//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Fiction // Story: Wrapped Up In Books // by Closer-To-The-Sun //------------------------------// “Thanks for coming with me to Canterlot, Rainbow Dash.” “No worries, Twilight. What are friends for?” As the two ponies trotted, the purple alicorn gave a nervous chuckle, “Well, when I asked the other girls about accompanying me to the Royal Canterlot Library, they all seemed less than interested.” The blue pegasus brushed it side, “They don’t know what they are missing. Besides, I like hanging out with you, egghead.” Twilight giggled at her friend’s comment. “So where is this place?” “Oh, not far. Just up the road a bit.” The two ponies finally arrived at a large, majestic looking building. While Twilight seemed unfazed about the library, Rainbow Dash seemed a bit frightened about the imposing building before her. There were fancy columns holding the structure up, stained-glass windows with different scenes from Equestrian history, and even the large doors of the entrance seemed to be something that was designed solely to be imposing to those who look at it. Those very same doors opened as Twilight and Dash neared them. Inside, the atrium of the library was vast. Ponies and all sorts of creatures were moving throughout the building. Some going into the many rows of shelves, others were quietly flying or trotting to other parts of the library. There were also some that were seated, deeply engrossed in their reading or work. But no matter what the others were doing, each and every single one was silent, only the sound of hoofsteps and hushed whispers echoed through the halls. Under her breath, Dash muttered, “Whoa.” “I had the same reaction when I first came here as a filly,” Twilight quietly commented with a smile as she started trotting onwards. Dash took a second before following after, “Wait, where do you need to go again?” “I am looking for a few books about the different architecture from past cultures in Equestria. I was wondering if there was some sort of underlying theme between the different cultures. Princess Celestia asked if I could help look into it,” the purple pony explained quietly as she trotted into one of the many rows of books. Rainbow seemed a little surprised about the reasoning for the trip, “That’s it? That’s why we came here?” Her voice grew a bit louder. Twilight turned and lightly hushed her, “Sshh! We are in a library! And yes, I know this library like the back of my hoof. So I know where the books are that might hold the answer we’re looking for.” Tilting her head up as she walked, Rainbow looked at the towering book shelves, each holding countless books, “Not sure how you could find anything in this place….” she commented, “This place seems way too big for my liki- oof!” Her statement was cut off as she bumped into Twilight who had stopped in her tracks. “Why’d you stop?” The purple alicorn was looking at one of the shelves, “Let’s see here….I know I’ll need ‘Early Griffon Society’ and ‘Unicorntopia: An Illustrated History’.” Using her magic, she pulled the books out from their housing on the shelves. “Oh, need me to carry those?” Dash asked, her voice not being kept in check. From somewhere nearby, both ponies heard a muffled, “Ssshh! Some of us are trying to read!” Dash seemed to be embarrassed about her loud voice, “Sorry!” she whispered back, hoping the pony could hear her apology. Twilight silently chuckled with a raised hoof. “If you want to, that would definitely help me as I get the last few books I need.” She carefully lowered the books upon Rainbow’s back. While the books seemed to be easy to carry, they were pretty heavy on Dash, but she wouldn’t let it show. “Now, what else?” Twilight returned to looking at the bookshelf, “I’ll need this, and this one as well.” With each new book, she added it onto the stack on her friend’s back. “And I think ‘Ancient Architecture Of Eastern Equestria’ will do it.” She placed the book on the stack and looked at Rainbow. It was obvious she was not doing too well with the large books on her back. “Uh….do you need some help, Rainbow?” Dash was having a bi of trouble speaking, “Please….just take one or two off….” Using her magic, Twilight took a couple books off and started trotting off towards an exit from the labyrinth of books. The exit was a relief for Rainbow Dash, as she saw exactly where Twilight was going; a table to begin her research. Once the two reached a table, Rainbow collapsed and the books on her back fell down to the floor and on top of her, making a loud thudding sound. A number of ponies in the immediate area turned to Dash and shushed her for making such a racket. Twilight picked up the books and helped her friend up off the floor, “Thanks for your help, Rainbow.” “Yeah, no prob,” Dash stretched her wings out and moved them to make sure they weren’t hurt. “Well, I’ll go ahead and get started on my research,” Twilight organized the table as if it was her workspace that she had back at her home in Ponyville. “Alright, what am I supposed to do then?” “You’re in a library, Rainbow, there are plenty of books that can captivate your imagination!” Twilight mused as she raised her hooves up as if to show off the building. “I see….where are the books that I would like then?” Rainbow wasn’t sharing her friend’s enthusiasm. She’d rather just get to where the fiction books would be. “Go ahead and explore. This is the Royal Canterlot Library, filled with all sorts of books that are just amazing,” Twilight continued quietly explaining as she opened up her first book. Seeing that Twilight was diving head and horn first into her work, Rainbow decided to find her own way, “Okay then, I’ll find ya later.” Rainbow started to wander to the front of the library. While she might not know libraries all that well, she did know that most libraries would have a directory of where a pony could find where certain books would be. The trek back to the front was longer than she thought. Maybe it was the seemingly endless wall of books or the high ceilings, but Rainbow felt that this place was designed just for ponies to get lost in. But despite her fear of becoming trapped with the books, she found the atrium where she and Twilight had entered. There was a pony asking help from the griffon librarian, so Rainbow figured she’d look for a map to find the fiction books. She didn’t like asking for help anyway; she was Rainbow Dash after all. At the directory map at the edge of the circular room, she looked at the huge map of the library and the different topic areas. Biology. Mechanics. Magic. History. Architecture (where she had just come from). Folklore. Meteorology. Aerodynamics. Mathematics (an area Rainbow would never go into). Astronomy. There were tons of different sections, but none of what she was looking for. It was just as Rainbow Dash had feared; there was no fiction section.