Book Fort
By: Zero_Starlight
I opened the wooden door to the library awkwardly, my movements hampered by the tower of novels, scrolls and texts stacked in my arms. Twilight's order of new books for Ponyville had finally come in, and she had asked her, quote, "Strong, Handsome Boyfriend" if I wouldn't mind carrying them in for her, all while looking at me with eyes as big as saucers.
She knew I couldn't resist it when she did that, and she took pleasure in exploiting it.
Peering around the wobbling tower, I smiled softly at the sight of Twilight who, so intently concentrated upon using her magic to shelve a few of the new books, hadn't noticed me come in. Setting the books in my arms to the side quietly, I snuck up behind her, and in one motion, grabbed her in a hug around her neck and pulling her to the floor.
Twilight made a small 'eep!' in shock, and the purple mist of her magic imploded, the books falling to the ground, courtesy of gravity. She gave me a half annoyed, half playful look, and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Zero, if we don't get these books shelved before the storm comes in tonight, all the ones left outside will be soaked, and you distracting me isn't helping any!"
I laughed, and pulled down on her neck, giving her a peck on the cheek, before letting her go and getting up. Twilight's response was to bonk me lightly, albeit not too lightly, on the head with a nearby encyclopedia.
Eventually we managed to get all the books inside and put away, and just in time for the first peal of thunder. We ate, talked for a bit, and eventually turned in. The storm was raging by the time I pulled the covers up, but the pitter-patter of the rain against the bedroom window slowly lulled me to sleep.
I awoke suddenly, reaching over to Twilight, only to find myself grasping at air. Slightly surprised, I slipped out of bed, and walked to the railing of the upper floor of the library, peering down.
Instead of the usual gloom, however, I was met with a very peculiar sight. A few candles had been lit and placed in a small area of the lower floor, and a multitude of books had been stacked. In the center of the book stacks, was a small hut of sorts, constructed of textbooks and novels. A open book served as a makeshift roof, and a large book sat open in front of the open front of the fort.
Padding quietly down the stairs, my eyes widened and a grin broke out on my face as I saw Twilight sleeping, her horn resting in the spine of the open book.
I walked up to the fort. It was a well constructed thing, and fairly large. A idea came to me, and I kneeled, giving Twilight's shoulder a rub, rousing her.
She murmured something unintelligible, and her eyes fluttered open slowly. "Oh… Hi Zero…" She looked about a bit, before blushing. "Guess I got a little caught up in my reading… huh?" I chuckled, and pushed her aside a bit.
"Move over a bit." I said, and carefully I slid into the hut. It wasn't a tight fit, but I felt myself brushing up against Twilight's chest all the same. She blushed a deeper red. "Zero? What are you doing?"
I lazily stretched my arm out and over, laying it along Twilight's back, and peered intently at the book she had been so engrossed in. I arched an eyebrow at Twilight, a bemused grin setting itself upon my face.
"Nothing wrong with it, but I wouldn't really expect you of all ponies to be reading a book of fairytales, more so on a night like this…"
Twilight blushed and turned her head away from me, mumbling something I didn't quite catch.
"Pardon? I didn't quite hear that Twilight."
She turned and face me, her eyes suddenly very interested in looking over her hooves. "I said… I used to do this during thunderstorms when I was Princess Celestia's apprentice."
My eyes widened slightly at the revelation. "Twilight… don't tell me that you, of all ponies, are afraid of thunderstorms?" She pouted slightly, and I continued, "Is there nothing about you I could not love?" A flash of white lit the room for a split second, and I leaned in, kissing Twilight, holding the kiss for one… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine…
A crack of thunder boomed, and I pulled away, smirking as Twilight shook her head dizzily. "What… what was that for?" She asked. I chuckled, and leaned my head in, nuzzling the side of her face with my forehead, and softly speaking into her ear.
"An old trick I read somewhere… I'm distracting you from the thunder. Apparently, if you subconscious associates things like thunderstorms and lightning with happiness or contentment, you won't be as scared of it."
She giggled, her eyelids half closed (Or half open, if you think of a glass as half full), "Kind of like giggling at the ghosts, huh?"
I winked, "Exactly!" Another flash of white lit the room, and I leaned in again.
The storm continued to rumble and rattle, a few times making the panes of glass that served as windows for the library shake angrily, but in the end the big bad force of nature ran out of steam and fled the skies above Ponyville, leaving a few broken tree branches and a whole lot of puddles for the young fillies to play in.
I peered out the window and held back a chuckle as I watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders dash through the puddles, no doubt in attempt to get their aforementioned marks. I wondered what kind of mark a pony would get for playing in mud puddles… Perhaps a brown blotch with a pony throwing mud in the air? I snorted at the thought, before turning back to look at the book fort, or, what was left of it. Twilight was still laying on the floor where she had fallen asleep the night before, sleeping peacefully even now when I had begun to disassemble the fort and place the books in their respective locations.
I smiled, and nudged her with my foot gently, rousing her. "Come on Twi, up and at 'em. It's a beautiful day, full of excitement and what have you, and I'm sure you don't want to stay cooped up in here all day, do you?"
Twilight grinned up at me mischievously, and I felt my head being pulled down by her magic. "Why go outside? There's so much fun to be had indoors in, say, a book fort."
Yeah... the ending wasn't exactly how I wanted it to go, but I wanted to get this out before I went insane trying to figure out how to finish this.
Until next time,
- Zero