However, compared to herself, the three inside must be the most panicked; she could even vaguely hear the commotion coming from within. Therefore, the one who needed to stay calm now was Aurora. Even if they had burned the books, or even the whole house, she didn't want their relationship to sour because of such an accident.
I'm back, girls!
The door was suddenly pushed open, and Aurora's voice startled the ponies inside. They instinctively tried to use their bodies to block the ruined scene behind them, but with such a large, charred, blackened bookshelf standing there, their actions only made it more obvious.
Although she had mentally prepared herself at the door, when she truly saw the scene, Aurora couldn't help but widen her eyes in shock.
Flying Light, we can explain... this, this is an accident, do you believe us?
I'm sorry, Flying Light, this is all my fault. It's my fault I didn't watch Spike! I swear I will do my best to compensate for your loss!
Aurora walked past them as if she hadn't heard a thing and stood still in front of the bookshelf.
I have to say, it burned quite thoroughly; anyone who didn't know better might have thought she used firewood to make the bookshelf. Aurora touched the almost completely carbonized bookshelf with her hoof, and it immediately crumbled into a pile of black ash on the floor, as magically as something out of a comedy film.
Burned to such a state, none of the books on it could have survived. For Aurora to say she wasn't heartbroken or angry would be a lie.
The significance of this bookshelf, besides holding knowledge, also symbolized Aurora starting to learn magic from scratch. Now that all of this had become a pile of ash to be swept into the trash can, she felt incredibly depressed and sad.
So Aurora decided to mourn for it for a few seconds to show her respect.
Seeing Aurora stand there without saying a word after entering, they couldn't tell at all what she was feeling at that moment.
This invisible pressure made cold sweat stream down Sunset Shimmer, and Twilight Sparkle nervously began to gnaw on her hoof. Meanwhile, the troublemaker Spike followed along, feeling guilty with eyes brimming with tears, clutching Twilight Sparkle's hind leg, waiting in agony for his punishment.
Although Aurora appeared very calm, they knew this was likely just the calm before the storm, because they all knew how much Aurora loved that bookshelf and everything on it, and now, all of that was gone.
They tried to imagine how Aurora would fly into a rage, yet they suddenly realized they had never seen Aurora angry, which cast a veil of unknown fear over what was about to happen.
Isn't there a saying that the better-tempered a pony is, the scarier they are when they get angry?
Perhaps Aurora would forbid them from coming to The House of Academic Studies again, or even decide to cut ties with them.
Thinking of this, Sunset Shimmer's heart raced, and she instinctively wanted to grab the key that Aurora had entrusted to her; a fear called loss spread infinitely in her heart.
Alright. Can anyone tell me what happened?
After giving the bookshelf its final dignity, Aurora finally turned around to ask the three of them about the sequence of events. However, she saw the three of them huddled together, their faces full of tension and terror, and Spike looked like he was about to cry.
Hey... relax, I'm not planning on losing my temper with you. Can everyone just calm down, please?
Aurora smiled helplessly.
Clearly, she was the one who had suffered the greatest loss, yet she was the one comforting them.
To prove that she really had no intention of making things difficult for them, while waiting for them to calm down, Aurora swept the pile of ash into the trash can, simply cleaning up the debris at the scene.
This action left Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle completely stunned; after all, Aurora's reaction was abnormally calm, which left them feeling both uneasy and confused.
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