. Pound wondered how much time had passed.

“Twilight, shouldn’t we have dinner?” He asked. “We’ve been in the library for hours!”

“Hours are nothing since we’re going to be in here together for three days!” Twilight exclaimed, “Doesn’t that sound just fun?”

Pound stopped himself. Being alone with her in this room for three days? Not bad. Not bad at all. He nodded. “You’re right, what am I saying?” He said, grabbing a few books before flapping his wings upwards higher.

“Now that you mentioned it, I’m a bit hungry,” Twilight said, blushing with a grumbling stomach. “What’s there to eat?”

Then there was a knock at the door.

7:26pm

Salty tears poured down her face, her face in anguished pain. Twilight stuffed a hayburger down her mouth before grabbing a bunch of salty fries. “Why did it have to be hayburgers for dinner?” She exclaimed while her mouth was full. “We ate them already for lunch!” She horked down another burger to ease her suffering.

“ ‘Sorry that I couldn’t stay longer. So dinner is on me. Don’t worry about the payment, I got it all covered.’ - Spike’.” Pound read from a very greasy piece of paper. “But, how did he manage to get over a hundred burgers? It’s astronomical! And there’s so many fries!”

Her cheeks full, Twilight shoved more food inside of her mouth. “Pound, I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think you could spend the night with me?”