Quiet solitude (Open)

[seventh]

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[atrb=background,http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/5610/sapphiremidcopy.jpg,true] Quiet solitude. Only a few other ponies had come to the library and they were old patrons, ones that knew that she didn't particularly enjoy talking. She appreciated that and enjoyed it immensely, especially when she could be immersed in a book. A really good book like the one she was reading about the history of Equestria. She had read it a thousand times before but she couldn't help but go back and study up on it. One could never grow tired of a good book! The mare's pupiless gold eyes studied the volume as her magic held it suspended within the air. A growling in her stomach made her look down, she was quite hungry now... Maybe a snack would do well, but she didn't want to eat near her book. She could get it messy and that just wouldn't do! So she sat her book down on the desk that was situated at the center of the library, in that location in case anyone needed to ask her a question of course, and carefully edged her way to a back room that contained a sack with an apple inside that she had brought. She used her magic to remove the apple from the bag and eat it, the apple was small but it would stop her stomach from rumbling for a while. A least until she closed the library and went to her home at the edge of Ponyville. So, her hungry partway sated she walked back to her desk and reopened the volume, continuing reading from her previous place.

[Big Macintosh]

It was fall. Leaves were changing color, the air was getting brisker, and most importantly, the apples at Sweet Apple Acres were red and ripe. It was applebucking season, the time to kick them out of the trees and into buckets. Any given day, one could find Big McIntosh doing just that.

But not today.

Today, he was pulling a cart laden with the year's harvest throughout Ponyville. Applejack, having decided that the farm wasn't making enough money, wanted to go beyond just doing business at a stand in town--her latest brilliant plan was to go door-to-door. Though he couldn't argue with the basic idea behind it, her brother was quick to note that they hadn't finished applebucking, and that he didn't want her overworking herself, "Like last year." After a bit of back-and-forth (mostly resulting from Applejack's stubbornness), the two siblings worked out a compromise: they would switch off, so that neither would be working overtime for too long.

But as happy as he was to keep his sister from running herself ragged, Big McIntosh was still nervous. He wasn't much of a salespony; that was undoubtedly his sister's specialty, and he didn't even know how to begin a sales pitch, much less actually succeed with one.

Pulling up to the door of the Whitetail Library, the stallion hesitated before knocking gently on the door with his hoof. He'd heard that the pony living within wasn't one for excessive conversation, so hopefully this wouldn't be too hard.

[seventh]

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[atrb=background,http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/5610/sapphiremidcopy.jpg,true] Finished. Now, she just had to return the book to its rightful place with the other nonfiction books. On her way there though a knock sounded at the door. Odd. Everyone knew this was a public library, so why knock? It was meant for others to walk right in and look for whatever book they wanted. Ears starting lay down in their usual nervous position she laid the book down on a table then walked slowly towards the door. Carefully placing each hoof down, extending the time it took to get to the door. With a deep breath she opened it and saw a rather large red horse. He had a collar around his neck and a large cart full of apples behind him. The smart pony could almost guess that this was some sort of sales tactic and that this large horse was from Sweet Apple Acres. She knew the apple family worked there and sold apples, plenty of kindly ponies had gone there and bought apples for her. She quite loved them, especially now that her stomach wasn't completely full. However, standing before the large pony she couldn't bring herself to say just how hungry she was, or how much she would love to have some of the apples in his cart. It wasn't in her blood to do that. So, she settled for a slight head tilt and a raising of one eyebrow. An obvious questioning gesture, she gave him the floor to speak.

[Big Macintosh]

Having finished knocking, Big McIntosh withdrew his hoof and waited. And waited. He didn't hear anything from inside; maybe nopony was home? But it was a library, there should have been somepony there at this time of day. Of course, that was assuming that libraries worked like any other businesses; a consequence of his particular lifestyle was that the red pony rarely even came near to large collections of books, much less spent time reading them.

He was starting to wonder if he should move on when the door finally opened. Standing in the doorway was a smaller blue pony, who was now busy examining him. Mentally, Big McIntosh went over the list of things his sister had told him to do during a sale. #1: Smile. Pasting a grin on his face (and hoping that it didn't just make him look queasy), the stallion cleared his throat and launched, somewhat mechanically, into the speech Applejack had taught him.

"Hello, miss. My name is Big McIntosh, from Sweet Apple Acres. I was wondering if you would like to purchase some of our delicious apples today?" As he said the second sentence, the pony stepped aside to fully reveal the cart, which was packed with produce. Still wearing the forced grin, Big McIntosh waited for a response, silently vowing that he would harvest the entire orchard instead of ever having to do this again.