Chapter 6: Behind the Bookshelf

Twilight woke up at the crack of dawn, like every other morning. After a quick look at her schedule for the day Twilight was off, running around the library in organized chaos. She quickly woke Spike up, needed him to put yesterday's returns into their proper places. As usual Spike was reluctant to get up, so Twilight left him for a few minutes so she could get breakfast ready, knowing he would run downstairs as soon as he could smell the cinnamon in his oatmeal.

Knock, Knock

"Who would come here so early in the morning?" Twilight said quietly before running towards the door, "Coming!". When she opened the door there was a familiar pony standing on the other side.

"Midnight!" Twilight said happily, giving the pony a quick hug, "It's good to see you again"

"You too Twilight" Midnight said back. The Unicorn smiled at Twilight before reaching into his saddlebag, pulling out a scroll with Celestia's mark on it. Twilight followed the scroll with her eyes, watching as he opened it, passing it over to her so she could read it. Her eyes quickly ran down then scroll, her eyes widening in surprise the more she read.

"She can't be serious, right?" Twilight asked worriedly as she looked up at Midnight, who's straight face answered her question immediately. Midnight sighed and then walked inside, moving towards the main table in the room. He sat down and pulled out another scroll, this time addressed to Spike, who happened to be coming down the stairs. He let out a loud yawn and scratched the back of his head before noticing Midnight sitting at the table.

"Hey Midnight, long time no see" Spike said sleepily. He stared at Midnight for a few seconds before noticing the scroll with his name on it sitting on the table.

"What's this?" Spike asked, picking up the scroll and opening it. He quickly read through it, and when he finished he frantically looked up at Twilight.

"Spike..." Twilight said slowly, knowing what he was about to say.

"But Twilight!" Spike whined. Twilight ignored Spike as she made her way to the kitchen, deciding to make breakfast for herself and Midnight rather than argue with Spike for an hour. Spike quickly turned to Midnight, hoping that he would help his case, but Midnight just smiled back, making Spike sigh in despair.

"What is Celestia thinking?!" Spike whined, making Twilight sigh as she heard a knock at the door, followed by some stumbling. She could barely hear what was going on, but she could tell it was Rarity who had knocked on the door. Twilight decided to ignore it and started making oatmeal for herself and Midnight. Apple cinnamon oatmeal, his favourite. After a few minutes their breakfast was done, and Twilight carried it out to her waiting guest.

"Is that apple cinnamon oatmeal I smell?" Midnight said cheerfully, "How did you know?"

"I used to make it all the time after an all-nighter at the library, remember?" Twilight said playfully as she set the bowls down, across the table from each other. The two of them started to eat, remembering the fun times they had back before Twilight left for Ponyville. Midnight had been recently assigned head librarian for the Canterlot Archives, and Twilight had decided to make nice with him since she saw the library as a second home. The first day she went to go see him things got a little out of hoof...

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"This is the history wing of the library" the old librarian, Bookmark, explained as he led Midnight on a tour. Today was the day Bookmark would retire and pass the torch onto Midnight, who had been his assistant for the longest time. As they walked through the Spellbook section they heard quiet mumbling coming from behind one of the bookshelves.

"What's that?" Midnight asked, having rarely been into the Spellbook section due to Bookmark's strict rules.

"That, my friend, is Twilight Sparkle, the personal student of the princess herself" Bookmark said, his voice a mixture of jealousy and happiness. As they continued to walk through the many wings, all Midnight could think about was the mysterious student who was hidden behind a bookshelf in the Spellbook wing. Was she as old as Celestia? What does she look like? I wonder if she's cute..., Midnight thought as the tour came to a close.

"Do you remember everything Midnight Twinkle?" Bookmark asked, laughing as the Unicorn in front of him blushed deep red.

"Don't call me that" Midnight muttered angrily while looking at the floor. As much as he loved his parents, he hated the fact that his name had to be Midnight Twinkle, he thought it made him sound like a girl. Bookmark laughed heartily before roughing up Midnight's mane, making him blush harder.

"I know you're ready for this Midnight," Bookmark said as he looked away, something catching his eye from far away, "I just hope she's ready for you"

"What?" Midnight asked, looking up to see the elderly pony walking way. He looked back at the library, seeing a small purple tail whip around the corner of a bookshelf. What was that?, Midnight asked, starting to chase after the tail himself. As he followed it he saw the tail to continue to whip around corners until they came to the Spellbook wing. Am I following Twilight? Midnight thought as he peeked around another corner, seeing the purple Unicorn sitting at a table, with what seemed to be a bed behind her.

"Uh, hello?" Midnight asked slowly, making the purple pony jump. The pony turned around, making Midnight jump back slightly. The mare in front of him was surprisingly beautiful for a bookworm. She looked back at him and jumped back as well, caught off guard by Midnight watching her.

"Hi..." Twilight mumbled, looking away from Midnight.

"So, you're Twilight...?" Midnight asked slowly, making Twilight yelp slightly.

"Y-yes..." Twilight replied, looking up at Midnight helplessly, "Are you the new librarian?"

"Yeah, I am..." Midnight said slowly, his face bright red, "Wow, she's cute..."

"I'm cute?" Twilight asked shyly, looking up at Midnight with big eyes. He tried to walk away, but his body acted before he could think clearly about it, and reached forwards, pulling her into a hug. Twilight gasped as Midnight continued to hug her, but eventually she hugged back. Eventually they broke apart, and after staring at each other for a few minutes with rosy cheeks Midnight started to walk away, giving Twilight a quick hug before running away.

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"So..." Midnight said quietly, getting Twilight's attention. She quickly looked at him and laughed, blushing slightly because of the memories she had thought about.

"Yeah?" Twilight asked, looking at Midnight with a cheerful smile.

"I, suppose I should tell you now, but, uh..." Midnight said slowly, passing Twilight another scroll from out of his bag. Twilight grabbed it and read it over, her face turning red the further she read on.

"So, does this mean, that you, and me...?" Twilight asked slowly, looking at Midnight, her face almost pure red. Midnight shook his head slowly, blushing as well. Twilight looked at him, small tears forming in her eyes as she thought about what this meant. Midnight quickly moved forwards, giving her a hug before smiling at her happily.

"Are you happy about this?" Midnight asked, giving Twilight a hopeful smile.

"Of course I am..." Twilight said, pulling Midnight into another hug. They continued to hug for another few minutes until a scroll appeared in front of Twilight, from Celestia herself.

"What does it say?" Midnight asked as Twilight picked up the scroll, opening it quickly. Twilight read it as fast as she could, before looking back at Midnight.

"Celestia wants me to go to Canterlot," Twilight said, pausing to look at the scroll again, "today..."