The familiar jingle of the front door opening rang out across The Dragon's Keep, the chime slightly echoed as the gentle notes reverberated off century old oak shelves. The little bell bounced around a few times on it's hinge before finally settling.
Melody's ears twitched as they strained to hear anything else, from where she was near the back of the store most noises were somewhat dampened by the thick walls of texts that surrounded her, which would have made a great spot for any studious pony wanting to find some respite to learn. Had there been anypony else back here with her they would surely have raised an annoyed eyebrow or shushed the Thestral for the alarmed ultrasonic screech she had made a moment earlier.
For the moment there wasn't any other loud sounds that reached the back end area, only the pitter patter of rain drops hitting pavement outside.
Odd, I could have sworn the Pegasi teams were planning on a clear sky for tonight.
Carefully placing the stack she had been sorting on a nearby table Melody made her way through the catacomb of paper stacks to the front, it took some special care not to knock into any of the piles, all it would take would be a careless brush of a wingtip to send an avalanche of books down on anypony in its path. A shudder at the thought of being trapped beneath a mound of heavy hard covers kept any wing or hoof from straying out of line.
A tremendous crash followed by a startled yelp meant that somepony else wasn't quite as lucky however. Oh ponyfeathers!
With greater haste Melody weaved and ducked through the obstacle course until she arrived at the scene of the disaster. She squeaked at the sight of the khaki coloured hoof springing out from the pile on the floor, looking like a zompony rising from the grave!
A low groan emanated from the pile as several lighter novels slid off. Something was moving down there!
With a great flap of leathery wings the mare was instantly safe up above in the dusty rafters, far out of the reach of any brain munching monsters below.
Melody's heart hammered against her chest, pupils shrunk to a razor thin edge as they darted over the interior of the shop. Panicked thoughts ran wild between her flattened ears as she imagined the worst case scenarios.
Should I warn Biblious? He'll probably come back and be bitten by the zompony! Then there'll be two of them! Melody's mind was racing with the possibility of a major outbreak of undead in Equestria. How would anypony even counteract a plague of undead? Civilization might have already just ended, and right here is the last spot they'll be searching for any living pony to devour!
Over active imagination and fantasies about the horrors that awaited outside were quickly dashed as a tiny voice called out from beneath the pile. The words were mumbled and course, but none of them seemed to be about a craving for brains or the flesh of the innocent. They even sounded a bit like pleas for help...
Oh Luna... Somepony is alive down there!
Like a high diving swimmer Melody bounced into the air, leaving a contrail of cobwebs and dust particles in her wake. Using her expansive leather wings to air break at the last moment the pewter gray mare landed next to the outstretched hoof.
Judging by the bass like rumble of each groan as well as the relative size of the fetlock the unfortunate pony was indeed a stallion, though there wasn't much to go on with only a single hoof and pained moaning.
Oh right, I should probably help him out from there before he gets more crushed... Guilty grey ears flopped to the side as she realized she was just adding her own weight to the pile she stood on, I Hope standing on top of him isn't hurting him any more anything else.
In times like these Melody really wished she'd have practiced more with strengthening her voice, as any words that she might have said to comfort the distressed stallion died on her lips. Tarterus to me and my stupid anxiety...
It took awhile and many trips to remove some of the heavier tomes off the mound, but it paid off once an auburn mane along with a horn broke the surface. With access to the surface it wasn't long before a muzzle shot out from beneath a few lighter paper backs.
Letting out an ultrasonic shriek the mare dropped the novel she had been lifting off the pile, making a hasty retreat out of hoof distance and into the gloom where the gas lamps didn't quite reach. Though, the bat pony remained on the first floor this time instead of flying off to higher ground.
It was instinctual to cling to the shadows for most Thestrals growing up deep in the woods near Hallow Shades; monsters prowled the forest and more often than not the safest place to hide was in the darkest shadows. Even with no major threat to herself being out of the spotlight settled her heart more anything else could.
Narrow slit eyes cautiously watched as a full head emerged from beneath the mountain, hacking and sputtering as the stallion greedily breathed in fresh air. With the amount of dust and grime from all the ancient books in the pile it would have been like drowning in quicksand. Melody shudder at the thought of going out like that, fortunately for the stallion his breathing sounded like it was calming down with each inhale.
Watery eyes soon opened to reveal two of the most colourful emeralds Melody had ever seen! Despite the tears and blood shot veins the buried stallion's eyes glimmers with a bright green, like tiny gems.
The disembodied head stared out at its surroundings, unfocused eyes soon rolling around in their sockets like loose marbles. "Dids amyone git teh bumver of zat bus?" The tan coloured unicorn slurred out before promptly going unconscious.
Cautiously Melody stepped out from her shadow to get a closer look at the trapped pony, his breathing has calmed down to a shallow tempo, but judging by the growing lump next to the horn it was a safe bet that there was a concussion. He needed some first aid, but there was still only Melody in the store until Biblious came back, so that left him with the mare's rusty skills with medical care.
Oh ponyfeathers... Well, at least he's not another evil invader here to conquer the world.
Desmond was having one of the worst dreams, in it he was being chased by a horde of flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. They kept demanding in their hoots and hollers that he pay their mistress the Wicked Witch of the West a mountain of gold, which of course he didn't have.
Through dense forests and valleys filled with painful thorns they chased him, the thick trunks of dead trees or mountainous boulders never impeded their efforts unlike the lanky human. The wave of flying minions hounded Des relentlessly, they threw rocks and grabbed with their boney hands when they got close enough to reach. Soon the scraggy underbrush thinned out into hard packed ground leading up to a steep cliff face.
There wasn't any time to change course as a wall of blood thirsty apes crashed into Des, sending him toppling over the edge. With a hoarse scream he watched as deadly sharp stone spires rushed up to meet his doom...
...Except there was no torturous pain as his body was torn to shreds, only the soft comfort of cotton sheets embraced him. With a start Des sat up wide eyed, teary eyes struggling to see in the dim room, it had just been a nightmare after all. With that thought he settled back down on his soft pillow and closed his eyes, he remembered that he was coming down with a fever from standing out in the rain last night before he had gone in to visit that strange bookstore. After that it seemed a bit of a blur.
Man, fever dreams are the worst.
Then something moved under Desmond, something alive and warm...
The young man's heart stopped then and there. A single eye opened slowly, from the low light he observed his surroundings, many of them seeming familiar, though nothing reminded him of his cramped bedroom; books of all shapes and colours stood stacked in massive piles all around him, the low orange light from several hundred year old looking lamps were definitely from that weird bookstore... The name escaped Des at the moment, something to do with lizards and keeping? The other familiar thing in the room was a pair of bright yellow eyes that stared down at him... But there was something wrong with them.
The eyes blinked and soon it became apparent the reason for the uneasy feeling Desmond was getting in his gut: the pupils narrowed into diagonal slits.
More and more things started to become apparent as his eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light. The eyes reminded Des of a predatory feline, as even in the darkness they seemed to reflect enough light to shine like beacons. Two pointed ears twitched atop the head, turning this way and that as if picking up the slightest vibrations in the air. Behind the creature two leathery bat wings were held on either side, tiny movements as they shuffled opened confirmed that they were indeed part of this monster. Pearly white fangs pointed out from the upper lip of the creature, much too big to fit properly inside it's mouth. The body they all belonged to was covered in a soft grey fur... Fur that Desmond finally realized was what his pillow was made up of...
"#^$%E@*G%!!!" The unintelligible high pitched scream that came from Desmond would have woken the dead from their slumber. The monster for it's part matched by the yell, however no sound seemed to come out of it's mouth aside from a dull ache in the back of the man's head, though with it's mouth now open wide the rows of razor sharp teeth only encouraged Des to scream even louder.
With the slits of it's eyes now as thin as needles the monster extended it's wings to their maximum length, had the man been in any state to judge the wing span he would have guessed that they would have reached about two meters across. With a mighty flap of it's appendages the thing leapt into the air, this however meant tossing Desmond nearly across the room as his head was still resting on the creature from before. The world became a blur of sheets and book covers as his body continued to roll over the piles of paper, eventually coming to a stop before he could slam into a solid looking shelf.
"What the actual fuck is going on?!" Des panicked as he hurried to untangle himself from the sheets, his body felt sluggish and weak, the fever hadn't gone away it seemed. "What was that thing?"
Eventually the sheets were torn off, though it was a lot harder to accomplish with numb hands, the fever must have been worse than he imagined if his body was going numb like this. The nightmare didn't seem to have ever ended yet, as soon as the white cotton was removed what the frightened man saw beneath only inflated his growing dread and didn't seem at all possible.
He had hooves. Stocky cream coloured hooves with fur where his arms had been.
With too much to process at the moment Desmond's tired human brain did the only thing it could think of; it shut off. With a thud the unconscious body feel back down onto the scattered novels.
A hearty laughter filled the messy bookstore, a pair of mismatched hands began clapping together, one lion paw with the other an eagle's foot. "Oh, I knew this would be a fun little endeavor!" Reaching down the being dragged the sheet back over Desmond's twitching form, "However it seems my little human got a little too dizzy his first day here."
As Discord stood back up to his full height he turned his attention up to the ceiling where tiny motes of dust drifted down. With a finger of his lion paw he pointed to his mouth and made a shushing motion, far above in the rafters a frightened squeak was his only reply. Satisfied with things the God gave a wink and soon disappeared with a 'pop' in a cloud of bubbles.