“It's good to be the Princess.” Twilight Sparkle's voice echoed from the vaulted ceiling of the Deep Stacks.

She paused.

“A Princess.” She corrected herself. Not that there was anyone there in that sub-sub-sub basement of the Royal Canterlot Library to dispute her statement. Even still, to write off Princess Celestia (much less Princess Cadance, or even Princess Luna) so blithely was simply an invitation for trouble. But, if it absolutely came to the unthinkable that all of Equestria had to be partitioned out between the various magical monarchs, Twilight had to admit these rows and rows of shelves (or, more accurately, the books laid out upon them) would be one of the first things she'd claim.

Twilight took in a deep breath and savored the entirely too enticing scent of old books. Aged paper, dried glue, and more than a little dust-- Applejack had once described the smell “like my granny's attic,” which was why Twilight hadn't invited Applejack along on this particular expedition. She hadn't invited any of her other friends, for that matter, even though they'd all taken the same train from Ponyville. Twilight knew the five of them would all find something fun to do while they were in Canterlot, before the evening's festivities. At least they weren't in town for the Grand Galloping Gala, Twilight mused-- those tended to be more … eventful than she personally preferred.

Twilight sighed pleasantly, and ran a forehoof over the battered, ancient, and entirely unorganized rows of books. If she had the time (say, a spare century, perhaps), she knew she could catalog all this forgotten lore. Most of the books were lesser-quality copies of books contained in the main library above, but there was always the chance there was some forgotten tome of lore hidden away in plain sight amongst the shelves. There was also the chance that some of the books hidden in the Deep Stacks were there for good reason. Rumor had it the Deep Stacks had at least three copies of the Neighcromonicon hidden somewhere within. But, Twilight mused, that might've just been the same copy popping up over and over again due to textbook chrono-spatial distortion.

It was understandably difficult to get a pass to the Deep Stacks.

Being a Princess made it understandably easier.

Twilight's hooves clipped softly against the smooth stone floor. She put a little more magic into her horn to light her way through the labyrinthine stretches of bookshelves. She didn't know what she'd find on this trip, but she'd specifically carved out a several hour stretch of her Official State Visit to Canterlot in order to just … browse. By reflex, Twilight identified volumes and folios as she passed: Livery's A History of Equestria, Leisure Lake's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a later translation of Grim Glare's Morally Uplifting Stories for Colts and Fillies. Each book was fascinating in its own right, which Twilight knew since she'd already read them. Twilight passed by title after title, most of them works she was already familiar with, or even had more recent editions in her personal library.

Wait.

There it was.

Twilight almost missed it, but she forced herself to stop just in time. She backpedaled for a few paces, and then slowly, reverently, raised a hoof to nudge a crumbling copy of a later translation of The Epic of Timberwulf out of the way. A small book, bound in navy colored cloth sat on the shelf, dwarfed by the larger histories and epics. It looked more like a personal notebook … which made its presence amongst the other contents of the Deep Stacks all the more intriguing. Twilight's horn glowed even brighter as she floated the little book from the shelf. The bindings made a faint cracking sound as Twilight eased the little book open. There came another, near-intoxicating waft of old-book smell, which earned a pleased sigh from the Princess. She smiled to herself, and then looked at the inside cover, curious to see what could put such a humble little book way down in the Deep Stacks (apart from the boring, mundane reasons of 'it just got lost in there').

Twilight's heart immediately hammered into overdrive as soon as she read the inside cover. She nearly dropped the ancient, fragile book, but managed to restart the levitation spell before any permanent damage could be done. Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes, took a deep, book-flavored breath, and forced herself to calm down. She mostly succeeded. And so, just to make sure that she wasn't under the influence of some hallucination, Twilight made herself read the inside cover a second time. The inscription remained the same.

With the sort of speed that would've made Rainbow Dash pout in jealosy, Twilight streaked out of the Deep Stacks. Loose pages fluttered in her wake as she spiraled up the staircase from the sub-sub-sub basement, and into the palace proper. Maids, butlers and valets all scattered out of Twilight's way as she flew through the palace corridors in a blur of crackling purple magic.

Within moments, Twilight Sparkle smashed into the doors of her Pretty Princess Suite with the force of a battering ram. “Spike!” She yelled, perhaps a little more forceful than she would have been if she wasn't so excited.

“Gah!” Spike sputtered to wakefulness from where he'd been sprawled out on the couch. He wiped some drool from the corner of his mouth, and stared at Twilight. “What's wrong, Twilight? Is Equestria in trouble again?”

“Not yet!” Twilight flew directly for her desk, and splayed her wings out at the last moment to keep herself from slamming into it headlong. It was only when she came to a complete stop that she lifted Starswirl's book out of her saddlebag, and carefully laid it on her desk. “I mean, uh, not today! But we've got an academic emergency, here!”

“An academic emergency?” Spike scratched at his head. “So … Cheerilee's in trouble?”

“No, Cheerilee is not in trouble.”

“I don't really know anyone else you could call 'academic.' Except for you, I guess. Are you in trouble?”

“I'm not in trouble.” Twilight said with a giddy grin. “In fact, I'm perfect! I just found something amazing.”

“Whoa, what is it?”

“I don't know!” Twilight pranced on her hooves. “Or, more accurately, I don't know yet. Which is even better, because now I get to work up all this anticipation! All I know so far is that I've found something that used to belong to Starswirl the Bearded himself! Who knows what he wrote in here? There could be new spells, or new magical formulas, or … well, even a shopping list would provide a fascinating level of historical perspective!”

“You're getting this excited over somepony's groceries?”

“Over Starswirl the Bearded's groceries!”

“Uh huh.”

“Now Spike, I'm gonna give this a preliminary read, but I'm going to need supplies-- paper, ink, pens, possibly some sort of manuscript preservation equipment, a camera, film, a dehumidifier … are you writing this down, Spike?”

“Duh.” Spike said, having already acquired pencil and paper as soon as he realized Twilight was in her 'inspired ranting' mode.

“Great! So while you go get all that stuff, I'll give the manuscript a preliminary read. Once you've got all the materials, I'll be able to begin the cataloging and analysis. Oh, this is going to be fun!”

“Whatever you say, Twilight.” Spike eased the door shut behind him on his way out.

By the time Spike made it back to the Pretty Princess Suite, Twilight's giddy enthusiasm had melted away. Her wings slumped, her brows furrowed, and somehow Twilight had managed to get her normally low-maintenance manestyle ruffled into disarray in record time.

“It doesn't make any sense!” she said, and sat back on her haunches.

“What doesn't?” Spike set his box of stationery and photography equipment to the side, and trundled over to Twilight.

“This book!” Twilight said. “It's full of … well, I guess you could call it poetry?” She sounded more than a little sure of her own words.

“So?”

“So.” Twilight said. “There's no record of Starswirl the Bearded as a poet. Scientist. Magician. Explorer … yes. Poet? No.”

“You think it's fake?”

“No. The signatures match Starswirl's. The materials are period appropriate, too. I'd have to take samples for radio-carbon dating to be sure, but from my surface analysis, it's genuine.”

“But … that's good, right? I mean, you just discovered an unknown book of poetry by your hero! That's like, a whole new field of study, isn't it?”

“Technically, yes. But … “ Twilight Sparkle rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

“But what?”

“It's the poems.”

“What about them?”

“They're about beards.”

“Huh?”

“Starswirl's poems are about beards. All of them.”

“Aw, c'mon. Nobody could write a whole book of beard poetry.”

“I've gone through this book from cover to cover. Every poem's about beards. Just look at the table of contents.” Twilight turned to the front of the little book, and began to rattle off titles. “I Like Beards, Stroking My Beard, Got Me A Beard, The Beard Accessory Store, If Your Dad Doesn't Have a Beard You've Got Two Mums, Why Having A Beard Is Better Than Having A Woman, Shaved Off His Beard--” Twilight gasped for breath, and added on. “That one's kind of sad, actually. It's got tear stains on the page.”

“Whoa.” Spike said, and found himself suddenly aware of his own smooth-scaled face. “Is that it?”

“There's more.” Twilight said. “Touch Me In the Beard, I Have A Beard And It Looks Really Good, You Should Consider Having Sex With A Bearded Man--”

“Whoa, what was that last one?”

“AND.” Twilight pointedly ignored Spike's question. “This last one, A Wizard Needs A Beard.”

“Go fig.” Spike said. “Guess the dude really liked beards.”

“But … but it's Starswirl the Bearded!”

“Seriously, it's right there in his name.”

“It doesn't make any sense!” Twilight held her face in her hooves, despairing. “It doesn't match anything else I've read by, or even about Starswirl the Bearded. I've got to be missing something!”

“It's alright, Twilight. I mean, it's just some musty old book, right?”

The corner of Twilight's eye began to twitch. “Starswirl the Bearded was an expert on magic. And magic, to use the inverse of the saying, is friendship. I am the princess of friendship. Which means that I am also the princess of magic, and it is my responsibility to figure this out before some terrible disaster strikes. Again. I have to figure this out, Spike.”

“Oh. Uh. Okay.” Spike said. “So, uh. Maybe it's a code or something? Or a metaphor? Or is it simile? I get those two mixed up.”

“I thought about that.” Twilight said. “But … the verses are pretty straightforward. Here, see for yourself, Spike.” Twilight opened the old book to a random (but thankfully baby-dragon-safe) passage.

Spike stood up on tiptoe, and read the verses aloud.

Spike rested his fingers at the edge of the desk, and looked up at Twilight. “Okay, so maybe there's not a secret meaning there.”

“I … I just thought Starswirl was called 'the Bearded' just because he had a beard. Not because he was … fixated. I guess it's kind of humbling to discover your hero is … “

“A weirdo?” Spike said.

“I was going to say 'eccentric,' but I guess your term works too.”

“Who even has a beard these days, anyway? Like … there's that one guy who likes tennis, right? Haven't seen him in awhile.”

“Beards have more or less fallen out of style recently, yes.” Twilight mused. “Mustaches are a lot more popular. Easier to grow, too.”

“Wait, didn't that Tirek guy have a beard?” Spike thought aloud. “But he was a jerk and tried to kill everyone. Or … uh, Discord kind of has a beard-thing, doesn't he? But he's also like, part goat. And he was a jerk and tried to kill everyone too.”

“Discord has a beard.” Twilight said. Her voice was faint, distant-- almost an afterthought as the epiphany hit her.

“I just said that.” Spike said.

“Tirek has a beard.” Twilight said.

“I said that, too.”

“Spike, you're brilliant!”

“I am?” He'd heard the words from Twilight before, but to his credit, never let it go to his head.

“You are! And so am I!” Twilight flared her wings as she galloped across the Pretty Princess Suite. She used her telekinesis to snatch up pen and paper, and scribbled out a hasty list. “Okay, Spike, can you go to the library and pick up these spellbooks? They're … mostly safe so long as you don't open them. Just tell them Princess Twilight Sparkle sent you on a matter of vital importance!”

“Got it!” Spike nabbed the list from Twilight. “What're you going to do?”

“Me?” Twilight Sparkle smiled proudly. “I'm going to follow in the hoofsteps of Starswirl the Bearded.”

Author's Notes:

Each and every poem of Starswirl's in this story is an actual song by an Australian band called The Beards.

They are amazing and I am quite sad I never got to see them live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzVGvMd_a8k