//------------------------------// // Library // Story: The Cold of Winter // by Fedora //------------------------------// Dawn’s light crept in through the windows, casting a warm glow on three chilly ponies. The three were sleeping in the center of a library, and had used cushions from a couch and a curtain to make a bed. Derpy’s eyes were the first to open, and she glanced around in a few different directions. The clock on the librarian’s desk read 7 AM. She decided to get up and stretch her legs while the others shifted about groggily. She went to the window they had taken the curtain from, through which the sunlight now poured in. Outside the ground was covered in a fresh blanket of snow, and there were no cart tracks disrupting the smooth white carpet. Something was out there, though. Derpy saw it out of the corner of one of her eyes, in a different street adjacent to the one the library was located. A few black figures contrasted with their snowy backdrop. This caught Derpy’s full attention, and she tried to focus her gaze on the activity. A group of black equinoids were making their way through that street. They seemed to be marching in file and splitting up to branch off into other streets, but doing so did not seem to diminish their numbers. There must have been a lot of them, an entire army of black equinoids pouring into the small town. Derpy shook her friends awake. “Medley, Lyra, we have to leave.” “Not again…” groaned Medley, “What is it this time?” “Changelings.” Derpy said, “There’s an army of Changelings descending on the town.” There was a hammering on the front of the library door. Lyra’s head shot up from the curtain-blanket, wildly staring at the source of the noise. “Where can we go? There’s no basement.” “Upstairs, quickly.” said Derpy. She and Medley took off flying, landing on the top level of the library and hiding behind a set of bookshelves. Lyra made her way up a spiral staircase and dove behind a bookshelf just as the changelings at the door managed to bust it open. A squad of changelings made their way into the library, led by an officer wearing armor on his head. Dozens of blue eyes swiveled about trying to determine if there was anything of interest in this building. The officer took interest in the remains of the couch cushion bed, running a hoof over them. He seemed to notice that there was still an indentation and the cushions were still warm. This officer changeling turned about and spoke to one of the underlings. “Inform the General that we have found signs of inhabitants. The rest of you, spread out and search the building.” Upon hearing this, Medley backed up and made her way to the nearest window. Unlike most of the downstairs windows this was the kind that could be opened by raising it vertically, enough for a pony to fit through. She slid the glass aside and was about to leap out when Derpy stopped her. “Don’t,” she whispered, “There’s more outside. They’ll see you try to fly away.” Insect-like hooves made a distinctive noise when climbing up brass stairs. That noise now echoes around through the top floor of the library. Derpy, Lyra and Medley split up. The only place to hide was behind bookshelves. Three changelings entered the top floor. The top floor of the library was structured like a horseshoe balcony, one branch leading left and the second leading right. The center space was empty, leaving a drop right down to the bottom floor. The changelings went on the right side of the horseshoe. Medley hovered just high enough to peek out over the top of the set of shelves she was hiding behind. A group of three changelings were coming her way. Two of these three went to each side of a bookshelf and craned their heads around the corner simultaneously. The third brought up the rear more slowly and repeatedly checked behind himself. They were growing close now, so she retreated back a few shelves. Here there was a small study space with a cloth-covered wooden table and outdated magazines, and an overstuffed green sofa. Derpy had chosen this spot to hide, draping the cloth over one end of the table and trying to cram herself underneath it out of sight. Unfortunately, her hind end was just a bit too large to fit underneath the small space. Medley tapped a hoof on Derpy’s backside, and Derpy dragged her head out of her hiding spot. Medley shook her head once, and motioned in the direction she had come from. Derpy nodded. Pressing herself low to the floor, she started to make off in the direction Medley had motioned. Medley had to grab her and forcefully pull her back around the side of the bookshelf, nearly crashing into the table. She shook her head again, and jabbed a hoof in the opposite direction, away from the changelings. Derpy’s eyes widened and a small smirk came across her face. Using her teeth she grabbed one of the magazines off the table and flung it over the top of the bookshelves. A short distance away it fluttered to the floor with a sharp crinkle. Medley and Derpy made a hasty move away, to the very back of the wing. Lyra was at the farthest end of her wing of the balcony, and could see everything that was going on on the opposite side like a cross section. She kept herself concealed in the shadows, near a small cubby-hole that led to a steeple on top of the library, presumably housing a bell. She could see that the magazine had flown up and over the heads of the three changelings looking for Derpy and Lyra, and its falling on the floor was enough to cause those changelings to double back and investigate, buying some time for Derpy and Medley. They didn’t have anywhere to go on that end, she thought, so really it was delaying the inevitable. An idea occurred to Lyra. Using telekinesis, the most basic of unicorn magic, she tipped one of the books off the topmost shelf and onto the floor with a dull thud next to her. The heads of the changelings on the opposite side of the balcony snapped up. They began moving very quickly in the opposite direction of Derpy and Medley. Lyra grimaced. They were leaving her friends alone, but now they would be onto her! **** The first two scouts rounded the corners of the final shelf, near where they had heard the noise moments before. There was nopony to be found.The leader of the trio brought up the rear, and found the two looking about with puzzled expressions at the dead end they now faced. With a furrowed brow, he tapped an insectoid hoof against the ground to get their attention. Once he had their attention, he made a motion by pointing his horn at the open cubby-hole, leading upwards. The two soldiers seemed to understand, and filed into the cubby hole one at a time. The leader went in last, leaving it open behind him and ascending a set of rickety wooden steps toward a belltower. Lyra jumped down off the top of a bookshelf not-so gracefully, and nearly took out a ladder propped up against the same shelf. She shut the cubby hole door, and fumbled for a lock. There wasn’t a lock. A couple of rust spots marked where hinges for one had sat over a decade ago. Instead, Lyra slid the librarian’s ladder down onto the floor, propping one end of it against the base of the shelf and the other end underneath the knob of the cubby-hole door. Derpy and Medley had made their way back over at this point, and marveled at Lyra’s work. The three trapped changelings banged on the other side of the door and slammed their bodies, but the wedged ladder held tight. “Good one,” Derpy said, “Now let’s get out of here.” They turned around to leave, but came face to face with a figure wearing dark robes and a full helmet with a lowered visor. The robe was adorned with a few medals and indications of rank in the Changeling Empire. Upon seeing the robed officer, the three looked to each other and slowly raised their front hooves above their heads in surrender. The figure took off his helmet, revealing a massive shock of blonde curls and a glittering smile. The three ponies lowered their hooves and returned the beaming grin. Their reunion was interrupted before anypony could say anything by the sound of a ringing bell just above their heads. The trapped changelings were trying to alert the town. “I took out the ones on the ground floor, we must get out of here while we have the chance.” the Sixth Doctor said, trotting back toward the staircase. The others followed.