Chapter 6: B_ok :)
The sun had rizzen.
...
You know what, I'm not trying that joke again. So, anyway, the sun had risen and I was eating breakfast, which consisted of two cups of chai and toast. The time was around seven and I still had an hour till I had to be at the library. I, however, still needed to brush my mane and tail since I slept like rotisserie chicken. I kinda missed having short hair and thought about going to a barber, but since I could manage my hair to an acceptable degree, I did not. Besides, I'm pretty sure that it'd cost like fifty bits to get just a god horrendous cut and I was too much of a stingy little bitch to do that.
I finished my breakfast and was about to go brush my hair when a knock came from my door. I turned to go to the front door but then the knock came again, this time from behind me. I realised that something was knocking on my back door. I went through the living room and to the sliding glass door at the end of it. I pulled the curtains aside and saw a bird flying off, and I guessed that it was the one that was knocking.
I, however, noticed something else.
The backyard was... wild. There was a lot of tall, dead grass and lots of other weeds, beyond which was a tall wooden fence. I just stared at the backyard which I had neglected and even forgotten about, thinking how I would deal with it. I couldn't leave it in its current state but trying to fix it would be hard and time consuming and maybe even expensive. I closed the curtains and turned back to go brush my hair, letting this become a problem for future me.
I proceeded to struggle with my hair for ten minutes and then another five minutes braiding them. Once that was over, I left my house and went down the path to Ponyville. The streets weren't as crowded as yesterday since today was a Saturday and most ponies didn't have to go to work early in the morning. I was an exception since I had a library to go to.
Some more walking later and I was at the library. Let's hope this goes well.
I walked in and looked around for a bit before spotting Mayor Mare and greeting her.
"Hey, Mayor."
"Hello there, Anya. I see that you're here early. Why don't we get started?"
"Sure."
"So, this is the Golden Oaks library, Ponyville's only library. It might not seem like much but this is one of the most important places in town. If you take the job, you'll have to help organize certain social events or school visits, and since there is nopony as of yet applying for a job in the library, you might be doing that all alone. Do you think you can handle that?"
I thought for a moment and replied, "Yeah, I'll manage."
Mayor Mare was happy to hear that.
"That's good to hear! Now, I'll just show you around the library and then let you manage it. I'll be back in two hours and see how you're doing and if you're doing good, you'll get the job."
I was slightly alarmed that I would be diving right in to the job but kept quiet.
"So, anyway, as you can see, we're in the main part of the library right now. If you go upstairs," Mayor Mare said pointing to a set of stairs, "You'll find a little home area. It's there since the previous librarian actually lived here. I'll give you the keys to that area if you get the job.
That door over there leads to the basement. It's there for storage but you'll also find a photocopy machine in there."
Mayor Mare then turned to the main desk where ponies would check out their books and pointed at a curious looking off-white coloured box, grinning to herself thinking about something.
"Now, for the most important thing in here. Do you know what that is?"
I went closer and looked over it just for a moment before answering non-chalantly, "It's a computer."
Mayor Mare sent disappointed for a second but resumed talking.
"Yes, it is. You'll be using that to check out books and keep records. I assume you know how to work with computers but I'll still warn you to be careful with it since it's pretty expensive. The previous librarian made a program that should help you keep track of the books and check them out. If you have a problem with it, there's a manual in one of the drawers."
Suddenly, the doors burst open and a grey pegasus mailmare crashed into the library. She ignored any wounds she may have recieved and got up. She spotted the mayor and pulled an important looking letter with a red wax seal from her bag.
I watched as the mayor's calm expression morphed into one of worry.
"Sorry for ending this early but this is important. I'll leave you here to manage the library as a test. I'll be back in about three hours, not two."
And with that, she and the grey mare were gone, leaving me alone. I didn't really expect being put at the job as a test but whatever. I took a seat at the main desk, thinking about what I should do now. There was an open/closed sign at the main door that I would have to flip but I should probably get familiarised with the place before doing that. I took a short walk through the library, noting how tall the bookcases were, probably due to the fact that the only way to expand was to go up. Other than that, there was a sitting area in the center with a cool looking wooden unicorn statue.
Once that walk was done, I returned to the desk. There was the computer, which looked like a stereotypical old computer from the human world. It was two boxes stacked on one another, the lower being the CPU and keyboard while the upper was a small but bulky CRT monitor. There was no mouse but that was fine since I was decent at using just the keyboard to do stuff, all thanks to how loud mice are.
On the right of the computer was a calendar, and an empty pen stand. To the left was a clock, a call bell, and a file which held a dozen borrowing cards along with a note saying that the fee for returning overdue books was... fifteen bits. That seemed quite unreasonable if you ask me. I checked the cards and saw that a lot of them were overdue, probably because there library must have been closed for an extended period of time.
I then rummaged through the drawers, finding a black pen, some pencils, and two manuals. One was for the computer while the other was for the program on it.
Next to my desk was the box where books would be returned. It had a slot on one side and a door on the opposite side of that, which I opened. Inside was a large basket which was empty.
I closed the box and switched on the computer. It took a minute to boot up, after which it displayed a command line. I read through the manual for the library program and inputted 'library' into the command line as the manual instructed.
The screen went completely blank followed by two options in white coloured text appearing. The first said 'Book Database' while the second said 'check out/return'. It was easy to guess what either would do.
With my familiarisation over, I made my way to the main door and flipped the sign. The library was officially open. I went back to my desk and sat patiently, waiting for someone.
I didn't have to wait long.
A brown earth pony with a darker brown mane and an hourglass talent mark entered the library, literally two minutes after I opened it. He had a thick book on his back. He waved at me and I waved back.
"Hi, I came to return this book," he said as he approached my desk.
"Sure, let me get that," I said, taking the book in my magic and bringing it over to me. The book was an encyclopaedia. I found the card for it and put it in the book and then entered its code on the computer to mark it as returned.
"There we go."
"So, is there a late fee that I have to pay?"
"Nah, you're good."
"Thanks!"
With that, the stallion left the library. Few more minutes passed, letting me put the book back on its shelf, and then an orange pegasus filly entered. She didn't wave or anything and just ran straight to some section of the library that was outside my view. She reappeared at the main sitting area at the center of the library and from what I could see, she had some book about flight.
Some more time passed, the only sounds in the library coming from the computer's cooling fan, and the filly occasionally turning a page. A normal pony may have started getting bored but I was, to put it simply, built different and appreciated the quiet. Two minutes later, though, my monkey zoomer brain wanted something to do.
I thought about what I could do and remembered that I had been put into this world to get a key and not just goof off. Voth had told me that I should look for some historical artefact since the key would shapeshift, and now that I was in a library with plenty of history books, I could begin my search.
I left my desk and went to the history section, picking up books that looked relevant till I had a stack of eleven. I returned to my desk and started skimming through the first one, looking for any mention of some mysterious artefact that had eldritch powers and might be lost. I was, unfortunately, interrupted by a familiar looking rainbow pony entering the library.
She held a book under one of her wings and looked around nervously for some reason, as if someone was going to jump her or something. She spotted me and braced herself. I pretended to not see that. She wanted to to my desk and greeted me.
"Yo, Anya. You're the new librarian, congrats on that. Anyways, I came to uhh return this book." She said nervously while glancing around, a contrast from how confident she seemed when I met her art the party.
I took the book wordlessly and saw that it was a Daring Do book. I marked it as returned and then spoke.
"So, is there something wrong?"
"What?! No, nothing's wrong! Everything's good!"
"You seem pretty nervous. Is someone following you or something?"
"What? No, I'm not being followed... Okay, look, you look like you can keep a secret and what I'm gonna tell is top secret. No one must know.
I don't want someone to see that I'm an egghead."
All that build up had made me very curious but now, I was just confused, baffled even.
"What do you mean 'egghead'?"
"Y'know, a nerd. If they see me with a book they'll call me an egghead."
I had to resist the urge to ask Rainbow if she was stupid since she was genuinely concerned about that and I knew how it felt to have your worries be dismissed like they were nothing.
"Well, reading books doesn't make you an egghead instantly, as far as I remember. Besides that, you're reading a story book, not something about theoretical physics or something."
"That won't stop them from calling me an egghead, though. Look, I know you're new here and don't know this but I'm supposed to be like the cool pony. You get what I mean?"
If it weren't for her expression, I would have thought she was trolling me.
"...This isn't highschool. If you want to read a book, you can. Nobody is gonna make fuss about reading books except for like, actual real life losers, and the thing about them is that everyone ignores them. You'll still be the 'cool pony' while also doing what you want to if you just ignored them."
Rainbow seemed to consider those words and her expression suddenly changed to one of a pony who had attained enlightenment.
"I get it," she whispered to herself. She lost her nervousness and was one again confident.
"Thank you for telling me that, Anya! You're a real one. Have a good day." She thanked me and then left. I sat there, thinking about how dumb the whole thing was but at least Rainbow was happy.
I returned to my desk and continued my research, finding out mostly cool but useless information.
Three hours had passed and so far, not much has happened. Ponies had come to the library mostly to return books, and the filly had left, checking out the book she had been reading. Besides that, I had went through about twenty books of which only two were of some interest. One was called "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide" and the other was called "Mysterious Artefacts of Equestrian History". Presently, I was reading through the latter when the library doors opened.
Mayor Mare walked in, at the time she had promised. She came to my desk after seeing that we were alone.
"So, how have things gone so far?" She asked.
"Well, nothing's on fire so that's pretty good," I joked. The mayor chuckled at that before taking a more serious expression.
"Well, everything seems to have gone good, so, I can say congrats on getting the job. There is something else more important, though.
As you know, we'll be hosting the Summer Sun Celebration this year and so, we're having a pony from Canterlot come here and inspect all the preparations. That pony will be staying in the upstairs area of the library, so, I expect this place to be at its best. Besides that, you'll have to give these keys to her and take them when she leaves. That is all, I'll let you continue working now." She said, giving me a bunch of keys. She left after that.
I was left alone once again. I would have to check the library for any faults or whatever, before the pony from Canterlot arrived. I checked the calendar and saw that I had three days between today and Wednesday when the celebration was. Wednesday was also the day Voth would be back.
I hoped that I had something to show Voth by then.
Stats
Page generated in 0.016 seconds
Total duration
1,032 users online
1,772,712 hits today, 2,073,628 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Will be interesting to see how things get changed with him working in the library.
11825594
yaeh, would be intersetesoing to see how she(or he, no idea i"ll just say she) react to twinkle sprinkle
11825597
Wait was MC female? I kinda forgot.
11825607
the MC remembers being a man, but her new body had suffered a magical accident which transformed her into a female. Before he takes control of the body, precisely because he remembers it without having experienced it. From what I understand he just accepted this situation, out of laziness and greed. Thus avoiding gender reassignment operations is taking hormones.
sorry if what I say is not understandable or there are spelling mistakes or whatever else English is not a language that I speak easily
11825789
Right, thanks for the reminder.
11825789
you are completely right and your english is very good :)
11825799
You're welcome
11826052
thank you and fortunately I was not mistaken in the explanation
Accidentally publish while editing? Says there was a new chapter.
11830204
ye :(
11830219
Happens to the best of us. Will happily wait till it’s ready.