There were few other comforts Twilight could say that helped shield her from having to face an awful day. One of them WAS going to the library. The thought alone of having to go a whole month without it made her never want to leave the other comfort of her life. Sleeping.
“Alright everypony, it’s time to start the day!” Miss Holly Fic shouted, eager to take away the last comfort in Twilight’s life. Her eyes grinded open, wincing at the sudden intake of light. Waking up normally was a chore for a sleepy head like her, but with so little to look forward to, it was like asking her to move a mountain.
Perhaps, she thought, if she didn’t move a muscle she wouldn’t have to get up. She could just hide in bed. It didn’t matter to her if she’d get in trouble later. She already had the most severe punishment she could think of. Not like it could get much worse.
Twilight tried to look around for something to distract her. She saw some ponies moving past her. One or two might’ve taken a glance at her. It took Twilight a few seconds to discern why she couldn’t actually see the ponies clearly.
Then it clicked. Her glasses. She fell asleep with them! All the sleep in her eyes faded away as her eyelids snapped wide open! Despite the blurriness, she managed to locate them teetering off the edge of her bed.
“Shoot!” She whispered sharply under her breath. Of all the things. Twilight tried to reach for her glasses in a panic, but her foreleg was snagged under the covers and only served to jostle the bed and send her glasses careening over.
With something so vital on the line, Twilight had no choice. She reached out with her magic in a flash as the glasses finally fell out of sight. Her fears were calmed as she saw a black blob enveloped in a magenta aura float up and onto her face.
Her victory was cut short however, “Twilight Sparkle, that especially means you too!!” She felt the glare of her teacher nearly burn a hole in her back. The sound of angry hoofsteps approaching her cleared any remaining drowsiness as she shot up with a single hoof raised in a panicked defense
“I’m up! I’m up!” Her breath was caught in her throat at the sight of Miss Fic standing angrily in the middle of the room with a look that could kill.
“Well don’t just sit there!” Miss Fic said angrily while turning to leave the room, “I expect you to be in the classroom on time!” And before she could even catch her breath, Twilight watched Miss Fic quickly trot her way out of there.
Twilight realized soon after what Miss fic meant, and stubbled her way out of bed. “Shoot, shoot, shoot!” Not wanting to take her time, she grabbed her uniform-a simple plain black dress with white frills-and rushed out of the dorm room.
“Ch’mon yuh shtuphid sheeve!” Twilight growed through the dress as she attempted to fit her hoof through the sleeve by just jamming it into the dress and hoping for the best. Not made easier by the fact that she was running on three legs.
“Stupid Holly, stupid rules.” This time her grievances were voiced at a normal volume, since she was confident everypony would be in the classrooms by now. “It’ll be toooo dangerous to just let you rascals use magic whilly nilly! Only with adult supervision!” She said in a shrill, mocking tone. And putting on the silliest of faces, complete with cross eyes and her tongue sticking out.
Sadly, Twilight finally reached the classroom and steeled her expression to one of a dull, neutral state. Devoid of the small bits of happiness she gained from making fun of the pony she now drew the attention of.
In fact, the whole class seemed to take Miss Fic’s stare as a cue to turn their eyes towards Twilight’s entrance. The attention just made her anxious-which was probably the intention from Holly now that she thought about it-and forced her gaze down to the floor. The room was dead silent regardless, up until she reached her seat and stared down at the table.
“Twilight Sparkle?” She heard Miss Fic call out with as much disdain she could muster into two words.
“Here.” Twilight limply raised her hoof with the exhaustion of the morning and the run in here rapidly catching up to her while the adrenalin from an angry Miss Fic wore off. An uneasy silence hung in the air as Holly paused on Twilight’s name.
Were she in any better condition, Twilight might’ve speculated on what it was that seemed to have Miss Fic’s goat. It’d take her less than a second to figure out that she was angry about last night. But for now she was more interested in the texture of the cloth laid out on the table she was sat at.
Her slight curiosity overtook her low mood and inspected the table she was sat at. Every class they had a new set up. Sometimes it was simple desks and chairs, but most others it was these set of six identical medium sized tables.
This class they were all pressed against each other long ways, like some kind of fancy dinner table. The old white cloth draped across it, with piles of unset silverware and plates off to the side on a different table gave her an idea of what today's class was going to be.
Twilight’s attention was ripped away from her inner thoughts by Miss Fic's shrill voice cutting through her mental monologue like a hot knife through butter. “Before we begin for today, we have a new student joining us.” She gestured towards the filly standing next to her with a dumbfounded look. A brief moment passed before Miss Fic nudged the filly with her hoof, “introduce yourself.”
Twilight’s eyes were locked onto the filly, as were the rest of the class. Inspecting the dirty orange fur, a description Twilight thought was quite literal, and messy blonde mane. Despite being a unicorn like the rest of them, it was as if this pony had played in dirt every day of her life.
“Uhhh…” The messy unicorn finally spoke! Twilight could see anxiety flash through her eyes as the reality of introducing herself to the whole class of roughly 30 unicorns sank in. “Ah’m… Applejack… It’s uhh, nice to meet y’all. Ah hope we… get along?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight could see Miss Fic roll her eyes as Applejack finished her introductions. Not letting any chance for another awkward silence to sink in “We’ll have to work on that dreadful accent.” Said Holly without a care for anypony who could hear her. “Go sit next to Twilight Sparkle over there.” She gestured one hoof in Twilight’s general direction while maintaining eye contact with Applejack. “She’s the purple trouble maker by the end of the table there.”
A faint growl could be heard by a few ponies near Twilight. If their attention wasn’t so focused on Miss Fic, for fear of being called out as inattentive, they would’ve seen the growing scowl on the lavender filly's face.
“Twilight” Miss Fic finally locked eyes with her in the disinterested way she could muster. Completely ignoring the rage setting into Twilight’s face. “As extra punishment for breaking into the library last night you get to catch… eugh, Applejack up on our classes.” Miss Fic made no effort to hide her growing distaste of Applejack and Twilight as she turned back to the chalkboard hung up against the wall and began writing on it.
The whole class’s gaze seemed to follow Applejack, who’s own insecurities slowly ramped up her speed until she quickly and loudly sat down next to Twilight with an awkward grin, staring at the rest of the class as if they were all going to try to bite her head off.
Thankfully for her, everypony’s curiosity about Applejack was outweighed by the fear of seeming like a slacker to Miss Fic, and they all turned their attention back to her.
All except of course, for Twilight Sparkle. Who’s eyes were locked onto the tablecloth below her. She might’ve looked even more angry than she already did, had she not needed to repeatedly push up her glasses back up and stop them from falling off.
An awkward silence grew between the two fillies. Applejack sat there, waiting for Twilight to notice her. While Twilight was content to stay in her own little world of anger.
Unwilling to wait a second longer, the new pony gave Twilight a firm tap on her shoulder. “Excuse me-”
“AAH!” In an instant the hatred for all the world's problems directed at the table shifted into a fight or flight response pointed right in Applejack’s direction!
Applejack couldn’t help but flinch and lean away from the monster she had created. A slight snarl escaped it’s mouth as it inspected the offending party. “Who is it?” It thought, “Is it a guard come to take me away? One of the teachers to punish me!? A bully!? Is it Suns-Oh” Her posture relaxed. The truth had become clear. “It’s just that new girl.”
The tension quickly dissolved from there, and said new girl found the courage to address the filly who had just moments ago looked ready to hurt her. “Y-yer Twilight Sparkle, right? Weren’t you gonna help me?” Her words sounded like they were going to get caught up in her throat at any moment.
It took a hot moment for Twilight to remember what her teacher had told her minutes ago. Her mind was so poisoned by the sudden call out in front of everypony, the fact she was tasked with helping this new girl.
“Uhuh. Right, right, right, right, right. Applejack, right?” She said with a semi-forced smile.
From that point, the new girl seemed to perk up a bit at the first friendly interaction she was about to get. “Yup! That’s me!” She seemed somewhat proud of the fact that that was her name for some reason.
“So today we’re probably going to be learning about dining etiquette, judging by the tabe and the plates over there.” Twilight turned around and looked over the back of her chair, a considerable task due to the height advantage these chairs had. She had to be on her tippy hooves to see her target.
“Over there is where we’ll be getting our supplies for today. Most of the students here are bigger than us, so we’ll need to wait our turn until most of them have already got their supplies.” Applejack’s focus was now entirely on Twilight. She had expected a boring lecture, not a tactical plan to even start the lesson.
“Why can’t we just go when everypony else does?”
“Because if we do we’ll probably get shoved and stepped on.” Twilight’s response was very much a matter of fact. With a few select ponies crossing her mind.
Applejack’s expression soured a bit upon realizing the situation she was in. “Oh….” She took in the surrounding ponies to get a complete sense of things. Twilight was probably one of the shortest ponies here. Everypony else was either slightly taller than her, or was significantly bigger. The biggest was probably a yellow and red unicorn she saw sitting on the other end of the table, closer to the teacher.
And Applejack was smaller than all of them, even Twilight.
Eventually, after droning on for another ten minutes, Miss Fic finally set the fillies and colts in the room loose on the tableware. Applejack watched as her unexpected tutor’s predictions came true. A few brave and smaller ponies tried to worm their way in fast, but only ended up pushed around and had their supplies stolen from them. One was even literally walked over.
“What kind of a horrible place is this?” Asked Applejack, horrified by the conduct of her fellow classmates.
“Princess Luna’s School For Wayward Unicorns.” Twilight's expression never changed throughout this event. She had seen this hundreds if not thousands of times. The poor filly was even on the receiving end of this treatment more than once.
Seeing it again didn’t phase her. It only reminded her of what she had to do to avoid it all. “Come on, things have died down enough.” Twilight grabbed the new girl by the shoulder, and firmly led her over to the table with noticeably less tableware.
Applejack wasn’t eager to waste any time. So she quickly tried to lift a plate and roll of silverware in her magic, only to be swiftly thwacked on the horn by her tutor. “Ow!” Her vision blurred lightly, her focus was completely disrupted.
Made only worse by Twilight hissing at her “SHHHHH are you crazy?!” She turned her head, on the lookout for any angry teachers coming to punish them. The smallest bit of relaxation fell over her as she confirmed nopony had noticed, and turned back to her ignorant friend.
“What’s your problem!?”
“My problem?” Twilight asked, offended at the question. “My problem is you trying to get us in trouble. Don’t you know magic isn’t allowed without direct supervision?!”
“No???” Applejack said with a dumbfounded look. “Why would that be a rule? Isn’t one of the points of this place to learn magic?”
Twilight gave Applejack her tableware, a plate and a bundle of silverware wrapped in a towl, in a hurry, and went to pick up new ones. “Of course, but Miss Fic doesn’t trust us to use magic on our own.” She said while making their way back to their seats. Just in time, as one of the remaining larger ponies to not get their supplies bumped into them on their way back.
After returning, Twilight began to explain the lesson to Applejack. She had already read a ton of books on various forms of setting the table “properly” while casually and quickly setting and resetting her own part.
“First the soup spoon goes closest to the plate, as most often a light soup is served before the main course. On the farthest side is your tea spoon, in the event you were served tea. Most adults prefer wine though, so it’s just there for show. Meanwhile you have to keep the salad fork ready for when, well, salad is served.”
Applejack missed probably half of it while still looking for the soup spoon. “Uhhh… uhhh…” In the end she figured any spoon would be better picked than no spoon, and chose the one she figured would be best. The largest one she had.
Which earned her Twilight’s brief ire. “What? No, that’s your serving spoon. You use it to pour sauces on your main dish.” She grabbed the slightly smaller spoon from the confused filly and replaced the first spoon with a smile as wide as a mile. “There, all better!”
She stared for a good solid minute while Twilight continued to ramble on in spite of her not paying attention. But Applejack could keep it in no longer. “Consarnit! I don’t get this one bit” She chucked her remaining silverware down onto her plate and crossed her arms with a solid huff.
“What’s wrong? Do you want me to explain it to you again?”
“No!” She grabbed Twilight’s shoulder, stopping short of shoving her hoof in her mouth.”That’s fine. Jus’, none of this makes sense. Are we gonna learn anythin’ less fussy, maybe a bit, I dunno….” She paused, and looked around to be sure nopony else was listening “.... useful?”
Meanwhile, Twilight was briefly distracted by the hoof on her shoulder. Initially she froze in reaction from being bullied so much. Then once she was sure she wasn’t going to be hurt, confusion set in. Nopony had touched her like this before. At least, not that she could remember.
That confusion had to be put on hold, when Applejack shook Twilight to knock her out of her stupor. “Huh? Oh! Uhh, no.”
“Fer real!?”
“Well, no. Not really.” She blinked a few times and re-centered her mind. “We do learn magic from time to time, but that’s really rare. And some of this etiquette stuff is actually useful to get along with some ponies in canterlot, but….” She looked away from Applejack and ran her hoof over her set silverware, shuffling them around slightly. Her voice was barely above a whisper, “yeah it’s kinda useless.”
But, Twilight quickly perked herself up. Even going so far as to pap herself on the cheeks until a smile returned to her face. “But! We still gotta do it. Or else we’ll never get outta here.” Despite perking herself up a moment ago, Twilight quickly deflated as she said that sentence.
The smile remained, but something was visibly different about Twilight. Which, in conjunction with what she said, gave Applejack even more confusion than she already was at the fussiness of the silverware. “Uhh, can’t y’all just leave?”
That smile quivered and threatened to fall with each word Twilight spoke, “no. Most of us can’t. We get sent here by either our parents, or on the order of the guard after a magical incident. They say kids with so much magical potential are dangerous without discipline and training.”
Applejack watched Twilight’s forced mood drop every second. Until a somber silence fell between them with her last word. One that even the loud hustle and bustle of the class couldn’t penetrate through.
Eventually enough was enough, and she forced the first thing she could think of out of her mouth. “Ah actually came here cuz of a magical incident. But, that was mah own choice.” She shuffled around her hooves anxiously. “Granny didn’t want me to, but ah thought I was just more harm than good back home if ah couldn’t control this.”
“So ah just packed mah things and shipped myself down here to Canterlot and left ‘em a note. Ah hope they ain’t worried about me...” The mood became uncomfortable for Applejack. Thinking about the reactions of her family back home when they saw she was gone started to eat at her. “So! W-why are you here?” She asked, desperate for any excuse to change the subject.
Sadly, this caused Twilight’s already sour mood to degrade further. She looked down towards her cutiemark, a single magenta star with small white highlights marked her flank. Reminding her of that fateful day, when her own destiny was torn from her hooves.
“I’d rather not talk about it.” She turned back to her silverware and began to reset them for probably the tenth time to take her mind off of it. “Let’s just get back to the lesson.”
Applejack didn’t argue. Or even say a word after that. She just quietly listened to Twilight’s instructions as best she could.
At the end of the class Miss Fic gave her a “compliment” saying she “Did better than she expected for someone of your background.”
It didn’t feel much like a complement to Applejack or Twilight.
After class had ended the students were given some spare time to wander about the building on their own. Miss Fic would’ve gladly kept them in line between classes, but she needed time between to set up the next one. Even with help from other teachers. So it was easier in the end to just let the children wander around and fix any problems.
In this span of time Twilight would normally be rushing down to the library and filling her entire spare time with reading, as there was nothing better to do. Sometimes she’d even take a few interesting ones into the yard and read under the apple tree outside.
And with that out of the picture, Twilight wasn’t entirely sure what to do with herself. There wasn’t much else to do at the school between classes if you didn’t have friends. An option not regularly available for Twilight.
So, she just wandered the halls. Going wherever her hooves took her. Applejack decided to tag along during her wandering. Twilight was unsure why. She was done catching up with class. “Maybe she doesn’t know what else to do with herself” Twilight thought.
Applejack then shocked her out of her inner thoughts and moping by speaking up. “So, anythin’ y’all do ‘round here ‘sides learn and walk?”
“Well, we mostly just make some fun for ourselves. I’d spend most of my time… in the library….”
“Oh, y’all mean this one?” Applejack knocked her new friend out of her sad state into one of surprise as she saw where she had arrived. Front entryway of the library.
Twilight felt a bit embarrassed, walking all the way down to the library without even thinking about it. Was this so normal for her that it was like an instinct? A home beacon for a bookworm? Or did she subconsciously desire the comfort of it all?
A faint whiff of books and the plain wax candles used in there hit her nose, calming her body to a noticeable degree. The comfort gained from just being here would definitely keep her going through the rest of the day.
“Yeah…” she said in a semi-hazy state.
Applejack picked up on the change in tone, and capitalized on it fast. “Shoot sugarcube! Why don’t we go in and pick some books out together!?” She took the lead and trotted inside. Finally happy she could do something with Twilight.
But when she noticed the distinct lack of a filly talking her ear off she stopped and turned to see Twilight standing at the entrance fiddling with her hooves. Applejack stopped, and turned back to Twilight, slowly walking over to her. “Uhh, sugarcube? Y’all alright.”
Twilight shook her head, “no, I got banned from the library last night.” Her voice was choked. Holding back herself from breaking down right then and there.
Applejack returned to her depressed friend, and gave her a firm pat on the back. “Don’t worry none, Ah’m sure y’all can figure out somethin’ to do ‘t pass the time.”
Wiping away a tear forming in her eye, Twilight looked up to Applejack and did her best to take what she was saying to heart. “Y-yeah. You’re right! It’s only for a month, I’m sure I can last that long! Especially with y-”
“Applejack!” Twilight snapped her head in the direction of the call out, having been conditioned to fear it by this point. Applejack meanwhile, frantically looked around for a few seconds until Twilight helped by pointing in the direction of Miss Fic, standing down the hallway.
“Oh! Hi there teach! Did y’all need somethin’?”
“Yes,” she said with what Twilight noted was more revulsion than she had for most other students, even her trouble making self. “I’ll be giving you special classes until we fix that dreadful problem of yours.” And without hesitation, Miss Fic turned and began walking away. “Come along now, there’s much to do.”
Applejack stood there confused on what to do before rushing after her teacher. Being sure to slow down just enough to say goodbye to Twilight, and promise to catch up later. Twilight waved goodbye and put on a smile until her friend was just out of view. Then the smile quickly gave way to a frown.
She turned back to the library to stare for a bit. Think about the sections she could see. Astrology. Culinary. History. The unsorted section, which got her into this mess to begin with. And at that point, Twilight’s thoughts began to drift back towards the night before. She still really really wanted to read that book she worked so hard to get last night.
She tried to remember the few pages she saw when it was hanging over her face threatening to knock her out. But every time she thought on the matter, her thoughts fuzzied. Blurred away. Like something was keeping her from remembering it. Her curiosity peaked even more. Of all the books she had read in her life, nothing had stuck in her mind as much as this one book.
She sat against the pillars of the library's entrance, and thought to herself. Waiting out the month didn’t feel like an option for her. It wasn’t even half way through the day, and a tingle ran up her spine every time she thought of going another minute without that book.
Even if she were able to wait that long, what if somepony borrowed it before she could get to it?! Vivid fantasies of the book being lost, or torn, or burnt, or gotten dirty in her absence! A shudder ran from her hind hooves to her horn. She shook the thoughts violently out of her head. Thinking about that made her feel like she was about to have a panic attack.
It took a minute or two for Twilight to calm down, and keep her hyperventilating under control. Waiting was 100% out of the question. She needed that as soon as possible. Tomorrow was organizing day, meaning this was the last day she’d have a chance to sneak out the book.
The fact that she was thinking of this as a permanent thievery instead of just prematurely borrowing never fully crossed her mind. She was too busy considering how she could get the book out.
There were windows all around the library. She could try and sneak the book out of one of those. But it’s so big, if she used magic she’d alert one of the teachers. And if she took too much time carrying such a heavy book she might be spotted and get in even more trouble.
She’d need a distraction. Something to keep eyes off of her while she got the book out. And as that consideration crossed her mind, she felt something slide out from her mane and tap the frame of her glasses.
The leftover match from last night was still there. And upon laying eyes on it, an idea sprung into Twilight’s mind. “... I’m getting that book back…”
A calm breeze blew through the open yard. Twilight took a singular, brief moment to enjoy it before her mission returned to her mind.
The building of the school had two rooms connected to the yard outside. The cafeteria, which was next to the hall leading outside, and a part of the building that jutted out which held the library. Two of the library walls were in the yard, the third was outside of the fence.
For once it seemed luck was in Twilight’s favor. The window right next to the fence was also next to the unfiltered section. Twilight rushed up to it to test if it was locked or not. Then the first big obstacle of her plans.
The windows were really high up. For an adult, they would probably need to stand up on their hind legs to get a view inside. But for an filly Twilight’s size, which she insists is AVERAGE to anypony who talks about it, she’d be lucky if she could hop high enough to see the roof.
Thankfully, she didn’t need to reach the window at the moment. All she needed was to test it. Outside of the school building, magic was allowed. Not by choice, mind you. If Miss Fic could, she’d probably set her magical alarms around the world. But enchanting the outside was miles more difficult than a bunch of rooms.
Twilight searched around, making sure nopony was looking at her while she tried this in the most unsuspicious way possible. Then used her magic to test if the window was open. The distance and weight of the window made it a struggle, but that worked in her favor. As she didn’t want to entirely open it.
Perfect! The window was unlocked just like she had hoped! And since nopony came to this section, it would stay unlocked until her plans were set in motion.
She hopped away from the window in a fit of joy, prancing across the yard over to the only tree in it. It was a huge tree, the trunk was bigger than an adult. So for Twilight, it was like staring up at a monolith.
This was the final step of her plan. Twilight used her magic and SNAPPED off a big branch from the tree with little effort. The fall was setting in and the tree was withering away for the winter. This makeshift tool she got would be the key to keeping the book safe when her plan ended. She couldn’t just keep the thing under her bed. It was too big for that.
So she went hard at work, digging a hole at the base of the tree. Between the fence and away from the school. Here she could read in peace and nopony would see her hidden stash.
Not like anypony ever paid attention to her in the first place. She could probably read in the center of the yard and it’d take an hour or two for her to get into trouble. But this was too important to gamble on her own un-noticeability.
After a good half hour whittling away at the base of the tree, it was finally time for Twilight’s next class. It wasn’t perfect, which made her shift around uncomfortably before rushing off to join the rest of her class. Sadly imperfect would have to be good enough. Time was running out.
And to be completely honest. She couldn’t stand waiting a minute longer to check out that book.
Dusty Bookmark flopped against a bookshelf, and slid down with a sigh of relief. She had spent all day re-organizing the entire Library. You wouldn’t expect such a relatively small library would take much organization, but kids are never keen on putting books back in their proper place.
Except for that one girl. Twilight Sparkle. Dusty always appreciated her. She was always very careful with the book she took out, and never once did she see one put out of place by her. “There aren’t enough kids like that Sparkle girl.” she said with a smile
Bookmark though for a moment. She heard that Twilight was banned from the Library, though she wasn’t told why. Surely it couldn’t’ve been that bad. Holly was kind of harsh, so she wouldn’t put it past her to over exaggerate whatever she did. It’s not like Twilight could have done anything seriously awful. ESPECIALLY not to the library.
While Dusty pondered what the little filly could’ve done, a window on the other end of the was slowly slid open by a magenta aura. The only sound it made was a singular squeak, causing it to briefly halt before continuing all the way up.
Soon after, a lit match was thrown through the window onto the romantic fiction section. One that would be missed by many, but not the culprit. A faint sound of tiny hooves could be heard galloping away as the flames took hold of the precious books. A horrid sacrifice, but one that had to be made.
Dusty’s musings on the crimes of Twilight Sparkle were cut off. The smoke had finally reached her muzzle. A faint scent that stung in her nose. Her first instinct was to inspect the book shelf she was at. Searching for anything out of the ordinary.
“FIRE!” A filly shouted behind her. Dusty spun around and saw a cream filly pointing to a corner of the library by an open window, where a fire had become well acquainted with the old books.
Her heart felt like it tried to jump right out of her throat. She rushed over to the fire to get a better look at it. Yep, definitely a fire. Not just imagining it. She could feel the heat growing in intensity on her fur. “Everypony please leave the library, we have a fire!” Dusty shouted at the top of her lungs.
The first to leave was the original filly who called out the fire. Bookmark wondered if she felt like she had to get permission to panic. Soon after, more foals peaked their heads out from their places of reading and saw the smoke, even one of the other teachers were browsing when the fire started. None of them stuck around.
But Dusty couldn’t focus on that. She had to act fast before the whole building went up in smoke. The rug from the center of the room was lifted into the air by her magic, and haphazardly dropped it onto the flames.
A sigh of relief left Dusty’s mouth, thinking the problem was dealt with. The fire now roaring through the rug, and up to the ceiling squashed any relaxation in her body. She took a step backwards to avoid the flames licking her body.
This was getting out of hand. The only way she could get this under control is if she had magi-....
Oh right.
In a snap, the fire was snuffed out. Unfortunately, Dusty wasn’t able to save the section of books the fire was loose in. Which was a shame, the rom-com section was her favorite.
While Dusty mourned the loss of books before her, in the back of the library, in the unfiltered section, a mischievous little scamp leapt out of the window and into the yard. She used the book as a cushion. As much as she loved the thing, she wasn’t ready to break its fall.
“Finally-FINALLY!” She shouted to herself. She rushed across the yard over to her hiding place. The original plan was to hide it immediately, but maybe…. Maybe she could squeeze in a few pages!