The Pros and Cons of Making Friends in The Wild

by SpikedPunch66

Rebel Witho̶u̶t a Cause

Author's Note:

Let me know if there's any mistakes.

Twilight Sparkle loved to study. This was a well known fact within Celestia’s school for gifted Unicorns, and indeed outside of it as well. Seeing her wandering the winding streets of Canterlot, head buried in some ancient tome, had become so common, many citizens of the capital had taken to a new sport aptly dubbed ‘Sparkle spotting’. 10 points if you managed to catch her walking headlong into a lamp post: 50 points if she walked headlong into you. Twilight's voracious appetite for knowledge meant that it would often take nothing short of Princess Celestia herself to coax her away from her studies and sometimes even then, a few dozen attempts were needed.

Her studious nature was something she took immense pride in, which is why it frustrated her to no end that she couldn’t, for the life of her, concentrate on her current lesson.

Outside the classroom window, the Sun began a slow dip below cloud cover, and the only thing keeping Twilight’s eyelids from following suit was the thought that she would never live it down. The Twilight Sparkle, the queen of pop quizzes herself falling asleep in class? They’d tell stories for years. Still, there was something about the stifling summer haze mixed with the tedious nature of a lecture on ancient tribal politics that had Twilight contemplating playing hooky for the rest of the day. She briefly allowed her mind to wander to her favoured reading spot, a pillowy soft patch of grass down by the school's lake, where the shade of an old oak provided a reprieve from the heat. There she could be lazy for the day. Well, if you could call reading an endless stream of literature, ‘being lazy’ at any rate.

“...consequently, Clover the Clever drafted a treaty which put a stop to the hostilities between the two sides.” Mrs. Inkwell concluded her lecture by snapping shut the book held aloft by her magic, the sharp sound bringing Twilight harshly back to reality.

“Can one of you give me a major outcome of this treaty besides an end to the fighting?” Twilight's mental whiplash faded just quick enough for her to realise that her irate teacher was staring right at her. “Miss Sparkle?”

“Umm uhh well…s-sorry what was the question again?” Twilight's head sunk, red cheeked from the classwide giggling that followed her floundering.

Mrs. Inkwell smiled (or atleast, what counted as smiling for her, a slight crease at one corner of her mouth) no doubt pleased to have caught Celestia’s prized pupil so thoroughly off guard. “Not like you at all dear, something bothering you?” she asked, somehow managing to sound simultaneously concerned and condescending.

Twilight shook her head “No Ma’am, just daydreaming is all,” deciding that honesty was the best policy in this instance. Mrs Inkwell clearly didn’t agree with this, otherwise she wouldn’t have raised her eyebrow quite so menacingly. Twilight gulped.

“Well, I suppose everypony has off days, even prized students,” she turned back towards the class blackboard and began writing “Try not to make a habit of it, Miss Sparkle,” she said. Twilight sighed in relief, suppressing the urge to whip around and throttle the colt behind her who hadn’t quite stopped giggling at her expense yet.

Mrs. Inkwell had been a teacher at Celestia’s school since before Twilight's dad had been a student and she had a reputation for being tough. Twilight supposed that every rumour had its limits, even ones about fierce schoolmistresses.

As if reading Twilight’s thoughts, the austere teacher sent a piece of chalk spinning through the air at frightening speed. It whizzed past Twilight's ear, catching the colt behind her on the tip of the horn. The cobalt blue colt yelped in surprise, his face turning a rather deep shade of red after being the one on the receiving end of the class's mirth. “Blue Dawn, back to work if you don’t mind,” Mrs. Inkwell said in a saccharine voice. Not once had she taken her eyes off of the blackboard.

Maybe not that one though. She wriggled in her seat and straightened her spine to rouse her attention span lest she incur the wrath of her teacher twice in the space of thirty seconds. Shortly after, she slumped forward, melting into her chair without the permission of her conscious mind.

Even after her brush with academic death, the young unicorn still found her mind drifting to the distant corners of her imagination, thoughts roaming for something, anything, to keep her from going insane. What in Celestia’s name is with me today? OH I probably shouldn’t sa- think something like that. What if the Princess can hear me? Can she read minds? I’ll have to ask her the next time I-

The sharp crack of Mrs. Inkwell's voice cut through Twilight’s musings once again and for a moment, her life flashed before her eyes at the thought of being called out twice in the same lesson. “Well that should be enough for today,” Twilight almost yelled in relief. “Please pack your things away and do remember to turn in your assignment on Commander Hurricane before next week's lesson, I’m looking at you Miss Bristle,” it didn’t take long for her voice to be drowned out by the ever increasing fervour of excitable colts and fillies, eager for freedom. Twilight couldn’t judge, she was the first one out the door.

In all her life Twilight had never found liberation from academia so refreshing. She jaunted down the vast halls of Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns, barely taking the time to admire the centuries old architecture as was her norm. No, today the high marble columns and the painstakingly carved diorama of the school's history plastered at the tops of every archway held no beauty in the eyes of Twilight Sparkle. Today she found the carpeted halls to be stuffy and overbearing. She barely spared a glance for the stained glass windows of the building's entry as she practically pranced down the steps leading toward the road to the castle. Really, her mother would have thrown a fit had she witnessed her daughter's flagrant disregard for such artwork. At this thought, Twilight giggled openly, reveling in her new found rebellious streak and eager to test its limits.

The purple ‘troublemaker’ came to a stop, remembering belatedly that the book on equestrian folklore she had borrowed from the castle's archives would be considered overdue tomorrow morning. Sure, she was hardcore now but she wasn’t some crazy anarchist. Overdue books were important, so exploring her rebel spirit would have to wait.

“Ahh what the hay, might as well pick up some light reading while I’m there,” she said to herself, giddy at the prospect. “Something fun though, like Starswirl's advanced magical principles”. Grinning from ear to ear and only slightly embarrassed at the fact that several ponies had spotted her talking to herself, the young unicorn set off for Canterlot’s grand archives.

As it often did during long walks through the narrow streets, Twilight fondly recalled her first few ventures into the wilds of her home city. The labyrinthian sprawl of Canterlot was famous for many a reason, not least of which for being impenetrable to the unprepared newbie.

As an even younger fillie, she had lost countless hours in the back streets that spread from the main thoroughfare like the roots of some enormous tree, each connective alley and dead end littered with unique, hole-in-the-wall locales that fascinated her beyond belief. In those days, she felt like a daring explorer, braving the unknown of some exotic country with equal parts treasure and danger around every corner! Of course, years later she had found out that her big brother had shadowed her on her ‘expeditions’ for safety reasons... but darn it, the magic was still there!

Now, a not quite all-grown-up Twilight was a veteran of the great maze and knew most of the shortcuts like the back of her hoof. It was this experience that made Twilight’s trip a relatively short one, cutting through a backstreet she knew led directly to the boulevard that held the Archives stately stairway.

Once there, she vaulted the alabaster steps two at a time, overtaking the slower ponies, ignoring indigent yelps of protest and bemused glances aplenty. Slightly winded, she crested the final steps with a flourish and kept up her excited pace, until she could see the entrance to the archives in all its glory.

Canterlots (and probably the rest of the countries) largest collection of knowledge could be found in the royal gardens, somehow managing to maintain a sense of prim and properness amongst the cacophony of colour. It was a massive slab of sensibly carved limestone that dominated the northeastern corner of the gardens and its muted grey/white stone blending in with the environment about as well as a minotaur in massage parlour, only with a lot more rigidity. Frankly, it stuck out like a sore hoof, much to the eternal chagrin of the royal gardeners no doubt. Twilight didn’t care though, to her the wealth of information stored within its intimidating walls made it more beautiful than any flower in sight.

Once again, she made quick work of the steps in her way and trotted through the open oak doors, greeting the flanking pair of Royal guards with a shy smile. They didn’t so much as blink back but Twilight knew they were glad to see her, if the stories from Shining were to be believed anyway. According to him the rest of the guard had all but adopted her as their own collective little sister.

Wasting no more time ruminating on the logistics of having 1000 extra siblings, Twilight made a beeline for the solid marble reception desk currently occupied by perhaps her favorite pony in the whole of the city, Quick Scribe (Actual big brothers and Princesses not included of course).

The Chief Archivist was somepony that Twilight had gotten to know rather well over the course of her apprenticeship and well before that as well seeing as he had been good friends with her father for years. With the great library practically her second home, Twilight had spent a lot of time learning from him in between bouts of groaning at his terrible humour.

As she approached the desk, Twilight noticed that the librarian was engrossed in a broadsheet, a half chewed quill floating lazily in the air, wrapped in his verdant magic aura. He mumbled to himself, unintelligibly.

“Hmm…6 letters...that can’t....”

Twilight didn’t really want to break his concentration but she couldn’t stifle the giggling that bubbled up at the sight of Quick Scribe attempting to ferry his gnawed-upon quill back into his mouth, but miss and poke himself in the nose. He startled somewhat at the noise but relaxed at the sight of the young filly, amusement rippling beneath his outwardly stern facade.

“And just what is it that you find so amusing, Miss Sparkle?” He narrowed his eyes behind the thin reading glasses perched atop his muzzle and raised one brow. The whole look might have been quite intimidating, were it not for the fact that he continued to prod himself in the face with his magic suspended quill. Fitful snorts of laughter escaped Twilight, despite her best efforts and Quick Scribe grinned at the sound.

“Hey there Sparkler,” he began in a much softer tone “I thought you might be by today, already filled out the return form for you,” a single sheet of paper, also wrapped in a translucent green drifted from behind the librarians desk and landed in front of Twilight, who wasted no time retrieving the book in question from her saddle bag.

“Thanks Quick!” She smiled at him, sunnily and Quick Scribe did his level best to stop his heart from melting at the sight. Twilight plunged on, evidently unaware of his plight. “What are you working on?”

“Hmm? Oh! Just the Equestria Daily crossword, nothing too exciting. You know how us old stallions can be,” he gave her a knowing wink but frowned as he looked back at his paper. “I must be losing my touch though, this ones throwing me for a loop,” his brow ruffled in concentration and mumbled to himself again “6 letters...a cold that lasts for years on end,” just barely loud enough for Twilight to hear.

“How about ‘ice-age’?” Twilight asked.

Quick Scribe stared at the paper for a long moment. Then, quicker than one might expect from a mild-mannered archivist, he slammed both paper and quill onto the desk with a whoop of triumph. “Ice-age! Genius!” A grin large enough for several ponies split his face “Sparkler, I suspect you've just saved me a few hours of frustration,” his manic smile was infectious and Twilight couldn’t help the pride that swelled in her chest. “Go on through, I’ll get the return all sorted,” Quick said, satisfied at having overcome his roadblock, or rather, having it removed for him.

Twilight placed her book alongside its return form and gave him one last smile before skipping past the great white desk, preparing herself for a long dive beneath the waves of the academia. Briefly, she wondered how Quick Scribe had known that she had wanted to pick out even more books but chalked it up to good guess work, as if she wasn't the most transparent pony on the planet when it came to the need to read.

The young prodigy strolled, trancelike, through the gargantuan library, and was far too enraptured by the several hundred lifetimes worth of books to pay any attention to trivial matters such as time and space. What felt like mere moments of walking was in actuality about 45 minutes and eventually, Twilight was so deep in the bowels of the archives that Quick Scribe, along with everypony else, might as well have been in another dimension.

Back when the archives had had its first major expansion, the Princess of all ponies had allegedly spent three whole days navigating her way back to the entrance from the Rom-com section. The country had been in full blown panic mode searching for her when she sheepishly emerged from the shelves with the third instalment of her favourite guilty pleasure series. From that day on, it was mandatory for a mass locator spell to be active at all times within the vast building. Now, no matter what area of the Canterlot athenaeum one finds themselves in, they will instinctively know where the entrance hall is, something that had brought Twilight no small amount of relief upon hearing for the first time. She tried to imagine what it must have been like before the spell's introduction and her impressive imagination led her to fanciful stories of lost tribes of library aids banded together in order to survive the hostile wilds of the stacks.

She plucked books from the shelves at random as she walked and idly flicked through each with a speed reader's glance. Anything that seemed particularly interesting she crammed into her already overflowing saddle bags for further study later. Around the 10th thick, unwieldy hard back that Twilight really began to notice the change.

Most other ponies probably would have seen it in the shift in lighting or felt it in the sudden weight of an oppressive atmosphere not typical of a simple library, but Twilight Sparkle being Twilight Sparkle picked it up through the contents of the books. Practical Use of Teleportation had been the first and was one that most learned unicorns were rather familiar with. Then came Spells for the Aspiring Doctor followed by A Study of Modern Flight Techniques (not that she’d need these but it was nice to know). Twilight looked at the two tomes she currently held aloft, Defensive Magic: 4th Edition and Survival Tactics: A Royal Guards Best Friend. She furrowed her brow in confusion and slight concern as clearly somewhere along the line, the material had become a tad...serious for somepony her age and not in the scholastic sense. At this revelation, she pried her attention away from the pages and took stock of her environment.

It was dark. Way too dark to be of use to any prospective scholar at any rate and Twilight could see why. The crystal-like sconces that normally dotted the gaps between shelves at regular intervals were strangely absent in this dim...wherever she was. Instead they were replaced by scarcely lit torches that burned a dull sapphire, bathing Twilight and her surroundings, in an eerie, almost arcane light. Her first instinct was to panic about an open flame in a hall of dry parchment but she figured that the fire gave off a magical feel for a reason. The shelves were different too. Gone were towering walls of alabaster, carved into the shape of alcoves and gone were the brightly coloured and clearly labeled treasures that filled them. In their place were ancient looking oak brackets that barely reached the ceiling, teeming with tattered, spine faded books that could more accurately be described as ‘grimoires’ than anything else.

It didn't take long for Twilight’s mind to catch up with her feelings of unease. After all, the restricted section was not something the average pony should play around with.

She’d only ever set foot within the ominous wing a few times before and never had she been alone. Celestia had impressed upon her the dangers that the books from these shelves could contain and the ever faithful student that she was, Twilight had made sure to listen. Even if the thought of such powerful and secret magic made her almost vibrate with excitement. It wasn’t as if she was scared of the place itself, but rather the potential disappointment on the face of the Princess should she be caught wandering around without permission.

With Celestia’s stern face locked firmly in her mind Twilight closed her eyes to concentrate on the building-wide tracking spell to find the fastest route out. Or rather, that's what she had intended to do. Instead, in the split second before she could match her own magic with the rather simple wavelength of the spell, she felt an inexplicable tugging that began at the tip of her horn. She thought nothing of it at first, perhaps a reaction from one of the old tomes being exposed to direct magic but, once the sensation spread down her horn and into her mind she was forced to take notice.

A warm, inviting sensation filled her brain, spreading like the cracks of a broken mirror only without the sharp edges. It made her happy in an indescribable way and she felt a smile creep its way across her face. It was more than simple elation however, and Twilight wasn’t entirely sure how to explain it. A sort of...sense of purpose filled her to the brim and now, the last thing she wanted to do was leave. What was she thinking? Here she was at the centre of the country's knowledge, surrounded on all sides by books that had possibly been untouched for generations and she had wanted to leave for the fear of being reprimanded? Nonsense. She had to stay and absorb as much information as possible, the Princess would understand. Rebel Twilight was back!

She took a deep breath, new aspirations in mind and stomped purposefully deeper into the foreboding depths of the restricted section.