Sunlight alone lights up Canterlot Castle’s throne room, seeping in from various artistic windows. The floor reflects the arched ceiling above with its finely waxed surface, something that a lot of precisive effort had, at some point in time, been placed into. Stained glass windows positioned along the hall-like room, however, let in less light due to the translucent staining upon them which took the shapes of delicate art. Each window has its own color as well as picture; one depicting a solar system, others displaying portions of an earthly planet, such as bodies of water, land masses, and skies, while another window in particular shows off twinkling stars and webs of yellow in different shades. In the center of the long room rests a red carpet running all the way up to a regal throne on which creases fold and unfold as some of the ponies standing before the throne shuffle and move about.

        Princess Celestia’s eyes slowly graze the face of every pony in the room. Though her face remains in careful composition, her eyes purposefully allow a mixture of fear and alarm to become apparent, perhaps in hope to place her kingdom’s well-being at a visible forefront of her concerns. Banterful, meanwhile, struts up to her throne, swaying his hips and humming with sealed eyelids. “Hmm, how ‘bout we skip the exposition and get right to the ... plot?” he suggests, opening his eyes and wiggling his eyebrows outrageously, removing all seriousness from the flirtatious remark.

“Please, Phrase, I ask that you refrain from courting me. I think that it that it might be more important to concentrate on the task at hoof.” Celestia replies with a stern expression. She turns back to the rest of the group.

        With a gasp, Banterful scurries backwards and stops beside Denavian, harshly whispering, "She's totally desperate; we should go before she tries to ship herself with my flank!"

Denavian replies, ”Ummmm, I don’t think that’s what she meant, but whatever,” as they walk away from the throne room.

“I know many of you are most likely undergoing confusion, fear, or disbelief, but I need each of you to maintain composure and ...” the princess’ voice trails off as the two make their way semi-stealthily out of the throne room and away from the rest of the group.

        Once they enter the hall, Phrase spouts, “I’m going to hastily search the castle for interesting stuff! Ooh, or maybe I should go outside and explore Canterlot some more! Celestia knows I’ve done almost nothing of importance since we landed in Equestria! I mean, why wouldn’t she know? She’s been overlooking our entire stay here!

“Now that I think about it, I wonder if she minds our adventuring. ... Ah well, she’s a nice pony princess; what’s she going to object to? She certainly cared when our pilot guy went missing! Gee, I wonder why he disappeared. I can’t remember if Celestia even mentioned whether he left on his own accord or not! He could have just up and walked out! Although, if he did, I doubt there would be such a commotion!

“Hmm, maybe I should head to the kitchen before I check out anything else, because I haven’t eaten since this morning, when I found a patch of flowers and wondered if my new pony tastebuds would find them to be appetizing, which totally panned out as I expected it to! I have no idea how ponies make the artificial flowers that come from their restaurants and other food establishments taste so good when compared to the wild ones, but yeesh, those wild ones are bland when one takes notice of the difference! What about you? What are you going to do?”

        “Who, me?” Denavian slowly considers the query, glancing out at the usual bright sunlight out one of the evenly spaced windows along the left of the hallway. “I honestly have no clue, surprisingly enough. I seem to have lost my appetite considering the current events. I feel like relaxing, maybe hiding in a dark corner somewhere and reading a book. Wait a second, doesn’t this castle have a library?”

        “Uhhh, I think so! At least, in the first episode, Twilight was seen hanging around a library, but that might have been some kind of private one ...” his companion replies in a distracted manner as he examines the hall around him, flicking an ear and sniffling.

        “Well then, I suppose that’s what I’m doing. Might as well learn as much as possible; I have a feeling we’re gonna be here awhile. ‘Sides, I may be able to find the reason for our transportation into Equestria, and a possible way back home. You never know.”

        Banterful’s face contorts into an unusual frown for a second before he lights up and nods. He then raises a brow and purses his pony lips as he lifts his head and looks about for something while the two walk on. Spotting what he suddenly finds himself looking for, the extraordinarily excitable brony-turned-pony takes a sharp right at a hall intersection ahead and gallops towards a stallion in full guard regalia. “Hello, Mr. Guard Pony! I was hoping you could give us directions! We’ve been residing at this pony palace for some time now, but the location of every-” the red brony-pony gushes before the exasperated guard stuffs a hoof into his mouth.

        “I’m sorry, I’d love to help, but you’ll have to find help elsewhere. While I and the rest of the royal guard have been told by the princess to attend to the needs of you and the other strange ponies that have arrived here in Canterlot, I have already been tasked with making sure the mare in this here room remains undisturbed. I’ve spent too much time interacting with you, so I’m going to have to ask you to move on,” replies the straightforward stallion, removing his leg from BP’s mouth and moving back to his former position.

        “Look,” Denavian, who had been silently looking in on the conversation as he followed BP, speaks up, “All we need is some basic guidance to the library and the kitchen. I’m sure that a strong, handsome, and intelligent stallion such as yourself would easily be able to defend  against us two lost ponies should we try anything … tricky ...” smirking at the last spoken word.

        “Ahem, I suppose it wouldn’t be too much trouble just to point you in the right direction,” the guard replies, blushing slightly. “I can’t allow you civilians to just wander around the castle, who knows what mischief you might get into. The library is down that way about thirty doors, and the kitchen should be close by. It’s all in the Left Wing of the castle, where most of the everyday works go down.”

        “Thanks for the help.”

“No problem, it’s a guards duty to help all those who need assistance of all kinds.”

The orange-furred stallion smirked at Denavian. A pony-shaped shadow passes beneath BP and Denavian unnoticed, sliding under the same door the guard is protecting. “Aw yeah, speech success!” BP hoofpumps, going on to say, “Plus thirty experience points for Denavian! Now convince him to strip; I wanna see that orange coat-”

“BP!” Denavian grabs his friend into a headlock, stopping his ability of speech quickly before he says something even more damaging. “Don’t mind him, he never seems to know exactly when to stay quiet, you know?”

“Heh, it’s alright,” the guard pony laughs easily.

“By the way, I never got your name …” Denavian offers casually.

“It’s Flash Sentry,” Flash answers with a knowing wink.

        “Alright, cool. See ya later I guess, and thanks again for the help.”

        “And once again, no problem.”

        After releasing himself from Denavian’s grip, Banterful Phrase presses his forehead, mindful of his own horn, into the chest of his friend, urging them to move on in the prescribed direction. “Onward, valiant party-goers! To defeat the dragon, save the princess, and read all of the books we go!”

        “All right, all right, BP. Let’s go.” Denavian tries to keep himself from laughing at his friends’ enthusiasm and fails.

Banterful grins and blows a raspberry at Flash as he hops alongside Denavian towards their destination. However, before they go more than a couple meters away, Denavian suddenly asks BP to stand by before running back to Flash. “Hey, do you have a pen and paper by any chance?” Denavian asks politely.

        “Only a pen, why?”

        “Well, would you happen to have an address or some other way for me to contact you by chance?”

        “But of course,” Flash replies with a devious smile, quickly grabbing a pen out of some pocket in his armor and scribbling down an address on Denavian’s outheld forehoof.

        “Right, I guess I’ll see you later then.” Denavian grins at Flash before taking off back down the hallway to BP.

        Banterful Phrase smiles and rolls his eyes, heading for the library and kitchen area, setting a much faster pace. Suddenly, stopping them in their tracks once more, a feminine scream erupts from the same room the stallion had been keeping watch over. “Let’s pretend that didn’t happen! To the food and book places, away!”

        With that, the two stallions shrug civil responsibility away and trot on to the left wing of the castle, arriving in a matter of seconds, distancing a good two-dozen paces. BP excuses himself to grab a free meal from the kitchen while Denavian approaches the library’s glass doors, determined to wait for his fellow castle-explorer in front of the library. As he approaches, Denavian glances up towards the library, having been examining the royal carpeting beforehoof.

The wall that separates the library itself from the hall is made entirely of glass, which displays the breathtaking sight of books. It is not the same library that Twilight Sparkle had been known to visit during her time in Canterlot, for this particular one only has a single floor full of shelves that rise yards upward. On the outer edges of the shelves are tables and chairs, many of which are already full of ponies of all kinds, though most appear to be wearing clothing, as could be commonly seen around Canterlot Castle. The bookcases themselves are not straight rectangles of waxed wood, but rather curved and sloped towers of which the intricate designs shine through. Several wood-types and shades are meshed together magically, taking on a tree-like semblance while retaining the colorful contrasts. Lines of age and growth are etched into the bookcases as though they’re naturally grown, and each shelf takes a branchy inclining, the books resting at angles on their surfaces as though they are the natural fruits of book trees.

Denavian gazes with awe before a mare shoves past him to get into the library. Her cold coat roughly nudge his coat, shocking him back into the pony reality he’s only just becoming accustomed to. He moves out of the mare’s way, mouthing an apology, but frowning as she presses against the doors and steps into the library without giving him so much as a single glance. She tosses her head up and levitates her red and yellow scarf off her neck, telekinetically placing it into her bags while simultaneously pulling five books out, two of which are blue, the other three green, red, and grey, all the colors sharing the same, plain toning. Denavian squints his eyes, but can not make out the script on the covers of the books to his chagrin. He watches as the mare trots towards a counter on the right side of the library, near the wall he is peering through. She sets the books in a neat pile on the edge of the desk and rings a bell on the desk, though it’s absolutely silent to his ears.

Denavian watches an elderly stallion slowly make it over to the desk and say something to the mare. She pulls out a card and the stallion takes it, looking it over warily. Denavian presses his face to the glass, his eyes studying the two with interest before he is interrupted by the shout, “Hey buddy, I’m back! What’re you doin’?” from BP.

“Shh!” Denavian hushed BP, primarily by shoving his hoof into his mouth before he could utter another syllable.

Banterful gives Denavian’s hoof the most slobbery lick he can muster, holding it in place with both forelegs and winking sarcastically. “GAH!” Denavian reeled back, hastily wiping the saliva drenching his hoof on his red-brown coat. “Dude, that was just plain uncalled for!”

“I know! It’s amazing that I could do something like that and feel no shame whatsoever!” BP yells, throwing his hooves above his head excitedly. Dropping back onto all fours, Phrase sighs happily and pulls a plastic tray out from behind him, pushing it towards Denavian and stating, “I brought these crackers and cheesy creamy stuffs for you, if you want any! It’s alright if you don’t, though, cause I totally love crackers and cheese!”

“Yeah, sure BP, thanks.” Denavian says distractedly, giving his newly cleansed hoof an extra once over. “I really hope you didn’t lick off Flash’s address, I was kinda lookin’ forward to that. …”

“You’re welcome!” Banterful merrily yelps as he shoves the glass doors. “Let’s book this hallway!”

“Right,” Denavian chuckles mildly as he follows his friend into the Canterlot Library. “Book, I get it.”

        As a hoof-smudge appears on the glass, a gust of air rushing out of the higher pressured room carries the aroma of books, new and old, to the sensitive nose of a certain brony-pony, drawing him inward to the trove of knowledge hidden among the worn and well dusted shelves of the gigantic room. BP sneezes. “Well, I don’t need your stupid books anymore either way! I’m done wasting time in Equestria,” growls the same mare who had recently pushed Denavian. To top off her outburst, she telekinetically slams all five of her books onto the librarian’s desk and storms towards Denavian and friend.

        “Oh my Celestia, you are the prettiest pony I’ve yet to have seen! Ooh, lemme guess your name! Sunny Day, like the orange juice! Or maybe Bright Sun! Something to do with the sun! You have to be my new friend, you look like the happiest pony ever!” BP shouts as he bounces around tan-orange mare.

Looking around for another pony that the strange red colt might be talking to, she narrows her eyes. Eventually, she flicks her red and yellow mane and scoffs at Banterful, “Aw, cute; you wanna be friends with me?” the unnamed mare sarcastically asks, poking BP in the middle of his shirt with a hoof.

        “Most definitely! I’m so glad you understand!” responds Banterful, playfully messing with the mare’s tail.

        With an abrupt laugh, the brightly colored, but dimly tempered mare magically flips BP upside down and drops him on the ground before walking away from him in the direction of the doors. “Don’t waste my time.”

        Denavian immediately steps in front of the strange, hostile mare. “That wasn’t a very nice thing to do, ma’am,” Denavian says steadily, “I suggest you apologize to him; he meant no harm, after all.”

        With a huff, the pony charges up her magic, giving Denavian just enough time to dodge to the right, swearing viciously as a bolt of something or other whizzes through the spot he’d occupied moments before, hitting the carpet instead of its intended target. Rubbing his head, BP sits up and looks at the infuriated mare, interjecting, “Hey, um, can you teach me how to do that magic stuff? I want to be able to impress ponies and simplify daily deeds!”

        With a glint in her eye, Orange Pony turns to that silly colt and replies, “What is wrong with you?”

Denavian stood up, plainly irritated at the sudden disadvantageous turn of events. “Yo, lady. Could you kindly stop bullying him and pick on someone your own size eh? Or better yet, piss the fuck off!”

Rather than respond or even acknowledge Denavian, the sunny pony says, “Fine; lesson one in the art of magic,” before enveloping BP in magic that makes him grow steadily brighter. “Don’t mess with a unicorn that knows how to mess back.”

BP gets up and tries to step out of the light, finding that it emanates from himself. Library visitors all around begin to gasp and murmur, fearfully watching the bright display. Suddenly aware of the attention she is receiving from everypony in the library, Sunset drops her spell, the light dissipating as quickly as it appeared. “What are you all looking at?” she yells. “I wasn’t hurting him!”

Phrase looks back down at himself before gasping. “My coat!”

“Whatever. Have fun being sunbleached,” the mare grumbles as she begins to leave.

“Bitch,” Denavian mutters to himself as he dusts himself off.

Banterful looks himself up and down with interest, pushing his large bangs in front of his eyes and exclaiming, “My mane! It’s white!”

“This can’t be good; you’re completely sunbleached. How are we supposed to fix that?”

Banterful Phrase taps a hoof to his chin before shrugging. “Oh well! I don’t really care what color I am!”

“Maybe we could-”

“It’s always a book time! Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh ...” BP sings as he trots towards the librarian’s counter, changing the topic quickly. The library, after a silent pause, bursts into the unknown liveliness it had wielded only moments before the intrusion of the bronies, a soft murmur of over two dozen ponies milling about the premises, whispering to one another, and altogether enjoying themselves under the supervision of a visibly lax librarian.

Denavian finishes inspecting BP’s coat and strolls leisurely up to the librarian, going with the flow. “So, how on earth is this gorgeous library organized?”

“Hubba wha’?” the librarian asks in response, looking directly at Denavian with confusion.

“You know, silly! How do we look for specific books? Are there sections of the library? Is it alphabetical? Maybe it’s organized by that number system! I hope it’s not, though!” BP starts, pausing for Denavian to speak.

        “Yeah, the Dewey Decimal System sucks!” Denavian groans. “Too many freaking numbers! Seriously, I came to the library to read, not to puzzle out what a bunch of stupid numbers and decimals mean.”

        “You guys better do it differently than the humans do! Well, differently than the American humans! Or the Utahn humans! Actually, I have no idea if all the humans organize their books the same way or not. ... Do you know if all human libraries are organized in the same fashion? You look like you would; you own a library! I’ll bet you’ve read a lot more books than me! That might also be a fact because you’ve gotta be generations older than I!

“This is all under the assumption that you read a lot because you’re a librarian, though! Maybe you hate books! Are you miserable? You do have a lot of bags under your eyes, which means you’re not getting a lot of sleep, which in turn means that there’s something keeping you up at night! Although, you are kinda old! Say, how old-”

        Denavian quickly gags BP to stop the torrent of words that seemed to occur often with the incessantly cheerful unicorn. “I really hope I don’t have to do this everytime you open your mouth!” Denavian says to his companion before sighing good naturedly.

        The librarian blinks in confusion, looking between the two. “Er, what now?”

        “Books. How are they organized?” Denavian says slowly, as if talking to a four-year old.

        “Oh, well why didn’t you two say so?” the elderly pony more shouts then asks as he hobbles out from behind the counter. “Come along with me and I’ll show you the works. My name’s Ink Blot, by the way,” the old pony yells quietly, his voice frail with age. With a smile, he begins a snail-like pace towards the nearest shelf, which luckily sat not a yard away.

        “Old man Ink Blot! I love it! To knowledge we go! Woohoo!” BP shouts before being aggressively shushed by several ponies. “Sorry!”

        “So, Mr. Blot; what have you got when it comes to basic Equestrian history and magic?” Denavian asks.

        “Well, sonny,” Ink Blot looks over his shoulder at the brown colt. “Just what kinda small town library d’ya think this is eh? We’ve got everything from Equestria A-Z to Fifty Coats of Grey, if that’s your thing, heh heh.”

        “Everything is my thing, you know what I’m saying, old man Ink Blot!” BP yells in a whispered tone, nudging Blot as the stallion reaches for the nearest book on the shelf. While the harmless bump did nothing to stop the stallion from obtaining said book, it did annoy him enough to roll his eyes. “Hey, wait a minute! Equestria A-Z starts with an E and Fifty Coats of Grey starts with the letter F! If this library is organized alphabetically, then you don’t have a wide variety of books to offer!”

        “Yes, yes, whatever you say, young’un,” he mutters, pulling two books off the shelf. “Ah, haven’t read this is a while! Each bookshelf in this library is supposed to be organized by the time period it was written about. This is a mainly historic library, so you would expect this to be a great system, but I swear half of this place is for modern decade literature. It’s because of those darned country-folk that have been plaguing Canterlot ever since the ‘Elements of Harmony’ popped up and ‘saved us’ from the changelings. Now every Ponyvillian thinks they can just walk in and take over, asking the princess to make ‘accommodations’ for them! They know nothing about real culture, about history and important customs! Why, if I were in charge, I’d-”

        “Easy there, Inky. You’re doing it again,” interrupted a random mare. As she rests a hoof on Ink Blot’s shoulder, his tense muscles relax.

        “Sorry, those ponies just get me so worked up.” he replies, allowing the mare to take both the books from his hooves into her wings.

        “I know,” she speaks quietly before turning to Banterful and Denavian. “You’ll have to forgive him; he’s actually a really nice pony once you get to know him. I’m Flavour, by the way. What brings you two here?”

        “Well, I want to get some history books for my little brother. He’s been pestering me constantly to help him, so I finally decided to get some books just to get him to shut up.” Denavian lies easily.

        “I didn’t know you had a brother!” BP yells aloud, getting hushed again as Ink Blot walks away mumbling to himself.

        “Shut up BP!” Denavian whispers hurriedly. “Would you rather explain why we need beginner books on subjects we should already know?”

        With a smirk, Flavour holds out the books Ink Blot had pulled out of the shelf and begins trotting to the back of the library, speaking, “If you’re looking for history, why was Inky getting you Equestria A-Z and Fifty Coats of Grey?”

        “I have no clue,” Denavian says. “Ink’s the one who mentioned them.”

        Flavour chuckles and states, “Heh, that old stallion sure is one for a joke.”

        “Oh, I’m one for jokes as well! Do you know any?” BP interjects as they turn at the end of the library, heading into a hall created by a glass wall viewing the mountain and a tall bookshelf.

        “Mm, not particularly, no. Sorry to disappoint,” Flavour replies as she reaches into the bookcase.

        “So, why are you so inclined to help us? If you don’t mind me asking, miss.” Denavian asks their guide.

        Sifting between books, Flavour retorts, “Would you rather listen to old Inky ramble on about how no one cares about his library or appreciates culture? Besides, he needs to keep track of ponies checking in and checking out books, which he won’t be able to do very well in between shelves. Why do you ask?”

        “Just makin’ conversation.” Denavian calmly replies.

        “Oh, oh, I wanna make conversation! So, Flavour; how old are you?” BP asks with a wide grin.

        “Here we go,” Flavour says, sliding a book off her left wing and into the hooves of Banterful Phrase. “Clip Clop’s History Adventure. Perfect for three year-olds.”

        “Wow, we’ll be finished reading this in seconds!” BP exclaims, holding the book up to his face before setting it down quickly and continuing, “I mean, Denny’s brother will finish reading this in seconds!”

        “Heh, go ahead and read it, there’s no need to feel ashamed. What is there to hide?” Flavour asks accusing, tilting her head and raising a brow.

        “I have absolutely no Idea what you’re talking about,” Denavian replies innocently.

        “Yeah! Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve gotta go learn about history!” BP huffs before sticking out his tongue.

        “BP, that book is for three year olds,” Denavian says before turning to Flavour. “Umm, that book may be fine for a child to read on their own, but I need something easy to teach out of, but with large amount of information. Not something that is so basic a slime mold can understand it. No offense.”

        Dropping her smile, Flavour takes the book, puts it back, and moves up a shelf, dragging out a tome that makes Webster’s Encyclopedia of the World look like the Hungry Hungry Caterpillar. “Here, The Complete Guide to Equestrian History. It’s in the language of ancient Equestrian, but everypony’s taught that, so you two should have no problem. Enjoy.”

        Flavour walks away immediately, leaving the two unicorns with the impossibly large book. “Hey BP?” Denavian asks his companion, who is actually being silent for once. “You have any idea how to read Ancient Equestrian?”

        BP slaps open the cover of the book and plops on the floor contently, responding, “Psh, tch’yeah, of course! How hard could it be? It’s probably all, ‘ye, thee, nay,’ and stuff like that! No problem!”

        “Uh-huh,” Denavian grunts doubtfully, pointing at the page that BP just flipped to. The page is covered in an language that is a combination of hieroglyphs and runic, creating a page filled with what is probably huge amounts of knowledge to one learned in the language, but is completely unintelligible to these two ponies.

        “Oh. Hmm. Hey, that children’s book was written in English! Or modern Equestrian, whatever! Maybe if we just find another book from this same bookcase, since this is all on the same time period, we could find one written in a more recent time! Then we’ll be able to read it! I mean, what kind of library, especially one meant specifically for history, only has one complete history book?” BP says as he rifles through the same shelf The Complete Guide to Equestrian History came from.

        “Well, let’s hope the stuff for magic is written in English, not this Ancient Equestrian bullcrap."

        “Hey, I found something in my language!” BP exclaims as he struggles to drag out a thesaurus-sized book with only his hooves. “Hmm. It’s called Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Equestrian History but Were Too Afraid to Ask! This is perfect!”

        “Aw man. It’s only dictionary sized. We’ll never get anything useful outta that,” Denavian remarks sarcastically.

        “There’s no way we could read this by tonight, anyway! Well, there might be a spell for that, but we surely don’t know it! Now, let’s look for the magic stuff! I wonder where we could find a book on magic in a historical library!”

        “Let’s just head back to Ink and see if he can help us.” Denavian heaved a heavy sigh of defeat. They passed through the bookshelves in unusual silence. “Hey BP, you alright man?” Denavian asks his normally cheery friend. “You haven’t said a word since we found that last book.”

        Banterful looks up from the book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Equestrian History but Were Too Afraid to Ask, having been reading it for the last several seconds, before responding, “Oh, uh, sorry! I was learning about history stuff! Look, here’s an illustration of what they thought the leaders of each pony race nation thingy looked like! They look ridiculous in those outfits!”

        “Cool!” Denavian exclaims looking at the picture that his companion's holding, depicting the three founders of what became modern Equestria. “They all look so regal, man. Look at those armor designs!”

        Before Phrase gets the chance to respond he bumps into a bookcase, knocking lose several books and falling to the floor himself, grunting, “Oof!”

        “Whoa, lemme help you up,” Denavian says, trying to stifle a giggle at his friend’s antics as he holds out a hoof for BP to attempt to regain his standing.

        “What do you two think you’re doing, eh?” asks Ink Blot, stepping out from a bookcase over.

        “Just reading, old man Ink Blot!” BP calls, rising from the floor and picking up his book with one hoof. “See!” he calls out, lifting the book up.

        “Don’t give me that, youngster; I may be old but I’m not naive!” Ink Blot somehow manages to whisper as appropriate in a library, but shout at the same time. “You kids think I don’t know what y’all do back here in these shelves, cavorting and consorting for some ‘alone time’ in my library!”

        Banterful blinks and looks between Denavian and Ink Blot with an eyebrow raised. “Um, sir, well, it isn’t like that.” Denavian stutters, his embarrassed face glowing a beet red that his reddish coat does nothing to hide. “We’re not-”

        “Do you know where we could find books on magic?” BP interrupts, stepping forward to save the day with a smile.

        “Of course I do, but I’m not going to help you two until this mess is cleaned,” Ink Blot replies stubbornly, sitting down and squinting at the stallions.

        “Ahem,” Denavian coughs politely, now recovered from his embarrassment. “I’m sorry, but don’t they hire librarians to clean up the messes and organize and stuff?”

        As BP begins to pick up books and examine their titles, Ink Blot rolls his eyes and calls, “Flavour!”

        In seconds, Flavour herself trots out from behind a bookcase calmly. “You called?” she asks Ink before looking at BP and Denavian and sighing, “Oh, these two.”

        “Would you mind helping me make sure these two clean up this mess before I report them to the authorities and have them banned from my library?” Ink Blot asks with a glare, hinting the bronies.

        Flavour sighs and responds, “Inky, you can’t blackmail ponies into cleaning your library, even if they are the ones who messed it up in the first place. Here, why don’t I clean this mess up?”

        BP perks up and yells, “Oh, thank you-” before he’s shushed.

        Ink Blot slacks his shoulders and shakes his head as Flavour moves over to the mess, scooping a book up with her wings. “Young ponies, humph.”

        “Right, thanks for helping, Flavour, and we are sorry ‘bout the mess, Mr. Blot,” Denavian says as he starts to pick up the various books that are scattered across the floor. “But if you wanted us to clean it up, you should’ve just asked instead of ordering. That way it makes us feel like we’re doing a good deed so we’re more efficient.”

        Sliding the last book into the shelf, Flavour rubs a temple with her wing, trotting off away from the stallions without a word. “Thank you, Flavour!” BP yells silently. Looking back at Ink, Banterful asks, “Hey, old man Ink Blot, would you mind helping us find another book?”

        “Fine. What book are you looking for now?” Ink Blot grunts, standing and motioning for the two ponies to follow him with his head.

        “Some rudimentary magic,” Denavian says. “Something that I can use to teach my little brother. Theory, practice, spells, stuff like that.”

        “Hmm. I’m sure we’ve got a book for that hidden around here somewhere.” Ink Blot says absentmindedly, walking through shelves and thumbing through book spines, studying each intently.

        BP purses his lips and looks cross-eyed at his horn, crouching as though ready to pounce before batting at his horn. “Don’t do that,” Denavian scolds the sunbleached pony. “You’ll break it if you keep pawing at it like that!”

“Pfft, please, as if horns could break! They’re obviously made of diamonds and happiness!” BP retorts smartly.

“Yeah, well, it’s probably a good idea to not play with it,” Denavian replies. “Just in case-”

“Ah-hah!” Ink Blot shouts loudly, startling the two stallions behind. “Found it; I knew it’d be around here somewhere. A Theory of Magic, this will do the trick for you.”

“Woohoo! Magic! Okay, so, I think we’ll be checking these books out, now!” Phrase exclaims, hugging his history book tightly.

“Alright, just show me an ID or membership card, then,” Ink Blot says with a smirk, extending a hoof.

“Um, BP?” Denavian whispers.

“Yo?” Phrase yells back, before getting hushed by several ponies passing by. “Yo?” He repeats, whispering this time.

“Do you have an ID or membership card?”

“I have a high school ID, but that’s back in my pants in the plane!”

“Something tells me that won’t do it.”

“Hmm. Maybe we could sign up for a membership?”

“Yeah, I guess. Excuse me?” Denavian looks at Ink Blot. “How do we sign up for a membership?”

“Oh, well, that would require you to fill out a few applications. It’ll only take a few minutes to fill out simple things like full names, birth dates and places, and guardians or siblings,” Ink replies, itching his beard. “Would you two like to sign up?”

        “Yeah, sure,” Denavian says. “I could go for that.”

        “Hmm, yes, follow me, then,” Ink speaks, shuffling back towards his counter on the opposite side of the library.

        BP follows casually, looking in awe at all the books around them. “Impressive. ...”

        “Oh, this is nothing,” Ink Blot states. “I hear the princesses’ personal library is waaay bigger than this one.”

        Banterful gasps. “The princesses have a personal library?”

        “Of course they do,” Ink Blot exclaims incredulously. “You don’t think the princesses would go and check out books with lowly folks like us?”

Denavian continues trotting along, listening to the conversation. “Huh, I didn’t know the princesses though of civilian ponies that way,” BP hums.

        “Meh,” Denavian says. “All royalty have their quirks.”

        “What’s a quirk?” BP asks softly.

        “For this usage?” Denavian answers in an equally soft voice. “Things that you wouldn’t expect of a pony given their general personality.”

        “Quirky!”

        “Wait here, you two,” Ink Blot says, pausing as they reach the counter where they had first seen the aged pony.  He goes around the counter and begins shuffling through various shelves and cabinets.

        “Oka-polka-dot!” BP yips.

        “BP!” Denavian whispers urgently. “What’re we gonna do?”

        Banterful breathes, “What do you mean?”

        “You may have missed this part of the conversation BP, but we don’t have family, guardians, or birthdates and places.” Denavian hisses vehemently.

        “Oh, right! Um, maybe we could just lie? It’s not like they have computers to check or anything! Unless there’s magic for that ... hmm,” BP inquires.

        “Something tells me it’s not gonna be that easy, man. If the lie get’s too elaborate, you can get caught in the web.”

        “Psh, I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it!” BP assures, flicking his only free hoof, the other being used up to hug his book. In less than a second, he finds himself face first on the floor.

        “Yeah, but I’m still worried,” Denavian says as he extends his hoof to help BP up for the second time that day.

        Banterful shakes his head and picks his history book back up, taking Denavian’s hoof and rising to his own. “Are you two quite finished, yet?” asks the librarian, already behind his desk. On said desk lies two packets of paper, stapled five pages each.

        “Yes Mr. Blot,” Denavian says, before picking up the two packets. “Be back in five,” he says, grabbing BP and dragging him over to a secluded couch near a coffee table.

        “Do we have writing utensils?” Phrase asks, eyeing his packet.

        “Yeah, it’s clipped to the packet,” Denavian replies.

        Banterful quietly flips through the pages, reading each line but not writing a word. Finally, he turns to the front page and looks up. “Denavian, I don’t think we’ll be able to lie about this much and still remember. ... What should we do? We still need to learn as much as possible about the new world we’re in!”

        “How much do you like crime movies?”

        “They’re okay! Why?”

        Denavian looks over at BP, and grins.

        Banterful smiles in return. “Are you thinking of one that you really liked?”

        “Nope. Better.”

        “What’s better than that?”

        “BP, m’lad, let me show you.” Denavian gets up abruptly and turns to face Phrase. “First, we grab our books.”

        “Okay!” Banterful replies, picking up his book.

        “Then, well,” Denavian lets out an earthy chuckle. “Then, WE RUN!” Denavian screams, grabbing BP and running for the exit.

Phrase stumbles for a second before galloping alongside Denavian, racing towards the doors and beginning to pant.

“Come on, mate, we got this,” Denavian pants alongside him.

The two burst through the glass doors, more literally than they had planned, just as the librarian shouts “Guards!”

“Sorry Mr. Blot!” Denavian yells over his shoulder as they start running towards the kitchen and hopefully, an exit.

“We should get back to the others!” Banterful huffs as he gallops towards the direction they came from, only to find it blocked by a guard with a spear in his mouth. “Nevermind,” he squeaks before running back to Denavian and into the kitchen alongside him.

        Bursting through the doors of the kitchen, now empty after lunch, the duo runs for the nearest exit. “Stop right there, criminal scum!!” shouts a deep voice from the entrance of the kitchen.

        “I choose to resist arrest!” BP yells back.

        “Don’t taunt them, BP!” Denavian says. “It never works!”

        “Oh yeah!” Phrase replies out of breath. They crash through the exit to the kitchen, blinking in the bright sunlight now streaming onto their faces, the nicely cut grass below stretching up to tickle their hooves. A garden fills their view, shrubbery, trees, and statues filling their sight, along with three figures standing before them. “Phew, glad we made it out of-” BP starts to say before freezing and gazing blankly forward.

        “Ah, Banterful Phrase, Denavian, we were just looking for you two. I have proposed to the rest of the bronies that you all-” Celestia starts to say before a group of guards burst out of the kitchen exit. “-Oh my, what’s going on?”

        “Nothing,” Denavian says, quickly chucking the book he is holding into a nearby bush where it lands safely, caught in the tangle of bushy limbs.

        “These two thieves were caught stealing in the Canterlot library,” called out a guard from the mass.

        All attention turns to the princess, who begins to speak in a serious tone. “Are you aware of who these ponies are?” Celestia asks with a raised brow.

        “Er, no madam. ...”

        “These two are Denavian and Banterful Phrase, a couple of ponies from the group of ponies I had asked you to tend to. I take it there’s been a misunderstanding and you’ve chased these poor ponies for no reason?”

        “Uh, um, I-I. ...”

        “Don’t worry about it, just make sure it does not happen again. You are dismissed, my royal guards,” Celestia orders with a wave of a hoof.

        “Twilight,” BP murmurs quietly to himself.

        “Damn,” Denavian mutters. “Celestia just laid down the law. Shit just got real.”

        Celestia smiles at the two colts before motioning to the ponies standing beside her, speaking, “These two mares are Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. They will be in charge of filling you two in on what you’ve missed and helping you feel at home in Ponyville.”

        Rarity bows and states, “I am sorry for your loss. I hope you find Equestria an adequate new home.”

        Banterful lets his book slip to the floor with wide eyes as he inches forward, whispering, “Twilight. ...”

        “Banterful, you alright doode?” Denavian nudges his friend.

        Phrase shuffles a bit closer to the mares tensely. “Yes, my name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle. It’s, uh, nice to meet you two,” Twilight says at the mention of her name.

        Celestia nods and stands up, saying, “I’ll leave you four to catch up on events for a bit. I plan on seeing you all off at the chariots.”

        “Tah-tah!” Rarity calls to Princess Celestia as she takes flight and heads off she knows where. Twilight waves to the sun princess as Rarity turns to the stallions, looking between the two before asking, “You absolutely must tell me your stories! The other ‘bronies’ had astonishing details of the crash! What are your accounts, darlings?” Denavian quickly picks up the books before they can be damaged as the group starts to move out of the door. Banterful Phrase silently blinks at Twilight. Rarity’s eyes dart around as her smile contorts nervously. “Oh, yes, you two must be exhausted from wandering about Canterlot Castle all day! Who in their right mind would want to re-live the dreadful event of a great misfortune after a long day of adjusting to a new life?”

        “I dunno,” Denavian muses as they walk through the door and into the corridor beyond. “Ignoring the crash after we landed, I think the fall was really fun!”

        Rarity suddenly beams, having finally gained a response out of them. “Well, you’ve got quite the optimistic outlook. Several of your other friends had something similar to say, if that means anything to you.”

        “Well, I know Static got covered in feces!” BP exclaims wildly. “I’m sure that was interesting to hear! And did Observer tell you about how he magically cast a magical telekinetic spell to hold up Archangel! It was insane! Or maybe it was a holdy-uppy spell. ... I’m not sure how magic works-” BP stops to gasp before shoving his face into Twilight’s and yelling, “Can you teach me how to use magic?”

        Rarity puts a hoof up to her face to hide a smile. “What, um, yeah? Sure? Maybe?” Twilight stutters at the gleeful, pale-red face now uncomfortably close to hers. She blushes and promptly falls onto the floor as she tries to back up too quickly.

        Banterful gasps and extends a hoof out, shouting, “Oh my Celestia, I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt you! Please accept my apology, I want to be your friend! Well, not just your friend, but that’s where I would like to start, unless you want to start further, because I know that some ponies do that; start in relationships, that is! Like, you know, when ponies are all like, ‘hey, would you like to go to dinner with me’ or something like that!”

        “Wha- What?” Twilight continued stuttering, staring blankly at the proffered hoof.

        “Yeah, don’t mind him, Twi,” Denavian quickly steps in before Banterful manages to dig himself into an even deeper hole. “One too many hits with the plane if ya know what I mean.”

        Rarity examines the situation with interest, her head tilted to the side. Telekinetically helping up Twilight, Rarity smirks and hums, continuing the earlier conversation by inquiring, “Hmm, you were injured in the crash, dear?”

        BP shakes his head, responding, “Nope! I came out miraculously unscathed! It’s a miracle! Well, kind of a miracle; Archangel is a really good pilot!”

        “Uh-huh, right,” Denavian says doubtfully, dragging out his words. “Don’t listen to him, I saw him take a pretty big bump.”

        “Yeah,” Twilight spoke up. “Did you know the two of you are very strange?”

        “Twilight!” Rarity gasps.

        “What?” Twilight says to her friend. “You were thinking the same thing Rarity.”

        Making several sputtering noises, Rarity shakes her head and replies, “Why, I would never! What ever gave you those implications?”

        BP looks at Denavian with a raised brow. “Um, the awkward staring and blinking was kind of a clue, Rarity.” Denavian says to the white mare.

        Rarity blushes and coughs. “Yes, well, I can explain! You see, I ...”

        “It’s alright, Rarity; I am strange! I would say we are strange, but I don’t wanna hurt Denavian’s feels, ya dig?” Banterful Phrase states.

        “Er, sure?” Rarity says unsurely.

        “Alright, we’re here,” Twilight says, obviously glad to be able to change the subject.

        The group looked about, finding themselves outside once more and on a cobbled path filled with chariots attached to pegasi in armour. In several of them are the most of the bronies, separated into smaller undefined groups of no significance. “Ponyville, yay!” BP shouts, scuttling towards the nearest empty chariot.

        “Ah, Twilight, Rarity, you made it,” Princess Luna nodded, gesturing towards the chariots. “Princess Celestia has asked us to have you take seat with ones Denavian and Banterful Phrase.”

“Of course, Princess Luna,” Rarity responds humbly with a bow before trotting neatly into the chariot.

        “Excuse me?” Denavian says, raising his eyebrow in irritation. He turns to Banterful, saying “What is it with folks giving us orders? It’s starting to get on my nerves.”

        “Well, they have been princesses! I'll bet it's their jobs to order ponies around!” BP responds from inside the chariot, rocking side to side.

        “No! Ink Blot wasn’t a princess!” Denavian argues with the cheery pony.

        “Oh yeah,” BP responds. After a second or two of thought, he proceeds to shrug.

        Rarity looks back at both Twilight and Denavian to ask, “Are you two coming?”

        “Meh, what the hay?” Denavian says, climbing into the chariot next to BP.

        “Yes, of course Princess Luna,” Twilight says looking at the Ruler of the Moon distractedly. “Whatever you say …” she ends, sighing as she climbs in with the two bronies and her friend.

Shortly after Twilight’s entry, the pegasi begin stepping forward, flapping their wings and taking off smoothly. Denavian whistles appreciatively. “Damn, this is pretty fancy.”

“Yeah I’ve never seen anything like this on the show! Look at how big this chariot is!” Banterful shouts.

“BP! Shut up!” Denavian yells at the stallion.

Rarity raises a hoof and gawks as though wounded. “What do you mean ‘on the show’?” Twilight asks, her brow furrowing in concentration.

“Just a thing back on the planet I came from, nothing you would be interested in, student of Celestia,” BP replies with a wide grin.

“Right. How long is the flight, ladies?” Denavian asks the two mares.

“About an hour, maybe more, maybe less.” Twilight responds. “It depends on the weather on the way.”

BP sighs and explains, “I like it when you know things.”

        “You like her period,” Denavian mutters under his breath. “Anyway, might as well make ourselves comfortable,” he says, before grabbing one of the books he brought and reading quietly.

        Banterful bites his tongue and slides closer to Twilight Sparkle. “Hey, Twilight ...?”

        “Hmmm? What is it?”

        “... What’s Ponyville like?” BP eventually asks, apparently ashamed by his question.

        “Ummmm, I’m not sure how to describe it really-”

        “Wait, that’s ... not what I meant to ask,” Phrase interrupts, looking down as he shuffles his hooves nervously.

        “Well, what’d you mean to ask?”

        “Erm. Do you have ... would you like to ... is your coat naturally purple?” BP asks with shut eyes. Rarity groans.

        “Um, yes, yes it is. ...”

        “Cool, cool ...” BP mutters, slouching in his seat.

        Rarity clears her throat, speaking, “Well, I believe that should suffice for our small-talking needs. Celestia did ask that we explain what you two missed during her speech, which I believe should be at the forefront of our minds.”

        “Alright,” Denavian says slowly. “Go ahead.”

        "Right," Rarity starts, lifting her head up. "By the time we had arrived at the throne room, Princess Celestia had just finished describing how your missing friend, Archangel, had escaped the hospital by smashing a window and climbing out, apparently making it to the ground and running off in the direction of the Everfree. After introducing us to the bronies and vice versa, she then went on to suggest that we intercept him in Ponyville. Princess Luna then gave the brilliant idea of having us help all of you settle in Ponyville where the least amount of trouble and confusion may occur. After much debate, most of the bronies agreed, excluding Glitter Night and Omega. After this, Celestia scheduled interviews with the ponies to create identification cards and birth certificates one by one while we all got to talk to them about what they went through. I'm not sure what the princesses plan on doing for you two, but I'm sure you'll receive your personal  information at some point."

        “‘Kay,” Denavian says. “And in the mean time, where’re we gonna stay while all of this is being processed?”

        Rarity hums in thought before replying, "I'm not sure, but you two are welcome to stay at my shop, The Carousel Boutique, until you're able to survive on your own. We are friends of sorts, after all."

After a second of holding his breath, Banterful shouts, "FRIEND?"

        Ignoring BP’s outburst, Denavian says “Cool, I know you’re going to be taking us in for a while, but please, keep in mind that I’m not a dummy for Canterlot’s newest fashions. Alright?”

Rarity acts offended, responding, "Whatever made you think I would treat you in such a way, darling?"

        “Well uh …” Denavian stutters, realizing his slip-up too late as Rarity continues.

"Really, you should know better than to make such accusatory claims when all a friend wants to do is help," she scolds, crossing her forelegs together as the group passes over Everfree Forest. “Besides, how did you know I designed clothes?” She adds, glaring at Denavian on the opposite seat in the carriage.

"Well, you did say you owned a boutique. Designing clothes is probably something you do in boutiques."

“Not necessarily!” Rarity glares. "It could be an outlet for hats, jewelry, or flowers! There’s nothing to indicate that it sells clothes at all!”

Twilight rolls her eyes at her friend’s antics. "Fine, sorry for assuming I would be a dummy for just clothes," Denavian mutters, shutting his book.

Rarity grumps and looks over the side of the chariot, ending her argument. Banterful looks at both Denavian and Rarity with pity before lying, "Hey, I didn't know you were a designer, Rara. I'll bet you're super successful and famous, what with owning your own store and all!"

Turning to BP in surprise, Rarity replies, "Oh, no, not really ... the Carousel Boutique was given to me by my parents, and I get very few customers outside of the regulars, of which there are very few. Thanks, though."

Banterful scoffs, "There is no way you're not famous! Look me in the eyes and tell me you haven't designed for any models or fashion shows!"

"Well, those were ... special occasions ..." Rarity says, covering her face with her mane.

Phrase touches Rarity's shoulder, spurting, "You are famous, then!"

The white unicorn looks back up at Banterful Phrase and smiles, thoughtfully asking, "Why convince me I'm successful?"

"Rarity, I don't know anything about being well-known and revered by ponies, but through my escapades with Denavian, I've come to learn it's the attention of friends that matters the most! I just figured you could use that friendly attention!"

BP peers over the edge of the chariot with wide eyes. In the sky flies four chariots while Ponyville below bustles with activity, ponies moving from houses to food stands and shops. As Celestia sets the sun from Canterlot, the pegasi pulling the chariots move ever lower, nearing the center of the town.