Just like a Storybook

For Civviq, it was just another day. She calmly walked through the village, on an errand for Granny Trot. New books had just come in, and she had collected them from the post office just now. Her yellow saddlebags were stuffed with new books, old books, second-hands and worn-down pockets that needed her help. She was going to patch them up, for sure.

She smiled happily, nodding greetings to the several ponies that were walking about this time of day, always getting smiles in return. Her blue-purple tail swayed happily with every step she made and she hummed quietly a little song she heard before. Strands of her yellow-orange mane sometimes got in her eyes, but she swiftly tucked them away with a purple hoof when it happened. Her glasses sometimes slid off her yellow muzzle as well – especially when it was pretty warm, like now – but she took no heed to that.

The weight of the books was a little much; she wasn’t the strongest unicorn around – a bit smaller than average, and a tiny bit heavier – It’s all fluff, of course – but she didn’t mind carrying them. After all, they were hers. And she absolutely adored books, that was for sure. And not just the books themselves – the smell of old paper and ink, the sound of paper rustling in your hooves when you quietly turned the page – but the stories they held as well. Time and time again she would get lost in the epic tales of the heroes and villains the books held, the worlds they showed and the secrets they hid.  

She grinned a little wider. She couldn’t wait to return to the library and fix them up so they can be read again. After all – it was what she did.

Civviq turned towards him, surprised. She came to a halt.
“Oh!” She looked at the raspberry red stallion that had approached her and smiled back.
“Uh, thank you, but, no,” she answered. “I can carry it on my own. But, thanks again.” She smiled softly.

She started to turn around, but she hesitated. She realized she had never really seen him before around these parts. Should she ask him where he’s from? Or should she just walk away…? She chuckled softly under her breath as she felt the silence lasted a bit too long for her liking. She took a deep breath and turned around to face him again.
“Well, uh… I don’t think I have seen you around here before,” she said, smiling sheepishly. “What’s your name?”

She winced a little – almost invisibly – and her mind raced towards the possibility of him already having been here before. Gosh, what awkward would that be. But she was fairly certain he was new here – she would’ve remembered him, she was sure of that. He looked… special. Different. She wondered who he was.

Civviq smiled, relieved that he took it well. "Heartstring." She gave a little nod back.
"My name is Civviq Writer. I work at the local library."
She nodded with her head towards the saddlebag with books. "I gotta bring these books there, actually," She grinned. "I'm going to fix them up until they're almost like new!"

Civviq chuckled. "But, enough about me. How about you? Where are you from?"
She hesitated. "Uh, if I may, of course." She smiled sheepishly.

Civviq smiled a bit as he complimented her. Then, she nodded and trotted up to Heartstring, leading the way. She had a slight spring in her step.
"Oh, what a coincidence! I'm originally from Manehatten too. I moved here because I just didn't feel at home in the city..." She slowed down a bit, reminiscing the past, but soon she'd walk on again at the same happy pace as before.

She turned around to look at him and smiled. "I take it you're a traveller, then... say, how did you find this village?" Civviq asked, curiously.

A Manehattian here? Well he smiled at that thought that he met someone from his home city.He gave a light chuckle. It was kinda nice to know that he met someone who originally came from there as well. He had a moments look of concern when she had slowed down a bit, but smiled when she picked up her happy pace. He much preferred positive emotions over negative emotions, but knew their importance. He would nod his head. "Something like that. I asked around for the location of this village. I knew of it's existence for a while, but i never knew exactly where it was located. I've been to many places, and I usually try to visit places I've never been to before."

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Civviq nodded as she listenend to Hearstring's story.
"I see." She chuckled under her breath. "Yeah, we don't see many travellers around here."
She looked at him, curiously. "Say, have you ever been to the Chrystal Empire?" she asked, hopeful.
"I always dreamt to go there some day. See the Crystal Heart and all." she said, dreamily.

Civviq gasped softly. "You have?"
She listened intently to what he had to say and sighed. "Wow... I wish I could see it with my own eyes..." she said, dreamily. "It sounds so awesome. I don't have the money yet, though, but with what I earn at the library, I'll get there one day."

She walked on for a little while before she came to a halt in front of the local library. It wasn't a big building, but it stood out from the rest of the houses because of it. There was a field of grass around it where ponies would sit and read on a sunny day. The library itself was entirely made out of dark wood, unlike the surrounding stone buildings, so it gave offa nice homely air. The roof was made out of straw, and there were huge double doors that were almost always open, seemingly welcoming you in.

Civviq looked at him sympathetically. "Wow, hoof it all the way...?" She looked at his heart-shaped hoof in wonder. "That's really far..."

When Heartstring walked up beside her, Civviq smiled and nodded. "Indeed it is... isn't it lovely?"

She took a few steps forward and then stopped to look back at Heartstring.
"Will you come in? Or do you have somewhere else to go?"

Civviq chuckled as she saw him staring wide-eyed at the library. She nodded and walked into the library.

Inside, it was surprisingly light. There were magical lamps floating in the air like fireflies, giving off a soft yellow, but clear light, perfect to read with, and on top of that, not harmful for the books. The books were all stored in hardwood bookshelves, rows upon rows ahead. Most of the walls were covered, as well as the space in front of that. Some easy chairs and desks were spread through the library, with each a floating magical light to light it better.

There was a path cleared on their left, for there was a desk that was currently occupied by an elderly, parchment-brown, unicorn mare with a silvery white mane that hung limply over her shoulders. The one feature that really caught one’s eye were her eyes, that despite her age still shone as if she were decades younger. She smiled brightly nodded slightly towards the two unicorns that had entered the library.

As Civviq grinned and nodded back, she stood up and slowly walked through the door behind her to the back, where their living quarters were. After all, it was time for her afternoon nap. Civviq would handle the library while she was away.

Civviq magically lifted the heavy saddlebags from her back and put it on the desk. She quickly slid behind the desk, opposite of Heartstring.
“There we go.” One by one, she brought out the books she’d picked up and put them all down on a pile. Some looked pretty good, others were old, and so battered that it’d be better if they were just thrown away. Of course, that was exactly the opposite of what Civviq was going to do.

Civviq smiled and looked back at Heartstring. “Well then, why don’t you take a look around? See if you find anything worth reading.” She chuckled softly. “We don’t have much, but what we do have, is pretty good, or so I say.” She nodded with her head towards the books, looking at them proudly. “I have some books I need to take care of.”

Civviq chuckled as she watched Heartstring wander through the library, and was glad that he was at least enjoying his time here. She brought her focus back to the books in front of her and started tending to them. She started with the worst first.

It was a very old, battered tome about some ancient spells. It was hoof-written and there were several interesting diagrams drawn in. Not really a light read, but at first glance it had some interesting information about how the sorcerers of old used the spells and their look on them.

The book had taken a lot of damage - water damage, a couple of coffe stains, half-torn pages, folded upper corners and crumpled-up paper. Oh, and let’s not forget the loose pages. It was a miracle no pages were lost. She checked. Of course, there was the matter of the binding too, as well as the cover. The letters on the cover were nearly unreadable, worn away by age, among other things.

She sighed and got to work, lighting up her horn. This one would take the most work, but it’d be worth it, she thought. The first spell lifted up the book in a glowing, yellow light.

First, Civviq thought, the cover. After all, what good is a book without its cover? The feeble leather lit up in her horn's glow and, with a lot of effort and concentration, the faded letters were slowly restored to their former glory and the weak leather was strenghtened again. The stains stayed, however, but she had a different spell for that. She looked at the result while she paused a little to gather her strenght. 'Historica Magica', the cover read. Now her curiosity was piqued, but before she could read, she had to finish repairing it.

She lit up her horn for the second spell, this time to repair the torn pages in the book. First, she would go to the page that was torn out and she'd try to fit the page in the space it was torn from. Once she found it fitted, she'd lit up her horn and try and 'fuse' the pages together. She had yet to perfect the spell, but for now it was almost seamless. Only a slight yellowish line would show where the pages were stuck together, but that would fade over time as well. Same went for the tears in the paper.

Missing corners, however, were another story. Missing corners were the result of bending the corners too much, to mark which page you were, and eventually the fold became too deep and the corner would just fall off. While she took a short break from spell-casting, she stood up and went to the back to fetch some spare paper that'd fit to replace the missing corners.

Civviq returned with a piece of paper that would do. It was almost like the page of the book itself, just the right texture. Sure, it’d still show, as well as the cracks her magic would leave, but it’s better than nothing. She held the pieces in her magic as she walked through the door into the library. Then, she looked up and noticed Heartstring. She smiled. “Found anything yet?” she asked.

She sat down behind the desk and picked up the book with her magic again, but she hesitated before using the spells. She didn’t want to be rude and ignore him while she cast them. It would take up all her concentration and attention, and she didn’t want him to feel offended. Meanwhile, she looked up the pages with the missing corners and marked them by putting a sheet of paper between the pages, letting it stick out a bit from above, so she would be able to find them back easily.

Civviq's eyes widened and she could barely suppress a gasp. "A... travelling storyteller?" she said, amazed. She smiled, trying to hide her excitement to not creep Heartstring out. Of course, this didn't really work. "Oh, that's amazing!" she said, grinning slightly. "I love stories!"

Then, Civviq put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Well, mostly, you'll find a lot of ponies in the market in the town square, mostly in the afternoon. However, the school fillies and colts will be off playing on the school grounds..." She hummed, thinking. "But if there's a big event, most ponies will gather on the meadow just outside of town..." She nodded to herself. "Yes... this is a small town, word spreads quickly. They would like something like this. When can you tell?"