In Which Twilight Learns About New Types Of Books
Something was amiss in the town of Ponyville. A simple little thing the denizens had to tolerate on occasion: The library was closed, though few actually used it for its intended purpose. It served more as a meeting place, and even a home to one Twilight Sparkle, newly crowned princess of Equestria. The library only closed on rare occasions for one of two possible purposes. Either Twilight was reorganizing the library through some new system she had decided was faster and more efficient, or Twilight had gone mad with researching a topic she had fallen in love with.
Twilight's friends would usually grow concerned with her locking herself away after a few days. It had been nearly a week and no one had seen or heard from her. The library remained closed and the rare sighting of a little purple and green dragon coming out of the library and returning with food was the only sign of life existing there at all. With nearly a full week since seeing their friend, they came together to ask what had become of their friend.
*****
Twilight was in her element. Enthralled amongst the pages of oh so many good books. Research of this extent was her passion. She barely even needed to leave her precious tomes either. If her coffee ran low it was filled within a few minutes. Low on parchment or ink? A stack of parchment or full inkpot just turned up at the corner of her desk. Like clockwork, everything fell perfectly into place. Only the sight of a tired and overworked baby dragon retreating into the distance gave any hint as to where the divine nourishment or the writing materials had mysteriously come from.
She had been at this for days on end, barely sleeping. There was just so much work to be done! She couldn’t let this pass her by. She was on the cusp of unraveling it all. A few stray hairs popped free from her mane.How odd, she thought, It seems to keep doing that all on its own. Twilight powered up her magic with a dim pink glow and flattened out the errant strands. Then her eye started twitching.
“Uhhh!” she sighed aloud. This cycle kept repeating. She had begun tracking it alongside her primary work after the third iteration. At first tracking, the cycle of hair popping out of place and eye twitching happened every few hours. Over time the interval between these episodes dwindled down to every half hour. She still couldn't determine a cause, or why she was even writing it all down other than that it was there for her to observe.
A knocking at the door, three sharp raps. Nothing for her to bother with. She did not need interruptions to her studying now. Not when she was so close. Not—
Voices. Multiple voices at the door. The commotion of jumbled voices died down and one rang true enough for her to hear. “Twilight, you’ve been cooped up in that library for far too long.” Though Twilight couldn’t see her, she recognised the voice of Rarity. From the commotion at the door, she guessed that some if not all, of the others in their little group, were with her.
Little did either party know that these words would set into motion what would be a series of strange events, even for the six of them.
Twilight couldn’t bother with them right now. Rude as it may have been to ignore her friends, a more pressing matter was at hand.
There were more voices, jumbled and talking over each other now. Rapping on windows. All to be ignored.
She had to do this. It was a task requiring her full attention. It would bring light to a whole new world. To show the world what they had been missing. What was now plain to see to her. Their whole lives were going to change from these findings! She would solve it all! To save them all in one fell sw—
A sound of glass shattering behind her. Twilight turned just in time to see Rainbow Dash crash into her as she raced through the now broken window. They collided and twirled. To an outside observer it looked like it may have even been rehearsed. The two now interlocked ponies spun end over end and crashed into the table Twilight was working at. It collapsed from the added weight and they rolled into a blackboard to the side that fell on top of them as well. The pony pile, now plus one chalkboard, groaned in unison.
“Rainbow Dash! Y’all didn’t need to crash in through the window!” what was undoubtedly Applejack angrily spouted. Twilight’s newly acquired headache informed her that she did not take kindly to yelling.
Trying to stop her head from spinning after the tumble, Rainbow said, “It’s not like she was actually going to come to the door. This is the only thing that would get her attention. Well, this or a letter from the princess.” She slowly tried to untangle herself from Twilight. Knots of rainbow and sapphire mane held fast, tying them together.
At that last word, something snapped in Twilight. Strands of hair popped out from the already entangled mess and her eye began rapidly twitching. She stood up, dragging Rainbow along by their interlocked manes as glass cracked underhoof. “Princess? No letters to the princess! No! They can’t know, they can’t know,” Twilight cried out. She fell to murmuring, “Princess, they can’t know,” over and over again.
Twilight stood, still seeing stars from the fall. She opened her mouth to try and explain or ask or really anything about this abrupt change to her situation when she was grabbed by Pinkie Pie. The overwhelmingly sweet odor couldn't be mistaken for anypony else.
A string of words flying by so fast no one but Pinkie Pie could understand came flying out. “So have you been avoiding us Twilight? Do you not like my parties anymore? Because I thought they were fun and I know you like them but now I’m not so sure anymore because you seem to be avoiding us and I don’t like not visiting you even though sometimes friends need space but it has been nearly a week now! A week! How can you go without seeing your bestest of best friend for that long?” Pinkie questioned. Twilight stared at her with bloodshot eyes and disheveled mane.
Twilight gulped, tried not to even think of how Pinkie had gotten inside, recalled Cadance’s breathing exercises and took a few moments to calm down. Since two of them were already inside, she might as well address them all properly as she told them to leave. Using her magic she opened the door and Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack stepped into the tree library. Then she calmly addressed the newly formed crowd. “What are you all doing inside my house?! You can’t just barge in here!”
Pinkie let her go, taken aback by her words. The whole group of concerned pony friends shared the sentiment. Twilight grumbled, just thinking of this as a small setback before the continuation of her research. Lifesaving research, she reminded herself. Twilight began to clean up the window’s glass, reforming it with the frame using magic. A spell she only bothered to learn after Rainbow Dash had crashed through her windows so many times. It had become nearly a weekly thing to have to repair her entry into the tree library. Occasionally it even required some magic to regrow bits of the tree itself. She muttered all the while about learning to use a door.
“Twi, what has gotten into you? Pinkie may be a bit overboard—”
“Hey!”
“But she’s right. We’re your friends and we‘re concerned for you. Now why are you tucked up here snugger than a snake in hibernation?” Applejack finished.
Thoughts came to Twilight's mind with those last words. Horrible thoughts of a day long ago. Something clicked in her mind, it was yet another link she needed. She ignored the question and rushed over to a corkboard on the side with so many pictures and bits of string pinned between them. Twilight took another bit of string, tied it around a pin and stuck it into a paper that she wrote the words “Snakes Hibernate” on.
Rainbow finally finished collecting herself. She had suffered most of the impact from the collision with Twilight. And the floor. And the table. And the chalkboard. She trotted over to Twilight and tore her away from the board.
“What are you doing? What is all this? These lines and words and connections and all your research. What is it all for this time? Oh! Do we get to go out and fight something super dangerous? A crazy snake beast? That flies?” Rainbow said, growing increasingly excited and flying in place. She gave a few jabs and kicks in the air of her imagined fight.
“There is no flying snake beast,” Twilight stopped, and then thought for a moment on what she had just said. Considering all she had been researching, “Actually I should probably research that one just to be sure. The yaks might have something in their mythology.”
“Darling, stop getting sidetracked. We are here for you. What is all of this?” Rarity asked, growing irritated and waving a hoof at all the scattered research materials around the room.
Twilight sighed. She knew if anyone could be trusted with this information, with the fate of the world, it was her friends.
“Since I became a princess, things have changed,” Twilight began.
“You grew wings and became more awesome. Yeah, we all know,” Rainbow interjected, yawning afterwards.
Twilight glared at Rainbow until she shifted uncomfortably away to the back of the room. “Anyway, things have changed. With me being a princess now I had so much more to learn. So much more I could learn. The common pony is kept so ignorant of the true goings-on of the world. All of this scattered around, this is my research and it’s only a fraction of what’s out there for me to uncover. Bad things are going on, like the fact that the princesses are always watching us. That they are lizard ponies from a secret society sent here to control our world for their own overlords. That Starswirl the Bearded’s disappearance from history was an inside job. That aliens watch us from their advanced boxes from the sky. All of this and I don’t know how to stop it. To tell the masses? That would merely cause panic. I don't know what to do,” Twilight said, slowly breaking down with each sentence uttered. Little twitches and ticks became more apparent as she was watched. She curled up on the floor, gripping her tail between her hooves seemingly petting it over and over. She muttered, “Everything will be fine,” over and over.
The group was stunned.
“Ignorant?” questioned Rarity.
“Lizard ponies?” asked Fluttershy.
“Common pony?” Applejack asked harshly.
“Aliens! Cool!” cried Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie just laughed at the ridiculousness of what Twilight was saying. Applejack approached Twilight hesitantly.
“Now sugarcube, you must know what a load of rotten apples that all is. You just need to get away from all these nutso books,” Applejack tried to comfort, picking up some of the books scattered around. “And just come outside with all of us.” Applejack reached in to hug Twilight.
On making contact with Twilight, she spasmed and magic flared up in her horn. The purple shine glowed then erupted out in a bubble forcing the five out of the house. Twilight snatched up the pilfered books, intent on them not leaving her possession. The bubble remained behind as a barrier around the treehouse, glowing a soft pink color.
“Ow,” moaned Fluttershy. Her pink hair was a tangled mess with the five friends being tangled together and forced out the door in one pile.
“Consarn it, Twilight, we’re just trying to help you,” Applejack yelled at the bubble.
Twilight appeared at the frame of the door. She surveyed her friends.
“I'm sorry, I just have too much research to do. This is too important to let you distract me, I have to save you. I have to save all of you,” Twilight solemnly spoke, turning away and closing the door.
“Twi, if you don’t come out of that library right now I’m gonna applebuck this bubble and drag you out myself.”
“Are you still there?” Fluttershy whispered meekly, barely heard over the din of the group trying to coax out their friend.
“No my dear, she isn’t,” Rarity comforted Fluttershy. She held her tightly and Fluttershy began to cry.
“This isn’t right. Twilight is supposed to be our friend. She shouldn't be all crazy-wazy,” Pinkie said.
Rarity, still holding Fluttershy, shot up straight and explained “Idea! Why don't we tell the princesses about what has happened. How Twilight won't leave her house and the rantings she is on about.”
“Perfect! The princesses will come down with all their freaky magic and fix her all up!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed. She beamed proudly like she had come up with the idea in the first place.
Rarity tried so very hard to ignore that ‘freaky magic’ comment. She had been over magic with Rainbow a few times before, how it was not ‘freaky’ and was just a part of life. Should being a pegasus and flying be ‘freaky’ to her? No, this is just Rainbow being ignorant. Again.
And so the group agreed to write a letter to the princesses of Equestria together.
*****
The group had decided that writing the letter over a good meal would be best, so Sugarcube Corner was their destination. Pinkie bounded ahead, her friends trailing behind her. She galloped to the kitchen, bolting past a startled and confused Mrs. Cake.
“Pinkie, what are you up to?” Mrs. Cake called out into the kitchen.
“Baking for my friends!” came back a reply that was interspersed with the sounds of a mixer, a timer going off, and one pink pony humming to herself.
All familiar sounds, and a memory of pleasant days baking for her own friends came back to Mrs. Cake. She smiled and let her be.
The rest of the group walked in a few minutes later. The saccharine smell was overpowering no matter how many times they ventured to the sweets shop. Mrs. Cake just pointed to a table on the side of the store.
“Pinkie is in the back whipping something up for all of you, I’ll bet,” Mrs. Cake said kindly. “You're all such good friends to her.”
The group made small talk with Mrs. Cake until Pinkie came out of the back with a whole cake and a sheet of cupcakes, all balanced on her back.
“You made all that in 5 minutes? How?” Rarity asked, flabbergasted even with Pinkie being Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie shrugged. “Eh, my Pinkie Sense told me I was going to need a cake and a sheet of cupcakes today so I had them slowly baking since I got up. All I really did was turn on the heat to make them nice and warm.” With that she began to salivate and grabbed one of her cupcake creations. She licked all the frosting off the top, held it on her tongue a moment to savour the flavor then took it down in one swallow. Rainbow was rather impressed.
“So this letter, we need to get the princesses’ help. Are we asking Luna? Celestia? Cadance? All of them?” Rarity questioned, politely nibbling on a blue and pink frosted cupcake.
“Cadance would take too long to get here from the Crystal Empire. She’s not fast like me.” Rainbow said, tipping back in a chair while trying to scarf down a whole slice of cake at once.
“Celestia is nice. I vote her,” Fluttershy squeaked out. She shivered at a past memory of a Nightmare Night she could never forget.
“Fine, just to Celestia then. Just get on with writing the darn thing,” Applejack said, growing bothered at how long this was taking. Their friend needed help, they didn't need to bicker over who to send it to.
Pinkie produced a stack of parchment, a few quills, and an inkpot moments later.
Dash, surprising all of the group, took up a quill immediately and began to scratch out barely legible letters. Applejack looked over, reading along with what she etched into the page.
“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack yelled, hitting the back of Rainbow Dash’s head. Splotches of ink fell across the fresh sheet, now forever marred.
“I know her penmanship is like chicken scratch but it couldn't have been that bad,” Rarity said, using her magic to move the sheet over to read. She read aloud to the whole group,
Dear Princess Celestia,
Twilight is nuts. Send help.
“Rainbow, that was too mean. We shouldn’t say such things about Twilight. She just need our help, and the princess’s,” Fluttershy chided. Rainbow rubbed the back of her now tender head, trying to reduce the pain.
“Hey, it’s true,” Rainbow muttered. Then under her breath, “At least I won't gussy it up.”
In turn, each tried to write a letter. Fluttershy’s was too nice and didn’t get the urgency of the issue across. Then it apologised for bothering the princess by having her read it. Rarity focused more on the disaster that Twilight's home and her mane and coat had become. The physical elements, while important, were not the problem. Pinkie tried and said nothing she would write would get the princess's attention. She was plumb out of ideas. Applejack was the most level headed and wrote about what Twilight was actually saying to all of them. What she was now believing.
Pinkie took each letter, and read it out to the group. All agreed that Applejack’s would get their point across to the princess and be their best chance.
Then Fluttershy brought up a point no one had considered. How would they send it to the princess?
“So great, we have a letter and no way that will get it to the princess in time before Twilight’s crazy spreads across the whole town?” Rainbow replied. All of her work on that letter was for nothing now, nevermind that hers wasn't the one getting sent.
The door to Sugarcube Corner opened and a purple and green little dragon walked in. The five just stared for a moment as he walked up to the counter and began to order a cupcake with emeralds on top.
“Spike!” all five of the mares shouted and rushed over to him at the counter.
“Oh hey, girls, what are all of you doing here?” Spike asked, now surrounded on all sides by the group.
“Twi’s gone nuts,” said Rainbow succinctly. This earned her another thump on the head from Applejack.
“We need to send a letter to the princess. This letter can't wait, it's mighty important that she knows now.” Applejack insisted, thrusting the rolled up letter right in front of Spikes face.
“Sheesh, if that's all you needed,” Spike said with a shrug. He took hold of the letter and everyone stood back as he drew in a breath. Gouts of green fire spewed forth and enveloped the letter. It sparkled as it burned and the ashes hovered in the air a moment, having gained a green tinge. They flew out the door a moment later.
“Thank you so much, Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity cooed, nuzzling him. Spike seemed to melt a bit from this, lost in the moment before he regained his senses.
“Yeah, sure. It’s no big deal. And Twilight isn’t crazy, she gets like this when she falls in love with a subject. You should all know this by now,” Spike said dismissively. He walked out of the store, a newly acquired emerald topped cupcake in hand.
“Yes, Spike, but it's the subject matter that is the problem,” Pinkie said to herself.
“What was that?” Mrs. Cake asked, still behind the counter and counting out Spike’s bits.
“Oh, we’re all out of batter!” Pinkie said just a little too quickly, even for her.
With the letter sent on its way, only the princess could help them now.
*****
Princess Celestia, bearer of the Sun and sole ruler of Equestria for a thousand years, sat laid down in her study. Princess Luna, her newly reformed sister, lay beside her. A raging fire roared in the fireplace, keeping them both warm in the chill of lofty Canterlot. Each draped a wing over the other to supplement the fire’s warmth as well.
Scrolls were scattered about in front of Celestia. Luna had a few books to either side of her and one open that she rapidly read through. Luna had loved reading and with a thousand years of time it had become more widely available. So many stories for her to learn about, it was how she relaxed.
Celestia seemed to be exactly the opposite of her tranquil other. Stressed and in a tizzy, she read scrolls and letters from all over Equestria and beyond. Ponies and even non-ponies wrote to her for advice, counsel, requests, and all sorts of things. Each one, no matter how frivolous, she made sure to send a reply back to.
With a bright flash a scroll appeared in front of Celestia. She looked up from her work surprised as the letter now floated down in front of her work.
“Is that from Twilight, dearest sister?” Luna asked, becoming more interested in the unexpected letter than in her books.
Celestia began to read through the letter, taking it in both hooves and pouring over it. She did not like what she saw in those black strokes.
“No, no it is not…” Celestia trialed off, mumbling and trying to figure out how bad this could really be.
Luna snapped around and took up the letter in her own hooves. She read it over, and her face turned dark. “Something must be done about this immediately. A princess cannot go on spouting such prattle to the commoners.”
“Luna, they are our ponies, not commoners. But you are right, I must go there and put an end to such foolish thinking at once.”
“Is that wise? A confrontation may only exacerbate her position and make her more fearful. Distrust in such a fragile state may be her own undoing, if not handled carefully.”
“It must be done, regardless of the outcome. This will be put to rest tonight,” Celestia decreed. She stood and took the letter back from Luna. Celestia began to pack saddlebags of a few books needed to educate her pupil.
“Sister? Did you have any cupcakes tonight? With pink frosting?”
That question made her stop. Such an odd thing to ask out of the blue she couldn’t even begin to think of why Luna would be asking. “No, why do you ask?”
“Because my hoof is stained from the back of that letter.”
Celestia went over to the letter and examined its back more closely. She found a light bit of pink frosting smeared on the back. A bit of it was stuck to her own hoof as well. Her mood turned hardened. She steeled herself for what was to come with this new knowledge.
“The sign.”
“Indeed. I must answer it with all haste. Take care Luna, I'll save her from herself,” Celestia intoned. The two nuzzled, then separated. With saddlebags fully stuffed, Celestia let loose a blinding flash of light and she was gone from the room. She was off to save her student.
Luna cautiously looked at her hoof. The frosting just sat there menacingly. Luna bent her head down and licked up the blob of sweet deliciousness. She perked up, never quite expecting the kick of sugary treats.
“Strawberry, not bad.”
*****
All was golden-tinged white. Then she was in front of the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville. The flash of teleportation disoriented her for only a moment. In that instant, ponies were already beginning to crowd around her, bow, ask her questions and just be reverent of her in general. While she always tried to be polite, this was a time that needed haste.
“My little ponies,” she spoke to the crowd now surrounding her. “Thank you for your warm reception. I’m afraid I cannot stay for long as I have business to attend to with Princess Twilight.” The crowd began to dissipate, clearing a path for the princess to walk to the library. “I’m sure you understand,” she said, looking back at her subjects. Irritatingly, some still stayed behind and plopped themselves down in front of the library, awaiting her return. Well, that's what teleporting is for, she thought as she moved to the door of the library.
Three sharp raps, then two, then three again. A little secret handshake Celestia had used with all her previous students.
Twilight knew it well and instantly recognised it. She shot up from her work in a panic. Only the princess, The Princess, would know that knock. She was on to her. She was coming to take her away. To shut down her revelation to society of the oppression. The secrets and lies. All of it! Haphazardly and far too quickly to be in any way safe, Twilight teleported so many different chalkboards, corkboards, stacks of papers, scrolls and books to her basement. Free of the prying eyes of the princess. All over the course of five seconds.
So many bright flashes came from within the library and in such rapid succession that Celestia thought maybe that DJ had set up a party inside. The lightshot stopped and a disheveled and out-of-breath Twilight answered the door.
“Princess! What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you,” Twilight said while blocking the entryway.
“Can’t a teacher drop by and visit her student once in a while? Or are you too grown up for that?” Celestia smirked. This needed to be away from prying ears; she just needed a hoof in the door.
Twilight began to sweat. She saw other ponies in the background watching. She didn’t want to make a scene in front of them. Not yet at least. “Of course, of course. Come right in,” Twilight said with a grin far too wide to be genuine. The dazzling brilliance of the teeth reflected the rays of Celestia's sun into the crowd.
Somepony in the crowd shouted, “My eyes!”
The pair nuzzled in the doorway, Twilight looking on the back of Celestia's neck all the while for a zipper of some sort. They both walked in and Twilight slammed the door shut behind them. Using her magic she drew the curtains on windows and used magic to bar the basement door. Celestia used magic of her own, creating a soundproof bubble around the Tree Library. Celestia thought about that a moment, wondering which pony so long ago thought it a good idea to carve out a tree and live inside it. Then she remembered it was her and Luna oh so many centuries ago when they were but playful children.
“Why are you here?” Twilight turned on her mentor harshly. She was in no mood for frivolities. This conversation would decide the fate of the world. The fate of Equestria. The fate of her.
“As I said, can’t a teacher come and visit their student?” Celestia sat down on a cushion carefully eyeing Twilight.
“This is not like you. You only leave the castle for three things. One, official political visits, which this certainly is not one as you did not come in the royal chariot and with no guards. Two, to observe and be amongst the ponies of the world. You see me constantly so you would have no need to visit. And three, when something has gone so horribly wrong that you need to personally intervene in. I've received no letter pointing towards that conclusion so I must ask once again. Why are you here?” Twilight said even more forcefully, with each line taking taking a step toward her mentor. She ended up not a foot away, almost muzzle to muzzle.
Of course it was like Twilight to catalog what would make me leave Canterlot, Celestia thought to herself. “Your research project of late. It has caught my attention and my interest is piqued. Please, share with me what you have learned.”
Twilight nearly broke. Celestia wanted to know what she was studying? But she already knew! She was always watching, knew what everypony was up to at all times. It must be a trick, she concluded. She would have to be very careful how she navigated this conversation to not get banished. Or thrown in a dungeon. Or banished and thrown in a dungeon in the place she was banished to.
“So you want to know about my research? About my special project?” Twilight asked, already knowing the answer. Celestia just nodded and waited patiently. “My research has found inconsistencies with what is taken as fact. Some of it even rewrites history as we know it. For instance, the Crystal Empire's reemergence after a thousand years. History says Sombra cursed the land to disappear for a thousand years, but my research says otherwise. You displaced the Empire. It was a rival to you and encroached on territory you claimed. So you threw it into the magical aether and it returned after all this time,” Twilight ranted, pacing back and forth. She grew energetic with explaining her research. Even though she was telling this all to the one who committed the crime, it felt nice to say it to one who truly appreciated her research.
“I think I would know If I had banished an Empire for a thousand years Twilight. I didn’t, because your theory is flawed.” Celestia stood up and began to walk towards her student.
“Aha, you deny it! Just like you denied astronomers who said you don’t control the Sun! And Luna does not control the Moon! It's all cycles and all you do is prop up a false image of yourself with this immense power!” Twilight accused. Those tomes with this valuable information had been hidden away from prying eyes. Only with her new position of power was she able to find all this out.
Celestia lit up her horn. “Look outside, Twilight,” she said as she began to hover in the center of the library. Warily, Twilight obliged and trotted to the window. She threw open the curtains and saw the sun shining down on them. A moment later the sun began to shift position. It went from high in the afternoon to hanging on the horizon in only the course of a minute.
It’s going to take months to work out that kink in the timetable. And the ponies are going to be in a panic. Going to need to send letters out to all the panicking astronomers and a speech for all of Equestria. So much work just to calm her down, Celestia thought.
Twilight was aghast. Confronted with proof that defied her own conclusion she thought perfect. “No, no, no. It must be an illusion you cast on the window. Trick of the light to make me doubt,” Twilight said softly. Doubt in her own ideas was heavy in her words. She was breaking, it was all coming crumbling down.
Celestia advanced on her student by the window. She wrapped her wings around her. “You know I love you, Twilight, and I would never lie to you. I would never hurt you. Believe me,” Princess Celestia whispered, though it was only them alone.
Twilight turned around fully, embracing the wing hug and giving her own in return. She cried onto her mentors side, nuzzled her, and was comforted by it while her world came crashing down around her. “Princess, how can this be? How could my research have been so wrong?”
Princess Celestia withdrew three books from her saddlebags at that moment. She backed away from Twilight and placed them down on the ground.
“The Princess Manifesto, Crystal Cover-Up, and Sea Ponies Among Us. Why do you have these books, Princess?”
“Because they are works of fiction, dear Twilight. Fiction from long ago that many ponies of those days failed to realize was fiction. I had them hidden away from the general populace after the third time they resurfaced with widespread panic. You finally had access to them as a princess yourself. But that's all they are, works of fiction.” Celestia patiently explained. The copies she had brought were old. Older than this library, older than the tree, probably older than the town of Ponyville itself. First editions, signed by the authors, but Twilight didn’t need to know that.
Twilight sat there, looking at the books. She looked up into the warm, loving face of her mentor, of her princess. She cried and rushed into an embrace that nearly knocked them both over. “I’ve been a fool. How could I have not checked the sources. This would have caused panic and mayhem. You were right, princess,” Twilight said, still crying into her mentors side. A few of the tears had landed on the books. Celestia made a mental note to use her magic later to remove all water and potential water damage from the books as soon as she was out of sight of Twilight. She comforted Twilight that everything would be alright. That she did nothing wrong, only to be more careful with what she studies next time. And to go and be with her friends.
Twilight went to her basement and packed saddlebags of her own. A few of the research books, one of them being her own copy of The Princess Manifesto, and a few scrolls of her notes. She rushed back up and say Celestia still patiently waiting.
“I’m off to apologize to my friends. I need to explain to them what a terrible mistake I’ve made. I have a whole presentation worked out about how I was wrong and—”
“Just go to them. Be with your friends. I’m sure they will understand without the lecture.”
Twilight smiled and left out the door. She trotted off happily, running toward a friendship she would fix and cherish all the more. With Twilight fully gone from sight, Celestia shut the front door of the library. She purged the spells she put up to keep their clandestine conversation safe, and prepared to teleport away. Celestia focused and built up power in her horn, the golden glow encompassing it.
Just then, Spike walked in from upstairs. He saw the princess in the center of the library. “Princess! What are you doing here? Where’s Twilight?” he said, trying to bow while also making his way down the stairs.
Celestia whipped around, then grew calm, “Don’t worry about it, Spike. Everything has been set right once again. Oh, and I believe she went off to see her friends.” With that she bowed her head and, with a flash of golden light, was gone.
*****
Celestia reappeared in her study. The fire was now only smouldering embers. Luna still sat in her same spot. The stack of books had shifted considerably, many more had been moved to the right side, her completed pile for the night. Luna didn’t even look up from her book at the flash.
“Well that took you longer than I had anticipated.”
“It’s nice to see you too, sister,” Celestia said, perhaps a bit too harshly. She bent over and nuzzled Luna, who remained lying down with her books.
“You know your little stunt has caused quite a panic. Servants and guards alike were banging on the door asking what was going on. The shifting of a celestial body always has serious consequences, sister,” Luna spoke sharply. A carefully crafted response she had made over the course of waiting for Celestia. Luna looked up and finally shut her book. “You even made the lighting so bad I had to supplement it with my own magic.” Luna walked over to her now slightly ashamed sister sister. Her move had caused panic, and would take a great deal of time to correct and reassure her ponies the world wasn't going to end.
Luna stood right before Celestia, a stern look on her face. It shifted instantly to a smile. She reached out at tapped Celestia’s nose with her hoof tip. Unprepared for such a silly thing, Celestia just stood there baffled looking down at the hoof. Both ponies began to laugh at the gesture. A laugh was exactly what Celestia needed after having to talk down her student from that ledge. To think a princess might have turned on them and created an uprising against them?
The embraced in full and just enjoyed each other's company. Celestia described exactly what had happened.
A rustling in a potted plant they kept to the side of the room alerted them both. No one was allowed in the room without their permission, and the doors were locked. The window was shut and the chimney was in open view. No obvious signs of intrusion existed, but the sisters were not alarmed in the slightest.
A voice called out from the plant, “Target Purplesmart has accepted the truth. Further orders?”
Not even bothering to look over, Celestia called out, “Thank you, Agent Pink. Continue monitoring target Purplesmart.”
“Okie dokie lokie!”