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// Introduction 
// Story: Those Lost at Golden Oak 
// by Nihil Savant 
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	Hello, citizens of Ponyville. I hope you don’t mind if I speak as your princess for a bit. Many of you are still recovering from Tirek’s attack, as is all of Equestria. My thoughts and sympathies are with you all, above everything else, and I will do everything in my power to help. Together, as citizens, as a community, and as friends, we will recover. And we will grow stronger.
But the real reason I’m writing this is not to speak as your princess, but rather to speak as your local librarian. Or former librarian, I should say. While I don’t want to compare my loss to those actually harmed by Tirek, I can’t help but mourn the loss of Golden Oak Library. It was more than an old tree filled with dusty books, it was my home. It’s where I had my first party with my Ponyville friends, where I had my first sleepover, and where I read so many fascinating books. I miss it.
However, I’m okay. My friends all still here. I’ll always preserve the good times had at Golden Oak in my memory, even as I make new memories in my new home. The sudden destruction of the library dealt a blow to me, but one I can and will recover from.
What can’t be recovered, though, is the books. Golden Oak has stood in Ponyville for decades. In fact, considering the number of times the Canterlot Library has had to move locations, Golden Oak may have housed books in it for longer than any other building in Equestria. It may not have been the biggest library, but over the many years it stood, it collected several rare books. Some of them were thought to be the only copy of that book in existence. Now even they’re gone.
Gone, but not completely forgotten. I read them. Depending on the book, I may only have vague memories of the  lost stories, but I read every one of them. While they may never be read again, ponies poured their souls into crafting each carefully-placed word. I refuse to let those works of art simply fade away. I can’t re-create them, but at least I can document them. This text exists to remind the world of the existence of these stories, the stories collected and lost at Golden Oak.