I couldn't wait to get to Canterlot! We ate breakfast as quickly as possible before heading to the castle, and I was jumping in joy the entire time! Normally Mom or Dad would tell me in advance that I'd be doing something like this, but something last minute came up and they needed Auntie Tia to watch me. I hope whatever happened happens more often, cause this is going to be awesome! Canterlot castle, no vest, and if she can get her work done quickly enough she said we could get ice cream at the end of the day! How did this day happen!?

FLASH

"Easy there Tempestive," Tia tells me when I come pronking into the cave above Canterlot. I try my best to stand still, but I have too much energy right now! "I swear you remind me of your mother when she was your age with all of that energy."

"How much work do you have to do? Where are we getting ice cream? From the city? Am I allowed to wander around the castle by myself-"

"Slow down Tempestive," she tells me with a warm chuckle. "Well... I have the same work load as usual, we'd get ice cream from the castle, and you are not allowed to walk around unsupervised. Now are you going to just stand there, or should we get going?"

"GOING!" I yell before charging for the entrance. Before I make it there she picks me up with her magic. I ignore it and continue to try and run, making her smirk at me. She carries me out to the opening and sets me back down.

I take a look down at the city and marvel at the site before me. The city is beautiful! And the surrounding area is just as breath taking. I take a look back up to her and smile, receiving one in return. She snaps her wings open and waits for me to do the same, so I do. Though my wingspan is nowhere near as big as hers. Her smile turns into a challenging smirk as she starts to walk forward, egging me to start trotting. As I break into a sprint she starts to jog alongside me, waiting for me to get airborne. I give a few more powerful kicks before I start to flap my wings. Each beat gives me a push forward that drives me to beat them again and again until I finally leap into the air.

The winds are strong and cold and provide a powerful updraft that lifts me higher into the air. Tia gives a few flaps as well and joins me in the air, gliding around me to be on my left. The sun shines a little brighter as I start to bank away from the city, letting the wind guide me. All I have to do is hold my wings out and the winds do the rest. You never get anything like this back in Ponyville!

Tia grabs my hoof and pulls me towards her. I give her a quizzical look, but she only smirks back at me before diving down. I give a cheer as we slowly make out way down, fighting the draft the entire way. We’re almost pointing straight down and we're still moving relatively slowly, it's awesome! Just as we start to make a headway against the wind Tia pulls up and we launch up and forward, sending us over the castle grounds. We make a few large roundabouts over the city as we start to make our way down. About halfway down some guards fly up and start to escort us, flanking us.

"Why do the guards always escort us when we fly in?" I ask loudly to Tia.

"We have to keep the castle grounds safe, don't we? If anypony could just fly in it would disrupt the activities of the workers," she tells me. I nod in agreement with her logic. As awesome as it would be, I guess there should be some rules to who and can and can't come into the castle grounds. It's like Shadows diary, it's supposed to be off limits to everypony.

We make it to the gardens and kick up some pedals and dust. I give another cheer as I look back up to the mountain, seeing the immense distance we just flew. There's nothing like that in Ponyville!

"Prince-"

"Gentlecolts!" Tia interrupts, stepping towards the guards. "Sorry for the unconventional entrance, but I couldn't help but show off to my nephew." She looks back to me and shoots me a wink, making me chuckle.

"Oh... of course... Ma'am. Um... shall we escort you to the... uh, your work area?" the guard asks nervously, glancing to his friend for help.

"Yes. As fun as that was, it is time to get back to work. Gentlecolts," she nods her head to me and starts to walk towards the castle. I look between the two guards before running after Tia. They seem surprised by my presence, so I guess they remember me from my last visit. I was hoping everypony would forget about that, but I guess not.

Walking through the castle is... an odd experience, to say the least. There's so much history here! Everything has a story and Auntie Tia seems to know every single one of them vividly. But the staff are more than aware of my presence here. Maids whisper to one another as I walk by, eyeing me with the utmost interest. Guards, standing stoically before doors and hallways, sneak peeks at me whenever we pass. The more and more I become aware of those staring at me the closer I walk next to Tia. It gets to the point where I'm practically walking underneath her! When she stops before a door I bump into her legs, getting her to chuckle. I give her a sheepish smile and move out beside her, noting the giggling maids in the back.

"This is the main library to the castle," she tells me before opening the doors. My mouth starts to hang open as I stare out at the vast shelving corridors of the library. It easily dwarfs the Ponyville library. You could probably fit three of them in here! And even better, there doesn't seem to be anypony in here. Not that the library back home is usually crowded, but there's at least somepony there. This place is empty! "Impressed?"

"That's a lot of books," I mention as I unconsciously start to walk in. I pause a few steps in and look back to Tia, unsure if I'm allowed to enter. The last library we visited ended up causing a lot of trouble, and I don't want to get her in trouble again.

"Don't worry, all of the book here are safe. This is technically a public library after all. Feel free to wander within here as you wish. I'll be at the desks in the main reading section." I give her a big smile before running in- "And no running please!'

I trot my way into the bulk of the shelving and take a look at the sections I walk past. History, biographies, spell formulas, city accounting, fiction, there seems to be everything in here! I don't even know where to start! Should I read up on Canterlot? Or what about Starswirl, is there anything about him in here? What about the Wonderbolts? I'm sure they have several sections all about them!

I make up my mind to see if they have anything on the Wonderbolts, deciding that would easily fill most of my time. I slow down and start to look over the sections more carefully, trying to learn where I am and which direction I should head in. I'm in a spell section of the library, so I guess I'm in the wrong area. Should I head back? I saw a history section back there, that seems the most logical place to start.

"Tempestive..."

"Huh?" I stop and take a look around. I could have sworn I heard somepony call me. Is Tia looking for me?

"Tempestive..."

"Who is that?" I ask aloud, taking tentative steps towards the end of the aisle. I peer around the corner to find it empty. Nothing but shelves and books. I look back to see if there's somepony behind me, when I get the feeling that somepony is watching me. I look back around the corner and gasp quietly when I see a tall shadow at the end of the hall. Its shape confuses me for a moment, but I soon realize who it is.

"Tempestive..."

"Tempus," I mutter as I quicken my pace. Just as I make it to the end of the hallway his shadow races down the aisle, so I chase after it. I see him at the end and give chase. Every time I make it to the end of an aisle he turns down another one. At this rate I'll never catch up with him. Maybe I shouldn't be chasing him. What would happen if I wait for him to come to me? I slow to a stop and wait for him to come from me. It stays quiet for a moment, his shadow at the end of the aisle keeping still.

"Tempestive..."

"I'm here," I call out to him. "What do you need? Why are you here? Is it time?"

"Tempestive... just a little further..."

"Till what? Where are you leading me? Why won't you show yourself?" I ask, taking a few steps forward. He doesn't move. He's waiting for me to make a move. I don't understand what he's doing, but I start to walk forward. Is he trying to lead me somewhere? What is he trying to show me? And why won't he talk to me? With this many questions I make it around the corner and stop before a guard. I gasp a little from this, but compose myself quickly and try to look behind him. There's a pile of books back there and a filly reading them, but the guard blocks me from seeing anything further.

"How did you get in here?" he asks, eyeing me closely.

"I... uh..." I mutter, confused. Why did Tempus bring my here? And where did he go? The guard eyes me a bit longer before going wide eyed.

"You're... you're... oh, my apologies sir! I didn't know it was you!" he says quickly, adding a quick bow at the end of it. I ignore him as I take a look around him. The pegasis filly behind him has her back to us and is distracted with the book opened before her. Her light grey coat and lavender mane seem familiar, but I can't think of a name.

"Who is that?" I ask the guard, trying to make sure she doesn't hear me. The guard responds in a similar tone.

"That's Princess Speaks Softly, sir. She's finishing up her studies for the day... sir!" There he goes again. Why does he keep calling me sir? if anything shouldn't it be the other way around? Well... if he's calling me that, maybe he'll let me talk to the filly. Tempus brought me here for a reason, maybe she has something I'll need.

I start to walk around the guard. I can see the nervous look on his face, but he doesn't do anything to stop me. I step up to the filly and go to say something, but stop when she turns a page. That's when I get a glance at her horn. She's an alicorn, just like me. I didn't know there were any other alicorn foals out there besides me and Rampant. Why haven't I met her yet? Who is she?

"Erm... Princess? The Prince would like to speak with you?" The guard mentions. Prince? Me? What?

"Huh?" The filly mutters quietly, still reading. "My mom said I'm not supposed to talk to you, Prince Blueblood."

"Uhm... I'm not Blueblood... or a prince... My names Tempestive Mortem." She seems to jump from the name. She slowly looks back and stares at me with her light blue eyes. We stare at one another for a moment before she gives a small yelp and dives behind a stack of books.

"Um... Princess?" the guard asks, glancing to me. I shrug back to him, unsure of what's going on.

"Flash!" she calls out in a loud whisper. "Flash! Come here!" The guard, Flash, gives me an odd look before walking over to her. He leans down to listen to her whisper something when it hits me. I have met her before. She's the pony I attacked when I had my incident with Tempus.

Why would Tempus bring me to her!? She doesn't want to talk to me! I don't want to talk to her! I just wanted to read a book, why am I being punished for that!? Maybe I can just turn around and leave while they're talking to each other. Yeah, that's a good idea.

I turn to leave and come to an immediate stop. A note is hanging on the shelf directly in my line of sight. 'Turn back'. But I don't want to! This is awkward! I get enough of that from the other ponies here! Why are you doing this to me? It's not fair!

"Um... Tempestive?" the guard asks from behind. "I can escort you... wherever you'd like to go. As long as it's not here, that is."

"Yeah, I..." I stop and look back to the note. Is this some sort of test from Tempus? He brought me here for a reason. He said he'd come back to teach me, maybe this is a test to see if I'm ready to start training.

Why does this have to be the test! Why couldn't it be a spell formula, or a questionnaire? This is a dumb test; I prefer Dad's tests! At least there I have an option to come back to it when I'm actually ready! What do I say here? Sorry I attacked you, it was just a power fluctuation and I lost control? Also, I was dealing with a new spell I never used before and saw some things I wasn't ready to see yet!

... actually, maybe that would work...

"Where would you like to go?" the guard asks again, bringing me back. I think about it for a moment longer before I make up my mind. This has to be a maturity test of some sort, it has to be! Well I'll play along Tempus! You better have some answers afterwards though!

"No, I think I'll stay," I tell him, turning back around. Speaks Softly squeaks and dives back behind the books. Probably not the best way to start this out, but no turning back.

"Tempestive, I don't-"

"What happened to sir?" I ask him, shooting him a look. His eyebrows shoot up as he starts to sweat nervously. If he's the first obstacle, then this'll be easy.

"I... um... the Princess said-"

"I know what she said. But I have things I need to tell her, and it's really important that I say this. So... go away." He looks back to Speaks Softly for help, but she's busy hiding at the moment. Annoyed that he hasn't left, I take an aggressive step forward, making him take one back.

"Tempestive... sir, I must insist-"

"How am I going to be a proper Prince if I can't even face the ponies I hurt? I have to do this, move aside." I tell him. Though, I have to pause from my own words when their relevance become apparent to me. I can see the cracks starting to form in his resolve. I just need something to knock it all over. Hmm... "AUNTIE TIA!"

"No!" he yells, rushing towards me. "We don't need to call her! I'll... go away for a few minutes, okay? We don't need to involve Princess Celestia, I'll go!" Before I could ask him anything he turns and rushes out of the aisle, yelling his apologies to Speaks Softly. I let out a sigh of relief once he's gone. The easy part is over, now for the hard part.

She's still hiding behind the stack of books. Barging my way over there would probably only scare her. But I need to talk to her, so I need to start somewhere. Somewhere she feels safe enough to talk, or at least listen. Well, when Shadow does this sort of thing, Dad does his best to respect her boundaries. He usually doesn't just force his way into her room and make her do what he wants. And I've already failed on half of that account. So... where does that leave me?

I can't knock on the door to let her know I'm here, like he does. But he does talks through the door. Maybe I can do something like that. She's hiding behind the books... what if I hid on the other end. That way, if she really doesn't want to be here she can leave! Seems like a good enough of an idea.

I sit down and lean against the books. The books slide a bit before she starts to push back. So she isn't making a run for it, that's good. Now what? I guess I should start with saying sorry.

"So... um... I'm Tempestive... but... I already said that." What was that!? That wasn't an apology! That was awkward and weird and nerve wracking! Okay, I can save this, just say you’re sorry and move on! "Uh... yeah, so..."

"..."

"..."

WHAT IS HAPPENING!? I know what I'm supposed to say, why am I not saying it!? I'm sorry, what's so hard about that!? Okay, better late than never. Just say it and see what happens after that. Easy. Simple. Straightforward. Getting nervous. Sweaty hooves. Stalling. Procrastinating. Silent.

"..."

"..."

Okay, this is going nowhere fast. Somepony needs to say something eventually. Maybe I should start with something simple. Ask her about her day, or what she was studying. What was she studying? I lean over to take a look at the book, but it's opened to a page that doesn't tell me anything. I reach over to shut it-

TAP

I freeze when my hoof makes contact with hers. By some sort of cruel fate, we both decided to reach for the same spot of the same book at the same time! I lean over to look at her and feel my heart skip a beat when we make eye contact with each other. We both blush for a moment before snapping back behind the book stack.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I just didn't want to ruin the spin on the book!" she tells me worriedly. Even for her state she keeps a quiet voice about her. Something that tells me she doesn't talk much.

"I-I didn't mean to either! I just wanted to see what book it was!"

We both go quiet after that. I can't believe I touched her! Now I feel as if my stomach is trying to turn itself over and empty itself out! This is gross and weird! I should have ran for it when I had the chance! I take a break from thinking to calm down. I'm probably just making this a bigger deal than it actually is. Yeah, that's it. Just take a few, deep breathes and relax. Everything is okay, just breath.

"I-it's about applied focii," Speaks Softly mutters.

"What?"

"The book. It's about making focii and how to apply them practically."

"Oh... what?" I ask, chuckling slightly. "They're focii, why would you need a book to tell you how to apply them?"

"It's more abstract than literal," she defends.

"It better be. I mean, if you have a focii that lets you... I don't know, lift more let's say, than the application is pretty straightforward."

"Well, that's the thing, is it? What if you try to lift something the incorrect way? Or apply that pressure in a way that breaks the function of lifting. This book is supposed to give you an idea of how to work around those kind of obstacles." I laugh again, getting her to scoff. "It's not a joke. This is a real field of study!"

"I'm sure it is. Just like underwater painting. If you don't know what the focii is made to do, then you're not going to maximize the efficiency of that focii. If it helps you cast, then cast. If it helps you lift, lift. Who needs a book to tell them that?"

"Well maybe someponies don't fully understand the concept of thinking outside the box."

"Probably," I laugh a little more at this. It really is silly. It'd be like reading a book on how to walk normally. I'm sure there are some important things they can tell you, but as long as you're walking who cares? But I had my fun, no need to keep offending her. Time to change the subject. "Are you reading it for school?"

"Kind of. I'm home schooled, and my Mom told me that reading this would help nurture my critical thinking skills."

"I'm home schooled too!" I blurt out excitedly. I honestly didn't know there were any other home schooled kids out there. This is a relief.

"Really? That's... nice. Is there a reason you're home schooled?" she asks, her intrigue growing.

"Well, it's mostly my dad. He says public schools aren't really a place for smart people. But my mom helps too, and she usually scolds him for saying that. But, from what I understand from my other friends, the stuff I'm learning is way more advanced then what they learn."

"I know what you mean. I met some foals who were on a field trip that didn't even know when or how this castle was built. How could you come to a place like this and not know its history? What if they were tested on it afterwards?" I laugh at that, making her shy away slightly.

"Yeah... hey... about that... one time, when I... you know..."

"Oh..."

"Yeah... I'm... I'm sorry about that. I was... I was learning a really difficult spell and things didn't go well. My dad says that I was just going through some sort of... change... I didn't mean to hurt you... or scare you. Sorry." She doesn't say anything, which only makes me feel guiltier about the whole thing. I'm being honest here. I didn't mean to do any of that. But... all of that power... I didn't even know what I was doing. It was purely instinct.

"I forgive you," she mutters, surprising me.

"Really?" I ask, astonished.

"Yeah... but only if you promise me that you'll never do it again." I laugh a little at that. That seems simple enough. "And... one other thing too."

"Yeah? Anything!" I tell her, standing up and facing her. She has the book in her hooves now and is holding it tightly, trying her best to hide behind it. She tries to look up to me a few times, but becomes too shy and hides away again. She eventually just hides completely behind the book, shaking slightly.

"Will you... come back and visit?" Her question catches me off guard. Visit? What does she mean by that?

"Um... visit... here?" I ask to clarify.

"You're the first pony I've met who wasn't here on a field trip. And you're smart too. There aren't a lot of other foals here and I never get to leave, so usually I just read by myself. My cousin visits from time to time, but she can never stay that long. I'm not saying you have to visit all of the time! Just... I don't know... visit?"

I feel a pang of pity for her, knowing all too well what she means. I'm cooped up at the house all the time. Rampant and Jet are always at school or some family thing. At least I can go visit Mooseden or my friends. But... this feels a bit weird. Coming all the way here to hang out with a filly, it doesn't seem natural. But, she doesn't seem to have many friends here, and she's smart too. I've never really hung out with a smart foal before. Who knows? It might be fun.

"Well... I don't know how often I'd be able to visit, but I'll do my best to try. At the very least I'll visit when my mom or aunt bring me to work."

"Promise?" she asks, lifting her face from behind the book. I get that weird feeling in my stomach again. Kinda barfy, while also being twisty. I don't much care for it.

"Promise... I should get going. I was rude to that guard and I don't think he'll be very happy with me when he comes back." I tell her, taking a few nervous steps back.

"Oh, okay. Flash Sentry is usually understanding about these kinds of things, but you were pretty rude." We share a small laugh together. I try to say goodbye, but we made eye contact again and I had to look away quickly. This is weird. I really need to get out this element, it doesn't suit me well. "I'll see you again?"

"Yeah. I promised, didn't I? And you never break your promises, or else."

"... or else what?"

"Exactly. Bye!" Before she could question me further I turn tail and book it out of there. But not before I grab that note. This was weird. Hopefully next time it won't be, but it was really, really, really weird! I make it a few rows down before I slow down enough to read the note. Sure enough, there's another note on the back... one I don't like.

'Treat your future wife better next time. And bring macadamia nut cookies, they're her favorite.'

That's my future wife!? Her!? Isn't this breaking some sort of time line continuity rules or something? Why would he tell me this!? And macadamia nuts? What!? Huh? Whuh... HUH!?

"There you are Tempestive!" Auntie Tia calls out as she walks up to me. "Did you have a good time in the library?"

"I got married."

"What?"

"Also, a guard called me a prince. What was that about?" Even with her white coat, I can see her grow a bit paler from this.

"Oh... that... uhm... that's a question for your mother and father to answer... Why don't we get lunch and... oh dear."

Next Chapter: Chapter 245 Audit Queen Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 16 Minutes