Princess Celestia lit a small torch on the wall as she slowly made her way down the winding stairs to the innards of the Royal Archives. Water dripped tiredly from the ceiling.
Celestia soon reached the bottom of the stairs. She smiled softly as she reached a golden door. A hole was in the middle of the door, like a keyhole.
Celestia inserted her horn into the slot, firing it up with yellow magic. The tumblers inside the door turned and the giant slab of gold creaked open, its hinges rusted from age and little use.
Celestia ventured into the room, her muzzle splitting into a smile at the sight of what lay on top of a bejeweled pedestal.
She gingerly picked up the worn out book, smiling down at it as if it where a baby. She hugged the soft maroon covered book lightly to her chest, sighing as she breathed in its old book smell.
She slowly put the book in her saddle bags. The words on the cover flashed in the light of the torch outside the room. It read "The Tales of the Colts Grimm."
She stepped out of the room, closing the creaking door with a small huff. She then re-inserted her horn into the slot, lighting it up again. The door locked, the tumblers falling back into place.
Celestia couldn't help it any more and giggled in glee as she galloped up the steps, reaching the top in no time. She did not care if her subjects saw her like this at all. All she wanted was to curl up by a fire with this book and its memories and read the night away.
She cantered out of the Archives, knocking several guards over. They all gaped as their princess shouted in glee, turning the corner, her mane flying behind her.
Her crown was crooked on her head when she finally reached her room. She dived onto her bed, locking the door and lighting the fireplace with a spark from her horn. She then jumped off the bed, squealing as she quickly pulled the book out of her saddle bags. She wrapped a cyan blanket around herself as she snuggled in for a long read.
She slowly opened the book, a puff of dust flying into her face. She sneezed, blowing the first page of the book off.
Celestia gasped in horror as she quickly glued the page back in a flash.
Gingerly flipping the page, she landed on the first story. It was called "The Crystal Bride." She smiled as she summoned a cup of hot cocoa, plinking five marshmallows into it as she began to avidly read.
Long ago, many years before the time of the forming of Equestria, a special race of earth ponies lived by themselves in the far, frozen north. With their special gift, the crystal heart, the ponies could live in warmth and happiness in the frozen tundra.
It was time, one day, for the princess, Princess Amethyst, to find a husband. She was the most beautiful mare in the whole country. Every stallion wished to court her.
But Princess Amethyst wanted the best groom, a stallion that was fast, strong, and smart. So she developed a test.
She would wear a wedding veil in her mane until one stallion won the test. Inside the veil, a single crystal berry sat.
The courting stallion to get the berry out without her noticing and without smashing the berry would become her husband.
Stallions everywhere in the kingdom plotted. Barons gambled with each other of which of them would capture her heart as well as they berry, while farm colts everywhere lay, dreaming of her.
Every second a stallion would approach her. Sometimes they would come up behind her and try to seize it, and would either smash it against the veil or tug on the veil so hard her head was yanked backwards.
One time a colt distracted her by kissing her rapidly while his older brother tried to grab the berry.
It would have worked except the zit-faced colt popped the berry, making it fly into his eyes.
Amethyst just wanted to be alone after this special encounter.
Amethyst sighed as she made her way up the steps to her room. She sleepily nodded to her guard. She then spun around. The guard's hoof was an inch from the veil.
She sighed as she jumped onto her bed. She could not go to sleep because a stallion could sneak into her room and attempt to take the berry while she slept.
She soon grew so tired that she could barely keep her eyes open. But she still evaded all the stallions.
On the third day most of the non-married stallions in the kingdom had tried to steal the berry. It seemed that no pony would get the berry and her as their wife.
On the fourth day, a lowly troubadour approached her while she was out for a trot in the woods. Soon she was to tired to continue and collapsed on the forest floor, passed out.
The troubadour, instead of taking the berry and waking her, defended her, breaking his lute, which he had had since he was a foal. He killed the biggest timberwolf in the forest, making the other creatures of the night back away from the princess and run away into the deep depths of the woods..
When she awoke, she found what the troubadour had done for her, she fell in love with him. But she could not cancel the berry competition, for her father would not accept her marriage to a lowly musician.
One day a unicorn Duke trotted into the town after hearing of the contest.
When Princess Amethyst trotted by, he hid in some bushes and smiled evilly. She would be perfect for his collection of rare creatures and peoples, looking splendid hanging from a wall, glittering in the light.
He quickly used his magic to pull the berry out of the veil without the princess noticing. He cheered, and when she turned around to see her new husband, he quickly carried her off to his castle high up in the lands of the unicorns. She was never seen again, and the lowly troubadour sat in his shack for the rest of his life, thinking of what could have been.
Celestia put a bookmark on the page and curled up into a ball, taking a break before reading the next story. This particular story always reminded her of how Sombra had taken over the Crystal Empire; he married the princess, Princess Topaz, and at the wedding, which she and Luna had been present to, he had exploded into a monster and had then proceeded to rid himself of Princess Topaz and all the royal family. Princess Topaz's sister, Princess Ruby, also Cadence's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, had escaped into the frozen tundra and bore a daughter, Princess Emerald.
Celestia began to remember more, but the book had fallen from her hooves as she had become deep in thought. It was open to the next story. Celestia smiled again as she curled up, the fire's heat beating against her coat as she began to read.