Perusing Paperbacks

Azure looked up from his novel, Don Quixote, which he had been so enticed by up until now. The sound of anypony coming in here was surprising to him; he was usually one of the only individuals to inhabit the library.

Lo and behold, he was met with a familiar sight: Starcatcher. Oddly enough, she'd situated herself not two tables away from him before beginning to read a novel of her own.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?"

The stallion let a low chuckle from under his breath, eyes flitting back down to the hardcover currently in his possession. He finished the page he was on, moving on to the next with a deft flick of the hoof.

"I didn't think I'd see anypony here, let alone somepony I know."

Seems like conversation wasn't exactly viable in this situation; she hardly even knew he was there. Then again, books had a peculiar finesse about them; one that could draw you into a whole new world. He might be better off just leaving the mare to her business, he might get a word of actual conversation later... after they finished their novels.

And with that, he let himself get whisked away, back into the world of literature before him. His eyes skipped over the pages, following the chivalrous tales of Don Quixote, and his squire, Sancho Panza.

[[OOC: I'm going to assume that I may still join this thread since it is marked as 'Open to Anypony]]

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The library was easily the least objectionable place in a new town for a pony like Sherlock Holmes. He was performing research and, thus, access to books was a must. The library in Trottingham lacked the books he required- and he was no longer allowed into it due to an incident involving an experiment he conducted with parasprites- so he decided to travel.

Travel wasn't one of his favorite past times as it often involved socializing, albeit on a minimal scale, when on a train or trolley of sorts. Ponyville seemed a rather reprehensible place to him in general; almost every local he came within earshot of seemed to go out of their way to greet him and introduce themselves. One particularly annoying blue pegasus hounded him for several blocks for him giving her the cold shoulder when she tried to introduce herself. Fortunately, she seemed to find something else to do rather than annoy him.

The only interaction Sherlock was willing to engage in was to inquire the information booth at the train station as to the location of the town's library. When it was described to him and an address provided, the stallion left and carried what few things he brought with him in his saddlebags.

He found the library easy enough- it was the only massive tree in the town- and entered. It was virtually empty, with just the smallest handful of other ponies; enough to ensure to him that the library was, in fact, open. He found the coat rack by the door and hung his deerstalker cap up as well as his saddlebags before helping himself to search through the library.

He chuckled again, seeing it fit to now close the book he had worked his way through, roughly halfway by this point. "Welcome back to reality," he said with the subtlest of grins lying comfortably on his face. "Did you enjoy your novel?" inquired the stallion as he neatly balanced the novel that was the subject of his perusal not moments ago, upon his beck.

Goodness, she jumped easy. Being the calm, perceptive fellow Azure was, he gave her a moment to calm herself. In the meantime, he lazily searched for anymore hardcovers which might come to captivate his interests. His ears flicked immediately towards a new source of noise; the opening of a door not very far off.

Tempted as he may have been to look, it was likely just another pony hoping to get their hooves on a book to read for the next several hours. Better to leave'em to it. "So what brought you here to the library? The prospect of reading, or were you just that eager to see me again?" He looked back, warm smile mixing well with his harmless teasing.

"Speaking of, it's wonderful to come across a familiar face. How are you?" Feeling she'd have settled down by now, Azure saw no issue with situating himself at the same table as her. A gentle thud of the book once making itself home on his back could be heard as it was set down. His demeanor was as bright as ever, and he was eager to make some conversation--despite how reserved he may have come off to her as.

Sherlock was not interrupted, intercepted, nor interrogated as he passed through the front most racks of books, magazines, and various other detailed forms of literature. He did not intend to find exactly what he was looking for this trip; time was a precious commodity and he needed to understand the layout of the Library first before he could ascertain where to find the most vital bits of information in the least amount of time in the future.

He did, however, settle down at a table near enough to the section of books that concerned Ponyville's history and began to read, skimming through pages quickly before finding mentions of the Everfree Forest and slowing down his reading to absorb the details more precicely.

"Aw, you're gonna hurt my feelings." He stuck out his lower lip in a mock sadness. "Am I gonna have to shed crocodile tears too?" He couldn't keep himself from laughing. He sighed soon afterwards, settling down some similarly to Starcatcher. A deep inhale, slow exhale. The book which had been closed was reopened by a mildly eager hoof; though, he refrained from reading just quite yet.

His eyes broke away from the situation at the table, and scanned the library once more. He was looking for any potential candidates to read afterwards. A grin. The Merchant of Venice seemed like a good followup. It was his most favorite of novels after all. "It's been largely the same with me. I just stop by here every now and then to quench my thirst for a good book. "Do you stop by the library often in your travels?" He spoke in a smooth, level tone, some attention being diverted to gaze below at an open Don Quixote. A few short moments of sifting through the words lying on the page, and Azure was back to where he was before having stopped.

Sherlock re-read the same page about the Everfree Forest three times before closing the book. Everfree Forest he thought as he put the book back where it belonged. Leaving the history section, he looked through the geography books, grabbing two of them that were based on and around Ponyville, then went to the Nature section and grabbed a book entitled 'Equestrian Forests'

With his two new tomes in hoof, he returned to his previous seat and spread them out, opening them one at a time and skimming through until he came to something that interested him. Reading a few words to verify it, he went to the next book to do the same. In short order, all three books were opened and his eyes were darting from one to the other. The background sounds of conversation by other ponies had long since become naught but light buzzing in his ears as his focus narrowed all of his senses to the task at hand.