Tapestry: A World Apart

by Star Scraper

Ch.01: Solemn Shadows

Twilight nervously shifted her weight back and forth on the royal red carpet just outside Celestia's throne room. A luminescent rainbow of tinted sunlight showered the hall from towering stained-glass windows on either side. Despite the warm light, it wasn't the sun that made her sweat.

With Celestia's order and seal, her bags had evaded any security check. Come to Canterlot at once, and do not let any pony know what you have found, Celestia had written.

Just act natural, don't be too nervous... Twilight repeated to herself, shuffling her wings. She glanced around and grinned nervously at the stone-faced guards next to the doors. She jumped when the throne room doors finally opened with a loud creak.

Spike sighed, shaking his head instead of trying to calm her yet again. He walked forward, and Twilight followed.

The massive room seemed even grander and taller than she had remembered. The stained glass records of the creation of the world, its place in the heavens and their motions, and the greatest formative acts in their world's history adorned the walls. Massive marble columns decorated with flowering potted plants towered over them on either side.

The grand throne had fountains at its base, arranged so that a never-ending flow of sparkling water trickled from one basin to another, with Celestia and Luna sitting at the head. Their solemn expressions made her tuck her tail a little further between her legs from across the enormous hall.

It was empty of the usual guards.

"Welcome, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike," Celestia greeted, projecting her voice to be heard across the distance. She stood up from her throne and approached them, Luna taking the cue and walking close beside. "You wrote that you found a particular book in my old castle?" she asked.

"Y-yes! We wrote you as soon as we found it since it was secretly hidden away – I'm sorry, I can keep secret about anything inside of it – my lips are sealed, after all I have clearance for the Starswirl Wing and this can’t be much worse than that, right?!" She frantically replied.

Spike responded to her overthinking with a look somewhere in-between concern and rolling his eyes.

"You're not in trouble, I'm sorry if I have falsely caused you to fear too much, or for the wrong reasons," the sun princess’s sweet, calming voice soothed. "You are one of the few ponies I would trust with this book – once you have learned of its contents – though I'm afraid you would be right to fear it... And yet, if you knew the full depth of what it holds, it would also excite you. May I see it?"

"Of course!" Twilight quickly unlocked her bag and magicked it out. The binding was as ethereal and dark as Luna's mane, glistening with distant stars and galaxies. It was extremely short. One talisman sealed the last pages, and another sealed the entire book. The talisman on the surface bore a simple insignia of Celestia and Luna's cutie marks in its ancient, black and sparkling granite surface.

Celestia took the book in her magic, and she and Luna looked over it.

"So what is it?" Spike asked.

Twilight glanced at him with fear, then shot a massively oversized grin at Celestia, unsure of how her old mentor would respond.

Celestia smiled a deep, tired, but true smile as she closed her eyes and spoke, "This is the Book of Knowledge. For within its pages is great truth that can be learned in no other way but by reading it."

The elder princess opened her eyes, her recollective smile fading to a more grim solemnity. "It will teach you far more than all the other shelves of this world, yet this book doesn't have any words written in it. It instead lets you experience things you cannot now imagine. It will open your eyes to see a world you do not now see, though you are in it. You must read it one day, Twilight, in order to fulfill your destiny, and yet I must forbid it."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head, growing even more nervous.

The sun-princess smiled warmly for a second. "Do not be afraid to ask. I know there must be many questions on your mind, my faithful student," she gently prompted her.

Twilight nodded, took a deep breath, and began, "Well, it's just... It's such a big deal. I don't understand what you're saying about it. So it lets me experience things directly? – but how can it be my destiny if I'm forbidden from reading it?"

"Yes, it gives you experience rather than words, and it holds secrets of untold power," Luna explained. "If ponies knew what fate it carried, they would clamor for it with armies. But if they knew what it took to 'read' it, they would bury it deep in the ocean and never sail again, for growth is always painful, and birth of a new you can only come through death of the old."

"What are you, Twilight?" Celestia continued, offering Twilight an opportunity to reflect.

"I'm your student... A young mare... A uni-alicorn. I meant alicorn!" She laughed nervously, hunching over in anxiety.

Celestia reached out and lifted Twilight's chin with her hoof, straightening her posture, looking her in the eyes. "That's right, and you're my prized pupil, and I'm very proud of how far you've come already." She gave her another small, gentle, reassuring smile.

The young mare copied the smile, her nerves relaxing at the maternal touch and reassurance.

Celestia lowered her hoof and continued in a heavier tone, "And I am an alicorn as well. Yet there's something different about us. Do you know what it is?" she gently asked.

"A bunch of paperwork," Spike replied flatly.

"Spike!" Twilight snapped.

Luna cracked a modest, amused smile.

Celestia didn't seem upset. "Yet he points in the right direction," she commented, then continued, "For years you have made friends, written me letters, done heroic and brave things for Equestria. You have taught others through word and example. You have done well, and you have done good. Yet something more remains. Just before your castle appeared, Twilight, you were feeling as though you lacked something.

“I am afraid that the truth is that you still do lack something, and you cannot have it until you read that book. Yet I must forbid you from reading that book for the evil it will do to you, and so I leave it to your choice. It is yours to read, when you feel you are ready, but know that I must forbid it. Nonetheless, it is vital to your ultimate destiny."

The night Celestia, Luna, and Cadence had comforted her came to mind. They had promised her that her time would come soon. Then she had saved the kingdom and gained a castle, but still she lacked the serenity, astral connection, and power that the two High Princesses had.

The young princess looked down at the carpet. "I-I always assumed that Discord's vines, uncovering your past... I always thought that's what you meant." She turned up to her solar mentor, more earnestly confused than sad. "That wasn't 'my time'?"

"It was, but only a small piece of it. It, like everything else in your life, was to prepare you for what lay ahead. You are now an alicorn, because you have proven yourself worthy of the challenges prepared for you, and for your true ascension. You may be an alicorn, but you are a young one, ordained for ascension, but not yet as exalted as we are. A princess, but not yet a queen.

“One challenge at a time, you have built yourself into a mare able to handle the next step in your journey. But what lies in the book is a key part that cannot be avoided, yet I cannot in good conscience ask you to take part in it., but must forbid, not by force, but by command, so you may still choose for yourself."

Her confusion only grew. Has Cadence read this yet? she couldn’t help but passingly wonder, but shelf the idea back in her mind for a more appropriate time. "But what could it be? What could I possibly read that is so awful that you'd forbid me from reading it? – or, I guess, experience, not read? But what could be so terrible but also so great? And you're giving me a choice but telling me not to?"

Luna answered solemnly, "Some things cannot be explained, but must be experienced to be understood. I am afraid we cannot do justice with words in describing what you will experience in those enchanted pages. The closest thing we can tell you, that you would understand, is that you will die."

Twilight's ears flopped down. The confusion only piled on harder, and joined with fear, straining her under its heavy weight, "D-die? But how is dying supposed to help me continue my 'journey'? This just isn't making sense!..."

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but my sister speaks the truth," Celestia replied more gently, "only if you experience the kinds of things the book offers will you ever truly understand how death can be progression, how suffering can grant you power. Now it seems to make no sense, but when you have experienced it, you will know our words are true. It is great and terrible, and for its unspeakable horrors I must forbid it. Yet for its power, and necessity to your growth, I leave the choice to be yours, to be kept in a secret place in your library."

"M-my library!?" Twilight stammered. "I – but such a book! I can't – but – " she sighed, pausing, and re-collecting herself, "If you believe that is where it should be kept, then I will keep it there," she dutifully finished.

"But what about everypony that comes through there?" Spike asked. "It's not like the Star Swirl the Bearded wing, or some locked chest in the Canterlot archives."

"Its security is yours, Twilight," Celestia asserted, then continued more gently, "I trust you to handle it. To seal it away in Canterlot would be to deny your access to it, which you need to fulfil your true being. I forbid it for the horrors it will inflict on you, but again, I leave it to your decision, so it must be in your possession. Its enchanted pages will bring upon you pains that you should dread as death, but knowledge that you cannot now comprehend, and a fulfillment you cannot yet imagine."

The younger pony timidly reached her head forward and asked, "How will I know when I'm ready?"

"You will know when it is time. It is nopony's place to decide but your own," Celestia answered.

"And what if one of my friends read it? How will I stop them? Save them? Should I even let them know I have it?" she anxiously pressed.

The eldest princess answered, "Again, its security is yours. As of now, nopony knows that it even exists. If you feel that they should know, tell them. If you feel they need protecting from this, then don't, but know also that that would mean you cannot have their help to safeguard it, either. But I also know your friends have often helped you in the past with hard decisions. And I believe you will find their help invaluable, as you have before.

"As for what to do if one of them reads it – they will be subjected to a world apart from this one, where they will experience these things. The book chooses when and where they will go, but once they vanish, words will glow on the pages. As long as the words glow, they are alive, and there is still hope to save them. But they will not last long, for the book often chooses harsh and cruel worlds. Follow while their words glow, and you will enter after them, where they did. They will need your help, comfort and guidance. Finding your way back may take time in the midst of all the great difficulty you will endure, but it will happen, so long as you seek it."

Twilight nodded. "Okay...” a tinge of fear and anxiety was audible in her voice, only to quickly disappear and be replaced with the one thing she was certain of, “It's terrifying to have something so dangerous in my library, but I trust you when you tell me it's necessary for – the next stage in my growth?” she asked.

Both of the elder princesses nodded in unison.

“Then you can count on me. I will keep it safe," she said with a final nod.

"And Twilight, one more thing, about what you said..." Celestia started.

"Yes?"

The ancient princess of the sun lunged forward, and wrapped her student in her hooves and wings. It was a strong, warm, and powerful embrace she reserved for when it mattered. "Always remember this, Twilight Sparkle. You are never forgotten. When you go, we will all eagerly await your return. The journey back must be discovered by yourself, and though your friends will help you greatly, nopony can give it to you. It is a terrifying thing, as you said, but we know you will find your way back to us when you leave. We have faith in you. We love you. Let this embrace be your lighthouse to guide you through the darkness – to guide you home."

Twilight was taken aback – the sheer depth of the horror of what lie inside the book began to dawn on her. If this is how she feels about me experiencing it...!?

Luna also approached, her love more subtle, yet just as strong. "Fear not this night, Twilight. We know you will not go astray, for though shadows fall, still the stars find their way."

"Dawn will be a heartbeat away," Celestia comforted her, "Hope, a sunrise away. The dawn will come, young princess Twilight Sparkle, it will come... When you go, we know you will endure and return to us, proud. We have faith in you."

Comments

[PuppetXMaster]

9119334
just popping my head in saying hi, felt the need to say this

I was easily able to read and understand StarScribes comment, but yours felt like I was reading something written in old English, I simply have no idea what you said. to put it simply your comment is not structured to be easily understandable

[Star Scraper]

9127881
I probably don't write my best, writing that comment at 3:30 am about something extremely nuanced...

[Antiquarian]

"Fear not this night." Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did.

[Star Scraper]

9687605
This is my favorite rendition - I think it's just the original, heh: