Forgiveness wasn’t something that came. The words that she had said, about looking at his horn, echoed through his mind. His time at Sweet Apple Acres had been enough to earn him the forgiveness of one pony, namely Applejack. That hadn’t been his hope when he had agreed to help, the promise of apples had been enough, but the few days had been an influence on him. Before that day, he didn’t feel as guilty about things that he now started to. Hokey Smokes hadn’t thought about what had happened to the Great and Powerful Trixie, and when he had embarrassed her, but twice during his job did it come to mind. The first time had been a memory, one that held no feelings either way. Then came the second time, and it was a time when he couldn’t help but feel as though he did something that could have permanently caused a young mare to feel inadequate. His thoughts moved back to the present, though, when he felt as though he was some sort of experiment. She didn’t care about him, didn’t want to give him forgiveness, or at least that was how it seemed to him. In his mind, he must not have been anything more than an idle curiosity, a puzzle that needed to be solved and then passed off.

He was a problem that she wanted to fix.

Wait it enough?

This wasn’t one of those situations where Hokey Smokes thought he deserved to be forgiven, at least not immediately. Part of him wondered if he really cared about that sort of thing. If it did, and it slightly did, then why did it matter? That was a question that he couldn’t answer, though he still wasn’t sure how much he cared about it. I know that Twilight Sparkle is somepony who is nice, but doesn’t seem to have forgiven me completely. Has she even thought about it? Does she truly know what happened? Maybe she could explain to me how it worked, with the Ursa. I still don’t know how it worked, and I’m the one who went through it. Oh well, maybe it’s better to not think about it anymore. If she knows, then I will ask her later. If she doesn’t, then nothing of value will be lost. Not a single word was being spoken, the two ponies simply walking toward their destination that was the library. Twilight Sparkle was actually walking in front, with him following closely behind. It wasn’t the smartest thing he had done, as he sudden stop led to him actually ramming into her backside.

“Ooof! Sorry!”
Hokey Smokes stood back up, holding a hoof out to offer the young mare some help to stand back up. Smooth move, dude. This is the pony who thinks that she can help you out, who will be trying to help you out, and you just rammed into her. For all you know, she could have been trying to talk the entire time. All you’re doing is getting stuck in your own thoughts. Now she- wait, she could have said something and you still wouldn’t have any idea. Gah! That is not exactly the right thing, stop thinking and start listening.[/I A shake of his head, he hadn’t been paying attention as well as he should have. The shake of his head actually came at a bad time, with a questioning glance from Twilight. She had, apparently, said something that he hadn’t responded to before.

“So you are going to just stand out here?”

“Huh? No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

What should I tell her? Should I admit that I wasn’t listening? That might come across as rude. Then again, honesty works out better than telling a lie. She won’t hate me too much if she knows the truth, that I have a lot on my mind. She might even understand! How nice would that be? Hokey Smokes chuckled, realizing that he was simply standing there glancing upward. It must have made him seem as though he was purposely ignoring her, which wasn’t completely the case. “I got lost in my thoughts. Even after all of this time, everything seems almost surreal. I don’t know how to explain it, Ms Sparkle, but-“

“Call me Twilight.”

“Alright, Twilight Sparkle.”

“No, just- nevermind. So, you just got caught in your own thoughts?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, it’s time for you to come inside. I have some things I need to do, some tests to perform, and then we can get to you.” By this time, she had turned and walked in. Hokey Smokes didn’t feel comfortable with just walking in, but he forced himself to do it anyway. Something about this whole thing didn’t feel right, didn’t feel as though he was actually welcome. I am simply an idle curiosity. She will figure out my problem, and she will push me out. It is the thing I am sure will happen, and the thing I am not entirely against. When you expect something, it becomes easier to get over. Eyes scanned the room, the library hadn’t much changed since he had last seen it. There were more books, which could be seen as a plus, but everything else seemed the same. The only thing that struck him as different, actually, was that there was a purple creature that was glaring at him. This wasn’t a normal glare, this was almost bad enough to be considered a death-glare.

Yep, definitely not here to make friends. This is just going to be about my magic, she will surely be shipping me off as soon as she’s done. Hokey Smokes found a place to sit down, and did so. This was going to be the least interesting point of the day, which already hadn’t been terribly exciting. The pony who had brought him there, Twilight Sparkle, was exceptionally busy. She was working on many things, likely a few that he would never learn about, and was too busy to deal with him yet. That was alright; he could sit there and wait. The only thing that wasn’t alright was that he was being watched, the glare never leaving the face of the otherwise adorable little dragon. And I was once afraid of that. That definitely wasn’t my bravest point, it was actually my lowest. I’m just glad that I can put that behind me, try to move on. Well, I can’t move on yet. Minutes dragged on, and the only thing that he could think that might keep him awake was talking to the dragon. There wasn’t much of an indication that he would talk back, the creature didn’t seem to like him, but it was worth the effort to try.

“So, what’s it like to live in a library?”

There was no response, there was simply a glare.

Fine, fine, whatever. I don’t really need to talk anyway. Ten more minutes passed, not a single thing happening to keep him awake, and so he started to nod off. The boredom of sitting there became the boredom of lying there. This became the boredom of sleeping there, mixed with the snoring that didn’t actually have much reason behind it. His dreams were of the encounter with Twilight Sparkle, the one where he had proven to be a horrible pony. Shortly after it was done, there was a second one about how it should have gone. Hokey Smokes knew that he should have been a lot different, yet he hadn’t been. The dream world flashed, and it seemed as though his possible future was showing. He was friends with Twilight Sparkle. Actually, that wasn’t the best way to describe it. He saw cuddling, kissing, hugging. These were things that weren’t done between ponies who were simply friends. There were other things as well, things that caused a blush to appear over his face while he slept. He had just met her a few months back, they weren’t even friends. This was one of those times when it would have been really useful to have control over his dreams. At this rate, who knew what would happen?

“Wake up, sleepy head.”

Eyes opened up, though Hokey Smokes blinked a couple of times before he remembered where he was. He was on the floor, and it was morning. That doesn’t make any sense. It was afternoon when I got here, and now it is morning. Yep, I’m dreaming. He stood up, yawning and stretching, before glancing at the pony who had awoken him. It was Twilight Sparkle. Instantly, he remembered what his dreams had been. His face turned a dark red, and he looked up. A few moments of silence happened, and then she cleared her throat.

“If I’m going to figure out what’s wrong, we’re going to have to do a lot of tests. I hope you’re more focused today than you were yesterday…”

There were a lot of things that the tests could entail, but there was one thought that went through his mind. Yep, today isn’t going to be easy. I don’t know how I know it, or why I think it, but I have this feeling. Today is going to suck.