//------------------------------// // Scrawl // Story: Lost of thoughts // by CraftAids //------------------------------// He opened the library door. The door was in a tree, and he wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but the inside looked like a well-lit, hollowed tree. To the Right, there was counter pressed against the wall and a doorway into a kitchen. To the left of that, there were stairs going up and down. To the left of that, there were rows of bookshelves. On the left wall, there was a window. There was a small explosion and a flash of purple light. Muscles clenched in his jaw and down his back and his legs twitched three times in rapid succession before launching him through the air with a curved back back and flexed open lips around a clenched jaw, to land facing the counter. There was a purple horse with two wings and a horn at the counter in a white lab coat. Her mane was mostly dark purple with a pink stripe. Her eyes were wide open and purple and twitching. There were bags under those eyes. Her head hung a bit above any other pastel horse he had seen. A small bit of hair on the side of her face was on fire and she was staring at him and smiling a big, toothy smile. She did nothing. He quickly glanced at the door. “Hello?” “Hi!” “… Can I help yo-” “You can help welcome I Golden… welcome…” She looked confused and then burst out laughing. “Hehe,” she snorted, “ha ha - welcome - ha - welcome to the Golden Oaks Library. How can I help you?” She smiled a calm smile at him and her eyes were half lidded. “You’re on fire.” Her eyes drifted to the side of her face that was now on fire. “I am.” She looked back to him. “I should probably do something… Naw, I don’t have to care anymore. Weeeeeell, Celestia said alicorn-y stuff might scare ponies… don’t tell anyone, ok?” He just looked at her. Her head slowly drooped and then dropped halfway to the counter before lifting back into its semi-attentive position. “Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library; how can I help you?” “… Give me the most modern history book you have. Like, a book about stuff from a year ago.” “Kay,” She did nothing. “Could you find one for me?” “Oh!” Her eyes shot wide and her horn glowed. A book impacted the counter, coming from the general direction of the shelves. “The Elements Rise,” she proudly declared the title. Her smile dropped. “It’s the book! This book,” she jabbed a hoof at the book. “It’s not even that aaaaccuraaate.” she whined. “Miss, are you okay?” “Huh, what?” Her eyes opened fully and she sat up straight before relaxing again. “Juuust haven’t slept in a few days. Shhh,” she closed her eyes and extended a hoof to the left of his face. “I’m gonna make it better… What did you need?” “I wanna check out this book.” Her eyes opened wide and she put that toothy smile back on. “Library card!” “I don’t have one of those.” “Oh.” she wiggled and put the calm face back on. She pointed a hoof to her chest. “I got thissss.” She slowly swept that hoof out. Her horn glowed and a quill, a binder, and an ink jar floated out. The binder opened and the quill dipped. “Name,” the quill started writing “Age, eye color, fur color, mane color, height, weight, date issued.” In a purple flash, a small plastic rectangle with a bar code appeared. A red laser shot out from her horn and over the card and book with loud beeps. The book and card floated into his bags, which unzipped and rezipped themselves, and everything else put itself away. She sat there. He squinted into the heat of her bright face. “Ma’am?” “Thank you for visiting Golden Oaks!” He heard a small explosion and was blinded by purple light. She was gone. He stared for a moment, before turning and opening the door. He stopped. He closed the door and trotted to the kitchen. He returned on two legs with a glass of water between his hooves. He opened and closed the door again, loudly. There was a small explosion and a purple flash. “Welcome to Go-” Her face became covered in water. The door slammed. She dripped. The cup sat on the counter.