Arrival. The Library, Part Two (Turboencabulator)

Arrival
The Library, Part Two

By: Turboencabulator


Harry pulled into the start of a gated drive and parked his box truck, making sure the back
wasn’t hanging into the old state road. Getting out, he wandered over to an intercom box and
pushed the ringer, waiting.

A stiff breeze blew through the hickory trees, and walnuts thumped to the ground off in the
distance. The intercom crackled and beeped.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I’m with the movers? Got the last truck here.”

“I’ll be down to let you in, give me a minute.”

Off in the distance, Harry saw a cottage-house, the garage beside it beginning to open. A
walnut banged off the top of the truck.

There was a tiny, high pitched scream.

Harry turned and looked at the truck, then silently crept over to it, pressing his ear against
the side of the cargo hold. Tiny voices were audible, muffled by the insulation in the wall.

A dirt bike rumbled down the drive to the gate, a young woman riding. She coasted to a stop and
shut it off, unlocking the gate. Harry turned and made a gesture of quiet, motioning for her to
come over. She cocked an eyebrow and stalked over, pressing her ear against the truck.

They shared a look and went to the back door. Harry flung it open, and the three fluffies
inside froze in their place.

“Right. How did you lot get in here.” Harry asked, folding his arms.

Ruby puffed her cheeks and stomped. The young woman pulled out a revolver. The air went out of
Ruby’s cheeks and she backed away, getting low.

“You know what this is, then.” The woman said. Ruby nodded.

“Answer him.”

A light blue pegasus stood up. “Fwuffs cwimbed in at da wail-yawd when da nu-smeww-pwetties
went tu da twashies.”

Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Of course.” He looked around. “Surprised it’s still
reasonably clean in here.”

The pegasus pointed at a Hall-mart bag they had been using as a latrine. Harry picked it up by
the clean handles and put it in the trash bins by the side of the road. “Right, free ride’s
over. You come over and we’ll put you down so you can go, ok?” He turned to the woman. “Put it
away please?”

She nodded, holstering the sidearm. After a moment of exchanging glances, the fluffies walked
over to the lip of the truck.

“Mistew? What dat wowdy say?” The pegasus asked, pointing to the block capitals on the boxes.

Harry glanced at the boxes. “Huh? Oh. It says ‘books’.”

After looking back at the boxes for a moment, the pegasus went into the uppies pose. A minute
later, the three were sitting by the trashbins, watching as the truck climbed the grade and
around the side of a hill, followed by the bike.


Gizmo watched through the fluffy-proof gate as the truck went away up the hill. Books. There
was a library maybe. He knew what luck was but didn’t think he would get this lucky.

Misty was having a moment, sitting against the base of the stone wall and breathing heavily,
hiccuping as the tension went away. After calming down, he whined, looking around. “Whewe dis?”

Ruby looked around as well, on edge. “Nu know. Bettaw dan da yawd.” She looked up and down the road, listening. “Nu heaw metaw-munstas, maybe find nestie-pwace hewe fow de night. Den wong wawkies.”

Gizmo pointed after the truck. “In dewe.”

The others stared at Gizmo, Misty worried, Ruby confused.

“Nee’ fowwow dat twuck. Da books.” Gizmo explained, and looked around, searching for a way
through the gate.

Ruby turned to face Gizmo, glowering. “Nu. Dey hab fowebba-sweepy-sticks an meanie hoomins
an… an…”

“An in dewe, nu munstas.” Gizmo said, turning to Ruby. “If dey gib fowebba sweepies tu munstas
in dewe, as wong as fwuffies no make hoomins angie, fwuffies can hide.”

Misty shifted, grumbling to himself. “Nee nummies.”

Ruby stalked up to Gizmo, looking down at him. She poked him in the chest, staring daggers. “Yu
jus wan yu books.”

Gizmo shook his head. “Nu, dat not onwy weason. Hab finkies. Da hoomins put up a waww. Dis
keeps fings out. Dey wan keep munstas out, so dewe nu be many munstas in dewe. Dat what wawws fow. If fwuffies can get inside da waww, an nu see hoomins, den it safew.”

Ruby glared, then sat back, thinking about it, until finally sighing and nodding, with a
grumble and a huff.

The trio began to walk along the wall, keeping in the shade, and grazing as they went.


“Alice.” The woman said, shaking hands with Harry. “I’m the groundskeeper.”

“Harry. So, how much land is it?” He asked, standing on a limestone porch, looking out over a
woodlands, cut with a lake and rivers.

“The whole property is sixteen hundred acres, but we’ve got a deal with the local university for
the trails and stuff. They come out for class sessions and studies, and keep the trails and
build the occasional traditional building. I’ve only got about fifty to manage here. Except for
hunting.”

Harry let out a whistle and turned, looking up at the building. “Must’ve been a bitch to build
all this up here. Well where should I unload?”

Alice opened the front doors, revealing a large, marble hall. There were rows and rows of
folding tables with boxes set on and under them. “I was told to just put 'em here. The new
owner is supposed to be arriving in a day or so.”

Harry started unloading the boxes, kicking some hay out of the corner near the wheel. “Kinda
surprised those fluffies were considerate enough to bring a shittin’ bag.”

“I’m not.” Alice said, taking out a monocular and sighting on something near the lake. “Ferals
that don’t keep somewhat clean die pretty bad deaths. Infection, making it hard to hide,
rejection from the herd, lots of things are hygiene based when you need to survive in a pack of
prey animals.”

“See something interesting?” Harry asked.

“Looks like a group of sandhill cranes.” She said, then lowered the monocular. “It’s a good
thing we found them outside the fence. They were of breeding age and mixed sex. I work hard to
keep the land de-fluffied.”

“You must’ve been working here for a while.”

“My dad was groundskeeper before me, I started helping when I was fourteen and took over about
ten years ago now. The old fart that owned this place was a riot. Almost like a wacky uncle.”

She sighed, taking out a buzzing phone. “Looks like I need to work harder.”

Harry wandered past with a box of books. “Problem?”

“One of the wall sensors went off.” She said, with a grimace. “Probably another fuzzy little
migraine machine got dumped. I swear this new guy is going to need to fork out for higher walls
or something.”


Two young girls tromped through the woods with a carrier. They were breathing heavy, having
come the long way from the movie theatre parking lot nearly a mile away.

“Come on Millie, we’re nearly there.” One said, hauling the pet carrier over a fallen tree.

“I’m comin, Jesus, slow your roll. We’ve got like an hour before the movie starts.”

They finally made it over to an old limestone chunk wall, mossy and wind-beaten. Millie managed
to get herself up on the wall, straddling it. “Alright, lemme find a foothold and then pass him
over.”

The other girl nodded, then looked down as something tapped her foot, a little voice saying
“Escoose me?”

She looked down and saw a trio of fluffies. “Can yu pwease hewp us?” One asked, an ice-blue
earthie. “We nee’ get tu odder side of waww.”

“Oh my god you are adorable. Do you want to come home with me instead?” She asked, crouching
down.

“Nu.” They all said, in unison.

“We nee’ get odder side of waww. No hoomins dewe.” A huge red alicorn said. She looked angry.

“You sure? We have toys.”

“Dun wan toysies.” The alicorn said. “Dummy hoomin. Yu hep ow no?”

Millie stood up and glowered down at the fluffies. “Man I thought ferals were supposed to be
nice.”

“Look just hand them over. If a fluffy doesn’t want a house they’ll just shit it up if you try
to force them.” The other girl said, jumping down to the other side of the wall.

“Fankoo.” The first one, the earthie said.

After transferring the fluffies over to the other side of the wall, Millie opened the carrier
and took out another fluffy.

The other girl set it down and climbed back over the wall. “Well, bye. Good luck.” She said,
and jumped down. She and Millie tromped away in the forest.

The new fluffy, a monocolor silver, immaculately groomed and shined, sat down heavily and
looked around. The pegasus of the group walked up to it.

“Hewwo. Fwuffy Gizmo. Nyu fwiend?” The pegasus asked, curious.

The silver fluffy looked at Gizmo, sort of. His eyes pointed in different directions and he
seemed happy in the wrong way.

“What yu name?” Gizmo asked.

“Phluffhy fnbnabned Bbbuwblet!”


Roland pulled his Kia up the drive, late in the evening. Sunlight was still there, and he
pulled up to a massive building, set into a flat in the side of a massive hill. He got out and
looked up at it, blinking as he got used to the light.

The estate’s home for him was a three story stone building, built as a rectangle split into two
squares. The facade was covered in ivy, and a wide portico, framed with ornate columns, jutted
out the front. Short spires were seated on the four corners, and a widow’s walk stretched the
length of the middle roof, giving a castle-like sensation to the stately building.

“Good luck keepin’ it dusted.”

Roland turned to see a young woman walking out of one of the garages. She tossed him a heavy
bundle of keys. “Alice. I keep the grounds. These are yours.”

He caught them, wincing as the heavy iron keys smashed into his palm. “Roland. Uh. I was told I
had inherited a house, this is more like a small duchy.”

Alice grinned, going over to a dirt bike. “Yeah well your highness it’s yours now. Your stuff
has been unloaded in the rooms in the front. Good luck in there, it’s kind of a maze.”

She hopped on the bike and tore off down the road, heading for the keeper’s cottage. Roland
stared after her, blinking, then looked down at the keys in his hand.

He opened the front door, the lights dim inside, casting shadows over the boxes on
tables. Walking in, he passed glass cases covered in dust covers, and looked up into a massive
atrium, a staircase spiraling up to the top story. He looked around, and saw a narrow flight
going down.

“How much space is there here?” Roland muttered, wandering through the halls.

Kitchen, dining room, a billiards room, and bathroom were all normal, if far more rich than
Roland was used to, but as he went on, each room was more or less the same as the last. The
gross majority of the mansion was libraries and office spaces, some crammed into closets,
others sprawling in massive rooms, oil paintings hanging on the walls.

What could only be described as a ballroom was full of glass cases, with books on pillowy
stands inside, carefully kept in temperature and humidity regulated environments. Parchment
broadsides and incunabula were carefully framed and mounted for safe handling, and manuscripts and scrolls were found to fill what used to be a gymnasium.

After an hour of searching, Roland finally happened upon the main study, a room filled with
writing desks and library tables, one wall taken up with chalkboards mounted on pulleys. Papers
were scattered everywhere in his great-uncle’s cramped handwriting, and a trash bin was full of
nothing but empty rollerballs. Grand maps were pinned up into the antique wallpaper.

Going through to the far wall, Roland passed through a door and found a simple, spartan
bedroom. The bed was neatly made and freshly laundered, a pair of reading glasses on the
bedside table.

Roland fell into the bed and was asleep before he had realized he was tired.


Gizmo glanced between Ruby and Misty, then back at the new fluffy. “Yu name… Buwwit?”

“Yarf!” Bullet said, supposedly looking around, though his eyes never quite lined up, and one
would frequently drift off into another direction. “Mubby gbo wai?”

Misty nodded. “Am sowwee. Yu mummah nu good hoomin, weft yu hewe.”

Gizmo gave Bullet a hug from one side. “Hab fwiends though! We hewp yu.”

Ruby was standing, on guard, looking around the forest. “Otay smawty, what do?”

Gizmo looked around. “Dewe a smawty?”

Ruby turned and poked him in the chest. “Yu. Yu da smawty. Yu wanned come in hewe, so yu
wesponsibuw. Dat make yu de smawty.”

The pegasus sat down, thinking. Bullet turned and tried licking the wall, then after a minute
of processing, declared it ‘yikkies’ and licked it again.

“Weww, nee’ find da hoomins, so fwuffs can teww whewe hoomins awe not. So, we go back tu da
woad, stay in da twees an gwassies, an wook fow hoomins. Den we can go away fwom dem an find a pwace to make nesties an find nummies.” Gizmo said, standing up and heading back along the wall. “Da gwassies hewe wook wike good nummies fow a widdle.”

Ruby huffed, watching Misty gently guide Bullet along. She followed behind, keeping a sharp eye
out for birdie-monsters, and listening for motion in the grass. She was grateful this plan
was based around avoiding humans, and the wall meant one less direction to watch.

It seemed like many forevers until they came to the edge of a wide, mown lawn, the gate visible
further down. A human was riding away from the little housie further up the road, up into the
hills. The little herd turned, following the course of the verge. Gizmo watched up the
hillside, until a massive building began to come into view.

He pointed. “Wook, dat da biggest housie ebber!”

Ruby peered where he was pointing. “Is su faw way. Yu fink hoomins wiww come hewe?”

Gizmo thought, then nodded. “Da gwassie hewe aww fwat, hoomins mus do dat. So if dey go up
dere, an hab widdle housie hewe, we find nestie-place in whewe dey nu make fwat.”

He pointed into the woods at the base of the hill, away from the road. “We go dat way. Fin’
nestie-pwace we can see da hoomin housie, but dey nu see us.”

Ruby thought about it. It did make sense, in a way.

The herd moved on, until Misty stopped, making Ruby bump into him.

“Wook.” Misty said, pointing. The herd turned and eight, then seven eyes alighted on a trail
marker. “Dat hoomin sign. Dey cum hewe.”

Ruby nodded, looking around until she wandered out onto a trail. “Dis not fow metaw
munstaws. An hoomins big, we heaw dem hoofsies on dis.”

The other three walked out on the wide gravel trail. Gizmo turned and started walking along
it, occasionally looking for the giant housie on the hill. “Dis seems wike a gud way.” He said.

It was many forevers for the fluffies until they came upon a small cabin built next to a slow
creek, long gone into disrepair. After circling it for a minute, they found a gap and managed
to slip inside.

It was dusty, and smelled like campfire and wet straw, but there was a solid roof and a
mattress on the floor.

“Hewe.” Gizmo said, plopping down and wincing at his aching hooves. “We sweep hewe.”

The four fluffies were tired, and formed a fluffpile on the mattress. It smelled like a human
stallion, but the fluffies found this comforting.

Before it got truly dark out, Gizmo wiggled out of the pile and slipped out, walking to a
gnarled tree, designating it the new poopie-place. He relieved himself and walked back, but
stopped. Looking up, he saw lights move up the hillside, and the sound of a metal-monster’s
growl, which cut off abruptly. A minute later, the little riding-monster zipped down the
hillside.

He thought, staring at the building. There had to be a library in there. It just made sense.

Wiggling back into the fluffpile, the warmth made his head go all fuzzy and happy, and he
slipped back into sleep, dreaming of words and what made the night-sky-ball so bright and pretty.

28 Likes

Man you work fast.

This is good stuff so far!

3 Likes

I really think I should slow down sometimes but once I get in a writing groove it just tends to flow out.

7 Likes