24 - Books
When Twilight and I entered the castle, Spike passed by, sweeping the floor with a broom. He stopped, sniffed at the air then looked at Twilight. “Somepony’s a stinky librarian with the emphasis on the adjective.”
“Thank you for that, Spike.”
“Always a pleasure.” He continued with the sweeping.
She looked at me. “Come.”
I stopped in my tracks. “No more!” I spurted out.
“What?” She looked at me. “Oh, you’re still hung up over that experiment in the basement—the one you agreed to take part in? Don’t worry. We’re just going to the library where all the friendly books reside.” She smiled at me and trotted on.
I followed her. “What ‘special’ book do you want to show me this time?”
“This one is about something you’re lacking. I also want you to keep this one as your own. I’ve got many copies of it, after all.” She opened the library door with her magic. “Starlight Glimmer helped me with multiplying.”
“It’s not about reproduction again, is it?”
“There’s nothing wrong with detailed medical books! And no, it’s not that kind of a book.”
“Is it your journal that you keep promoting?”
“Close, but it’s not the Journal of The Elements. This one is very objectively written by, and only by, yours truly.”
“So, it is a journal? I knew it.”
“It’s an analysis of an area in the realm of my expertise. The one you can grow in immensely.”
“Magic!” I jumped on the spot.
Twilight looked toward a pile of lavender books on a table in the corner. She floated the top one to me. “Well, it does have the word ‘magic’ in the title…”
I caught it in my dark field and read the text on the cover, “Magic of Friendship. Pha! What else you got? You said I should read more on the subject of black magic because I’m not good at it yet.”
“I never said that!” She banged a hoof on the floor.
“If I read about the things I don’t know, I’ll get better at them, right?”
“Yes, but you shouldn’t delve into fringe magic.”
“Why not?” I protested. “I want to learn stuff. Why are you standing in my way?”
“Some things are not appropriate for you. And it’s not just that... You couldn’t comprehend the advanced books even if you tried. I wish to protect you from getting discouraged or overwhelmed. You should start with the easier subjects. There are also more important fields of study than magic. Those are the ones you should focus on the most.”
“Better than magic?” I cocked my head. “Do tell?”
“Like how to be good, for instance,” she answered.
“I’m already good. But this is just the beginning. I think I can get even better. The possibilities are endless. I want to know what else I can do.”
“Well, there's no harm in knowing things or being able to perform feats of magic, but you shouldn’t be hurting other ponies with what you know. You do understand this, don’t you?” She slightly nodded at me.
I gave the thin lavender book an angry look then cast it away to the table of dull books. What was clearly her attempt at manipulating me into reading the boredom, failed flat. I shifted my channels to a black book with thick covers on the top shelf. The tome was so big that part of the cover stuck over the edge of the shelf. “This one looks promising!” With my magic, I pulled it out and down to me.
“No! That’s not for you to read yet. Perhaps when you’re older. There are—things in there.”
“Don’t you still lend out books?”
“I do, but there’s an age limit to some literature.”
“Is this about me being too small again?” I stood on my hind legs to make myself appear bigger.
“It’s about you not being mature enough! Your parents and your sister wouldn’t approve of you reading it.”
“They wouldn’t have to know.”
“I would know, and I try not to hide important things from my friends. You’ll get yourself in serious trouble if you keep this up. I’m willing to share my view and enact my stature if needed. However, there’s still a limit to how much I can talk them out of, and you’ve already breached it by a vast margin.”
“You’d rat me out, wouldn’t you?”
“Just put the book back, Sweetie Belle...”
That was against my wishes. I paused to think of something I could say to make her give me the book. Her resistance was bothersome!
“I’m not discussing it with you, Sweetie Belle, I’m telling you! Put the book back!” She slammed a hoof against the floor. “I’m not accountable for any bad influences that you may have been exposed to. I’m not! And I don’t intend to be.”
“Well, you can just tell everypony that I took it from you; which I’m about to do. I get what I want and you keep your moral high ground delusion.”
“Sweetie Belle, where did you pick up this new vocabulary of yours? The words you’re using—how do you know them?”
“Hmm?” I looked at her quizzaciously. “I bet it’s from books like this one.” My magic darkened as I levitated my chosen one closer to me.
Her channels entangled with mine. The lavender endpoints didn’t attach to the covers, though. I was hoping for a tug of book, but since she offered me a flawless victory, I wasn’t about to reject her unconditional surrender.
A burst of flow flashed from her horn, cutting off my channels on its path.
My horn still glowed, but I was separated from my former endpoints. The new ones were closer to me and unattached. They hung in the air, uselessly. “Hey!” The book fell to the floor with a thump. “What’d you do that for?”
“This is my home. You should ask me or Spike, before touching anything!”
“I didn’t even touch nuffin’!” I lifted a foreleg and showed her my empty hoof.
“I don’t think that phrase means what you think it means. And even if it would, by your own logic, I didn’t touch your channels, either.” She imitated my move with a forehoof. “Either way, your complaint is invalid.”
“Ugh!” She had a point. My eyes shied away from her. “I wasn’t complaining, I just didn’t expect you to do that.”
“And I didn’t think you’d just grab whatever catches your fancy as if everything belonged to you. Next time we meet, I’ll expect you to ask when you want something from me.”
“Books are supposed to be read…”
“My home—my rules!” She levitated the book back to its shelf.
I didn’t want to risk a full-on confrontation with Twilight yet. Perhaps she just needed some time to cool off. “Fine...”
Spike burst into the library. “What are you wild horses bickering about?” He wore a frilly apron with a big, red heart sewn in the center. His claws were white, probably from the flour. “The castle is full of you two. With all the echoes in the hallways, it feels as if the whole place is haunted.”
“Ugh!” She sighed. “Maybe you’re right... I’m sorry. The foul smell might be galling our perceptions. I don’t think either of us can stand this odor much longer.”
“You’re the one who’s stinking up the place, Twi.” His eyes half-closed. “Have you considered taking a shower for the good of everypony.”
“Yeah, yeah! I’m getting a shower.” She sighed. “Can you watch Sweetie Belle for a few moments, Spike?”
“Um… sure,” he said hesitantly.
“I’ll be right back” She galloped through the door. “Don’t touch anything, Sweetie Belle!”, she called out from the hallway. “I mean it!”
I sat on my tush and looked at Spike.
He did the same. It was a staring contest without any rules.
As the rotten stench of Twilight dissipated a bit, I sensed another smell in the background. It seemed Spike had been cooking something. Or baking, maybe. Roasting? Probably just burning.
Seeing me smell the air, he took a big whiff himself. “Oh no… I ain’t got time for this.” His widespread eyes shifted to me. “ Sweetie Belle, can you watch yourself for a while?”
He stood up and ran to the hallway before I could answer.
I tried watching myself for a moment but got bored with me, right after. The books on the top shelves silently called out to be read, but I knew Spike or Twilight could return at any moment. I didn’t want to be caught in an act of touching.
There was no need for me to connect with anything on an actual physical level. Even if telekinesis could be considered touching, detecting stuff surely couldn’t be. There was something that I wanted to try again ever since we entered the castle of crystals. My newly gained ability acted like a second sight. The fortunate turn of events was almost unbelievable. I had hoped to learn detection that day and I actually did. Rarity and Twilight tried to get in my way, but I did it on my own, anyway. Things were finally picking up for me. The magic spell felt natural, and I knew that I could do the detection with ease. Still, the achieved amounting felt way too fun to restrain myself from confirming it.
I jumped on all four and charged my horn with a grin. When I closed my eyes and flattened my channels, the sensations overwhelmed me as the channels got caressed from all sides. I wasn’t alone anymore. There were crystals all around me.
They whispered to me, and I heard myself murmur in response, “Crystals...”
A weird sensation spread out between my hind legs. I forced shut my magic to check out the source of the tingling. Rolling onto my back, I looked over my belly. Nothing was there. Just as it came out of nowhere, the sensation dissipated away before I could find its origin.
I shrugged my shoulders. After rolling over on all four hooves, I checked the surroundings. The library was empty. I was alone again.
When I tried to beat my boredom by finding something shiny to look at, I noticed some movement. It was coming from the corner of the library where the cased book resided. The surrounding air shimmered under the effects of the permanent, encompassing shield. I approached the glimmers. With a hoof, I caressed the gauzy barrier. It felt warm to the touch. A moment later, a flash of light drew my shadow on the casing.
“This book is special.” A voice came from behind me.
I cringed and froze on the spot.
Twilight shook as she stepped beside me. With a hoof, she led my extended one back to the floor. Her breathing was loud. Foamy water dripped on the floor from her soaked coat. “It holds the spell that turned me into an Alicorn. Starswirl the Bearded helped me cast a permanent shield around it. The energy supplying the unbreakable barrier is entangled with my life energy. I feel any disturbance as if somepony touched my body without my consent. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Despite its reactiveness, the magic barrier cannot be shattered for as long as I’m alive.”
“I’m sor—” I forcefully coughed.
“You’re what now?” Twilight smiled at me.
“I touched the invisible barrier without your permission and I’m...” I lowered my voice and mumbled.
Spike walked in the library. He carried a big platter on a claw. A tower made of charcoal was stacked on top of it. The pieces were shaped like cookies, but they couldn’t have been eatable sweets because they were pure black. Well, maybe if they were covered in chocolate. A dark cloud formed from the smoke they emitted. I was pretty sure chocolate wouldn’t do that.
Twilight sighed and turned to me. “Don’t worry about the forced non-consensual touches, Sweetie Belle. You’re not a bad pony, despite how you violated my body. Next time, if you ask for my permission first, you won’t have to worry about repercussions. Wouldn’t that be much more pleasing for everypony involved?”
“Um…” Spike lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t mean to disturb your ‘you time’, but I made some cookies.”
Twilight facehoofed. “That’s not how I’d classify your forged creation.”
Spike laid the platter on a pile of books that lay on the ground. “There’s plenty to go around. I also have another batch on the way.” He picked up a cookie from the top and walked into the adjacent room.
“All is forgiven. As long as you’re sorry and have learned not to touch things without asking for permission.” She reached out with a wet hoof above my head.
I tensed my body and clenched my teeth.
After retracting the invasive hoof, she narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.
I relaxed my muscles.
Spike walked back from the room.
She moved her head close to mine. “Sweetie Belle, why so tense?”
He glanced at Twilight then back at the cookies. “They’re well-done but very good. You should help yourself to them while there still are any.” He grabbed them with both claws and carried a whole lap of them away. “There’s a great demand for them, you know?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and turned back to me. “I was just trying to stroke you, Sweetie Belle.”
Spike looked back. “Twilight‽” His eyebrows pressed together. He slowly turned and walked to the room, shaking his head.
She sighed as she looked back at me. “Well?”
“Nothing!” I whipped my tail left and right. “Nothing is wrong. Why do you ask?”
Twilight lifted a hoof, making my body stiffen up again. She raised her eyebrows.
Spike walked out the room. “You can eat them to your heart’s content.” He picked up the plate with one claw then put back two cookies with the other. “Don’t mind if I do...”
Still tense, I looked at him. My eyes were wide-spread, mouth opened.
“Um, Twilight...” He put a claw on his hip.
“Spike, can you please refrain yourself from disturbing us all the time. Give me and Sweetie Belle some privacy, will you? Jeez!”
After some grumbling, the big platter disappeared into the other room, along with Spike under it.
Twilight shifted her gaze back to me.
I forcefully loosened my body. I wasn’t in any danger, so there was no need for my tenseness. She would just touch me once, and then she would stop.
I felt a hoof on my head curving the hair of my mane. The hard protrusion chafed as it slid down my neck. Then, the violator rose and landed on my head again. I clenched my teeth. The defiling hoof flattened my mane in its path while it drifted down. My body tightened ever more. The lavender appendage rose and pressed down on my head again!
I pounded my hoof on the floor and jumped toward the door, away from the pushy hoof. “Stop touching me!”
Spike burst out of the room, “Twilight! I’ve had enough of this!” He pressed his claws at his sides as he glared at her. “Do we need to have a talk about the age difference and consent again?”
“Spike...” She sighed.
“And I don’t care about how Celestia used to take care of you! I don’t want to hear any more of the stuff you’ve been exposed to!”
“I’ve committed no immoralities and breached no social conventions,” Twilight protested.
“First, you show her pictures of exposed mares—”
“It was a medical book about reproduction...”
“—And now this.” His voice rose. “There’s no excuse for feeling out foals if they don’t want to be touched inappropriately!”
“It’s not what it looks like, Spike!”
“Yeah, right… Touching your life-bound shield in the middle of the night—not what it looks like. The thing you do on library’s floor—not what it looks like. It’s never what it looks like with you. That phrase is always your ‘go to’ excuse…” Spike pointed two nails at his eyes then at her. Slowly, he backtracked toward the room. “I’m keeping my eyes on you, Princess.” He glanced at the pile of books beside him. “And no cookies for you, princess!” His arm pointed at Twilight accusingly as the other one reached for the remaining two cookies, throwing them in his open mouth. The crunching sounds accompanied him through the doorway.
A purple aura enveloped the door of the side room and slammed it shut. “Ugh! I swear, sometimes I just want to burst out in flames! Or better yet, realize my plans for a machine to do that exponentially after the countdown reaches zero.” Twilight inhaled deeply and focused back on me. “Sweetie Belle, tell me, what’s eating you? Did you do something, and you worry about it; is that it? You can tell me, I’ll help you fix it if you’ll let me.”
With clenched teeth, I stared at the patterns on the floor. Wasn’t invading my personal space enough? Did she also have to force foreign thoughts into me? “I—I just don’t want to be treated like a filly all the time,” I said so she’d drop the subject.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else that’s bothering you? Something you feel bad about, perhaps? We’ve known each other for some time now, Sweetie Belle. You know you can confide in me. If something is wrong, you need to make things right again, else they will stay wrong, and you really don’t want that! Please trust me when I say this. It’s paramount, and I can’t stress it enough. You should direct all your efforts in fixing your regressions.”
“Nothing is wrong!” I forced my gaze on her. “I just came here to read!”
“If that’s all you came here to do, then here’s a book you should set your focus on!” She floated a lavender-covered book to me.
My magic intercepted the booklet as she dropped it. I telekinetically flipped the pages and read out random words, “Friendship, respect, responsibility… That’s not even about magic!”
“If you read the book I gave you, you may borrow any of the other ones. Except for these...” Her horn glowed brightly, and all the books from top shelves floated up. They formed a line in the air and drifted away to the adjacent room in quick succession.
“I’m not putting all this smut back!” Spike yelled from the room.
“You removed all the good ones, didn’t you?” I protested.
“No, I removed all the bad ones. Those that can harm your innocent mind. The ones that can contribute to your personal growth still remain on the lower shelves. You can read those to your heart's content.”
I was sure that some cool stuff could still be salvaged from the leftovers. My smile grew ever bigger as I grazed my eyes on all the books at my disposal.
“But you may not have another book until you read the one I gave you! As for me, I need to finish my shower.” She trotted toward the exit. “It seems the smell of rotting eggs is stronger than I thought. The stench managed to protrude through the thick layer of shampoo out into the open. I’ve underestimated malodor thus far, but I shall not repeat the same mistake again. As Celestia is my witness, the mephitis will falter under the power of my dandy brush!” Twilight glared at me and changed her voice to a serious one, “Don’t touch anything while I’m gone!” She drifted through the library’s door.
“I won’t touch nothing…” I needed her to trust me more, not less. She probably wouldn’t lend me another book if I betrayed her trust again.
I heard a loud sigh from the other room. It was contagious.
Sighing, I looked back at the cover. It did say magic in the title, but I knew it was a lie. Despite it not being mystical like, say, science, ponies still put the word magic to things that are hard to understand or don’t even exist. Like friendship, for instance, which was also in the title. I didn’t even have to open the book to know it was boring.
I lay my head on the lavender cover, poised to wait for Twilight to give me an actual book. My eyes closed as if by themselves.
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Comment section minigames for the Books chapter of the story Sweetie Belle Gains a Soul. Anypony can play them in this comment section of this story.
GAME 1
Does this story remind you of a song that you know? If yes, post it in the comments in the following format:
- Chapter of the story that this song is relevant to.
- A link or embedded Youtube video of it.
- Percentage of correlation (0% being an unrelated song, 100% being a song written exactly for this story).
- A reason why this song reminded you of this story or the excerpt of the lyrics.
GAME 2
Record yourself reading this story aloud. Upload your mp3 to MLP: Audiobooks, for instance, and paste the link to your audio or video in the comments.
Reward: A spot in the author’s note of this chapter.
A darkness seems to have entered Miss Sweetie Belle. One would believe that she gained an extra evil soul.
Princess Twilight Sparkle is a bit of a hypocrite:
She conducts experiments without informed consent (she misrepresented the experiment, which she tricked Miss Sweetie Belle into allowing) on minors without the consent, informed or otherwise, from their guardians. She fondles foals in a way which they could not consent without consent. She has a darkness in her. I would not be surprised if like Princess Luna (NightMareMoon) and Miss Rarity (NightMareRarity), she lets the NightMare into her soul.
9499814 Perhaps everypony has a bit of NightMare and a tinge of Darkness within.
As for Twilight, I believe she would never willingly hurt... science. And sometimes that means making sure that the opportunity for experimentation isn't missed.
This bitch be handing out morality lessons like they're candy, but doesn't know how informed consent works.
11722830 Twilight learned morality and consent from the best of them.
- MLP: FiM
- Comedy
- Drama
Celestia explains why Alicorns are superior.