Replica
Chapter 9: Books
Previous ChapterNext ChapterMoon Dancer didn't know what happened.
One moment she was holding a discussion, though she could admit she was rather pushy, with a Stallion after a few foals got scared from his disturbing appearance.
One thing led to another and now here she is, sitting on a bench, watching the insect-looking pony walk away. His shiny hard carapace glistened under the morning light and his clear teal eyes bore into her soul as he held her close to him and whispered into her ears words that- Moon Dancer slapped herself.
"What am I doing?" She asked herself after she managed to get out of the funk she was in.
"What is going on with me?" She asked herself again, thinking back to the last week or so.
One of her best friends didn't come to her birthday party after she promised her she will come, she didn't even send a card. And what does she later learn? That her friend moved to some town hours away and didn't tell anyone in her friend group!
Oh! And she's also a national hero now!
Good for her!
And what's next?! Moon Dancer once again failed her Masters in Equestrian Literature, and now she needs to wait another six months before she can retake the test!
But that's not all! Apparently, her favorite Coffee place is closed because the owner got injured during the entire debacle at the Summer Sun Celebration, so it won't be open for another two months.
And that should have been it for her, Surely no more things can happen to Moon Dancer in such a short span of time?
WRONG!
A new princess! That's right! Nightmare Moon, the evil Alicorn that was trapped on the moon for the past millennia is actually the sister of Princess Celestia, and she's going to return to her position as one of the rulers of the nation once she rehabilitates and acclimates to the modern world.
Can she even do that?! There has to be a law against that sort of thing, right?
Who knows?! Celestia is the one that writes the laws in the first place, who's to say she didn't write a super specific law for that exact purpose five-hundred years ago that nopony ever thought would get used.
And that's how her week ended. Fast forward a day and she's feeling like shit. She can't get a good cup of Coffee, Her friend didn't send any letters, no news about the new princess yet, and a bunch of children are crying.
So not a good start for the day, to say the least.
And that was when she learned of the Insect-pony, a scary Unicorn that looks like a giant bug that scared away the foals and fillies, probably dressing up like some bedtime story monster that teaches children to eat their broccoli or whatever it is that the villages near the border do.
So here she thought that maybe, JUST MAYBE, she could tell the unicorn to stop scaring the younglings. and doing a good deed for the day would make her feel better.
Minuette always said that doing good makes her feel good, Maybe the same could be done for her.
She went up to him and started talking.
Sure she was kind of pushy, but she had a rough week.
And then he... He picked her up... and he...
Moon dancer once again slapped herself.
"Maybe Lemon Hearts knows what happening to me," Moon Dancer whispered to herself before she shakily stood up from the bench and started walking toward her friend's house.
The Grand Canterlot Library, for how much historical significance it holds, looks like a regular library from both the outside and inside.
It would be nice to say that Looper was disappointed, but that would be untrue.
Looper didn't care for the appearance or the significance of the library.
This place was a source of useful information to him, and thinking of it as anything more will simply lead to further disappointment.
That isn't to say that the library was useless, not at all.
It was easy to traverse, and finding the correct books was easier than he thought.
So there he sat, a pile of books in front of him, ranging from geography to history, encyclopedias and even books dedicated to children.
He has the time to read, and so he shall read.
And with the small number of visitors the Library gets and the quiet nature of the place, Looper managed to spend several hours reading guides for Unicorn magic and cookbooks filled with rare and magical herbs.
By the time Looper finished reading all the books from the "A Magical Guide for Dummies" series, it was already night out and the night-shift workers began their jobs.
Deciding that there is no reason to stop reading, seeing as the library is open 24/7, Looper continued.
By the time the sun rose again, Looper managed to finish the pile of books he took the morning prior. And with his reading material finished, he quietly made his way out of the library and into the morning sun of the day after.
"There he is! That's him!" He heard a familiar voice shout, and he couldn't help but feel giddy at the smirk he felt growing on his face.
Turning his head to the source of the voice, Looper's grin threatened to split his face as he spotted the Unicorn from Yesterday marching towards him, followed by three other Unicorns who had pensive looks on their faces as they watched their friend walk towards the creepy insect-pony.
"How very interesting," He whispered to himself as he subtly wet his lips, his blank teal eyes once more seeming to glow with sly excitement as he started making his way towards the pony.
"You!" The pony yelled and pointed at him as she drew close, and Looper had to hold himself back from pointing at himself and saying "Me!"
"You're that Stallion from yesterday," She began, and once more Looper had to stop himself from interrupting her speech.
"You're the one that scared those children!" His smirk was quickly replaced with a frown as the sly glow in his eyes reverted back to their natural blank teal.
"I do believe that I said during our talk yesterday that the children being scared of my appearance is no fault of my own." He responded, still standing at the top of the stairs leading to the entrance of the library, the buildings massive shadow making his eyes stand out on the dark backdrop.
The red-haired Unicorn simply glared at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Hey Moonie, maybe this isn't a good idea," A White Unicorn with pink hair told her, followed by nods from the Blue Unicorn and the Yellow Unicorn.
"Yeah, you just met this guy once, maybe you shouldn't antagonize him so soon," The Yellow Unicorn said, her light blue mane swaying behind her in the gentle morning breeze.
"I don't know, He looks kind of Hot," The Blue Unicorn said, holding a hoof to her chin as she squinted her eyes to take a better look at the Pony on top of the stairs. She received questioning looks from her friends, but she simply shrugged in response.
"Ignoring what Minuette just said," The Red-haired Unicorn picked the conversation back up, "You! Go out with me!"
Silence followed.
The Unicorns that followed her didn't say a word, the few ponies on the street stopped whatever they were doing and looked at her in shock, even the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves in the nearby park stilled, as if the world itself was afraid to break the silence.
A silence that was broken when Looper started to shake, his shoulders and neck moving up and down as if he's trying to stop a cough, followed soon by a subtle sound, barely heard over the clacking sound his carapace kept making over the movements of his body.
"Heh~" a soft exhale was heard coming from Looper, followed soon by more air leaving his lungs, steadily growing louder and louder with each passing moment.
"Heheheheh~" The sounds kept coming, and the faces the Unicorns beneath him produced.
They were absolutely priceless.
"Hehehehahaha!" And for the first time since he found himself in a new world.
"HeHaHaHaHaHaHAHA!" For the first time in four years.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Looper laughed.
A loud laugh, a laugh that for any other pony would have them rolling on the floor, slamming their hooves, trying to stop it.
But he just stood there, on top of the stairs leading to the Grand Canterlot Library, the only movement seen on his being his shoulders and head moving up and down in response to the air leaving his lungs.
And the thing that truly stood out, more than the lack of movement on his body? more than the boisterous laugh that sounded so real there was no way it could have been faked?
Was that his upper eyelid opened wider while his lower ones closed, creating an illusion on his pupil-less eyes.
An illusion that he was looking down at them.
"HAHAHAAHAHAHAHA- I accept." And just as suddenly as it started, his laughter ended, as if it never happened. "Meet with me at the central park tomorrow morning," He said, and as if nothing at all happened, he turned in another direction and simply started walking away.
Moon Dancer could do nothing but watch him silently as he walked away.
"You know what I said earlier? Yeah, I take my statement back." Minuette said, ignoring the glares coming from Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine.
"I really know how to pick them, don't I?" Moon Dancer sighed, the bravado from earlier leaving her body as she slumped down to the floor.
"Hey, I'm sure he's not that bad," Twinkleshine tried to cheer her up.
"Yeah, Maybe he's just dramatic, I'm sure it's nothing bad," Lemon Hearts joined in.
"How big do you think he is down there?" Minuette once more added her highly needed part to the discussion.
"Pfft~" Moon Dancer started giggling before she quickly turned around and pulled her Fou- THREE! Three best friends into a group hug, earning relieved smiles on their faces.
"Thanks, Girls, and you're probably right, He's probably just weird or dramatic." She said with a smile on her face.
"I mean, How bad can he really be?"
Author's Note
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - For Science, of course ![]()
