Light Reading

It's so hooottttt, Mango whined in her head as she trotted, panting, towards Ponyville's library. She had hoped that an excursion would be a nice way to spend her day off from work, but it was warmer than expected, and her being out around noon didn't really help that fact.
As she approached the overgrown tree, she quickened her pace, getting impatient with the thin layer of sweat on her body, and used magic to tie up her long mane in a bun to get it off her neck. It was a little tricky, seeing as her talent didn't really lie in hairdressing, but she was getting better at it.
Mango stepped inside the library, hurriedly closing the door behind her to keep the heat out, and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the cooler air wash over her. The pony at the desk looked up from his desk, looking over his glasses at her.
"Need any help?" he said, with a tint of boredom in his voice. She didn't really blame him; the library was mostly empty that day. Ponies were probably spending time outside, she reasoned.
"No, I'm alright! Thanks," she smiled at him and wandered into the library, approaching the fiction section. She wasn't really here to do research or anything, just to borrow a book for leisure reading. She pulled out a book at random and began to read the summary.

Goodness gracious, was it hot outside. Even with her shortened mane, it was hot...

Ooh, there was the library. She would just duck in there and maybe read for a bit, to pass the time until the heat died down. With a flick of her cute little tail she trotted into the library and tipped her hat to the librarian pony before wandering over to the bookshelves.

The orange mare scanned the shelves for an interesting looking book before something else caught her eye. A glimpse of another orange mare. The most gorgeous creature she'd ever seen.

Mango had been poring over the summary slowly, not being all that much of a fast reader, and was wholly underwhelmed by the plotline it promised. Sliding it back into place, she nabbed another volume with a colorful spine off a higher spot, carefully guiding it down to eye level. She was about to start judging it when her subconscious perked up with the feeling of being watched, and she glanced to the right and caught a pair of wide blue eyes.
Startled, she turned back to her book quickly and couldn't help but smile and raise a hoof to her mouth to cover it. Mango tried to keep reading, but her adrenaline was racing now for some reason knowing she was being watched, and the words became jumbled and impossible to understand. She willed everything inside her to not look again, and prayed that the pony wouldn't speak to her and at the same time prayed they would. What do you want?? she asked herself, giggling internally.

She had only realized that she had been staring when the mare glanced over at her and covered her mouth with her hoof. She had been spotted. Carpe immediately turned her head and looked away, silently pleading the beautiful mare to not leave. If she walked away then the journalist would have no choice but to follow her. Who could leave such a catch? Although, she reasoned with herself, it would seem pretty creepy...

Fine. The only choice she had now was to talk to her. But quietly, seeing as they were in a library, and that librarian pony seemed a bit strict. Okay. Here she goes.

"Howdy...!" she hissed at the mare, hoping she wasn't being too loud. She had a tendency to do that. "My name's Carpe Diem, but you can call me...anything. Call me anything, I don't care. Wow, have you seen yourself in a mirror lately? Because you are absolutely--" Carpe froze and clapped her hoof to her mouth, an embarrassed blush creeping over her face. Celestia help her, she had gotten carried away again. The only thing she could do now was pray that the mare somehow found that awkward interaction charming and continued the conversation.

Oh, buck me.

Try as she might, Mango's willpower couldn't keep her from looking up again when the mare approached her and began to speak in a low whisper, introducing herself and cutting herself off halfway through what Mango was sure was going to be a compliment. Flustered, the mare's face glowed with a blush and she covered her mouth much like Mango had done before.
The earth pony before her was a citrus orange, almost exactly like Mango's own coat, and only her trained florist's eye and knack for color theory could tell the difference between them. She had a cropped yellow mane and tail and was a bit taller than Mango herself, but only slightly.
Mango had to laugh before she spoke. She was pretty good at reading a situation and could tell when a mare was interested, and this one wasn't too hard to figure out. She just hoped she wasn't flattering herself by assuming so.
"Hey," she grinned back. "I'm Mango. I'll just call you by your name, if that's alright?" She decided not to bring up the second half of the mare's introduction until later, giddily warning herself not to take advantage of how much power she had here.

((I'll keep Mango's dialogue at #ff9999 to differentiate between her and Carpe Diem, haha))

(That's cool :P Aaaaahhh, this is hilarious already!)

Mango. Even her name was beautiful. She couldn't help but stare into her eyes for a second before running her gaze down the curves of her orange body, silently noting that it was pretty much the same color as her own. But there was no way that her own scrawny, long-legged figure was the same as this...this goddess's. Then she realized what she was doing and bit her tongue, forcing her gaze away.

Stop being creepy, and get a hold of yourself.

Carpe swallowed hard and nodded at her response after a second, wondering how appropriate it would be if she slapped herself in the face. She felt a little giddy at the thought that she hadn't scared the unicorn away. At least, not yet. With a deep breath she continued, inching ever-so-slightly closer to her.

"That's fine," she whispered, inclining her head slightly towards the mare. "So, Mango, what are you here for? I just popped in because it's sooo hot outside...Much hotter than it ever gets in Manehattan. Oh geez, I'm talking too much, aren't I? I'm sorry, I tend to do that," She offered her an apologetic and slightly sheepish grin, trying not to stare again.

Mango traced Carpe's glance down to her figure with her eyes, natural insecurity kicking in as she flicked her tail. The mare leaned in, and Mango could smell something familiar on her--newsprint? Mango guessed that the earth pony worked with publication or something, and made a mental note to check her cutie mark when she had the chance.
"So, Mango, what are you here for? I just popped in because it's sooo hot outside...Much hotter than it ever gets in Manehattan. Oh geez, I'm talking too much, aren't I? I'm sorry, I tend to do that," the mare spoke quickly yet she didn't jumble her words, a talent Mango had yet to master.
"It's alright! Yeah, I was on my way over here and didn't really plan on how hot it was going to be," she feigned swiping sweat off her forehead with a hoof, comically sticking out her tongue in mock overexertion. "Manehattan, though, huh? Are you from there? It's lovely, from what I remember the last time I was there. I've only been once, though." Mango laughed.

She giggled at the comical expression Mango had made and nodded, although her smile fell slightly. "I am indeed from Manehattan, born and raised! Some parts of it are very lovely, yes," Carpe paused and made a comical expression of her own, wrinkling her nose and squeezing one eye shut. "It can get pretty smelly there, though! But only in certain places."

With a soft chuckle she sat down on her haunches. This conversation was going way longer than she had expected, which was a good thing; naturally she had settled down to continue it. She patted the floor with her hoof, motioning the mare in front of her to sit down as well. "So, Miss Mango, what's your talent? You look like you could be good at just about anything, but I don't like assuming things about ponies." The orange mare grinned and gave her what she hoped was an expectant look.

Mango obliged Carpe's wordless offer to sit beside her, setting the book she had been reading down and settling down.
"So, Miss Mango, what's your talent? You look like you could be good at just about anything, but I don't like assuming things about ponies."
Mango perked up, excited now that she had the chance to talk about her passion. Nearly everyone she knew loved talking about their cutie mark story. Angling her body so that Carpe could see her hip, which displayed a thin outline of a flower, she explained her occupation.
"I'm a botanist! Flowers and stuff. I own a flower shop a couple blocks away from here... my mom is watching the shop today so I could take a little time off, but weekdays at this time of day aren't usually too busy, so I'm not worried about her being swamped." At least, she hoped so. She didn't usually ask her retired mother to do anything but relax and let her daughter worry about things, but she had to take the opportunity to get a little free time when her mother insisted.
"What about you? What do you do?" Mango inquired. She was happy to have someone to talk to, and thanked the library for being at least a couple degrees cooler than it was outside.

"Flowers! Ooh, I love flowers!" Carpe squealed, shifting her position a little to get more comfortable. Her blue eyes practically shone with all the added energy she had from being around this mare. She only hoped that it wasn't too extremely obvious how hard she was crushing on Mango right now. It was so adorable how she had perked up when Carpe had asked her about her talent; eh, most ponies did, but it somehow looked better on her than usual.

"What about you? What do you do?" The orange earth pony could barely suppress a smirk. Now it was her time to shine. She jabbed a hoof at her hat before tilting it at a jaunty angle, giving Mango a small wink and turning to flash her cutie mark at the same time. "Ponyville's finest journalist and one and only writer of the Ponyville Times, at your service!"