//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Libraries // Story: The good of the many // by Dafaddah //------------------------------// Princess Luna and Minister Hoofing were sitting at a large table in the royal library. Of all the rooms in Canterlot Castle, this was one of her favorites. Although much of Equestria had changed almost beyond recognition, this one place looked, felt and smelled just as she remembered. Shelves twice the height of an average pony packed with multicolored tomes large and small surrounded the enormous room, and all that bookish goodness rose for a full three additional stories above! Adding to the lofty atmosphere, large stained glass windows punctuated the walls at regular intervals, with padded benches perfect for losing oneself in a good read. This particular corner of the library with its comfortable chairs and table was precisely where she had spent so many happy hours in her younger days, reading wonderful stories and attempting to slake her unquenchable thirst for knowledge.   Today, the table was covered in stacks of thick dusty books on the history and government of Equestria selected for her by Minister Hoofing.  She looked at the old mare and for the first time noticed her cutie mark:  three star-tipped wands pointing upwards to almost touch.  This reminded her that 'Sunset' - oh, it was hard to even think in first names with a commoner! Let's try this again, - that Sunset (better this time) was the most powerful magician in Equestria and Dean of the Royal Academy of Magic. "So, if I understand correctly, Sunset, you are the Minister of Science.  Why aren't you the Minister of Magic? Why isn't there a Minister of Magic?" she asked. Hoofing considered for a moment and replied: "This will require a bit of explanation, so you might want to get comfortable, dear. Roughly five hundred years ago, with the advent of the scientific method, systemic knowledge and its application via technologies and arts expanded tremendously. Many new professions and trades soon attracted ponies of all three tribes.  Pony society became less tribal much more integrated.  Issues were no longer clearly the concern of only Pegasi, Unicorns or Earth Ponies. The demands on the three members of the Tribal Council began to exceed the mandates and competencies of the ponies that occupied these posts. "Celestia wisely determined that a broader perspective was needed in order to solve problems affecting ponies of all tribes together, and set up the nine ministries we have today: science, arts, state, agriculture, labour, public works, climate, commerce and security and set up the Pony Cabinet as an official body of the Equine Assembly.  These are nine ponies, three of which are nominally subordinate to each of the three members of the Tribal Council: science, arts and state to the Unicorn tribe, agriculture, labour and public works to the Earth Pony tribe, and climate, commerce and security to the Pegasi. In actuality, the nine ministers report directly to your sister. The roles of the three members of the Tribal Council have become mainly ceremonial" concluded Hoofing. Luna smiled a bit crookedly at that. "That explains the rather unfruitful interview I had with Prince Blueblood as Nightmare Moon. He seemed way too clueless to be a genuine ruler, spent most the time trying to impress me with stallionish poses and talking of his desire to find 'Princess Right', get married, and produce an heir!" She laughed out loud. "You know he is a cousin of ours, although a few dozen generations down the line. I told him that I do not date cousins, and that he stank! You should have seen his face!" Hoofing smiled at the image and eyed Luna speculatively. "I also hear he ended up in the main fountain of the Castle gardens." "Yes", replied Luna, sounding somewhat abashed. "He was wearing some outrageous cologne that was making my eyes water. And I wanted to give him a not-so-subtle message to behave by teleporting him in the middle of Celestia's statues." Her smile faltered. "Nightmare Moon may have made my reintegration to Equestria more difficult by alienating him." She was again surprised by the Minister cackling away, as if they were two young fillies planning a prank. With a conspiratory grin, the old mare looked her straight in the eye. "That Prince is not the sharpest colt produced by that line. Not by a long shot. But he is the hereditary leader of the Unicorns, and could be a nuisance politically, if he chose to be. Luckily he is neither skilled nor inclined to dabble in government issues, lacks the courage and intelligence to pursue any causes, and is too busy being a playcolt to cause any other mischief!" She patted Luna lightly with her hoof. "So don't worry, he will not oppose your return directly, and if you play to his ego a bit, he might even warm up to you again, distasteful as that prospect may be!" "Now, as to why your sister chose to have magic under the ministry of science, well, that was partially to bring all magical study and regulation under a single ministry, whether it was the more overt magic of the Unicorns, or the less obvious magic of the Pegasi or Earth Ponies. Also, Celestia's intent was to do a systematic study of all magic as part of the overall understanding of how all things are connected and interact and to build a more complete picture how the universe is put together. Magic is only an aspect of reality, not it totality, so Magic is but one scientific discipline amongst many. And by the way, the chief magician of Equestria is not always the Minister of Science, or even necessarily working for that ministry. In my case science has always been my most ardent passion, and my skills with magic are in no small part due to the scientific rigor with which I have undertaken the development of my magical abilities." "Ahem. Having a good time?" interrupted a gentle but firm voice. Luna and Sunset looked up to see Celestia approaching the table. "I must beg your forgiveness for intruding on Luna's education, but something has come up that needs our immediate attention. I would like both of you to join me in my chambers at one hour past noon for lunch and discussion with some dear friends on a a serious danger to Equestria. I am sure that you Luna will be most happy to see this person again. Do you think you can come on such short notice?" asked Celestia. Both mares nodded their assent. "Excellent! I look forward to seeing you in a bit." With that Celestia exited the library in a brisk, but still regal, pace. "I wonder what this is about?" queried Minister Hoofing. "I think I have an idea what it may be. Or should I say, a dream?" Luna became pensive. "Well then, we had better prepare for the lunch meeting. Shall we meet at at half past noon at her door then?" she said, collecting several of the books in a magical grip and getting up from the table to go. "Very well, Princess Luna. I will see you then and there" replied Minister Hoofing, looking at the second princess depart in the same direction as her elder sister had. *** Luna caught up to Celestia just outside the door of her quarters. "Tia, do you have a moment?" "Yes, dear, but just for few minutes as I need to finalize some preparations for our meeting," replied her sister.w "This should be brief. Shall we go into your rooms as this is not for just any ears?" queried Luna. Celestia responded by raising an eyebrow and opening the door. They entered and she shut the door behind them. "What is your concern, little sister?" she asked. "Ever since I returned from the moon I have been noticing that Equestrian society and more specifically its arts and crafts resemble those of that other world." She looked up at Celestia. "You know which one I mean, the world of humans." Luna paused as she let her sister absorb this pronouncement. Her look of focused but polite attention invited Luna to continue. "When I was studying recent history I was puzzled by how the philosophy of science had progressed so quickly, when try as I might, it was often impossible to identify which ponies were responsible for these advancements. In certain cases where names were to be found, they seemed to be ponified versions of the names of human discoverers, authors and composers that I remember from glimpses of dreams I 'overheard' from that world. Is this indeed the case, Tia?" Her sister looked relieved at her query. "You know Luna, you have always been very discerning, and you have a prodigious memory! You are absolutely right in your conclusions." She paused a moment. "Our meeting later is directly related to this topic, but I shall tell you this much now: yes, Equestria has been importing ideas, knowledge and even some of the arts, especially music, from the human world. After your banishment in the moon, I noticed that in taking over charge of raising and lowering that orb I had gained a few unexpected powers. One such was the ability to see into ponies' dreams. I began 'eavesdropping' on dreams to determine what made our subjects happy or sad, what was important to them, and maybe also a bit to know what they really thought of me!" She blushed as she admitted this. "Over time I noticed that some ponies seemed to dream often of places with these strange creatures called humans. After a while I determined that these dreams were too internally consistent to be pure fabrications of subconscious imagination, and I began to observe and document them systematically. When I discovered concepts that I thought would be useful, I tried introducing these into Equestrian society by helping the dreamers propagate them, convincing them that they were the actual originators of these ideas. Unfortunately, that did not always work, and in some cases I was forced to create fictitious identities and introduce the ideas myself. Besides, after your banishment, I lacked for company and became quite lonely. Playacting at being these 'fictitious discoverer ponies' was a way to combine helping Equestrian progress with having more normal social interaction, which I desperately needed." She smiled gently as she gave this account, but her eyes were still tinged with the shadow of her loneliness during all those years. Her smile brightened and she continued. "Also, some of the characters I played were more than slightly eccentric, which was an incredible amount of fun!" Luna was at first taken aback at this confession, but then as she gave it more thought, her eyes grew wide as her respect for her sister's intelligence and ability to cope increased yet again. "The dreamers are a conduit! That's brilliant! And so was creating fictitious ponies to seed important ideas and progress into Equestrian society. I have so much to learn from you!" Luna hugged her sister. "Oh, but you said you documented the dreams..." "Yes, and I have the notebooks I compiled on human science, history, arts, customs, and such in a hidden library. I'll show you where it is and how to open it after we have our meeting with the others." She grew more serious for a moment. "Luna, I am sure you understand that you must never tell anypony about this. It could severely impact how ponies view themselves." "I understand Tia, and of course I won't breath a word of this to anyone but you. You know, all I did with the dreams from the human world was to borrow some of their music." She looked up to her sister in admiration. "Now I must go and finish my preparations," said Celestia. "Oh, and could you ask the kitchen staff to have lunch for five brought to the terrace of my quarters forty minutes after the stroke of noon? Thanks and see you later." "See you," said Luna, leaving Celestia's quarters to go make the arrangements for lunch.