The Mad God of Baltimare (Dark, Gore, NSFW just in case, Private with Binkel, MLP)

Canterlot’s largest library was a sight to behold. The building’s white marble and its glass dome ceiling shone in the sunlight almost blindingly (and that was if you went outside regularly… so it wasn’t as pleasant to indoor ponies or night owls) and flags of many different colors and patterns hung all around. Two alicorn statues stood at the base of the stairs that lead to a pair of golden double doors.

Inside the library was three floors of books, the balconies of the upper floors held up by marble columns painted with blue and purple swirls, and marble unicorn busts held flags at the top of all of them. The ground floor had a light blue carpeting and simple oak tables with lamps, and a white marble platform that functioned as a modern-style table in the center of the room. The floors above were too narrow for any tables, but there were cushions to sit on here and there.

It was finals week in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, so the library was packed with students studying, in groups and individually. This was generally the library’s loudest time of the year (compared to its usual near-total silence), since students all over the library were whispering to each other over notes and equations and spells and other academic topics.

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Fantasy was in the Kid’s Section of the library, sticking out like a sore thumb hoof among all of the fillies and colts and the occasional teacher or parent reading to said fillies or colts. Despite her cover story- looking for books for her little sister, and reading them because “she wouldn’t give her sister just any old book” -she still drew a lot of stares. Mostly because nopony actually bothered to ask her why she was there. They just… assumed. It made her face heat up, to know that everypony who saw her was… judging.

She guessed that this was what being a male Brony felt like. It wasn’t like she could do anything to save face, either. There were no children’s books in the castle, and she’d been kicked out of the actual store for children’s books because the owner had been certain that she was a pedophile on the hunt, and she had to do this because she was next to illiterate in Equestrian! And she couldn’t adopt a fake accent because then somepony might try to find records of her from wherever the accent is from and find out that she doesn’t exist in that country!

Celestia also couldn’t make fake records for her because she’d probably be sent home in a year or so, so it’d be a waste of time and energy.

Fantasy decided to move on from the thin, wide cardboard pamphlets that ponies called little kid’s books (even though seeing a foreign country’s art was always interesting) and went to chapter books. She hoped she didn’t find anything that made her cringe.

A few minutes later she was at a table with Harry Trotter. She hadn’t even thought twice.