Twilight Sparkle raced from Sugarcube Corner, her hooves pounding the dusty dirt road with anxious haste. In the distance, she saw a faint orange glow painted stark against the fading twilight sky, smoke drifting from the glow. She quickened her pace, the disgusting black smoke blotting out the stars that were just coming out for the night. She rounded the last corner, and stopped dead at the sight before her.
~~~~~~
"A Unicorn's Guide to Basic Magic" By Bitter-Cream Pop
The title was written in tight, controlled script, emblazoned gold on a simple brown leather cover, completely clean and utterly new. The pages pressed and shiny, the spine stiff and the corners still sharp. It was a gift from her parents, and the first book she ever really read. Oh, she'd glanced at the occasional picture book or two, and without her beloved dictionary she would have never understood half the stuff they said in that book of simple spells.
With the help of her parents, she quickly had the whole thing memorized and was practicing the magic tricks gleaned from its clean, crisp pages nearly everyday. She snuggled with it every night, the guide tucked snugly under her pillow. As a foal, she too thought that sleeping with a book under a pillow would transfer the knowledge to the brain while the pony slumbered. She loved that book dearly.
It was the first book that earn a place in Twilight Sparkle's collection.
~~~~~~
Twilight screamed, her voice unintelligible and thick with emotion. Spike was running from the library, his short, stubby legs carrying him into the hooves of Twilight as she plopped down and embraced him. He was crying, worried that she'd been in there when the fire started. Twilight only hugged him tighter as tears streamed down her own face, blurring her vision in between blinks as she gazed at her home.
That morning, the great tree had a full head of bright green leaves, the windows clean and the bark a soothing brown. Now, the leaves were black soot at the foot of the tree, the windows stained with smoke and ash, and the bark glistened the color of charcoal in the fading twilight. The tree looked in pain, it's branches that used to carry leaves now stripped bare, the flames engulfing the thin wood as the fire raged inside. Twilight saw Rainbow Dash in the distance, towing behind her a cloud full of rain.
It wouldn't be enough, not enough to quench this blaze of its destructive hunger. She started running again, towards the nearby lake as she yelled at Spike to find other ponies, quickly. She needed everypony's help, or her home would be lost, along with the treasured possessions she'd hidden away inside.
~~~~~
The second book Twilight procured for her collection was a gift from her mentor. After being accepted as the Princesses personal apprentice, she thought she'd die from joy after discovering the vast library Celestia had personally put together herself. She spent hours in that vast library, soaking up information and history like a small foal would slurp a chocolate-hay smoothie in two seconds and ask for more before her parents had finished their first sip.
One day, she stumbled on a rare book indeed. Twilight had been reading in the "Historical Unicorns" section, using her magic to levitate a compelling tome called "The Effects of Magic on Water-borne Plants" when she accidentally bumped against a shelf. An old, dusty book shifted slightly, teetering on the edge of the shelf before succumbing to the will of gravity and landing, spine down, on Twilight's noggin.
It being a rather thick book, its pages bound by leather and iron, the dusty old book compelled Twilight's head to spin and pound before also giving into gravity and falling to her side. After getting over the initial shock, she rubbed her head ferociously with her hooves, trying to massage the pain away. A minute later, she slowly got up, groaning from the headache blossoming from her head.
After another groan, she made her way to the book that caused her brain pain, and peered at it. The book had landed in such a way that it opened somewhere in the middle of the weathered pages. Being a bookworm, she checked the front cover to examine the title.
"The Biography of Starswirl the Bearded" By Starswirl the Bearded and Quiver Quill
Celestia found her there, hours later, the book read cover to cover, twice. Twilight had memorized every sentence, every diary entry and every adventure, from Starswirl's brave battles against dragons to his absolutely maniacal experiments done for the sake of furthering magical study. Twilight begged and begged to keep the book, if only to read it for the knowledge and experience she could glean from multiple readings. Celestia had chuckled, consenting to Twilight's wishes and allowing her to permanently borrowing the book from her library.
It was her second book added to her collection, and it sat on a shelf right next to the first, both pristine, not one page dog-eared, ripped or stained.
~~~~~
Twilight used her magic to levitate seven buckets, sending them to the lake and refilling with water. The pegasi were doing a great job with keeping the fire from spreading to nearby houses, but rain did little against the blaze engulfing the tree. They needed gallons upon gallons of water to snuff out this flame. Twilight's method of using a large volume of water at once was slowly putting the fire out, but it was slow going, and everypony was still gathering buckets to help her fight the inferno.
It wasn't possible. It wasn't possible to put it out. It wasn't possible that it even started. It wasn't possible that she was trying so hard to stop this blaze and her efforts made little difference. Her room, containing a bed that kept her warm at night, a desk with all her quills and ink, and Spike's basket, all were feeling fire's destructive fury. Her library, the Celestia tasked her to run and keep orderly was burning to the ground. And her collection.
By Celestia, her collection. . .
~~~~~
Over the years, under Celestia's tutelage and her professors at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight's magical prowess had grown exponentially since the days of casting simple spells from "A Unicorn's Guide to Basic Magic". As her magic grew, so did her collection. Celestia had several books she'd been willing to let Twilight keep, most of them rare copies that had only ever been published once. She was especially happy to receive the last known copy of "On Dealing with Dragons: Volume 4 1/2" by Serpent Sam, which helped amazingly in dealing with baby dragons.
After she moved to Ponyville, she didn't have a grand library that still had books unread. She had a small one, full of books available to the public, few rare and fewer still at her level of intellect. She did adore all the books in her library, but most of them depicted menial tasks and true fantasies, not the epic tales of history and the grand achievements of heroes. Without a doubt, these books were still books, and all books were useful. "A Mare's Guide to Proper Social Etiquette" by Ruby Rose was incredibly helpful at high end parties Rarity dragged her too all the time.
Yet she still craved the uncommon, incredible books that had become commonplace in Canterlot. She desired to touch the aged pages of a tome, absorb its knowledge into her mind, it's very words etched into her brain as she read the book with a quick, yet calm pace. She yearned to slowly turn page after page of one such old novel, her hooves carefully picking up each page as if it was as fragile as spider silk. She craved the musty scent of a novel touched daintily by time, but no so roughly that it was ruined or unreadable.
After a year of being in Ponyville, she left, if for a short time. She needed to find a new book, a crowning jewel to her collection. After double checking that everything on her list packed, she said her goodbyes to her friends and left Ponyville, determined to find the rarest book of all.
~~~~~
The balcony groaned above Twilight, the wood splintering from the heat. Twilight paid it no attention, determined to put out the fire even as the smoke burned her eyes and scratched her throat. The tears flowed freely as she used even more magic, lifting seventeen buckets and filling them with precious water before dumping it all on one spot, pushing back the blaze further into her home. Above, Rainbow Dash was working with Fluttershy and the rest of the weather team to pour more rain on to the smoldering tree below. On the ground, Rarity was using her magic to dump buckets of water on to the blaze, but her magic was less powerful than Twilights, and she could lift at most four buckets at a time. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were busy coordinating other earth and unicorn ponies in keeping the fire back and working on extinguishing it for good.
Above, the balcony creaked, the wood starting to give way.
~~~~~
It had taken Twilight months. Months, of trekking forests and scaling mountains. She'd nearly lost her supplies twice, had beaten back a Manticore, avoided a Cockatrice, crept into a dragon's lair, woken up said dragon, and subsequently left the cave before it could eat her alive. All to find this rare, special book, and found it she had. She pulled the aged, sky blue tome from her sack and admired the title, the letters written in a flowing cursive she knew so well.
"Diary of Princess Celestia."
These words were a dark golden-yellow against the blue colored leather that bound the pages together. She caressed the book with her hoof, the cover feeling soft under her touch. Oh, how she desperately wanted to open the book and read everything in there. Her mentor's own thoughts, her own feelings, insecurities and dreams were in her hooves. All she'd have to do was turn a page, and a whole new side of her mentor would be hers to see.
Twilight shook her head. It was tempting, so very tempting. But her mentor, just like everypony else, had a right to her secrets. Twilight pushed the book back into her rucksack, and started towards home. She wouldn't read it, but rather give it to back to Celestia. She owed her mentor that much respect. But, maybe she'd keep it on the shelf for a while. After all, she had gone and found it herself. For a little while, it could be the crown jewel of her collection.
~~~~~
Applejack screamed something incomprehensible, and Twilight was too focused on her task to pay it any attention. She continued to strain her magic, lifting so many buckets she lost count of how many she'd dumped into the lake and filled with water before using them to save her home, to save her precious books.
Applejack barreled into her side, and Twilight flew several pony-lengths before landing, the breath knocked out of her. Applejack continued running and skidded next to her purple friend. Twilight started yelling at Applejack, wondering why she'd stopped her from trying to save her home, before looking at the place she was moments ago.
The balcony she'd spent so many years stargazing and reading on was in a huge pile right where Twilight was standing earlier. It was hardly recognizable, the wood still ablaze and utterly destroyed by both fire and fall. Twilight's eyes blurred, and she slowly got to her hooves, her spirit feeling tired and broken. Applejack laid a hoof on her friend's shoulder. She spoke softly, her voice saying Twilight's name, and then apologizing. Twilight's home was lost.
A spark flickered across Twilight's eyes, and her horn started to glow a deep purple. Her eyes closed, and grim determination painted across her face. Her horn gained a second layer of magic, and then a third, and then a fourth. Her horn glowed brightly in the twilight, brighter than the fire that was ripping apart her home. She reached out with her magic and found the lake, the water tower and even the river all the way in the Everfree.
Not even bothering with buckets, she gripped every drop of water she could and lifted it out, completely emptying both tower and lake, and causing the river to go down a few feet. Her magic strained, and she slowly brought all the water she'd gathered in a giant blob. Her friends and neighbors started running away, getting out of range of the enormous volume of water. Twilight opened her eyes, the once purple orbs now glowing pure white and glistening with magical power.
She held the blob above her library that she held so dear, her gaze observing the blackened branches and scorched bark and the inferno still eating her home. Compared to the water she had held above, the fire looked small. Pathetic. Weak. How could something so tiny destroy the most important thing to her? Her precious books she lent to other ponies, burned to ash. Her bed, black, nothing more than soot. Her desk, her quills, her scrolls, all gone. And her collection. . .
Seconds later, she released the water, and the effect was instantaneous. The fire was snuffed as easily as one might blow out a candle. The crackles and pops of the fire were silenced, leaving only charred memories and knowledge in their wake. Twilight swayed on her hooves, before falling forward into the dirt. Spike rushed forward, stopping right next to his friend. What he heard completely broke his heart.
Twilight Sparkle, the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria, personal student of Princess Celestia, one of the six Elements of Harmony, and his dearest friend, was sobbing.
The twilight sky faded, replaced with the darkness of the night, the silver light of the moon dancing in the tears on Twilight's cheeks.