My search brought out two things. First. Everypony around here is either stupid or blind. They do not realize that restricting knowledge from the public is a form of social degradation, and it makes ponies more submissive and easy to control with each new generation. Everyone I ask gives me the same answer. "Princess Celestia knows what she is doing."
That's a complete bullshit. And if you opened your eyes you could easily see that.
Luckily there was one pony I knew I could rely on...
"So...You are asking me... If I know a place where you can read books and access information that the government isn't sharing with most ponies?" He said, taking a long inhale from his pipe.
"Yes." I replied. Realizing just now that I'm only nine, and already breaking multiple laws. Not to mention that I most likely sound crazy to most adult ponies.
"Well, why didn't you say sooner?!" Ruby said, smiling wikedly. "I knew you had my eyes, but it seems you also have my spirit!" He added, blowing his pipe again.
I smiled, feeling a bit uneasy about how quickly he offered his help. "And... You are okay with this?"
He smiled and locked his red eyes with mine. "Listen here my little darkness. What I value about the Princess can be summed into one word..." He paused for a moment.
"Her royal behind." He finally stated, looking around to see if Grandma was somewhere.
"Well, that's three words, but you get my meaning." He smiled again at my confused expression. "You don't realize how happy I am right now.
"I... I'm not following..." I said, a bit taken aback by this.
"Well... Let me ask you something... Why did you want to learn something that isn't publicly available?" He smirked, taking his pipe out and placing it on the small table he had on his left.
"Well... Because I want to know more about how the magic and other things work." I replied truthfully.
"But why do you want to know more about it?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.
"I... Just want to... There's nothing behind it." I replied once again, this time a bit hesitant.
"Then, place yourself as Princess Celestia... You rule Equestria, and there is peace. But suddenly, somepony who wants to overthrow you is born. With free access to knowledge, that pony can get stronger and stronger and eventually become so strong that they start to hurt ponies and the government. That pony is you." He pointed his hoof at me.
"That's... me?" I asked, a bit confused, but seeing the point that he was making.
"Yes. I mean... Not you specifically, but you as the one who wants to learn everything without any restrictions. And that makes you dangerous to the princess. Do you understand?" He pointed at me again.
"I think so...? But what about scholars and scientists? The government needs them to function." I asked curiously. Forgetting that I was still a little mare who should be looking for friends and playing in the park right now.
"I'm glad you asked. Well, it's all about the bigger picture! She controls them like chess pieces! She selectively chooses the ones who fit her image of a perfect society and she brainwashes them! I remember! How the books and paintings started to change...When I was young there was this one little thing that annoyed me..."
Half an hour later...
"Finally!" I suddenly woke up as Ruby shouted to the ceiling, unsure how much time passed since I stopped listening.
"There it was... A place where I could find information! Where I could find how Equestria was really founded and all the knowledge I could ever dream of!" He finished with his eyes on the ceiling, like he was experiencing standing there right now.
"Yes?! Where is it?" I asked, my eyes about to pop.
"Where's what?" He replied, his eyes focused on me now, but distant, like he just forgot what he was talking about.
"The place with all the information!" I yelled, making him scratch his chin.
"Well... There is an old library that's hidden in the sewers... I have a map in my room lying on the second shelf..." He said, clearly not aware of what was happening right now.
"Thank you! Thank you!" I quickly came to his side and brushed my fur all over him. Making him smile.
"Oh, you are welcome my dear, even though I'm not sure what I did...?" He said, hugging me.
I must remember to keep him as much company as possible, it seems his dementia is setting in pretty heavily recently...
The map proved essential since I never even knew Canterlot had a hidden sewer system. But apparently, it was renovated a few years ago, and the old entrances were blocked. At least a few of them remained. Like the one I was currently using, In the low district, near the crystal mines.
If my mother even found out I was in the lower district without permission, she would definitely kill me, but hopefully, it's going to be worth it...
I followed the map path and arrived on the old street with broken houses and a lot of filth on the road and buildings. The mines were further down the road, but I saw that the hatches were starting to appear near the building that was once a clothing shop. Seeing that nopony was around I opened the hatch, and inspected the passage down.
The sunlight only illuminated the small portion of what was down the ladder, but from what I could see... There was a lot of filth and water down below...
Suddenly, my nose was hit with the most disgusting smell I ever experienced...
"Dear god..." I recoiled as the smell of grime and sulfur made my skin itch.
"What kind of world makes a nine-year-old go to sawers to search for a library?!" I asked no one in particular as I checked my bags.
Everything seemed to be in check. So with no time left to spare, I decided to go in.
As I closed my nose with a pair of plugs I started to descend the ladder. Soon, the only light I could find was from my own horn and the slow flow of water became much more clear to hear with each passing step.
The rest of the way should prove easy as long as I don't sli-
"Fuck!" I managed to say before I started to fall down the ladder.
*Bong* *Tink* *Bink* *Bom*
*Splash*
...
...
"Fuck..." I said as the water brushed over my body. It wasn't going to wash me away, but the fact that I not only fell but hit the ladder several times made my head spin and my hooves weak. I don't think I ever received this much pain from a fall...
If I didn't train daily, I think I wouldn't be able to stay conscious. My hooves felt the fall the most, but soon I was able to stand up. However, with no light, I wasn't sure where exactly I landed.
My horn lit up, and quite a large passage of the canal opened up in front of me.
"Holy... Shit... Princess Celestia could fit here..." I said as I saw the color of the water that was brushing over me. My right hoof was definitely dislocated, but most likely not broken. Still, moving it was painful.
"Yuck... I hope I don't catch anything... I need to take a shower as soon as I come home." I stepped over the pool that was draining in one direction and hopped into a step that was carved into the tunnel.
I opened my bag and unfolded the map I had taken from Granpa. It was a bit old, and since the renovations blocked a lot of tunnels, I had only two options either way to reach the market spot.
Right, and down the Canterlot walls. Or Left through the first and second civilian districts. I chose the first because I had a feeling that the passage through the districts might be already blocked, and Canterlot walls hadn't been touched in millennia.
"Here we go..." I said, moving up the stinky tunnel, and into the first right. My hoof was still itching with pain as I slowly made my way towards the marked spot on the map.
After some time I finally reached my first big obstacle which was a big step down, with a tunnel going vertically, lucky for me, there was still a portion of the canal with small steps to go down. Since I was most likely already descending from the Canterlot walls, down the mountain, I expected much more water since small pipes drained it all the way here.
I started to descend slowly down the steps, carefully placing my hoofs to not slip once again. Half the way down I noticed that the water was deeper than before, so my conclusion was proved right. I just hoped it wasn't bad enough to not be able to travel further.
After a good five minutes, I finally reached the bottom, and I started to test the water depth with my hoof. It came right to my forearms, which was good enough to continue.
I had to hover my bags over my head though, because they would definitely get wet, but other than that, the path seemed the same, just much more straight now. The water level didn't increase and the soft sounds of wind made me realize I was somewhere near the surface again, wherever it was...
"The map shows that there should be a small opening somewhere here..." I searched with my eyes, illuminating the bricks and pipes with my horn. Soon I saw a small opening in the wall, just enough to fit an adult pony hoof inside. I brushed my way near the opening, and pressed my hoof inside, however, whatever it was there, I couldn't reach it.
"Shit..." I didn't expect to come this far and not have anything to reach down this hole. I should've packed something long.
Suddenly, a distant noise of something in the pipes made me jump. It was like something was quickly pushing through the pipes and...
"You gotta be kidding me..." I said, as I realized that the pipes on the walls started to violently shake, the water that was dripping from the edges started to become more like little showers of water, and my mind started to search for anything I could find to open this passage before I got flooded.
"The fact that's sewage water does not help!" I shouted as my horn illuminated more, hoping that with more light I could find something to push into the hole.
With every second, the water kept going up, and it was starting to make me anxious, maybe it was better to just let go and go home?
As I weighed my options, the sudden noise of a metal breaking hit my ears. From the other side of the tunnel I came, the water started to splash on my torso.
"I'm fucked." I said, realizing I was most likely twenty meters deep underground with no help whatsoever. The adrenaline started to pump into my brain like the waves of water that were hitting me.
I began to think about everything I learned this far, and if there was a spell or trick to use here.
"The hole most likely has some kind of button in the e-end I need to press... The... The... The map shows that there's a hidden passage just behind this wall... I need to press this button, and it will hopefully make the water flow into the passage... BUT HOW?!" I started to panic at this point. Nothing I had on me could do anything.
"Emmm I have a map... Ugh... A rope... What else... What else... Candle... Water bottle... That's... That's it!" I quickly took the water bottle and wrapped the rope around it.
The water was starting to reach my neck, and the hole was not entirely submerged beneath the surface.
"Push the bottle inside the hole, use the untangle spell on the rope, it will straighten it out, and push whatever it is on the inside..." I said, taking a long breath and diving beneath the surface with my horn lit brightly. I instantly began to push the bottle inside, and when I finally pushed it as long as I could, I took the end of the rope I held in hoove and began to channel my magic, My horn glowed as brightly as a sun in that moment.
The rope instantly began to untangle, which made me take a double take. I stopped instantly and resurfaced.
"But if I untangle it, it will untie the knot on to bottle! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" I began to think about how to use this spell to straighten out the rope without making it untie the end of it.
The water started to reach my nose, I had to take the last breath and dive once again.
'I don't want to die here! I just want to learn! I just wanted to know! Please!' I began to cry internally as my hooves began to shake, the water completely blocked any air and I would soon drown.
With nothing else to do, I began to focus my magic on the rope.
'straighten out!' I cried.
'straighten out!' I pushed.
'straighten out!' I begged.
*Click*
As my eyes started to get blurry, and my vision began to fade, I saw the wall move, and twist, and the water began to filter out of the tunnel into some kind of large chamber.
I fell right into it as the water pushed my body. A weird flash of light from above and behind blinded me for a slit second.
I somehow managed to straighten out the rope without breaking the knot. The bottle fell into some kind of trench and the rope was pulled from my hooves. The fact that I just made that spell up was proving to me that the sentence of this book I read was not only correct but also a clear path of discovering new ways to cast magic altogether.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh" I took a long breath, barely making it in time, the water kept pouring inside as I lay there, feeling incredible amounts of adrenaline pass over my body. My hooves ached and my head was spinning. And for some goddamn reason, I felt something hot on my ass.
"I... Ugh... I fucking... Hate... Sewers..." I said, pushing myself up. I inspected my soaking bags and a map that was clearly beyond repair. Ignoring everything else, especially the pain...
"Great..." I said, making a mental note that I should probably remember how I got here if I didn't want to get lost.
I finally glanced at the chamber I was currently in. There were a lot of small holes in the floor and the light shined from the surface. I looked up, seeing that it was clearly still middle of the day, I couldn't see anything either then sunshine cascaded down me.
I looked down, I felt a shiver run up my spine.
"Al-Alright... Now I know why that water didn't fill this room..." I said, looking beneath me, a space that I could only describe as a bottomless pit made my skin crawl with fear of falling down. The only thing holding me here were those metal bars on the floor.
I could hear the water hit the bottom of this pit five seconds later, and it was definitely a long way down.
"I...I think I should get going..." I said, making my way to the other side of the chamber where another passage started. It was much drier in here, and the lights from the surface made me think that I was under some kind of open space.
Walls began to open up more and sunlight flooded in.
"Kouuuu kouuuu" The sound of a bird made me turn my head to the ceiling.
"Uaaaau uaaaau" Another sound made me tilt my head.
I was beneath some kind of zoo?
Listening to weird animal sounds as I went down the tunnel made me realize I was most likely under the Royal Gardens and not the zoo. Since I couldn't find anywhere else I could hear so many animals in Canterlot. Not to mention there are no zoos in Canterlot, maybe some pet shops but nothing like that.
"Splendid! I'm most likely breaking another law by coming inside the Royal Canterlot area, I can't wait to hear my sentence when I get caught!" I said sarcastically. "There should be a list of things I didn't break instead of those which I did..." I began to frown at the thought of being caught, but so far I managed to escape death two times coming here, so my luck can't be that bad...
Moving past the small opening here and there, I began to see more greenery on the brick walls, the animal sounds became much more distant, and I started to feel the fresh air enter my nose after so many hours spent in the sewers.
Finally, I reached my mark. Or I would say that if I had my map and not a soaked mess of black lines on paper.
Two black wooden doors stood before me, there was nothing carved on them, and they looked as old as Celestia. I gently pushed the handle of one of the doors and with a croak, it began to open.
The light from the openings on the walls was vivid, but I could see everything inside fairly well. The large chamber consisted of a spiral staircase in the middle, that led to some kind of opening. It wasn't decorated, and there weren't any handles to ascend or descend. Brick walls and stony reflective surfaces reminded me of old souls-like games. On the first floor, I could see hundreds of bookshelves and old manuscripts, not to mention the smell of old ink in the air.
The second floor was a bit hidden, but I could see similar patterns to the first. Simply put, there were enough books to satisfy my need for knowledge for millennia. The whole place was dead silent and by the look of things abandoned. I was perfect for all my needs.
Sure it was old, hundreds of years old, but the amount of bookshelves, tables, and science machinery all around was past all belief. I couldn't wait to see what kind of things I could find here.
I quickly approached the first bookshelf with a wide grin on my face. I was just about to reach with my hoof for a book when I remembered something.
"I should... Probably see if they aren't enchanted like the ones in libraries..." I said, looking at the bookshelf for any symbols. With none found, I began to search for them in the book I was going to take, none found.
If they were enchanted by someone like Princess Celestia, I wouldn't be able to find them anyway, but anyone but her was definitely going to leave some kind of mark.
I gently hovered my hoof above the book, and slowly took the cover out of the bookshelf. It didn't make any noise, no lights, no sudden clicks or movements anywhere.
"Thank god..." I said, looking at the book I was holding. It was covered in so much dust I couldn't even see the color.
I brushed the book with my left hoof and saw the gold outline of a text appear on the cover.
"Magic Unbound. The complete list of unfinished and unnamed spells by Closed Book." I read the title out loud, holding the book close to my heart.
"Finally..." I said, tears streaming down my cheeks.
Later that day...
"I'm home." I said, moving swiftly to hide the books I brought back from the secret library with me inside my room.
I didn't reach the stairs however before a white hue of magic made me float into the living room.
"Shit..." I cursed beneath my breath as I came face to face with my mother.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" She shouted, making my head ring from the noise. "YOU REALIZE WHAT TIME IT IS?! I WAS PRACTICALLY GOING TO PASS OUT FROM WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE!"
"Sorry..." I said, trying to hide under my mane.
"Do not 'sorry' me young mare! Where-" She stopped, her eyes focusing on my appearance for the first time.
"W-WHAT! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? YOUR ENTIRE COAT IS SOAKED AND IN GRIME, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU HAVE JUST BEEN TO THE SEWERS!" I felt that sentence sting...
"I..." I should probably invest some time to come up with stories for situations like this... "I... Fell into the moat." I cringed.
"Moat!? W-Did you have been to the Canterlot Castle!?" She said, her gaze furious.
"N-No... I fell into one of the rich ponies... In the higher district..." I begged that for some reason she would buy that.
"Aurora! Do you think I'm stupid?!" She recorded back, with me in her grasp. She brought me closer and smelled me, recoiled again, and frowned. "You smell awful! And you have school tomorrow!"
"Okay... I fell into the castle moat. But I wasn't going to sneak in! I promise!" I said, trying to ease the conversation, and somehow lie my way out of this.
"I... Ugh! What were you doing there then!?" She asked, taking me to the second floor, as my room came close, I threw my bags in, being floated to the bathroom.
"I... I was trying to impress some ponies..." I told her, which made her stop instantly just before the bathroom.
"Aurora..." She frowned.
"I know. I'm stupid. I will never do that again... I promise. I just... I just wanted to have some friends..." I was surprised at myself how well I managed to lie, making a point to 'make some friends' was definitely what she 'wanted' to hear right now.
"Honey... Listen to me..." She brought me closer to her. "If someone says that they will be your friend only if you jump into the moat, they are not going to be any friend you can value. You need to find ponies who value you for who you are, what you are... Do you understand?" She asked her eyes on the verge of tearing up.
"Yes, mom. Sorry, I know that... I just... I'm not going to do that anymore. I promise." I smiled at her, knowing fully well, it had nothing to do with where I was and what I was doing.
"Alright... I would hug you, but you need a bath first. And I will use the hard brush!" She said as she dragged me inside the bathroom.
"Not the hard brush..." I said, already being bombarded with hot water and soap.
Soon my mother began to scrub my grime away, and I began to look as grey as I should have. With all the brushing and soap, it didn't take long for me to be perfectly clean.
I stepped out of the bath into the polished marble, and my mother gaped at me.
...
...
...
'Why... Why is she staring at me like that?' I began to wonder. Her eyes fully focused on my flank. I took a look myself and nearly fell over. My eyes focused, and my head nearly exploded.
What I saw was a tattoo on my flank of an eclipse with a single shard of light in the middle of it.
I... I have a cutie mark now...