Twilight Sparkle really didn't know how she did it.

It was only a few weeks into the election season, and already she had a book's worth of notes! Maybe two! She wasn't even sure if they were in order, much less organized. What was she going to do with all of these notes? All she wanted to do was make a report to Princess Celestia, but she couldn't just let this material go to waste. Who knows what she or others could learn from all the observations she'd made? Twilight Sparkle has spent all this time taking these notes, and now she was going to have to go through them, sort them, organize them, annotate them…So much work to be done, would she have time for her friends?

Twilight giggled at the thought. Not too long ago, it would have been the other way around; with all these friends, would she have had time for her notes? She started organizing the notes into neat stacks of equal height with her magic. They might be further divided that way, but they wouldn't fall over if Pinkie Pie or Spike had a slip in the library. Just for good measure, she carefully placed a paperweight on the two piles she doubted she would be using tonight, and placed the first pile on her desk, and started reading through them. Before starting, Twilight set her clock to go off after two hours, so that she wouldn't be up all night working on them.

Before she knew it, she was halfway done with organizing the notes of the pile by the time the alarm went off. She looked at the clock, and realized it wasn't that late, but she didn't really want to keep working. Twilight decided to pick out a good book, snuggle into bed, and read until she was sleepy enough to drift off. She picked out her selection, climbed her staircase, and looked out the window, and smiled. It was a beautiful night; she made it a point to at least take a look outside before going to bed after reuniting Princess Luna with her sister and subjects. It was warm and somewhat breezy. The moon was full and bright, and the stars were equally magnificent.

Her train of thought was broken by a knock at the door.

"Who is visiting the library at this time of night?" she asked herself, and she headed down the stairs, and opened the door. It was the pony in the coat and hat, though he was missing his sunglasses.

"Twilight Sparkle? My name is Fresnel Gumhoof. I was told you have the grandest library in Equestria outside of the royal palace itself. I was hoping to see it for myself," he announced, placing his hat on his back. Fresnel had a short, black mane that split down his neck to the left and to the right. The hair on his head was wild and spiky, and his coat was a dark, somewhat golden brown.

"Oh, my, yes, please, come in, Mister Gumhoof," she stepped out of the way, and the stallion entered the library, and he took a moment to look around. Twilight Sparkle closed the door behind him.

"May I take your hat and coat?" she offered, and Fresnel hesitated, then nodded, stepping out of the trenchcoat. Twilight folded it, and placed it on her desk, putting the hat nearly on top of it. She noticed that his cutie mark was that of a magnifying glass, he had a shortened tail…and his rear left leg was covered in a boot, though his hoof was bare, save for his shoe on the bottom. Fresnel caught her glancing at it.

"Before you ask, I was at the wrong end of an angry dragon. I was lucky enough to get by with this," he explained, stomping his covered leg.

"So what brings you to Ponyvale, other than my, heh, grand library?" she snickered.

"I'm a Licensed Professional Investigator, a private eye, if you will. I'm following someone wanted for getting into a little too much trouble in the wrong place at the wrong time. And to see Ponyvale," he replied with a smile. Fresnel wasn't a big as Macintosh, but he was sleeker in his body and muscles. He looked like he was more of a runner than a puller.

"A private eye that tangles with dragons, huh?" Twilight laughed, "I've read the books, they're just tales."

"Tales to believe, Miss Sparkle. Sherlock Hooves taught my mentor," he informed her, and he started checking out the library book selection. He quickly honed in on a particular section; he looked like he knew what he was looking for, and knew his way around a library. Given the nature of his job, he probably had a need to know his way around a library, doing constant research. Twilight had read the novels, but not the actual information about private investigators.

"This is an impressive collection, indeed. Do they belong to the town?"

"Yes, but I added some from my own books, too," she told him. Fresnel picked out the book he wanted, and placed it on the desk, taking a quick review of its contents. Twilight didn't see the cover.

"So why the late visit to the local library?" she asked. Fresnel slowed in his reading, but didn't stop.

"I've always been a night pony. I was always sensitive to the light when I was a colt. Never liked the sun. Birds tweeting around, making noise. But the night, the chill, the darkness, the mystery…I wanted to see what was in it, through the stigma and darkness. I sort of fell into the PI business as a result. I just wanted to solve everything, break through the clouds. I was afraid I was too late, though. I only woke up a couple of hours ago."

"That's why you wear the hat and sunglasses?" she asked. If she didn't see his coat and mane for herself, his story would have made her guess that he was an albino.

"Partly. It's not like it causes my skin to shrivel up or anything. I also like the thrill of being seen as the 'Mysterious Stranger.' One of the guilty pleasures I can partake in as an investigator. Do you have the Deluxe Encyclopedia of Extraplanar Creatures?"

"Um, let me think…" Twilight didn't know this library completely, and that wasn't really one of the subjects she really delved into. It crossed her mind that it was a somewhat unusual request.

"Might I ask what this is for?"

"A friend, actually, wants me to scribe one or two of the pages for him. He's disabled, and can't travel, and he guessed that it might be here. He's a real sucker for weird creatures: Ursas, Hydras, Trolls, that sort of thing. He's a bit of an expert on them, at least, that's what he claims, anyway. He helped me with the dragon," Fresnel stomped his leg again, "So I guess there's something to his claim."

"Oh, I'd like to meet him one day, then. I'm always looking for ways to learn more about magic," Twilight told him. Fresnel nodded.

"I'll let him know you said that. He enjoys it when people come to see him. He lives in a valley between the mountains near Cloudsdale. I'll leave you directions, it's not a difficult trip, just a little long by hoof."

Fresnel quickly located a piece of paper, and Twilight floated a pencil to him, and he quickly jotted the directions down.

"Just know that he's more than a little eccentric."

"What's his name?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. Fresnel chattered his teeth.

"Well, like I said. He's eccentric. He always uses a different name. They're probably all correct, knowing him. I just call him Monk, because monster research isn't all he does. He leads a small order or monastery or something like that. They're a cookey bunch, but still a good lot. Always wandering around, wearing masks and robes, talking in riddles."

"Sounds like your kind of place, solving each of their little mysteries," Twilight observed, giggling. She pulled out a massive book; it was the one he had wanted. She was surprised he didn't spot it upon entering the library, really, it was a massive tome, and the spine had large, bold, golden letters. It looked like it was a pretty recent edition, though, and hadn't been handled much. The pages were in good shape, the spine hadn't been bent all that much.

"That's the one," he noted, "Mind if I take these for a couple of days? The article's pretty long, and I'll need a couple of mornings to finish scribing."

"Just as you bring it back before you leave. I don't want to hunt you down to keep my 'grand library' intact," Twilight giggled. He laughed with her.

"I'll be careful not to lose it. I wouldn't want Twilight Sparkle, hero of Equestria to be hunting me down," he said. He put his hat back on his head, then slipped back into his coat, "I'll let you get back to what it was your doing. Thank you for the books, Monk will appreciate this."

"Not a problem, I'd love to have you or Monk anytime," she told him. Fresnel wasn't able to stuff the book into the big pocket, so he pulled out what looked to be a belt, and tied it around the tome.

"Well, in that case, would you like to have dinner with to me, tomorrow?" he asked after feeling confident that the belt was tight. Twilight squinted.

"You're a sly one, Investigator Gumhoof," she accused. Now she knew why he'd been dallying.

"It comes with the hat," Fresnel retorted. Twilight giggled.

"I suppose it would. All right."

"I'll pick you up at sundown, then. Have a good night," he said, picking up the massive book. He gave her a slight bow of the head as he walked by, and out of the door. What an intriguing fellow, Twilight decided. He was quite open for someone in his line of work. Maybe he had planned the whole thing? Twilight's curiosity had been piqued. She wanted to know more.

Maybe he had planned that, too…