Big Macintosh had seen a few apple cart wrecks in his lifetime. Piles of splintered timber, a slippery mess of apple flesh, and red seas all around. It was always a horror to behold. At the moment, the library didn't look so much like an apple cart wreck as it did ten of them.
Twilight didn't look up. "Spike?"
His muffled voice came from under a pile of books. "Yeah?"
"Can you get the door? Sounds like somepony's anxious to read."
Around that moment, Rainbow Dash pulled herself out of a pile of wreckage, chuckling nervously. "Sorry. I thought I could slow down in time."
"Again?" She sighed. "Never mind about the door, Spike."
He rolled his eyes.
"Just clean up this mess, please."
He groaned and marched off to get the broom. Big Macintosh watched him as he left. "You know, I reckon I could help clean up, if you don't mind."
"No, it's fine. It's definitely not the first time Spike's cleaned up after Rainbow." She glanced at Rainbow Dash. "Would it kill you to use the door once in awhile?"
She grinned, and stepped up to the table. "Sorry, Twi. Just not my style."
"So, I guess you're here for the new Daring Do, too?"
"I wish, but I'm just here to return the last one. Got stuff to do with Pinkie later, y'know." She lifted a hoof. "Wait. 'Too?'"
Twilight glanced toward Mac. "Oh, Big Macintosh came in looking for it, too."
Rainbow Dash's head snapped around to him. "Wait, you read?!"
"Eeyup."
"Like, Daring Do?"
"Eeyup."
She trotted over and circled around him, squinting. After a few circles, she sat down, apparently satisfied. "Wow, that's, like, weird. I thought you just did, like… I don't know, farmpony stuff." She glanced at his mane and smirked. "I guess you got the pink dye out?"
He scowled. He had. It had cost him every day of the week since Nightmare Night, and Applejack had made sure to remind him every morning. "Eeyup."
"Hey, we all know the mayor's mane ain't gray. I was just helping you with your costume." She giggled madly, almost doubling over. "Come on, Mac, it was hilarious. Plus, you made a great Mayor Mare."
"S'pose I might've appreciated it better if that was who I was goin' as."
She rolled her eyes. "Details, details. So, you read Daring Do? Who's your favorite character?"
He hesitated. "Daring Do."
She grinned. "Good answer."
She turned to the window and spread her wings, blinked, then sidestepped back to Twilight's table and began searching her overstuffed saddlebags. "Right, I almost forgot." After a few minutes, she produced a slightly beaten copy of Daring Do and the Mindwhisperers' Tomb. "Here ya go. I'll be back for that new one tomorrow morning. I gotta run now. See ya, Twi! See ya, Mac!"
She spread her wings and shot out the open window, knocking nearly three dozen books off of the shelves as she left. Twilight cringed as they clattered to the floor.
He glanced at the Daring Do book on the shelf again — a hardcover — and an idea began to take shape in his head. He'd never quite gotten her back for that last prank. He had meant to check it out today, but it could wait a little longer. He grinned.
Twilight glanced up, gaping first at the mess, then looking at Mac. "On second thought, um… you offered to help?"
"Eeyup."
The next day, Big Macintosh arrived at the library, and gave the front door three of his best tree-shaking knocks. A soft patter of feet came from the other side, and a moment later, the door flew open.
Spike threw himself at one of his legs. "Rarity! I — you didn't say you were coming. You gotta warn a guy about these things."
He blinked, and shook Spike off of his leg. "'fraid not."
Spike blushed, and retreated a few steps. "Umm, Big Mac, I, uh, I didn't know — I just smelled — uh… ."
"Twilight here?"
He led Mac into the library. "Nope, she's out buying quills. Why? You need her for something?"
He ambled over to the bookshelf that held the newest Daring Do book. "Eenope."
Spike blinked. "Uh, then why'd you ask?"
He chose not to answer that. He scanned the other books on the shelf until he found what he was looking for, then waited a moment. He glanced over his shoulder at the doorway, put on a goofy grin and waved. "Howdy, there, Miss Rarity."
Spike looked away and tripped out the door, shouting, "Rarity?"
That was all the distraction he needed. He assumed a neutral pose as Spike came back in the door, and took a few steps away from the shelf.
Spike scowled. "That wasn't Rarity, that was our mailbox."
He struggled to keep his face under control. "Really? My mistake. Rainbow Dash been here yet?"
"Does it look like the shelves are gone?"
He smiled. "I s'pose not, then?"
"Nope, I haven't seen her yet." Spike sighed. "So are you checking anything out today, or… ?"
"I'm waitin' for somepony, and then we'll see."
A few minutes passed. Spike got the ladder and opened the window, set out a few pillows by the bookshelf opposite it, then returned to sweeping. Big Macintosh chose to pass the time by scanning some of the books in the romance section. Often enough, just the titles managed to give him a laugh.
Ten more minutes later, a distant buzzing filled the room. Ten seconds after that, and something bright and cyan smashed through the window, hitting the pile of pillows with a dull thump.
Rainbow Dash shook her mane out of her face, stood up and grinned. "Guess you were expecting me, huh?"
Spike sighed. "Yeah, kind of."
She trotted over to the bookshelf next to Big Mac, eyes on the Daring Do novel, and hesitated. She glanced at him. "I'm not gonna have to fight you for this one, am I?"
He smiled at her. "Eenope."
She smirked. "Good, 'cause I'd hate to have to break your pretty face." She grabbed the book off the shelf and tucked it in her saddlebag, then ambled over to the table where Twilight normally sat to check it out with Spike. She shot out the window a minute later.
Spike watched her leave. "That was fast."
Macintosh couldn't stop himself from grinning now. "She'll be back."
Spike shot him a confused look, but said nothing, and returned to sweeping the floor even though he'd long since swept away the dust. Macintosh leaned against the shelf, and waited.
It took twenty seconds before she crashed through the window again. She got up and stomped over to Spike, her face a mixture of panic and rage. "Dude, what the hay?!"
He flinched, and backed away from her. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it. I swear."
"I get back to my house and I'm all ready for an adventure, and I open up my book and find this?" She wrenched the book out of her saddlebag and flopped it open on the floor violently enough to wrench the dust jacket free for a moment, leaving a romance novel's cover looking up at them defiantly.
Spike hit the wall and put his palms up, shaking. Rainbow Dash advanced on him, and put her nose in his face. "Is this your idea of a joke? This is totally uncool! I gotta know where it is. I gotta."
Big Macintosh shifted on his hooves, and gave Spike an apologetic smile, though he wasn't sure if he could see it through Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash?"
She twitched, and glared at him. "What? I'm a little busy. I mean, this is an emergency, here."
He ambled over to her, and glanced down at the book. "Wasn't Spike that tricked you."
She narrowed her eyes. "Wait, what? Then who was it? Are you telling me it was Twilight?"
He chuckled. "Eenope. Not exactly."
She took a step back. "Wait. You're saying you? You, of all ponies?"
He gave her a sheepish smile. "Eeyup."
For a moment, she looked as if she might throttle him, then she looked away and laughed. "Heh. I guess it was kinda funny." She paused. "I have something to tell you, too."
"What's that?"
"Yesterday, me and Pinkie, we kinda, um," she laughed, "we kinda replaced your soap with some of Rarity's."
He leaned over and sniffed his coat. It smelled like something fruity. He looked back at her, and smiled. "So we're even?"
"Well, almost." She glanced at the bookshelf where she'd picked up the book. "You know where you put the right book, right?"
"Eeyup." He pulled another hardcover off the shelf, this one wearing the romance novel's dust jacket.
She took it and stuffed it in her saddlebag, then grinned. "You're gonna come with me and read it to me, then we're even. Got it?"
He grinned back. "Eeyup."
Applebloom squinted at the two seated under a tree, and looked up at Applejack. "Sis, are they gettin' married?" She hesitated. "If they get married, does that make Scootaloo my sister?"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Now, Applebloom, just 'cause Mac's with a mare don't mean they're gettin' married. He could just as well be makin' friends." She nudged her back to her seat at the picnic table. "Now, hush up and eat your supper."
"But it's not even lunchtime yet!"
Big Macintosh grinned, and settled in a little closer to Rainbow. She didn't protest. He glanced back down at the book, Daring Do and the Forgotten Throne, and began to read.
