Celestia made her way through the Royal Library, pausing every now and then to examine the shelves. The paper-thin film of dust on the topmost row was perfectly uniform. Nopony had touched these particular books in some time, nopony since a curious young filly who’d grown into a Princess. A Princess who was about to be late for the first time in her life.
“Twilight? It’s almost time for our lunch together. Didn’t you say you’d be in–”
“I’m… I’m in here.” The quiver in her voice turned Celestia’s walk into a gallop.
A few seconds later the heart of the library came into view. The gate to the forbidden section stood ajar, a good portion of its books were piled on the ground, and Twilight was curled up in the corner looking as if the dusty tomes were about to eat her.
“Twilight? Is something wrong?”
“I… I was reading.”
“… and?”
Twilight waved a hoof at the stacks of book surrounding her. “Why… why do you keep these?”
Celestia knelt by her side. “Which ones in particular?”
“Probably all of them, considering what I’ve read so far. I… I never thought I’d say this, but these books shouldn’t be in the library… they shouldn’t exist at all.”
Her horn glowed, and a trio of books floated over to them. “This one supposedly proves the divine right of unicorns to govern all races, this one pretends to be a history lesson on King Sombra’s rise to power but reads more like a how-to guide, and this one–” She put a hoof over her eyes. “–this one is about torturing ponies to figure out what causes the most pain.”
She returned the books to their respective places on the ground and shivered. “It’s all so horrible.”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, they are. This is why I didn’t go into detail when I first described the forbidden section.”
“Why keep them at all?”
She retrieved the same three books and nodded to each one. “Psychology, political science, and medicine. Some of the foundational concepts of those fields are found right here, albeit with horrific examples. There are other books available in the rest of the royal library of course, but these possess a certain… level of detail that’s beyond compare. As I once told you, there’s a great deal of good to be found here, provided you have the wisdom to find it.”
Twilight didn’t answer for several minutes. “It’s… it’s like fertilizer.”
“Hmm?”
“Garbage that helps something useful grow.”
Celestia managed a smile, a monumental feat considering her surroundings. “That’s an excellent analogy.”
“How do you stand knowing these exist? I mean… you’ve ruled Equestria for so long that I’m sure a lot of them were written during your lifetime.”
Celestia rose, as did the books. One by one, she returned them to their shelves. “All of them, in fact. In the old days, Luna and I would sit in counsel with the senior librarians to discuss the merits of each new book we encountered. On very rare occasions, no more than every few decades, we’d add a book to the forbidden section and prevent it from entering general library circulation. A few scholars would read them, and nopony else who didn’t seek out and buy their own copy. That was the compromise between my library carrying all the written word, and a perceived royal endorsement of extremely dangerous texts. Such is the power and trust that Equestria places in me.”
“What about the authors? Who would write things like this?”
“Ponies, Twilight. That’s the most important thing to remember. These books were written by ponies with a great deal of knowledge but little regard for others. Why do you think I sent you to Ponyville, all those years ago?”
Twilight gasped. A few flaps of her wings brought them eye to eye. “You didn’t think that… that I’d do something horrible like this, did you?” Celestia looked away. She couldn’t bear the look of betrayal on Twilight’s face. “No, but the mere possibility of it terrified me. You’re very gifted, Twilight. I wanted you to discover the magic of friendship before you become yet another reclusive genius.”
Another book left the shelves and hovered in front of Twilight’s eyes. Her jaw dropped when she read the cover. “S-Starswirl? There’s a book by him in here?”
“Several. Some of his later spells were so powerful that he personally requested that I keep them away from all but the wisest and most trustworthy of ponies. That includes his so-called unfinished masterpiece that demonstrated you were ready to become a Princess.”
Twilight sank to the floor. “I… well I guess that one did sort of redefine the fabric of reality…”
“I don’t spend much time in this place, Twilight. These books chronicle times of history that I prefer to not dwell on any more than necessary. There’s one book in particular that…”
She bowed her head. Her crown felt like a lead weight.
Twilight touched her side. “Celestia?”
She chanced another glance at her former student’s eyes, and found a familiar look; Twilight was anxious. This time is wasn’t over a test or assignment, this time she was clearly worried about her friend and former mentor.
“Have I ever told you you’re like family to me, Twilight?”
Twilight nodded. “I feel the same way. You’re like… you’re like a second mother to me.”
“I’d like to show you one more book… then may we please leave this place and discuss something else?
“Of course.”
“Thank you.”
She didn’t need to look for it. She knew exactly where she’d filed it all those years ago: top row of the back shelf, hidden behind a collection of ancient war tribunal records. A quick magic tug pulled the accursed book from the shelf and dropped it into Twilight’s waiting hooves.
She closed her eyes, choosing to merely listen to Twilight flipping through the pages.
“The Illusion of the Moon?”
A pain shot through her heart. “Yes… it’s several hundred years old. It’s about…”
Twilight’s hoof touched her shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me.”
She shook her head. “That’s sweet of you, Twilight, but it’s better if you know… it’s better that you know why I loathe this place as much as I do. That book was written during a time when Equestria’s economy was in jeopardy. Many ponies were looking to me for answers I didn’t have, and one supposedly wise pony decided to write… this.”
She glared at the book. “One of the most detailed and accurate records of the rise of Nightmare Moon, along with a logically sound and flagrantly incorrect argument that… that it was all just a myth thought up by my advisors. That book… claims that Luna doesn’t exist.”
The book fell out of Twilight’s hooves. “But… that’s absurd! How can–”
“That’s the only time I’ve actively sought to destroy all copies of a book. It was a foolish, pointless move, and only added to the author’s supposed credibility. In the end I just had to let time itself sweep the lies away, as I should have from the start. I have you and your friends to thank for finally putting that awful deception to rest.”
“And… the pony who wrote it?”
“I have never been angrier. I wanted to banish him… I wanted to turn him to stone so he’d live to see Luna’s return, and yet… and yet I knew doing anything at all would just feed the fire. So I did nothing… nothing but voice my disapproval and lock away what is now the only copy of his slander against my family.”
She stepped through the gate and took a deep, cleansing breath. She’d done it. She’d told Twilight the darkest lie entombed in the forbidden section. A lie that nopony need ever be bothered by again, save her.
“What shall we have for lunch, Twilight? We’ve used up a good portion of the hour I’d set aside, but I’m sure I can move an appointment or two–”
Twilight was standing next to her, and she was holding a book. The book. The book that stirred a rage in her that could eclipse the sun.
“What are you doing with that?” Her voice was harsher than she meant it to be, and Twilight withered before her like a scared foal.
“I… I just…”
She shut her eyes and took another deep breath. Anger wasn’t the answer. It never was. “I’m so sorry, Twilight, please forgive me for raising my voice… and please tell me why you’re removing that terrible thing from the forbidden section.”
“Because… there are other records of when… of that time, aren’t there?”
“Yes, although the others don’t include–”
“Then destroy it.”
Her eyes shot open. She stared at Twilight, open mouthed.
Twilight’s face was expressionless. “You taught me once that books aren’t just for the celebration of knowledge, and that writing down a statement doesn’t make it true. There might be some value in the forbidden section’s other books, but not this one. Luna is here now; the two of you could write a more accurate history than anypony else, and you should. That means there’s no reason to keep this book of lies. It isn’t fertilizer, it’s poison. Destroy it.”
Celestia sank to her knees and embraced Twilight. She nodded and began to cry. Both of their horns glowed, and the book resting on the floor crumbled to dust.