This is Our Paradise

by Raimundo1941

Into the Past

“What a perfect way to start the day!” Twilight had enjoyed her delicious breakfast wrapped inside the soft and warm blankets of her bed. A gorgeous world awaited her outside; the temperature was perfect, not too cold or too hot. The snow, which now sparkled under the Sun, seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, which is pretty far away considering the fact that Canterlot is nestled on the side of one of Equestria’s tallest mountain. She completed her morning routine and exited the room.

The hallway was empty. Unlike the one where she and Her Royal Highness had their conversation just a few hours before, this one had red carpet and walls covered with wood. This gave the hallway a much warmer, homier look. The only window, that separated it from a large square balcony, was located on one end. The different bedrooms were distributed on both sides. Small chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were used to illuminate it during night and day.

Twilight made her way down the hallway. Because of the carpet that stretched its whole length, her hoofsteps didn't made a sound. She reached the stairs that opposed the only window there, and went down, reaching a bigger, brighter hall with an access to the castle gardens. Twilight headed outside.

The beautiful Royal Garden presented itself to her. With no other pony in sight, she had it all for herself. The snow covering the cobblestone path had already been swept away. It lead through the garden and to several other entrances to the castle.

Being all alone inside this secluded space filled Twilight with a sense of tranquility; it was just her and her thoughts now. And what was Twi thinking about? She thought of last night talk with her divine mentor, Princess Celestia. Her interest had only increased during the night; she craved for knowledge, ancient knowledge. She wanted to find out all about Equestrias’ founders. She had already made her mind about it; for now, this was going to be her main project.

Twilight approached one of the many wooden benches that surrounded an impressive three-level fountain, which now hibernated, waiting silently for spring's arrival. She sat down, contemplating the sleeping garden around her, and lifting her head up to the sky, bathed in the day star's warmth.

Taking a deep breath, she filled her lungs with cool, clean air. After holding it in for a few seconds, Twilight exhaled.

With renewed strength, she bounced off the bench and hurried back inside.

Throughout the years, before embarking on a new project, Twilight had found that, by performing this ritual, it was easier for her to spend the long sessions of study fully concentrated and in complete isolation.

Whether she was in Ponyville, Canterlot or any other city, it didn't really mattered; she was always able to find a spot like the one she had just been in. Ponies took great pride of their many parks and gardens; designing and tending them with enormous care; from the humblest of Manehattan’s backyards to Canterlot Castle’s impressive Garden of Statues, they all were equally special.

After she found herself back inside the castle, Twi slowed down, and wondering, she asked herself the question every researcher made before starting an investigation “Where do I start?” The obvious question had an obvious answer “The Royal Library, of course!”

Canterlot’s Royal Library, a most familiar sight for Twilight Sparkle. The building dated back to the foundation of the city. Although separated from the castle itself, the library was still considered a part of it. The base was shaped like a square, and it rose six floors above the ground, crowned at the top by a huge circular dome. The outside walls were made of sparkling white marble, while the dome was golden and shinned with the Sun. Tall spires sprawled from the structure’s corners, each was named after a famous equestrian researcher or scientist, all ending at the top with a dome of their own.

This magnificent spectacle amused Twilight Sparkle. Ever since her earlier years as the Princess’ protégé, whenever she approached this amazing edification, her heart felt a renewed love for study; during those long night of endless work, whenever her resolution faltered and was about to yield to the many pleasures of sleep, the young scholar pictured this image inside her head; a lighthouse, a beacon, like four candles that Princess Celestia lit every morning with her star, calling out to everypony who wished to extend his or her understanding of the universe countless mysteries.

The entrance to the Royal Library was beautifully decorated with the most exquisite golden incrustations. They surrounded a large, heavy double door. After crossing the portal, visitors found themselves inside a round hall, being surrounded by the masterfully carved statues of prominent ponies, the library’s only permanent residents. Over the statues heads, on the wall behind each of them, was a brief inscription detailing who that pony was and why he or she had earned the honor of being immortalized in immaculate white marble.

One last set of double doors was all that separated Twilight from the accumulated knowledge of thousands of years of pony civilization.

As those last doors opened, the characteristic odor of old parchment slapped Twilight right on her face. Behind her, she heard the door’s hinges squeaking as it closed. Before her, row after row after row of bookcases, filled with the most varied tomes and scrolls on all subjects known to ponykind, were presented to her.

Inside this great hall she could see many other ponies studying or working on their own projects; Unicorns levitating huge stacks of books, pegasi flying from one bookcase to another, just like bees going from one flower to the next, searching the top shelves for that sneaky tome that always found its way around their frantic search efforts, a couple of ponies checking out some tomes from the General Collection, librarians pushing small carts filled with books through the narrow corridors of bookcases. All of this happening in the most absolute silence; it felt surreal.

Just another normal day inside the nation’s most important library.

Twilight Sparkle approached the stairs in front of her, commencing her descent into the main part of the library. At the center was a large, heavy desk made of dark wood. On the other side, a small group of librarians tended to the different needs of the many visitors; whether needing help finding a specific tome, to giving directions on how to reach the bathrooms, didn't really mattered, those kind ponies stood there always willing to assist.

Twi made her way to the desk and positioned herself in front of one of the librarians, a young unicorn mare. On top of the desk, a bunch of official looking forms were stacked one on top of the other in small columns. A couple of quills were lying next to the stacks. Hanging above her head was a wooden sign carved with the words “Please be Respectful; Silence”.

“Good morning, Miss Twilight, it’s been a while since your last visit. How can I help you today?” greeted the mare.

“Hello Inky Quill. I’m starting a new research project and was wondering if you could help me find some books on a specific subject.” It would be a surprise for anypony who knew Twilight finding out she didn't know the locations of the many different collections by heart. Even Her Majesties’, Princess Celestias’ most faithful student needed help navigating the Royal Library; that’s how vast it was.

“It would be my pleasure,” answered Inky Quill. “What are you looking for?”

Twilight explained; “See, I’m looking for anything about Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“Well, let’s see.” The librarian pony turned around to face a large wardrobe-like structure that was divided into many tiny drawers labeled from A to Z. She ignited her magic and a light green aura surrounded the handle of the drawer with the letter H, puling it out and bringing it down to ground level. Inside the long and narrow drawer were small cards detailing all subjects that started with the letter H.

“Well, it seems we have a lot of different things about Hearth’s Warming Eve,” and taking a deep breath, she began; “Song compendiums, different adaptations of the play scripts, different treaties about the art related to the holiday, papers, essays, history books, some biographies, even a few graphic novels and coloring books,” and with a small smile, she finished “Although maybe you’re not interested in those.”

“I might check those later. Now, I think it’s best to start with the history books.”

“Are you searching for a particular author?” inquired Inky.

“Hmm, no, not really, just give me a list of everything you have.” The librarian made a note on a piece of parchment that was lying around and handed it to Twilight.

“These are the ones on our General Collection. If you need any help, Miss Twilight, come find me; I’ll be right here.”

Holding the list with her magical grasp, the young researcher began her walk towards the General Collection, the biggest and most visited section of the library. As she walked down the long corridor, her eyes met many other ponies working on their own projects, all of them were immersed in a book, scroll or both at the same time. Every now and then, she could see a “Quiet” sign hanging from the ceiling by delicate golden chains.

She kept following the corridor until finally reaching the General Collection section. Levitating the list in front of her, she began the hard work of gathering each and every book and scroll detailed on it. It wasn't long after she started that a huge stack of books appeared in front of her, and she hadn't even made it through half the list. This would have scared any other pony, but this was Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celiestia’s most faithful student, so instead of feeling intimidated by the task at hoof, she gratefully accepted this most generous offering of knowledge.

It must have taken Twilight about an hour and a half to finally gather all the different books and scrolls from her list. With that part done, now came the second part, the one she was most exited to begin. She made her way to one of the hundreds of the library’s work stations, as they were called; it was just a large wooden table surrounded by matching wooden chairs, but they served their purpose.

She made herself comfortable on one of the chairs and levitated a random book from her pile. The book made its way quietly through the air and landed slowly in front of Twi. She began; “A Theory on the Origins of Hearth Warming Eve.” After going through several pages of the book, a look of disappointment appeared on the unicorn’s face. It talked about the many ways of celebration that were seen around Equestria, it said nothing about the ponies that first arrived to this country’s virgin shores.

She placed the book down on the table and took another one from the pile. The same look of disappointment; same thing, different subject. “Alright, third time the charm” she said, but unfortunately it wasn't; another book to the discard pile. Four, five, six, ten, twenty, it didn't mattered; with each new book Twilight picked from the pile came a new disappointment.

Finally, just when the Sun was beginning to disappear in the horizon, she placed the last of the books on the discard pile. Turning her head, she stared speechless at the huge stack, and after taking a deep breath, heaved a long sigh. “Could this be true?” she asked to herself. “After going through dozens of books, I still can’t find what I’m looking for?” Most ponies would listen to this and let out a loud *gasp*, wondering how was it possible for anypony to go through more than just a few books in one day, but time and experience had given Twilight an incredible speed, at least when it came to reading books; Equestria’s Best Young Reader.

Beaten, Twilight made her long, silent way towards the exit, her sight locked on the carpet-covered floor as she walked down the narrow corridor. As she was passing by the counter, Inky Quill stopped her.

“How was your search, Miss Twilight?” inquired the librarian as she stepped to the other side of the counter and gathered her things before heading home.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find what I was looking for. I just can’t believe it; I went through Celestia knows how many books and scrolls and not one, NOT ONE of them talked about the first ponies that arrived to Equestria!”

“Well, miss,” began Inky, while putting away a green coat inside an also green saddlebag “You shouldn't give up just yet, you know? There are still the ones inside the Special Collection.”

Lifting her head, Twilight looked at Inky with a surprised look; “The Special Collection! You would let me inside Canterlot’s Royal Library Special Collection?!”

After giving a slight step back, Inky responded “Well, I can’t let you inside the collection without permission of one of the princesses; there are some pretty unique tomes in there.”

The library’s Special Collection was placed in a completely different wing of the building. It wasn't impossible to gain access to the area, although most of the ponies that were allowed inside came from Equestria’s most important universities and learning centers, or ponies working on some personal project with friends on high places.

Suddenly, a gentle chime was heard throughout the whole library. “Looks like the library will be closing in a few minutes, Miss Twilight, we should make our way to the exit before the doors are locked.” At night, the library doors were secured by the Royal Guard with a magical lock extremely difficult to break, leaving everyone still there locked inside until the next morning. Despite what most ponies could think, many chose to stay inside working the whole night. Even Twilight had pulled an all-nighter or two. As grim as it might sound, the atmosphere inside the library during those nights was spectral, like a cemetery.

“Ok Inky, lets head outside,” replied Twilight, and then asked “Can I walk with you?”

“Sure!” answered Inky with enthusiasm. Both mares went up the stairs and into the rotunda, chatting about this and that. When they finally found themselves outside, the Moon already shinned bright atop the celestial vault.

“Inky, you work here, tell me; how many ponies have you seen being allowed inside the Special Collection?”

“There aren't many ponies who are allowed inside. As I told you before, you need a special permit from one of the princesses to go in.” Inky continued, trying to comfort Twilight. “But you of all ponies shouldn't be afraid, you are Twilight Sparkle after all, wielder of the element of Magic and Her Highness personal protégé.”

Looking to the kind librarian in her eyes, Twilight said “You’re right, Inky. Thank you. I’ll come back after I talk with Princess Celestia, but right now, I think I’ll go to bed; I’m kinda’ tired.”

“I’ll open the doors to the collection to you myself, Miss Twilight. Have a good night.”

Twi wished a good night to Inky Quill as well and then parted ways with the young librarian unicorn. After a short walk under the moonlight, she was back inside the castle. Silently, she went up the stairs and into the single-windowed corridor. A cool breeze welcomed her. She reached her room, opened the door and walked inside. She didn't lit the lamps, just fell on her bed, over the covers. As her eye lids came together, hiding her beautiful magenta eyes, she took a deep breath and yielded her mind and her body to the night. Releasing the air inside her lungs with a long, uninterrupted sigh, Twilight Sparkle fell asleep.

Comments

[Bigmachintosh_yerik]

muy buena historia se las recomiendo a todos y que mi amigo siga asi hasta ser un libro