Closing Hours

by gloamish

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Horror
Length: 1029

Rainbow Dash stays past closing time at a library.

On a visit home to Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash finds a futuristic library she's never seen before. The books within are fascinating, even if the fiction section is smaller than she'd like it to be. Not long after settling down with a good adventure novel, she's warned about closing hours, but she's not a nerd, and this is Cloudsdale anyway, so what do stupid rules like that matter?

a rejected candidate for thousand words iii (horror)
check out my actual horror entry, it was a beautiful day in ponyville

Published 2024-07-06 06:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-07-06 06:50:00 UTC

The Library is Closed

The Cloudsdale Library is weird. The fact that Rainbow Dash doesn't recognize any of the names of the authors displayed on the book spines doesn't bother her, because all libraries are like that. The fact that it's totally deserted doesn't bother her, either, because who reads, anyway? Especially in Cloudsdale. Case in point, she didn't even know Cloudsdale has a library. The librarian isn't around either, but she's probably some old biddy having a snooze in the stacks.

What's weird is the bright rectangles with changing text on them, advertising books and events. Rainbow-powered inventions aren't rare in Cloudsdale, but these make the work she's seen look like science fair projects. They're pretty neat, but Rainbow's here for books. Specifically, the comparatively small fiction section, which doesn't have Daring Do but does have a lot of similar adventurey stuff.

It doesn't take her long to find something good and get nestled into a reading nook. It's got a lamp and a couch, but no minifridge. Can't have it all.

One of the nifty rainbow-powered signs across from her displays "The Cloudsdale Library will close in five minutes." She ignores it. Why do libraries even have closing hours? You can literally walk out with books for free anyway. And this book is really good. Heh, she loves this book so much she's breaking the rules for it! Twilight would be so proud.

The protagonist has just stepped hoof in the ancient temple when the lights turn off. No last call, no phases to herd patrons to the entrance, just light to dark. Even the reading light in her little nook shuts off. The only light comes from the signs, which have flicked to a glowing red, splashing vivid sunset colors into her hidey-hole.

Rainbow takes the lamp's switch in her mouth and toggles it. Nothing. She spits it out and sighs. While she wouldn't swap her wings for anything, she's a little jealous of Twilight's portable booklight right now. After a couple more moments stubbornly trying to read by the ugly red light of the sign, she admits defeat and closes the book.

She stretches, cracking her back, and starts walking back to the entrance. Tomorrow, when she needs space from her parents, she'll come back. If the librarian hassles her about being here past closing, she can just say she got caught up in a book

She doesn't end up running into the librarian, but she does find the entrance. Except it's not an entrance. Where the broad archway once led out to the bright city of Cloudsdale, now it's just... black. It's not even like the night sky without stars — there's no depth or horizon or ground. It's just nothing. She thinks for a moment it's been closed somehow, but reaching out a hoof finds no resistance.

She snatches her hoof back as her wings snap shut at her sides. There's no wind. All that empty space and not even a draft from it. There's still the usual airflow of a building inside the library, but out there, past the entrance... She gets the feeling that even she would drop like a stone.

She turns, resolving to find the librarian and ask for help, but she realizes there's no help desk, either.

Finally, she turns to face one of the red screens. It doesn't display any promises of writing workshops or foal storytimes. Instead, it reads:

THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED
YOU ARE IN DANGER AND MUST ACT IMMEDIATELY
PLACE ALL FOUR HOOVES ON THE FLOOR
PLACE YOUR HEAD BETWEEN YOUR FOREHOOVES
IT IS TOO LATE TO LEAVE

She steps back. If libraries were actually dangerous, she'd have hung out in them way before meeting Twilight! With a scoff, she turns and trots deeper into the library. There's definitely a help desk somewhere, or at least a librarian. Someone will explain it's all a big misunderstanding and Rainbow can wing it back to her parents' place before dinner. The red signs are enough to light the way, since they sit at every intersection, showing the same warning.

The library is closed.

Rainbow picks up her pace to a brisk canter. There's got to be somepony in here, right? "Hello?" she calls out. There's no echo. The darkness above the signs makes everything obscure, and the bookshelves stretch up into darkness. She comes to an intersection with a pegasus, cast in relief by red light and prostrated like a foreign supplicant granted audience by Princess Celestia, hooves planted and head placed between them.

"Hey, you!" Rainbow yells. "Something isn't right. We gotta find a way out of here!"

The mare starts trembling, but doesn't move or speak.

Rainbow leans down. "Move, damn it!" The fear in her own voice only makes her more agitated.

A hoof slaps the back of her head and presses down. "Idiot! You're in a library, can't you read?!" the mare demands in a low hiss.

Rainbow tears herself away from the frantic mare. "I'm not doing what some sign tells me when my wings are saying this place is bad news!" She whirls away from the mare and gallops deeper into the library. If there's another patron, there must be a librarian.

But it's all the same. Bookshelves, glowing red signs, and darkness, in a straight line headed towards nothing. She should've run off the edge of Cloudsdale by now. The draft that tickled her wings before has died down to nothing. It feels like a tomb, no air and no light. Her wings are clamped to her sides, and she can't even open them with concentrated effort. Finally, she comes to a stop at an intersection like any other. She raises her head to look at the warning sign.

It is too late to leave.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash adjusts her hoofing until all four hooves are well-planted. Then, like she's grazing fresh grass in Ponyville, she lowers her head, her mane falling to cover her eyes until her face is pressed against the cool marble.

Author's Note

inspired by the bushfire warning you can get here in australia if you're somewhere where evacuation isn't feasible: