Raindrops' Wrap Up

by Arkensaw Pinkerton

Chapter 47

She looks pretty upset and you want to help; but let's face it, you've never been great at this sort of thing. It can't hurt to go inside and at least find out if Spike knows her.

"Cocoa sounds great," you say. You waste no time following the little dragon into the library. As soon as you get in, he trundles off towards the kitchen and you get the chance to have a quick look around.

The library is pretty big, and more homely than you'd have thought. There's a fireplace with some big cushions beside it, a little desk for writing, and the genteel smell of quietly mouldering scrolls. You're no great reader, but this would still be a nice place to catch a quiet moment in future. You file that idea away in the back of your mind and start pulling the book out of your saddlebags and onto the table when you hear a shout from the library's kitchen.

"How do you take your cocoa?"

You let the book thud onto the table before shouting back. When you let go of it, there's a weird sort of sliding sensation across your face, but only for a moment. You shake it off before shouting back.

"Dark, please! Not too much sugar."

"Really?" The dragon runs back into the main room for a second. "Because if you like it dark I like to add a little chilli. What do you think?"

"That sounds great!" you say with enthusiasm, and he nods and heads back into the kitchen. "Thanks so much for this, Spike. It's really solid of you."

"Aw, it's no bother!" he shouts back. "What's your name?"

"Raindrops."

Spike walks back into the main room with two cups of cocoa on a tray, and you take the one closest to you. Spike eyes the book over as you take a long slurp. That's really spicy! You smile in appreciation and see that Spike's let out a breath he'd been holding. It looks like he was worried you wouldn't like it.

" 'Amniomorphics'. That officially sounds creepy. This is Twilight's sort of thing for sure, Raindrops. Where did you find this?"

"It was on my steps, under the snow. It had a sort of white glow around it that was keeping the damp out."

"That's pretty weird. Do you think someone left it for you?"

You stop to think for a moment. That actually makes sense- that someone intended for you to find this thing. Why else would they leave it on your doorstep?

"I dunno," you say. "Maybe."

"Why would someone leave a pegasus a magic book? It would make more sense to leave it to a unicorn..." Spike trails off, furrowing his brows in thought. Unicorn! The cocoa and the relief from getting shot of this thing almost made you forget.

"Spike, I meant to ask- do you know a mint-green unicorn with two-tone hair? I saw somepony crying in the park and I wanted to help out, but I thought maybe you'd know her better."

Spike's face falls, and he sighs.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know her- that's Lyra. Her relationship is- well, it's not been going so well recently. You said she's in the park?"

"Yeah."

"Then could I ask you a favour?" He leaves the table and wanders towards the kitchen. "I'll make her a cocoa and go cheer her up, but I need someone to look after the library while I'm gone. Could you keep an eye on things for five minutes?"

"Sure thing," you shrug. No big deal, and that unicorn looked like she could do with a mug of cocoa if anypony ever did.

"Really?" Spike shouts from the kitchen. "Thanks! Now, there's some stuff you should know about."

"It's a library, Spike, not a high-energy magic extraction facility. I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

Spike returns from the kitchen with a mug of cocoa between his claws, and raises an eyebrow at you. "Er, yeah," he says. "On that note, don't go into the basement. Or touch anything that glows. Or go into the basement. And if one of the books starts talking-"

You gently shove him towards the door with one of your wings. "I can handle it for five minutes. Go talk to your friend!"

"Okay, okay. I really will be just five minutes!" He trundles out into the snow towards the unicorn in the park, and you close the door behind him.

Well, you've got some time to kill in a cosy library with a mystery basement and half a cup of chilli cocoa. What now?

Please put requests for Raindrops' actions in the comments below!

To go back a step, Click here for Chapter 20.

Comments

[Ekevoo]

Giggle at the idea that books talk and jokingly start a conversation with one.

[Psykosis]

Sit still and finish your cocoa while you wait. Of course, if you accidentally drop your mug and it accidentally rolls down the basement steps, you'll have to go get it, right?

[kingtwelvesixteen]

Calmly drink your delicious cocoa and patiently wait for Spike to come back.

[Crusadier]

1932931

This.

[Limette]

Well, you shouldn't ignore the interesting choices here: Go into the basement

[Jaohni]

I wish Spike had said "walk" into the basement, so I could say that "running" into it would still be fairly acceptable. I say raid the fridge. In a test on babysitting I chose that over stopping a bunch of kids from arguing, and the fact that this is a library changes nothing.