//------------------------------//
// A Late Night Heist 
// Story: A Lost Destiny 
// by Masquerade Sparkle 
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The air was cold. Low enough to see your own breath in front of you. Lightning struck outside, giving a brief illumination of the thin hallway through the barred windows. No other light was present. Even if the moon had been full, the thick blanket of clouds stopped the smallest bit of light from peering through.

A weaker soul might’ve flinched at such intimidating conditions, but a lone unicorn stood brave and unphased. Reassuring herself that any quivering done was from the chill and not any fear present in her heart.

She was on a mission. She had already snuck past a hoard of sleeping beasts without awakening them. And she could only hope the noise of the rain pour masked her hoof steps enough to not alert anypony who happened to be up. 

One step after the other. There wasn’t much in the hallway, but the unicorn didn’t want to risk tripping and falling flat on her face. It felt like this had gone on for an eternity. She knew the hallways here were long, but this felt abnormal. Doubt slowly began to worm its way into her mind. 

“What if this was a bad idea…” she muttered to herself, barely able to even hear her own thoughts. She stopped for a moment, and turned back. A brief flash of lightning illuminating the hallway she’d traversed not moments ago. She could barely make out the door she came from before darkness once more engulfed the room. 

With a deep, calming breath she turned around and reassured herself. “No turning back now” she said in a voice a bit louder than she would’ve liked. But the confidence boost was necessary over the quiet.

She doubled her pace. Forcing confidence in her glimpses from the lightning and her memory of this place. Step step, step step. Soon her pace reached beyond the flashes of light, relying near entirely on her own memory. 

Such hubris never goes unpunished. And her confidence was met with its greatest foil. A stone pillar.

Thump! “OW!” Wumph! Onto her flank she went. Head on collisions were always worse for unicorns, the horn more than happy to make the pain worse. Like getting hit in the head with the tip of a bat. The poor sore unicorn would’ve sat and appreciated this pain for a minute more, had the echo of her pain and clatter of her glasses falling from her muzzle not reached her own ears. 

Her hooves quickly shot up to her muzzle and prayed that that’d somehow dampen the sound. And there she waited, hoping for success and expecting failure…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Lightning flash…… Waiting….. Waiting….. Another one….

She felt safe enough to reach down for her glasses at his point. And by the third strike, her hopes were confirmed. She was in the clear! Forelegs flapping up and down in excitement, letting out all of that pent up energy and fear!

“Yes yes yes yes!” She cried silently, smart enough to not blow it a second time. 

Once all the excitement had died down, she finally got a proper look at what nearly bombed the entire operation. A pillar, just as she felt. Squinting she could make out small swirls snaking their way up it. A spike of joy hit her beating heart, emboldened further by the next flash that lit up more than before.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw bookshelves reaching to the ceiling. Success! She reached her goal! The Library! In a fit of joy she couldn’t help but dance on her tippy hooves, and with a hint of smugness, finally strolled into the room of her desire.

Now that she was in here, her goals had shifted. Getting here was just one task to complete. Next was finding a light source. There was no way she’d read by random weather patterns. And given the opportunity she saw her way in. 

A flash of gold hit her eyes, on top of a large table. Large for her at least. “That must be a candlestick!” She thought silently to herself. And made her way over, this time careful to feel out where she was going until she reached the leg of the table.

The chair under the table was way too heavy for her to move without noise. So she had to take a gamble. She hopped and climbed her way on top of a chair, being sure to be careful of the table inches above her head. She could feel it almost touching the tip of her horn. But she wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. 

Luckily the chair was left out just enough to squeeze through the back of it and the side of the chair. With a bit of leverage from the arm of the chair, she finally made her way on top of the table and slowly over to the candlestick. On her way she felt something under her hooves, it felt like paper. Somepony must’ve left an open book here.

It was times like these she really wished she could use her magic. She may not be the best in the world, but she was smart enough to know a light spell. But she couldn’t, not in the rest of the building and certainly not here. So she’d have to make do. 

And in a stroke of good luck, she found a match box next to the candlestick. Somepony must’ve been in a rush to leave this spot in such a mess. The unicorn pulled out the matches carefully and quickly took note of how many were in there. Seven. Seven tries. She’d need every one. Though she was best at moving things with her magic, it’d be a mistake to call her a slouch when it came to manipulating objects with her mouth.

But there was no way she’d hold an open flame too close to her face. A brief flash rushed through her mind of her mane catching fire. She’d rather get caught than have that happen. 

That left one option for her. Her own two hooves. The only way she’d be able to do worse was if she tried with her hind hooves or tai.

With more care than a mother has with a new born baby, the unicorn plucked a single match from the box. And then... strike!... Strike!... STRIKE! It took ten more strikes against the side of the box before she realized she messed up and just rubbed off all the ignition powder on the edge of the stick. That’s one match wasted.

Another match, same problem. Frustration took hold, and she broke the next match while jostling her glasses on her face. Once more she somehow managed both at the same time. The fifth she just dropped like a clutz. This was starting to get to her. 

So, she took a moment to calm her nerves. The pressure had been getting to her, and she had to find her center in this brief moment. “After this, it’ll be nothing but smooth sailing and reading.” With her focus sharpened, she readjusted her glasses and picked up the sixth matchstick. Then starred it down like that’d somehow convey to it that this was important. 

And with one swift FLICK! “Canterlot, we have ignition!” She couldn’t help but mutter happily to herself. She really did it! But she wasn’t going to waste any time and quickly lit the candle. Slowly as the flame grew and illuminated a small area around her, a calm washed over the unicorn.

She could finally see the floor again. It didn’t feel so much farther down in the light. And a nearby bookshelf finally gave up the sight of her favorite things in the world! Books! All her work was finally paying off! She quickly put the spent matches back in their container. Not like she wanted to leave a mess. 

But she paused on the final unused match. The pony who left these here were probably going to get a new pack of matches anyway. And she could think up at least ten uses for a single match. Only seven of which involved starting a fire. That was enough justification for her, so she swiped the remaining match and hid it behind her ear in her mane.

She climbed back down the way she came, extra careful this time due to her burning cargo. In hindsight, it would’ve probably been better to light the candle before climbing down. But hindsight is 20/20. And with a small fall, she finally reached the floor. 

Finally the unicorn was able to let loose a bit. She had her vision, and her passion with her. It was a considerable amount of effort for her to not run at full speed down the rows of bookshelves.

Ponies were always so nice to donate books to add to the library. It was one of the few nice things this place had. 

In an effort to not get dizzy from the choices she had. It would be a few hours until she’d need to sneak back out. And until then this whole place was all her own! She was so overwhelmed it was hard to decide where to start! The geology section? It’d been a while since she learned about different types of crystal formations. Perhaps the religious section, and get a refresher on all the interesting deities throughout the world? Or even the magic-fiction section! For a more fun and light hearted read!

Then inspiration struck! The unfiltered section! That’s where all the new books were sent before the librarian put them in the proper sections! And she had heard of a new mass donation made. The selection there would be great! With no hesitation, the eager unicorn made her way to the back corner of the library.

Along her way, the star struck bookworm couldn’t help but marvel at row upon row of books that passed her by as she made her way to the back. She never really understood why ponies seemed so eager to give away their books. It’s hard enough to put them back in the library. Maybe ponies just kept buying two copies of books without noticing? That made a lot more sense to her than somepony just giving them away. 

And at the end of her journey, there she saw a sight that made her tear up. Tons and tons of books unsorted, haphazardly shoved onto shelves, with a huge pile reaching up nearly three times her height. A true sight to behold! 

“Hhhnnnn, why can’t I ever be the one to sort it out!” She whined to herself. Life was so unfair. But, after moping a bit, the thought of a fresh and unread book brought her spirits up. The candle lit up enough of the corner to see the entire area, minus the spots covered by the book pile. And a bit at the top where the light fell off. 

“Let’s see…. History of corn, pass. Alien conspiracies and you, maybe. Astrology 101, ugh we already have thiiisss” And so it went on, for what felt like hours, but in reality was probably only a little under half an hour. Nothing caught her eye. And whatever did, she’d already read. 

It was starting to feel hopeless. Was this venture into the unknown all for naught? The exhausted bookworm flopped backwards onto the pile in frustration. Staring at the ceiling and letting the shapes her mind made up in the dark distract her. Perhaps that corn book wouldn’t be so bad, if there truly was nothing else. 

Then her eye twitched, and flickered over to the side. It was hard to make out, but that feature made it stand out more than anything. A significantly darker portion of the bookshelf, no label to be seen, wide as a dictionary. She sat up against the book pile, something about that book she saw. It caught her interest. Every other book in the library was labeled. What kind of book wasn’t? She’d never heard of such a thing before.

She couldn’t wait another moment. She had to read it! She scanned the bookshelf, and plotted out her route. Climbing directly up would be the highest risk. A- a ton of books took up space on the shelf, meaning she wouldn’t be able to get a hoofhold. 

Then her eyes descended upon the book pile. It reached about halfway up the bookshelf. If she moved diagonally from near the top, she’d have a straight path to it! 

Wasting no time, her climb began. Carefully testing the structural integrity of every book in front of her hoof, one after the other. Just like out in the hallway. Midway up though, she misjudged where her hindhoof went, and some books started to side down under her. She kept herself from falling, but a couple of books started making their way down the pile.

She flinched and hoped they wouldn’t make much sound. Down down down, they kept picking up speed. Oh no… Then… they slowly hit a curve and just slid across the stone floor. The ever eager bookworm took little time to feel relief, minus a long sigh, then continued her ascent. 

She finally reached the top and saw it closer than before. Only four shelves to climb, and maybe six feet from where she was hanging. Once her full weight was on the shelves, she could feel gravity pulling on her back. She let her head lean back a bit and saw a non-insignificant drop below her. Maybe six or so shelves. 

She was so close though. She could almost taste the book! The imagined smell of the pages wafted up into her nose, and gave her extra determination. She HAD to know what was in that book! And she came too far to stop now! 

Small little shuffles was all it’d take. One hoof in front of the other. Making sure she had a tight grip. Then, knowing how bad this would turn out if she hesitated, she hopped straight up, latched one hoof onto the next level of shelves and scrambled to get the others into a solid spot. 

She finally settled, legs aching from tensing up too much, heart beat racing from the sudden shot of adrenalin. Four feet, three shelves. Not that much farther. Her journey continued. Shuffling a bit faster, now that she got a bit of a rhythm to it. 

Her next stop to the next shelf was met with a few books stacked on their side. This allowed the unicorn to easily step up to the next shelf. Less hassle than before. Her shuffling journey soon ended after that, seeing the book above her. It felt like she was ascending into the void, with the candle light slowly leaving her behind. Reaching out for this dark book. If she was less focused on not falling, she might think it was absorbing light. 

Now all she needed to do was climb straight up. Her body weight pushed against the shelves, triple checking they could handle what was about to come. Then in a swift motion she launched herself up to the next level, going a bit too high and touching the underside of the shelf the book was on. 

This was it, it was so close to her. One more level, and she’d have her prize! It was so big, she might have to take it with her! She could read it in bed! The overeager bookworm’s mind raced with joyful thoughts of reading that book so much, her next jump was flawed. Much shorter than the last, her hooves just barely managed to catch the edge of the shelf the book was on. 

Her hind legs dangled from the edge, too panicked to find purchase on the shelves below her. It was so close! She pulled herself up ever so slightly, reaching out a hoof to grab it. Just… one… quick… GRAB! 

And just like that, the book slid out from it’s spot. Almost like it was covered in grease. Too much weight was put on it, and the poor unicorn was sent plummeting. Book and all. The fall was so sudden and terrifying, brief images of her life suddenly came up in her mind. Her first day at magic school, the day she wanted to learn magic, her first book, endless days of boredom. There was so much she regretted not doing. 

Such regretful thoughts were put to a halt, as her fall was broken by one of the books that had slid down from her journey up book mountain. A shame she couldn’t feel any relief. The book she so desperately wanted was falling straight for her head. 

There was no time to think. No other option to take. It was this, or get a concussion. Or worse! In a flash, her horn finally lit up. Radiating purple light bright enough to make her eyes close from more than just exhaustion. 

When darkness didn’t fully take her, she felt safe enough to open her eyes. Above her, the book laid bare open. Some random page in the middle. Now the unicorn's mind raced. Somepony would be here any minute now that she’s used her magic. She needed to leave fast. Or find some place to hide. 

Her thoughts ground to a halt, as her eyes began to focus on the book pages themself. Words began to light up, letters and words slowly began appearing in the corner of her vision. The world darkened around her. She’d been sucked into a book before, but this was feeling a bit too literal for her taste. 

Then a shrill voice broke her out of her trance. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” She felt like jumping out of her own skin in fear as she stood up. Her head darted around, blinking out the words and darkness that came to her. Nopony was near yet, that was good. But loud, angry hoofsteps gave her no relief. 

She couldn’t be caught with this book! She had to hide it! In a split second decision, she slid the open book under the bookshelf she got it from. “What do you think you’re doing young filly?!” Twilight’s ears folded back onto her head, pained from the yelling happening only inches from her. She looked up to see an angry, scowling cream mare, with a dark red mane done up in curlers. 

“H-hi there, Miss Holly Fic.” Her hooves nervously fiddled around, trying to find anything to do to keep her anxiety under control in this situation. It only seemed to serve in making Miss Fic even angrier.

“Don’t you give me that! What are you doing in the library at four thirteen in the morning?!” Her breathing became more ragged with each word, if Twilight didn’t know any better, she’d say a blood vessel was about to pop. That vein bulging out of her slightly wrinkled forehead didn’t give her much hope.

“I-I was just… I couldn’t sleep so I figured there wouldn’t be much harm in reading?” Twilight knew this excuse wouldn’t work. But she knew even better that Miss Fic would make up an even worse excuse just to punish her if she said nothing.

Thankfully, that somehow made her look slightly less upset. Enough to pause for a moment and lower her tone. But only a little. “You know you’re supposed to be in bed by 10PM.” She wasn’t shouting, but with how forceful her words are they stung all the same.

Twilight couldn’t find any more energy to argue. “Yes ma’am.”

“Honestly Twilight, this is the eighth rule violation this month. At this rate you’ll never graduate.” Holly paused and thought for a moment. Thinking on how to punish Twilight. Once the thought finally reached her, she felt slightly embarrassed by how long it took her to think up such a simple idea. “I’m afraid I’m banning you from the library for a month.”

“WHAT?!?!” Twilight snapped back, eyes now watering.

“LOWER YOUR TONE!” Miss Fic shouted, seemingly more upset Twilight talked back than the idea of waking anypony else. “If I hear anymore complaints it’s going to be two months, understand!?”

Twilight did her best not to cry, choking back her wails of agony as best she could. Tears streamed down her face freely, the heat from her worked up face fogging up her glasses. 

“Now come along, you’ve been up far too late. You have an etiquette class in the morning.” Miss Fic began walking without waiting for Twilight. “And I don’t want you falling behind because of this.”  Twilight could only follow.

The walk back to her room was much less eventful. Miss Fic lit the way with her horn, making the risk of tripping or running into anything impossible. At least, impossible for anypony who wasn’t crying her eyes out.

Twilight wasn’t so lucky, and ended up tripping on several jutting stones in the floor, earning her brief glares from Miss Fic. Demanding she keep up regardless of her sore hooves. 

Finally they reached the group bedroom. Twilight had the door open for her, and Miss Fic quietly stared at her the whole way. Passing by several beds to the near back where hers was, and slowly slumped her way into bed. Without even looking back to see Miss Fic shut the door. 

That night, she cried herself to sleep. The thought of having her one refuge from this terrible place taken from her crushed her heart. And yet, despite it all one thought lingered in her mind. An unexpected thought.

How would she read that book she found?

-End