//------------------------------// // The Pursuit of Magic // Story: Magic Kindergarten // by Ponysopher //------------------------------// Twilight stood at the bottom of the steps leading to the Great Library of Canterlot. The edifice, twelve stories high, was the second most massive building that she had ever seen after the palace atop the mountain of the city. It was a megalithic mass of polished stone with many windows and vines growing on its walls. Each level had a different design upon its walls, based upon what kind of knowledge it held. Each design became more and more elaborate as one’s eyes ascended up in their examination of the wonder. Its porch was very large, boasting tall Corinthian columns at its entrance. Its overhang provided a good deal of shade. It was commonplace for many of the world’s greatest scholars and magi to congregate and converse with one another upon it. Twilight gazed at them for a moment and saw one group of unicorns that appeared to be in a heated debate over some philosophy. Though they were not shouting, they were speaking dynamically against one another with wisdom. This brought Twilight back to her situation. All day on the Sunday of the Summer-Sun Celebration, her mind had been digesting what she had seen. She played the scene over and over again in her head and no matter how many times she imagined it, the memory never became dull or repetitive. Everything about what Princess Celestia did made her wonder: the colors of the dawn, her immense size, the power that she wielded, and the grace by which she carried out her scared duty. Her dreams came easily that night, and during one of the replays of the episode, she made a pact with herself. She would learn as much about magic as she could. She would study and learn to use it better than anyone else. And maybe one day, she might hope to do something as awesome as what she had seen the wonderful princess do. But how would she do that? The answer was immediately evident. The city library would have plenty of books on magic. She would start there. With this in mind, she started climbing the stairs. Though they were many, reaching the top was nothing compared to pushing through a crowd. She soon stood upon the porch and, traversing it, came to a pair of great iron doors, towering to a height of twenty feet. The gate-like entrance bore four designs, three flags with three different types of ponies: one represented a unicorn, another a pegasus, and the third was of farmlands, which she guessed must have represented the earth ponies. In the middle of these flags was a large image of Celestia’s face. The sight of the doors captivated her for a moment, but she shook her head and focused on her task. She put her head against one door and pushed hard. After a moment’s effort, the portal gave way and opened up for her. She walked in and it swung shut behind her. Though she had glimpsed the outside, she had never been inside before. She froze after taking a few steps. Everything she saw was awesome. She looked above and saw the ceiling of the first level which must have been twice the height of the others (maybe about seventy feet). To her surprise, it was made of transparent glass. She guessed magic must have made it indestructible. The temperature was also a little cool, so magic as well must have kept the sun from heating up the inside too much. But not only this floor, but the ceilings of every other floor were also made of glass; allowing her to view the magnificent blue sky from the ground level. This made the whole building seem so open. Being able to see not only the endless sky, but also the thousands of bookcases above made her feel like nothing she searched for could be kept a secret. The morning sun illuminated the giant bookcases. Every shelf was filled was books both new and old. Twilight stood aghast as she took in the meaning of what she was seeing. All of the knowledge of Equestria was here. Anything and everything that was known was written in these books. A voice interrupted her thoughts. “Well hello there. Can I help you find something?” Twilight looked towards the direction of the voice. Now in front of her was standing an elderly tan mare with a blond mane and tail. She was wearing reading glasses and had a horn protruding from her head. She was smiling sweetly at Twilight. The lavender filly responded, “Oh, yes. I’m looking for some books on magic.” The librarian chuckled. “Well dear, we have quite a few books on magic. Is there any specific field you are looking for?” Twilight paused as she had not really thought that far into this. “I, um…well, I want to learn magic.” A twinkle appeared in the mare’s eye. “Oh, I see. Well, follow me and I think I can easily find an introductory book for you.” So she led Twilight from the entrance up to a grand staircase on the left. They traveled upwards; passing five floors and then stepped out next to the rows of shelves. As they walked down the rows, Twilight found it hard to believe that there could be so much written on the subject. “Are all these books about magic?” She asked. Again the librarian chuckled. “Well, actually, this is only the first floor with books for simple spells. The six floors above us also are filled with more.” Twilight found it hard to wrap her head around this. This floor itself seemed huge and went on in both directions for as far as she could see. “Wow,” she said in a whisper. “I’ve got a lot to learn.” The old unicorn responded, “You seem like a smart young mare. I think you’ve got what it takes if you put your mind to it.” Those words made Twilight feel empowered. As fanciful thoughts streamed through her, the librarian turned into a row and brought her down it until she reached the wall next to a window. Her horn glowed with a blue color and she began to pull out books. The tomes hovered in the air with a glow that matched her horn. Twilight gasped. “You can do magic?” She screamed out excitedly. The mare cringed, and quickly put a hoof to her lips; reminding Twilight that they were in a library. Twilight blushed and lowered her voice. “Oh, sorry. You can do magic?” “How else would I be able to take these books out of their places?” Twilight was now very excited. She had taken it for granted before, but every now and then she noticed that her Mom or Dad would make something fly like a fork or a newspaper. She had not really questioned it at the time, but after she had seen Princess Celestia raise the sun, the idea was suddenly very amazing. “How are you doing that?” She asked the elder unicorn. “Is it hard?” She continued to select and levitate a couple more books. “Well actually dear, most unicorns my age can levitate light objects. Haven’t you seen your parents do it?” “Well yeah, but I went to see the Summer-Sun Celebration yesterday. And then I saw Princess Celestia bring up the sun.” The mare’s eyes lit up. “Ah, well, as you can imagine, the sun is a bit heavier than a few books.” She had found five books. Now she organized them into a stack. “Alright, I think I’ve got you enough to start with. Excuse me.” She said as she stepped around Twilight and guided her further down the floor. They came to a table with several chairs around it, and the librarian set the books down atop it. “There you go. Here are five books that every foal should read when they start with magic.” Twilight jumped up into the chair in front of them. “Thank you.” “You’re very welcome. If you need anything else don’t hesitate to ask.” “Thanks again. My name’s Twilight.” The mare smiled and responded, “Very nice to meet you Twilight. My name is Sandy Tomes, but you can call me Miss Sandy.” “Alright, Miss Sandy.” Said Twilight. With that, the mare stepped away and left Twilight to her books. Twilight then pulled the top book in front of her and pushed the others away. The hardcover book was not huge, but it was bigger than most of the books she was used to reading. Its cover read, “The Pursuit of Magic, Revised for Foals.” Below were two lines for the authors. The first had a single name, Platony. The second read, “Translated and revised by Sandy Tomes.” She gasped and smiled when she recognized the name. Eagerly, she opened up the hardcover. Yet it took a moment to reach the right page because of her hooves. Eventually though, she managed to find the page with the word, “Introduction” at the top. Twilight began to read. As the words poured into her head, it became immediately apparent this this book was unlike anything she had read before. While most of the literature she had read until now consisted of stories and tales, this did not seem to have any characters. Nor was there anything happening. It was like the whole was one big exposition. She found this at first difficult to deal with. Yet as Miss Sandy had said, Twilight was a smart filly, and her brain soon compensated for the problem. She envisioned that she was standing in white space, looking around at nothingness. In front of her suddenly appeared a maroon stallion with a long grey beard. He too was a unicorn. “Who are you?” She asked the phantom. He answered with a clear, Equestrian accent. “My name is Platony. One of the ancient magi.” Realizing that she was imagining the author of the book, she asked, “Can you teach me about magic?” The stallion smiled. “Are you willing to learn from me?” He asked in response. She said confidently, “Oh, yes; I’ll do anything it takes.” “Then I it is possible I may be able to help you. Unfortunately, my words are too incomprehensible for you; my thoughts too complex. You are not yet ready for them. Though you may listen, you will not hear.” Twilight was now puzzled. “But then how-” “But though my words are not fit for you, do not lose hope; for another has made them useful to you. She will be your translator. Look now; she comes.” Saying this, he gestured to his left and she saw an image of Miss Sandy appear out of nothingness. She smiled and waved at Twilight. Platony continued. “By her words, you will listen to mine, and by her guidance, your ears will be open. And then one day, you will understand my words as though they were hers.” He spoke again, but no sound came from his mouth. When Twilight was about to say something, Miss Sandy spoke; anticipating her question. “You can’t hear him anymore because I’m going to speak for him now.” Twilight immediately understood. “Then what did he say?” “He said, ‘Now, shall we begin?’” The filly answered her, “Yes.” Then the mouth of Platony started to speak rapidly. While he spoke, his horn glowed and images filled the open white space of the world that she was imagining. Soon, the white nothingness became a dim cave. Upon the walls of the cave, she saw shadows and behind her she perceived that there was a light but she could not turn her head to see its source. When she asked about the cave, Miss Sandy said, “This is the cave of ignorance. This is where you’ll stay and learn for a little while. Those are shadows of knowledge and Platony is going to explain them to you through me.” But Twilight was unsatisfied. “But why can’t I see what they really are? Why just the shadows?” Miss Sandy answered, “That’s a good question. ‘Why can’t you see anything other than shadows? Well, all fillies begin in this cave. Why don’t you look down at yourself?” Twilight looked down and saw that she was in chains. She squealed and asked, “What is this? Why am I all chained up?” Her teacher’s expression became sympathetic. “Like I said, all fillies begin here. Your goal is to break out of those chains, but you can’t do it yourself. That’s why we’re here. We’re going to help you out of them, but we can’t just yet. In order to break out of them, you first need to learn a little about your surroundings. Namely, let’s learn about the shadows first. Can we do that?” “But isn’t there a faster way?” Twilight asked. “This is your first lesson Twilight: There are no shortcuts in life. And there aren’t any in learning either.” She heard these words and trusted Miss Sandy. And again Platony started speaking about the shadows. Twilight’s mind was filled with a myriad of ideas over the course of time. She was completely immersed in the world that her imagination had created for herself. Even when she turned a page with difficulty, her concentration was not broken. As she read the words on the pages, she did not perceive them as dull words, but she heard them from the mouth of Miss Sandy. She learned about magic and began to understand some of the basic rules that surrounded it. She found herself captivated by what she was hearing as her eyes poured over the pages. It was so interesting to learn about everything she was being told. She felt like she could do this forever. A hoof tapped her on the shoulder. She was back in the library again; sitting at the table with some books in front of her. She looked up to see Miss Sandy. The librarian said, “Sorry to disturb you dear, but it’s getting late. Don’t you think you’d better get home soon?” Twilight looked out the window and saw that the morning sun that was in the east when she began was now close to its setting in the west. “Oh,” she exclaimed. “You’re right. It is getting late. My parents are gonna wonder what happened to me.” She stepped out of the chair to leave. “Would you like to take that book with you?” Miss Sandy asked. Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Can I?” “You have to bring it back in less than eight days, but up until then, you can take it anywhere.” The little filly cheered and did a little dance. The elder unicorn smiled and picked up the book. “My, you’ve gotten quiet far into this, for only a day.” She said as she looked at the page number: two hundred. She was only five pages from the finish. “Would you like to take those other books with you as well?” Again Twilight cheered and said, “Oh, yes!”