“So that's what we did yesterday.” Twilight sighed.

“Sounds like you had fun.” Robert answered. "Nice work Spike.” Robert said, raising a muffin to the purple dragon.

“Thanks.” Spike said.

“So, this Discord, is that the same Chaos Lord who turned the universe upside down just a couple of years ago?” Robert asked.

“Yes. Though Fluttershy has managed some amazing strides in reforming him.” Twilight smiled. "He's as much a prankster now as anything else.” Robert's eyes narrowed.

“Oh really? I see.”

“What?” Twilight asked, suddenly concerned at the look on his face.

“Nothing, just something to ask Rainbow Dash about.” he said, taking a deep breath.

“Okay. So speaking of Pegasi...” Twilight said, leading into the Scootaloo Problem as she'd so cunningly named it.

“Oh, yes. Did you know here grandfather was a Long Patrol leader?” Robert asked. Twiliight blinked.

“No, I didn't. I knew he was part of the military, but not where he served.” Twilight hadn't really thought it important. "Is that important?”

“Not to the research, but he saved my father's life once.” Robert shrugged. "Which, since he was not yet my father, makes him rather important to me.” Twilight laughed. “As for the research, no, Scootaloo does not seem to have suffered any particular trauma, nor does she seem to have lost the ability to fly at any point. In truth, it seems like she's never had it. And yet, she's capable of generating not inconsiderable thrust. However, lift seems to be outside her capabilities. At least, the kind of lift needed for sustained flight.” Robert said, reading through the notes. Both Scootaloo and Gold Wing had answered questions, and he had some answers marked for each of them. Some only Gold Wing could answer because Scootaloo was too small to remember. Others only she could because he wasn't present. A few were marked with a small H to represent hearsay, because neither of them had direct knowledge or memory of it and only knew from others.

“That does support the theory that something isn't quite right with her pegasus magic.” Twilight said. “All the evidence is pointing to that, rather than some physical deformity.”

“Good to know. The problem then being, how to repair the damage.” Robert nodded. "If indeed it's damage at all.”

“You think it could be an intended effect?” Twilight said. "Flight is her dream and the basic purpose behind being a Pegasus.”

“You know magic even better than I do, and you know that it has a long history of not behaving at all like we expect. From the elements to your wings, magic has a will of it's own.” Robert reminded her.

“Magic is as magic does. And all things happen how they do for their own reasons.” Twilight responded. It was one of the first tenets of magic, taught to all Unicorns. To remind them that a spell failing was not always their own fault. Sometimes magic just didn't want to do what you asked, other times there was a reason, even if you couldn't see it.

“And often times the truth of an event is hidden in it's conclusion.” Robert added. Star-swirl had said that, not long after Clover's creation of the Warming Heart. "Perhaps we are looking at it wrong. Perhaps it is not that she cannot fly, but that she cannot fly the same as other pegasi.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Perhaps it's not the flight itself, but the take off. If she gains speed enough to lift off, she might be able to achieve lateral flight, but not hovering or vertical take off.” Robert proposed.

“Yes, but how to test without shooting her out of a cannon?” Twilight asked. Robert stared at her for a long moment, trying to determine the seriousness of her question.

“Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“We have Rainbow Dash take her for a ride. Dash get's up to speed, and then Scootaloo tries to fly off. We naturally have pegasi and unicorns standing by to catch her if she fails, but if it succeeds it's just a matter of working out how she can take off on her own.” Robert said, surprised Twilight hadn't considered it.

“I didn't think that would work”. so she had considered it then. "I mean, Dash would have to be going nearly Sonic Rainboom speed, and that might be a danger to Scootaloo.”

“Why so fast? Surely the wing lift area isn't that small.” he said, pointing at a figure on the paper she had.

“No, but the ratio is very strange. She'd need a lot of air moving very fast to get the kind of lift to remain airborne on her own. Once she achieves that initial velocity, the magic should naturally take care of the rest of the process.” Twilight said, pointing to another figure.

“Hmm...” Robert skimmed the math. "Very interesting. Wrong, but very interesting.”

“What do you mean wrong? I triple checked this.” Twilight said, leaning in.

“This work was obviously done before we had our little breakthrough. Because this is the old equation and not the new one.” Robert explained. Twilight stared at it.

“I don't believe it.” she teleported a piece of paper and quill down and started writing. A moment later she started over with ink. Robert kept his tongue silent as she worked. "Hmm... this is strange.

“What?” Robert asked.

“According to this, she should be achieving speeds at least as fast as Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said and slid the paper over.

Robert scanned the paper but found no errors. He took a breath and looked again. “Curiouser and curiouser.” he said at last. “Perhaps it's some interaction of the magic that we can't see?”

“I doubt she's a nascent alicorn.” Twilight said. She knew Cadance was descended of Pegasi, but something told her that wasn't Scootaloo's path.

“I agree. And yet... something is not right.” he flexed his wings. "I'd trade these bloody things in for my Sight back.” Twilight stared at him. "The ability to see magic. I can't do anything magic related thanks to that bloody potion.” he took a calming breath. "No point complaining about what you don't have.”

“Hmm... I wonder if perhaps there's a spell to duplicate it.” Twilight mused.

“I haven't found one, but then again, I might not have read the book that contains it.” Robert replied. "Such is always a hazard of not having infinite free time.”

“True. I suppose... would you be interested in a flight?” Twilight asked. Robert raised an eyebrow. "The Canterlot Library has the most extensive magical collection I know of, and if we're going to find it anywhere, it would be there. And a second set of magically knowledgeable eyes would be invaluable.” she said.

“I'm not exactly Equestria's best flier. I was passed by Fluttershy early this morning.” Robert replied.

“I'll be honest, I'm not the best flier around either. Though, I do admit getting passed by Fluttershy is pretty bad.” Twilight smiled. "Then again, if you don't fly, you can't practice.”

“Curse you and your logical.. logic.” the big tiger sighed. "Yes, now that I'm starting to sound like Rainbow Dash, I'm thinking it's a perfect time to get out of town for a couple of days.”

“I don't think we'll be gone THAT long.” Twilight said.

“I was thinking of going there for a couple of days anyway, so I might stay a little longer.” Robert shrugged.

“Well, you shouldn't be gone too long.” Twilight said. "Rainbow Dash's Birthday is coming up in a little while and you don't want to miss a Pinkie Powered Party. Especially not a birthday.”

“I'm still in recovery from her last party.” Robert said.

“Yeah, but there's no hard cider of any kind allowed at birthday parties. You do not want to know why. Trust me.” Twilight shuddered.

“In that case, I suppose we should get going then.” Robert stood up. “Anything you need?”

“Nope, I've got a library bag that I keep pre-packed.” she said, digging it out of the closet. "What about you?”

“No, got all the bits. Money bits, wingy bits, dangly bits. Good to go.” he laughed as Twilight blushed.

“Then let's head up stairs. Better to start up there. Oh, wait.” she pulled a piece of paper and pencil from nowhere.

“'Spike, gone with Robert to Canterlot Library, be back tonight or tomorrow morning.” She signed the note and set it up against the bust.

“Right, up we go.” she spread her wings and flew up to the second story. Robert coiled himself and leaped up to the second floor in a single bound. "Why?”

“If I spread my wings and flap in here, we'll be here all night putting the books back.” he explained, stretching one wing out. It was as long as she was from nose to tail.

“Oh, right.” she lead him out to the telescope balcony, which faced Canterlot. "Ready?”

“Not at all. Let's go anyway.” Robert grinned. Twilight shook her head.

“Definitely too much time around Rainbow Dash.” she cantered forward, leaped onto, and off the railing and winged upwards. Robert took a breath, and followed suit, spreading his wings. He had slightly less easy of a time with his gaining altitude. Twilight circled while she waited.

“Dash makes this look WAY to easy.” Robert panted, as he reached the height she was waiting at.

“Tell me about it.” Twilight said, settling into a glide beside him. "You're getting better.”

“The books helped.” Robert said, locking his wings. "The one about suddenly turning into a pegasus was surprisingly enlightening.” he chuckled. "I didn't realize it was that frequent.”

“Poison joke effects every pony differently. Not every pony likes the way the are, and if prepared correctly, poison joke can be very effective at changing them.” Twilight said. "The author in question was originally an earth pony, and became a pegasus. I think she eventually changed back, but I'm not entirely sure.”

“I always tried to avoid the stuff myself. Of course that didn't work.” Robert laughed. "Thermal.” he shifted his course, and caught a blast of warm air rising into the skies. Twilight curled a wing and swung herself into the thermal behind him. They rose up and joined the birds circling at the top of the column, then swung north again towards Canterlot.

“I have to say, I understand why Pegasi like it up here.” Twilight said after a while.

“Oh?” Robert asked. He was concentrating very hard on not noticing how high up they were.

“It's peaceful.” she said. "There's no noise from hooves on streets, no conversations making a ruckus. Just birds and sky.”

“I guess it has it's beauty.” Robert replied. "Give me the nice solid ground any day.”

“That does have it's advantages as well.” Twilight laughed, then stopped suddenly. "Sorry, I forgot.”

“No, it's... fine. Look. The whole point of wings is to over come the fear of heights, right? Well, I can't think of anything that would work better than flying.” Robert said. He took a deep breath and looked down. This was the classically bad mistake made so often by cartoon characters and gravity asserted itself rather malignantly. Twilight knew it was going to happen the moment he did it through some sixth sense, and she winged over and dove after him. She caught up with him as he manage to catch himself just a few hundred feet from impact.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“Am I splattered all over the landscape in a hilariously orange blob?” Robert asked. Twilight blinked.

“No.”

“Then I'm just Pinkie Keen.” his eye twitched slightly. "Let's get some more altitude shall we?” he began flapping very hard. Twilight followed him up.

“How's the fear coming? she asked as they resumed their previous height.”

“No longer afraid of heights. Now afraid of grounds.”

“Grounds?”

“Yeah, that's the part that kills you.” Robert said, shuddering. Twilight laughed. So did he, after a fashion. The rest of the trip passed in silence and safety.

Except for the landing of course. Twilight did her magic trick, teleporting out of the air to the ground in one smooth motion. Robert slipped on the stone platform and face planted into the wall.

“Ow.”

“How can you be so graceful and so clumsy at the same time?” Twilight asked him, helping him gain his footing.

“Natural talent.” he replied. He spread his wings and tried to tuck them in. “Cover your ears.” Twilight flattened her ears while he said several words she would later blush upon looking up. "Sorry, messed up my feathers again. I don't know how pegasi do it.” he set about righting the feathers, which didn't take too long. Then he folded his wings, and held the door for Twilight.

“Thank you.” she said, and lead him into the library. Books. That was his initial impression, which was as hilarious as it was stupid, at least to his mind. What else did you expect to find in a library? Yet, even though he had known they were going to a library, he had pictured something like Twilight's home in Ponyville. The sheer size and scale of this one took him by surprise. Twilight grinned at him. "Impressed?”

“Very. I have never seen a library this big.”

“And this? This is the oldest wing. The newer ones are bigger. Someday, I'll show you the one in the Crystal Empire.”

“I shall have Rarity make me some socks so they can be knocked off.” Twilight laughed at the mental image.

“Right, let's see what we can find.”

---

It took more than a night's worth of digging. The library closed to regular patrons, but wings and a horn went a long way to extending courtesies. And a catastrophically precipitous temper went farther still. Twilight Sparkle was well known for outbursts of the latter if she was interrupted while studying and those who knew here were not willing to take the chance that her temper had remained after her ascension. Those who didn't were quickly informed. Donut Joe was allowed in, bringing coffee and snacks.

“Hello Princess.” he said, having set the bag on the desk. Normally food wasn't allowed in, but Twilight had a long history of doing it anyway. "Here's your favorite.”

“Joe. How long have we known each other?” Twilight said.

“Longer than I've known just about any pony, why?” he asked.

“How many times do I have to ask you not to call me Princess?” she said.

“I'm an old, dear friend. I'm allowed to call you anything I please. That's what old friends do.” he smiled. This wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation.

“Yes, but you always called me that.” she responded. "I'd like to think we're good friends enough for you to call me Twilight.”

“As you wish. Princess.” he grinned. She laughed. "Enjoy your meal Twilight.”

“I will. Thanks Joe.” Twilight watched him go and then trotted further into the library carrying the bag. Robert was sitting at a table, flipping through a book on magical techniques. There were two piles, each taller than Twilight to either side of him. They were all discards. He reached the end of the book. “Are you actually reading those?”

“Mostly.” he replied, stretching a wing up to place the book on the top of one of the piles. He'd stood on his back legs to accomplish that. "I've learned how to find the information from a book and see if it's relevant and then pass up anything that I'm not looking for. It's not much good for learning, but it's excellent for research.” he replied. The next book settled before him.

“I can't imagine doing that.” Twilight said, settling into her own pile. Hers were primarily books on magic spells, particularly those focused on Thaumaturgy. Spells about spells might seem strange, but Twilight knew that being able to cast a spell and learn about another was an important ability for any practitioner, and she was not about to let any branch of magic go unstudied. Robert piled the book with the others.

“I'll be back. This sitting still is getting to me.” he said, and stood up. He checked that his wings were tucked in, then slowly headed down one of the aisles. Twilight smiled and shook her head. Big as he was, he only just fit down them, even though they were intended for a pony to stand facing across. The wings really did add 10 pounds, she mused, thinking of Rarity for some reason she couldn't explain.

'Channeling Rarity? Rainbow would never forgive my lack of coolness.' Twilight grinned at the thought. She dug into her book and her donut's, reading through the book. Robert came back at some point.

“It's almost midnight.” he noted quietly.

“Oh.” Twilight glanced up. "I should probably get home. I haven't found anything. You?”

“No.” he replied. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “And I can't seem to concentrate any longer.”

“Not used to studying this late?” Twilight asked.

“It's not that. It's...” he paused. "I feel like the answer is staring me in the face, and I'm completely missing it for some reason.”

“Is that unusual?” Twilight asked. It happened to her all the time. "I mean... isn't that how it always works?”

“Not for me, no.” Robert said. "I usually don't worry about research. Something horrible usually happens and by the time I've finished, someone else has solved it. Sadly, the entire day has been disaster free. I mean, we weren't even late for anything.”

“That does seem odd.” Twilight nodded. "I never thought about that. It happens to me, but only when I'm well and truly stuck. If I haven't exhausted all the normal solutions without answer, nothing, but the moment I run out of normal options, bang, disaster.”

“It's almost a though some supernatural force is controlling the universe to keep me from needing to do exhaustive research and to keep you from getting completely stuck.” Robert said, rubbing his chin.

“Nah.” they said together, then grinned. "That said, you're right. We should go home.” Twilight gathered the books, making a note of where they'd left off, and carried them back to their proper places. The librarians didn't really like anyone else reshelving the books, but Twilight knew the filing system better than the librarians did.

She returned to the table and found Robert waiting, yawning hugely. She started at the sheer number of teeth in his mouth, and the fact that most of them were very clearly the type found amongst carnivores. She had been aware, somewhere in her consciousness that he was carnivorous, and she knew intellectually. Still, seeing those teeth in her face made her jump, some distant instinct from the past taking momentary control. It was an act of will to stop herself from fleeing.

“Sorry.” he apologized. "I'm more tired than I thought.”

“It's okay.” Twilight said after a moment. "You just startled me.”

“Oh.” he looked sheepish. "Forgot about that.”

“How can you?” she said.

“I've been.. a vegetarian, sort of, all my life. I don't think of other species that way.” There was a pause.

“Yet, deep down inside, there's an instinct telling me that you look delicious, and not in a 'when two ponies love each other very much' kind of way.” Twilight flushed.

“Umm...” she started. "You mean...”

“That my instincts want to invite you to a dinner as an entree? Yes. So I spend every day overcoming them. I tend to forget that not everyone is reminded of such basic instincts on a daily basis.” he said. Twilight swallowed.

“You realize just how many ponies might take considerable offense to that don't you?” Twilight asked.

“I am well aware of that, and thus I do not make mention of it often.” Robert replied, and then covered another yawn.

“Right, let me teleport us home.” Twilight spread her wings. "Hang on.” she glared at him.

“What?” he asked, leveling a stare at her.

“What do you mean 'not in a when two ponies love each other very much' kind of way?” Twilight said. “Are you saying I'm not cute?”

“I'm saying your species isn't my preference.” Robert replied. "I'm sure there are many ponies who might like to take you out for dinner and dancing.” he smiled. "I am not a pony, and thus not amongst them.”

“Okay, I guess.” she turned away and then back. “And if you were?”

“We'd be in the anatomy section of the library.” Robert replied. Twilight let that sink in for a minute, turned away with a satisfied nod, and teleported them home.