Nightmare's Return

by CanterlotGuardian

Interlude - Canto II: So Out of Reach

Twilight stood at the entrance to the Royal Archives, staring up at the ornate door that barred entrance to the most sacred of libraries in all of Equestria. Standing beside her, as she had since Twilight was a tiny filly, was the ruler of Equestria herself.

Celestia looked down at Twilight, who had a look of utter determination on her face. She had no idea, really, why Twilight had insisted so vehemently upon going to the room where the Archives were kept. She did know, though, that if Twilight thought this was important, and if she thought something in here was going to help her save Rainbow Dash from Chrysalis’ clutches…

Then she was not going to be foolish enough to get in the way.

“So how do we get in?” Twilight asked. “I can’t find any kind of keyhole or anything that could be used to open the door…”

Celestia smiled. “There is a reason for that, my student. If we were to make it that easy to get in, then maybe somepony might find out something they do not need to know. True, they may want to know it, but whether or not they need to know it is something else entirely.” She faced the door now. “And besides, this castle is watched over by two of the most powerful magic users in the history of Equestria - three, in fact, when you are here. If there was one way out of all of the ways that we could stop ponies from getting where they didn’t belong, one way that we had to choose…I would much rather choose the most inconvenient one of them all.”

She stopped talking then, and closed her eyes, and her horn glowed a brilliant white. The hinges and dark lines around the door glowed the same color, and soon the entire door was awash in a light as bright as the Sun itself. It only lasted for a brief moment, though, and then the light faded.

“What did you do?” asked Twilight when Celestia’s horn returned to its normal color and she opened her eyes again.

Celestia smiled. “Why, I unlocked the door. Magic unlocks magic, as Starswirl’s old saying went.” She reached out a hoof, and pushed open the door. It did not creak at all, even though Twilight could guess that it had been quite a while since it had last been opened. The door slid smoothly over the marble floor, polished to the point where even Rarity could have used it as a mirror to do make-up for somepony and had no problem with it at all.

As they walked into the Archives, Celestia continued: “Magic, in spite of what many may believe to the contrary, is the truest and most accurate way of unlocking knowledge that we may or may not have ever had the chance to realize for ourselves. This is why it is imperative that we find out something hear, that may help us in our endeavor to get Rainbow Dash back.” She looked down at Twilight. “I have refrained thus far from asking you this simple question, but I am afraid I cannot put it off any longer: What do you suppose to find out from this expedition? What do you want to know that can only be found in the Archives?”

Twilight stopped and looked Celestia full in the eyes. “I want to know where Chrysalis came from. I want to know where the Changelings’ homeland is. And I want to know whether or not she really is related to Princess Cadance.” She turned and began walking anew. “Please don’t ask me why those things in particular, because I don’t know. My mind is just telling me that these are the questions that need to be asked, and answered.”

Celestia nodded, not in approval nor in understanding, for she in honesty had neither of those things in reference to the current situation. Rather, she knew that Twilight had a purpose to all this, and a hunting expedition with a clear, concrete purpose (in her experience) usually had better results than a hunting expedition with no purpose at all, if there truly was such a thing to be had.

When Twilight came into view of the main library portion, her jaw dropped. Never in her life had she seen so many books, stacked high on top of each other on shelves and in columns at the end of the shelves. There were so many, not all of them could even fit in what space had been allotted for them.

Twilight looked at Celestia now, with the same awe and reverence that she had just given to those dusty old tomes, and Celestia felt a pang of sorts sear through her heart. She knew just how much reading and knowledge meant to Twilight, and to be able to think for a second that she meant as much to her student as the knowledge she was able to impart to her… It was a beautiful thing.

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked, in a deferential whisper, almost as though she was in any regular old library, trying to ask the librarian where a particular book was.

“Yes, my student?” Celestia responded.

“How do you keep all these books organized?”

Celestia had to stifle a quick laugh; this wasn’t exactly what she’d expected Twilight to say. Nevertheless, she had a ready answer: “It is tradition for the ruling family to spend a while in the Royal Archives every few years, getting acquainted with where everything new is and remembering where everything old is. It is simply so that just in case something from very long ago needs to be referenced to deal with something that is more recent than that, the rulers know where to go in order to get that information.” Twilight nodded; this was a more than satisfactory answer for her.

She turned once again, and Celestia could almost visibly see her steeling her resolve for the search that was in front of them. She began the walk into the halls of the Archives, and Celestia followed close behind her, and in the cover of darkness, on the other side of the room…

A pair of azure blue eyes intently watched their every move.

Comments

[squalllockheart]

How is this not featured? It's rare that I read this much in one sitting, let alone at 1am. Keep up the good work with this.

[CanterlotGuardian]

3217380
it's not Featured because it's not Mane 6 shipping, mindless comedic fluff, or clop. none of those things (as of right now) are probably even going to show up in this story. which more than likely will ensure it never hits the Featured box.

or maybe I'm just submitting updates at the wrong time. I, quite frankly, am clueless about that.

[Butterwings]

3222918 That, or its just the way you're holding Applejack like that all day all night.

[pokefreak13]

Can't wait to read more!

[Tali_The_Lamia]

Ok first off anyone else notice the letters on your bar say Blush?

Second. They are acting way to calm about this situation.