It was a peaceful morning for Dr. Kidney at the Golden Half library. He was enjoying a delicious cup of jasmine tea while reading the morning newspaper. There was no significant news that day, except for an announcement about an auction of antique coats and the disappointing pumpkin harvest results throughout the region. It was just another day.
"Could it be some kind of plague?" the doctor wondered, trying to fuel his imagination after reading the article about the poor harvest. Although he wasn't someone drawn to disasters, pumpkins had always been his favorite food for dinner.
Just as he was about to pour himself a third cup of tea, a pitiful sound caught his attention. Coming from the main entrance of the communal hall, there was a small unicorn wearing a blue hat, crying inconsolably. Without thinking too much, the doctor, being the only person present in the room, quickly approached the girl.
"What's the matter, little one? Why are you crying?" the doctor asked.
"Sniff, sniff... a boy said my drawings were... ugly!" the filly said between tears as she showed her sketchbook to the doctor.
"Oh," was all the doctor said as he looked at her scribbles. They weren't ugly, but the doctor wasn't sure what exactly the girl had drawn.
"And... sniff... the boy also tore up my other notebook. BOOHOOOO!" the filly cried, pulling out another notebook torn in half.
"How terrible! Okay, okay, it's over now, calm down, little one," said Dr. Kidney, trying to comfort the girl. However, the girl seemed to have an unlimited supply of tears to accompany her constant sobbing. Without much thought, the doctor did what any kind-hearted adult would do in such a situation to resolve the issue.
The doctor went to the gift items counter and, using his personal key as an honorary library member, unlocked it. He took a basket of sweets and a light blue notebook with golden edges from there.
"Here you go, little one. It's a new book for your drawings. And here are some pumpkin candies to sweeten the bad moment," said the doctor as he handed the notebook and the basket of sweets to the filly.
"Thank you very much... sniff, sniff," said the filly, trying to disguise her tears with a slight smile.
"Alright, now tell me, where is that boy who tore up your notebook?"
"He left a while ago... I had never seen him before," the filly replied.
"I see. Are you accompanied?"
"No, I came alone to do my drawings because it's quieter here," the filly answered, wiping her tears with a tissue.
"I see," said Dr. Kidney. The girl's story made sense and didn't raise any suspicion in him. The colt she mentioned was likely the same one the library caretaker had warned him about, saying he had been causing mischief during that week.
"It would be better to go to the caretaker, Aguamelon, and inform her about your case," the doctor suggested to the girl.
"Don't worry. I'm already going home," the filly said hastily. "Take a gift as a thank you for being so kind to me, sir."
At that moment, a drawing magically slipped out of the filly's notebook and landed in Dr. Kidney's hands. It was a somewhat distorted drawing of a white pony with a red mane and a face divided between white and black.
"It's not necessary, little one, but I insist..." Dr. Kidney didn't finish his sentence as he realized that the innocent girl he had comforted had hurriedly left without saying goodbye. Feeling somewhat confused, the doctor sighed, tucked the drawing into his coat, and proceeded to close the gift counter. He then stored his heavy key in one of his pockets and returned to his seat.
Nothing else happened that morning. At noon, he decided to leave. He didn't find caretaker Aguamelon at her station, so he left a written note on her desk. As he exited the library, for some reason, he felt lighter. He simply thought it was due to the new hat his wife had bought him. With a slight smile, he walked towards his workplace.
Kit trotted as loudly as possible through the closed corridors of the Golden Half library. There was no one working on the renovations or any adults nearby, so he didn't care about making as much noise as he wanted. This was his territory now. No, it had always been his. His wealthy family was a joint owner of the library grounds. And now that the current owner of the library had handed over the remaining papers of the property to his family, practically everything was his.
The young colt with the red hat stopped and looked at the gigantic plant pot in the middle of the hallway. He snorted, annoyed that even those antiques were still there. He passed by it with a trot that reflected all his childish arrogance. He could already imagine the electronic games that would replace it and the commercial stores filled with toys and sweets.
Then a leaf, as large as a book, detached itself from the plant pot and smacked him in the face.
"You stupid plant!" Kit angrily insulted the pot.
Obviously, that provocation received no response.
"I'll chop you up and sell you as fodder!" the colt announced, preparing his horn with a sharp light. In an instant, the magic shot out, directly towards one of the smaller green leaves of the plant. It was a clean cut, and the tender leaf fell to the cold floor.
Emboldened, the young unicorn marched arrogantly over the fallen leaf. That plant had no way to defend itself, or so he believed.
Suddenly, a breeze came from one of the corridors. Perhaps it was the accumulated dust in the place, but a sudden tickle began to fill the colt's nose. "Achoo, achoo, achoo."
Attacked by that sudden allergy, the spoiled white-haired colt had no choice but to retreat.
"Burrrp," the rude burp echoed in the room where Kit had entered.
"You're dirty!" Kit shouted at the young unicorn mare with purple and cream mane who was reclining on one of the tables in the room, eating candies.
"So is your tail," Lia retorted indecently.
"So is yours," Kit replied, sticking out his tongue.
"Your mouth too... so what?" Lia responded with a cold gaze.
"...I don't know," Kit surrendered with a stupid look in the face of his sister's gaze.
Both colts burst into laughter. As a sign of reconciliation, Lia handed her brother the candies from her basket, which he immediately started eating. Lia, on the other hand, leaped onto a pile of books and began casually leafing through them with her magic. Taking as many pages as she pleased, she magically stuck them together until they took the shape of a pony leg. With that paper limb, she connected it to a pony body made of the same material at the other end of the room. It was a sculpture that would horrify anyone who loved books. But in Lia's eyes, it was as beautiful as a noble unicorn prince.
"You're done. It looks awesome! But isn't its tail too long?" Kit asked, examining the back of the sculpture.
"Its tail is perfect," Lia replied with a mischievous smile. Kit didn't argue with her; he didn't like it when his sister got weird.
Lia paid no attention to her brother as she observed the face of her artwork. She added more black and red tempera to the divided-face sculpture's head and stepped back to admire her work with satisfaction.
"Hey, were you able to get into the forbidden room?" Lia suddenly asked.
"No, the Mr. Kidney's key doesn't work," Kit said, throwing Dr. Kidney's heavy key onto the table. It had been stolen from him that morning.
"That's too bad! Now what do we do, Kit?" Lia innocently asked.
Kit didn't have an answer to that. Several more minutes passed, and there was no response. Growing bored with her brother's slowness, Lia started throwing darts at a picture of a pony that was stuck on the wall.
Kit seemed lost in his own thoughts.
"Ahem," Lia huffed, throwing another dart at the wall. Kit seemed to have the same alertness as a plant.
"Ahemmmmm," Lia huffed more forcefully. Finally, Kit noticed the photo of the pony that his sister was throwing darts at.
"Ahaaa, I've got it, Lia! Let's take the keys from the caretaker lady!" Kit said cheerfully.
"Yes, yes! What a great idea!" Lia responded with a smile.
"But... she's already mad at us," Kit paused, worried.
"Don't worry, I'll handle that," Lia said with an even bigger smile.
In one of the library's hallways, Aguamelon returned tiredly to her receptionist desk after finishing organizing all the cleaning supplies she had needed to clean up the mischief Kit and Lia had caused in the morning.
"These kids... where could they be?" Aguamelon wondered to herself, wiping some sweat off her forehead with a towel.
Then, a pitiful sound caught her attention. At the other end of the hallway, one of the colts she had been thinking about was crying inconsolably.
"What's wrong, Lia? Why are you crying?" Aguamelon asked, concerned, as she approached Lia.
"Sniff, sniff... my brother said that my drawings were... ugly!" the filly said between tears, while an anything but innocent smile hid inside her.