She was tired of it. Oh, so tired of it. The gum stuck between pages. The spilled milk, the tea, the water, and who knows what else ruining pages! The bent corners, the mistreated covers, and don’t forget the out of place books! The way ponies treated library books was horrible.
Not to mention the ones who just sat there and grabbed at the tables or in the corners, interrupting her concentration.
Enough is enough, Twilight thought as she shut a book on ocean waves affecting shorelines she was so thoroughly enjoying before two gossipers sat at the table next to hers. With a frustrated sigh Twilight collected her saddle bag and shelved the book before storming out.
Her love for the library was boundless, but other ponies? They infuriated her. If she had a library of her own, things would be different! Then again… that would probably mean her cutie mark would end up being library related… which she didn’t want…
******
Sun bearing down on the hot cobblestone roads of Canterlot, she made her way home, disappointed in herself for storming out. Her mind drifted back to the circular motion of waves, the thought of an unfinished book jabbing at her like a splinter. Frustrating, just absolutely frustrating!
Sighing, she returned to walking, only to find she had managed to go down the wrong street.
“Vales street,” she muttered, looking at a sign. “Where in the hay is that?” Wandering down the unfamiliar road, many different shops lined its path. Smells of baking bread, sounds of metal smithing, and windows showing off flowing dresses bombarded her senses. It was all so much to take in! And all so boring to her…
Out of the corner of her eye, she spies something intriguing. A simple, warn, hanging sign of a pony reading a book. “Bound Adventures” it read it elegant script. Displayed behind its small window, was a Daring Do book, and deeper in the small shop she could see an absolutely bored clerk, and shelves of fresh, non-molested tomes.
“A BOOK STORE!” she gasped with joy and galloped over to its hoof-carved door, and with a push of magic opened it. Chilled air rushed out of the doorway like fillies released from school early, and the scent of freshly printed books greeted her. Oh, what a wonderus smell! It was always a treat to smell when she could find a fresh, untouched book at the library, but never has her nostrils been welcomed with it on this level!
Her head felt light, and smile wide. This must be paradise! Walking deeper in the dry-cavern like store, she explores the shelves of books. Familiar titles float by her vision, a few she’s only heard rumor about, some she’s never even heard of! But all pristine, newly bound hardbacks.
The filly could barely hold her excitement! Pulling out multiple books out, holding them aloft with a lavender cloud of magic, and looks over them. Sliding back the ones she doesn’t want, she piles some for review.
Soon she has a nice pile of twenty or so books stacked up. Turning from the remarkable shelves, and sitting on the hard carpet, she lifts the first of the books for inspection.
“’To Glance in on a Mares Soul’, sounds like an interesting one.” she opens the cover to see crisp white paper with clean, legible text. I’m in love. Caressing the page, she reads a few lines. And promptly shuts the book with a mortified look. I… I… didn’t… know a stallion could do THAT to a mare! Shivering, she sends the book on its way to the shelves as her flushed cheeks died down to their normal color.
Next in the pile was a book of jokes, a paperback. Why in Equestria did she pull out this one? And more importantly, where from? No mater, back to the shelves it goes. As with a few others that seem dry, even for her. Down to eight, and all of them sound soo good.
“The Story of Adjacent Towns,” three William Shakehoof’s, “The Pomegranates of Wrath,” “Oddipus rex,” and “Invisible Zebra.” All great titles and wonderful reads, but she’s read them all. She’s never owned book before, though. Biting at her hoof, she can’t seem to make up her mind, knowing that any of these would make a great first book in any collection! Or even all of them would make a great starting one!
Collecting them into a neat floating stack, she moves towards the clerk to make her purchase. However, a small sack of coins in her saddle bag, grinding at her blank flank, reminds her that she received only twenty bits for this week’s allowance… Six of the books were four bits, with two of them being five.
On top of that, a new book catches her eye. She had seen it before came in, but why is she just now thinking about it? Every foal was talking about it at school, even if it did annoy the studying Twilight at lunch and on the playground, she couldn’t help but be excited about it. The library has not acquired a copy yet, and despite her asking for it every day, the book still will not arrive for another week. But here it is, in this small little shop on a street she’s never heard of. She must make it hers.
There is one little problem: What about the books she’s holding… do I really want to give these classics up for something that I’ve heard other fillies talk about? Stepping closer to the stack at the window, she lifts a copy up.
“’Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.’ Sounds… interesting.” Flipping it over, she reads the back, “Downed in the jungle, wings broken, can this brave pegasus manage to complete her quest to find the legendary sapphire stone before her arch nemesis Ahuizotl?” Really interesting.
Another issue arises, she sees the price. Twelve bits! Why is it so expensive? Now, she panics.
What if she doesn’t like it?
She knows she likes the others but doesn’t have enough for them all…
And even if she did decide on the classics, she would have to give at least three of them up, and how could she chose which one!
Aaarrrgggg! At least at the library they’re all free! Now, she’s frustrated. Again, twice in one day. Over the things she loves almost as much as her BBBFF!
“Mam? You seem to be having a hard time deciding.” Twilight snapped out of her self-induced trance when the store’s clerk spoke, only to find in her aggravation she caused a small storm of books, and littering every inch of the floor. “I would recommend that Daring Do book. It’s quite popular, and those are the last copies of it in town for the next month. Those others will always be available.”
******
“So in the end I bought the Daring Do book, after helping him clean up.” As Twilight finished up her story, she notices Rarity looking off at one of the dress stores. “Rarity!”
“Oh, sorry dearie, I had just seen the most beautiful dress go up in the window of that little shop over there. And I just had to check it out. But you were saying something about getting lost on the way home?”
“NO! I was telling you about the book store that I spent most of my fillyhood allowance in. Its closing down and I came to Canterlot with today to reminisce.” She turns to look at her favorite book store, missing its sign, and the windows boarded up. She sips her tea, and sighs. “Good bye old friend.”
