Oh boy...
“Spike!! Have you seen the copy of Magical Mares in Manehattan?”
“Uh… no.”
“Spike…”
“…Alright I have it, but I was going to finish it tonight!” the dragon whined. The humble abode that housed Ponyville’s one and only librarian, was now flooded with various books, tomes, and scrolls. The only place that didn’t have any books, seemed to be the actual bookshelves. It was rather stuffy, almost claustrophobic. The room flickered with a low light, having only a single candle set upon a desk next to one aggravated pony. Twilight groaned as she levitated her trusty quill and clipboard, enveloping both in a starry, translucent, purple aura.
“Spike, this is serious! You know that our duty, our only duty really, is to maintain this library and its contents!”
“I know, Twilight, but we’ve been at this all night! We check these books every day. It’s not like they can just get up and leave. I just want to get some sleep…” Spike, with his eyelids low, trudged across the room and landed in a pile of books with a considerable thud. At that point, a pile of hardcover books felt like a pile of blissful clouds.
“Ugh, you don’t understand, Spike! We’re the only library in Ponyville! The entire town is counting on us to have any and every piece of writing available for them! What if Cheerilee came and I didn’t have the book she needed?” Twilight realized she was pacing in a circle… again. Ignoring her surroundings, she continued on.
“And if she can’t find her book, then she can’t read it. And if she can’t read a book, then she won’t be able to read anything. And if she stops reading, she’ll forget how to read. And if she doesn’t know how to read, the fillies she teaches won’t know how to read either!” Twilight’s eyes widened as sweat appeared on her forehead. She shook her head, light dust bellowing from her disheveled mane.
“And eventually, everypony will forget how to read! I’ll be banished for sending literacy rates back a thousand years! There’ll be statues of my failure as the librarian who made everyone illiterate, I’ll have t-“
“Hey, Twilight, what’s this?
Snapping out of her rant, Twilight set down her quill and clipboard and turned to her little assistant. Twilight glanced behind her to find the baby dragon tugging at something underneath a large book pile that was set in the corner of the room.
“It… won’t… budge…” Spike grunted as he heaved heavily.
“Here, Spike, let me get it.” Twilight’s horn glowed once more, sending dozens of books aside. Spike quickly stepped out of the way, narrowly dodging various reading articles as they whizzed past him.
“Alright, Twilight, whatever you say...” Spike didn’t squander the presented opportunity. With Twilight’s back turned, he tip-toed, with remarkable agility, up the stairs, diving straight into bed.
Twilight could hear her assistant’s faint snore, ever so softly, through her room’s open door.
Thanks Spike… Twilight thought as she rolled her eyes.
Twilight grunted, breathing heavily as she lifted the foreign object out of the pile. The pile began to rumble, eventually collapsing on itself. Dust from each falling book blanketed every crevice of the tree-house, causing a certain dragon upstairs to sneeze.
How the hay can all these books be so dusty? I take them out for inspection every day...
Twilight sneezed deafeningly, forcing her to place her hoof over her mouth. Princess Celestia said she had always loved her sneeze, but to everyone else… it was rather disturbing. Her sneeze was just so… aggressive. The mare quickly recovered her thoughts and turned her attention to the object in question. As she walked nearer, she found it to be a white sack, depicting a wonderfully stitched golden horse-shoe, with a 5-pointed star in the middle.
What's this? Twilight pondered. Her overworked mind briefly tried its best to piece together an answer, but she sighed and simply opened the container. From it, she pulled out a variety of books and papers, all of which were in pristine condition. Twilight soon snapped to attention, as books that were so well-bounded couldn’t have been from Ponyville. She quickly sat down and lifted one of them excitedly towards her face, straining her dust-irritated eyes to read the title.
Predictions and Prophecies…
“Hmm, why does that sound so familiar?” Twilight thought as she talked aloud, rubbing her hoof on her chin. She quickly grabbed the next thing from the bag: a letter, to be exact.
My dearest and most faithful student Twilight, you know that I value your diligence, and that I trust you completely…
Flashing scenes of her arriving to Ponyville, meeting her soon-to-be friends, and battling Nightmare Moon all forcefully blazed through her brain, leaving an expression of realization on her once blank face.
It’s the letter the Princess sent me before I left for Ponyville… but why is this here? Twilight thought, curiously eyeing every feature of the letter.
As if on cue, a smaller piece of parchment paper floated down from behind the letter, landing square in Twilight’s lap.
My dearest and most faithful student Twilight, you left for Ponyville in such a hurry that you had forgotten your things in the Canterlot Library. I know how much you cherish your notes and research, so I gathered everything that was yours and entailed them in your bag. I assume you’ll be too busy with the Summer Sun Celebration, but at least you won’t have to worry about these. Remember, make some friends!
Sincerely,
Celestia
“Huh, how thoughtful of the Princess!” Twilight happily announced as she levitated the remaining items from her bag onto her table. But as she did, a small yellow piece of paper fell from one of the books onto the hard oak floor. Sighing in minor irritation, Twilight set the rest of her books down and retrieved the loose paper.
“Canterlot Local Library… Due Back…”
Twilight snarled in frustration due to the lack of light. She swiftly levitated a few candles and matches, and proceeded to sufficiently illuminate the rest of the room.
“FIVE MONTHS AGO??? SPIIIIKKE!!!”
“Wha?!?” Spike shouted as he jumped from his small wicker bed. He then tripped over his small blanket, sending him down the stairs like a child’s slinky. As he hit the bottom, Twilight simply shook her head.
“Ugghh… What is it now Twilight???” Spike moaned, painfully sprawled on the cold hard floor.
“Quick, Spike! I need you to send a letter to the Canterlot Local Library! I have five books from their library that are overdue! I need to send them back as soon as possible! Inform them that they shall be swiftly returned on the morrow.” Twilight stood up and straightened her neck, giving her the appearance of an officer barking orders.
Spike, now wide-awake and extremely grouchy, grumbled as he hastily wrote down the improvised letter. If Spike had learned anything from being Twilight’s assistant, it was to be ready to write a letter at any time in the day. Any time. With a deep breath, and an even deeper blow, an emerald green flame emerged from his nose and mouth, whisking the letter away out an open window, into the brisk and lightless night.
“There, Twilight. It’s sent. Sheesh, it’s like three in the morning! They probably won’t even see it until morn-” Spike muttered before he spewed a roll of parchment paper from his mouth.
“I hate when it does that…” Spike mumbled as he once again trekked toward his bed.
Twilight levitated the letter, relentlessly unraveling it and stretching it across her floor. Apparently, there was no time for it to be read on a simple desk like a normal pony.
Dear Ms. Sparkle,
We here at the Canterlot Local Library certainly appreciate your notice, but we must adhere to strict regulations. One of those regulations being: our policy on late returns. It is very well-known as company policy that a 1% charge of the books original cost will be placed upon your library account every day past the due date, until the book has been returned. There are 5 books that are currently checked out in your name, all of which are 5 months overdue. You have an outstanding debt of 100,852 bits owed to the Canterlot Local Library, resulting in the freezing of any and all library accounts of your name, in all of Equestria, until the debt has been paid. The Canterlot Local Library wishes you the best of endeavors on your road to repayment, and is looking forward to accepting your money.
Sincerely,
Canterlot Local Library - Overdue Returns Division
“A hundred thous-…” Twilight trailed off as she fell to the floor, fainting as her body commanded her to shut down. Combining a lack of sleep with such a shocker did not bode well. She laid still on the chilled oak floor as a draft swept through an open window, blowing out the candles. Tomorrow would be a new day for the troubled unicorn. A new day with new ideas… and new problems.