And you give it the meaning you desire.
It was a cold evening in Canterlot, the rays of the Sun were barely able to pierce through the thick clouds that covered the sky. Ponies everywhere were finishing their daily chores and were getting ready to head back home.
Towering above them was the Canterlot Castle, from where Princess Celestia ruled over all of Equestria, and also where a little unicorn filly, the Princess’ personal protégé, was finishing a report on her studies of the day.
“And that... is why...” said Twilight as she moved the quill over the parchment, “one must never turn solid objects into a gas.” Once she finished, she left the quill resting on the bottle of ink and held the parchment in front of her with her magic.
“Perfect!” she exclaimed as she folded the report several times and put it in an envelope. “That should be enough to calm the insurance company.”
The filly jumped from her seat, the envelop held firmly on her magic grasp. “Seriously, it’s almost as if they don’t care about Aristrotle’s magical research.” she mused as she grabbed her small saddlebags and took out a small book.
“Well, I’ve taken care of that. Let’s see what else I have to do today.” She opened the book and flipped the pages, scanning the words scribbled on them until she found what she was looking for.
“Thursday night, Thursday night…” Twilight traced the page with her hoof until she found what she was looking for “A-ha! Here it is, Thursday Night, I have… Gah!” Twilight let out a gasp that caused her to drop the book.
A frown formed on her face and her muzzle scrunched. She had dreaded this night for the past week, and now the time had come. With a small trace of anger, she muttered the words “Book Club.”
Twilight loved reading. Even at her short age, she read more books in a year than the average Canterlot household, and in the two years she had been studying under Celestia’s tutelage, she had read almost a fourth of the books in the Canterlot Library.
And even though Twilight wasn’t the most sociable of ponies, she still enjoyed hearing other ponies’ opinions; and she had had several enriching experiences in several book clubs this year, despite always being the youngest.
So, why did Twilight felt this way towards this particular book club? It was a double reason, really. One reason she wasn’t looking forward to this week’s meeting was the book they were reading, she didn’t particularly enjoy it. But the main reason was—
“Good evening, everypony!” said an older mare in an overtly excited way.
“Good evening, Mrs. Subtext,” greeted the other members of the Book Club in unison.
“Good evening, Mrs. Subtext…” said Twilight, half-heartedly.
When Twilight’s parents had enrolled her in Canterlot’s Book Club for Avid Readers, she had felt extremely excited. This was the most exclusive book club in all of Equestria, only very cult ponies were members, and Twilight had hoped she’d discuss classics of literature such as Ernest Haymingway and George Orwhinny.
Sadly, the club’s rules said that Twilight couldn’t be in the so-called “mature” level, not even in the “intermediate” level, even though Twilight had already read most of the books on its program.
No, Twilight had been sent to the “Young Readers” program, and only due to her status as the Princess’ student. This alone wasn’t too bad; Twilight had a special place in her heart for the ‘Daring Do’ series, alongside many others.
What really bothered Twilight was the mare in charge of the book club meetings.
“This week we read ‘Bright Star’s Dream’, the new young adult novel that came out last month!”
Flimsy Subtext.
Flimsy was an old friend of her mom who had landed the job of presiding the meetings of the Young Readers program of the CBC. She had always seemed like a nice mare to Twilight, her mom and Mrs. Subtext weren’t particularly close, but she often came to visit and seemed to know a lot about books; which was why Twilight had initially been excited about the Book Club.
That is, until she met the real Flimsy Subtext.
“Now, it is pretty obvious that the author tries to convey a message of empowerment through Bright Star's rebellion against societal norms,” Mrs. Subtext said with a grin on her face.
Twilight had imagined something like this would happen, Mrs. Subtext was passionate to the point of vehemence, but her points weren’t what a logical pony would call accurate, fair or well thought out.
“And how she is repressed and unjustly punished in the end is a call to reflection for the reader,” she continued, “who must not let themselves be oppressed by society.”
Once she finished, she adjusted her glasses and rubbed a hoof on her chest. Some of the colts and fillies around Twilight even clapped their hooves in admiration, and that was what bothered her the most, knowing that young impressionable minds were being shaped by such a skewed perspective.
“Now my dear young readers,” Flimsy Subtext continued, “what did you think? Don’t you agree with the views of the story?”
That was something else that bothered Twilight, whenever somepony had an interpretation that differed from Mrs. Subtext, she simply brushed it aside as ‘not really getting it’ and encouraged them to try again next time. It had gotten to the point where Twilight was the only one that openly questioned her views.
And Twilight took it upon herself to try to question Mrs. Subtext, thinking that maybe the other kids would follow her example.
So she took a deep breath and raised her hoof.
Everyone turned around to see Twilight, and the room fell silent.
“Ah, Miss Sparkle,” Flimsy smiled a forced smile and spoke in her usual saccharine tone “with what whimsical tale will you delight us this week?”
Twilight felt her left eye twitch, but managed to maintain her composure
“I just don’t think that’s really the message of the story,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Every colt and filly in the room gasped audibly, and Twilight thought one of them may have fainted, but she didn’t divert her gaze from Flimsy Subtext.
“Ah, Twilight, Twilight.” Mrs. Subtext removed her glasses and began cleaning them with a tissue. “Always so rebellious.”
Twilight found ironic that she would reprimand her for being rebellious when she had praised that aspect of the book just a minute ago.
But Twilight saved that thought for later, right now she just had one thing to say.
“I always doubted the decision of the directives of letting you in the program at such a young age.” She then put back her glasses. “But please, by all means do share with us what you think the book really is about.”
Twilight took another deep breath, and prepared herself for what she knew was coming.
“I think ‘Bright Star’s Dream’ is about a spoiled filly who gets appropriately punished for her actions.”
Mrs. Subtext guffawed. “Well, isn’t that rich” she then laughed again. “Oh, Miss Sparkle, you sure make an interesting point.” She then stood up and looked at the rest of the kids in the room. “Young Readers, here you can see a clear example of somepony projecting her own problems into the story.”
Twilight breathed slowly, just as Cadence had taught her. She still had something to say.
“Ms. Sparkle, surely you don’t really believe that that’s what the story is really about.” said Mrs. Subtext, mocking her.
Twilight smirked, and calmly continued “I do, and what’s more,” she jumped from her seat, holding a piece of paper. “the author agrees with me.”
Everyone in the room, including Mrs. Subtext, gasped again; and this time Twilight was sure somepony fainted.
Triumphantly, Twilight floated the piece of paper towards her adversary. “See for yourself.”
Dear Twilight,
I am glad to know you liked my book, and regarding your question, well, yes.
‘Bright Star’s Dream’ is a cautionary tale against foals who think they’re always right and the rest should always agree with them. And that punishment would await to those who don’t change for the better. I partly write it as a lesson to my daughter.
I don’t see why you had to ask, though. I thought I was being pretty clear in the book. Either way, I would like to thank you again for reading my story. You are a very perceptive young filly, and I encourage you to always keep reading.
Yours Truly,
Shooting Star.
"The author was signing books in Canterlot last weekend," said Twilight, a big grin plastered in her face.
The room was silent.
Mrs. Subtext had stopped reading and was just staring at the floating piece of paper.
Twilight sat back on her seat and crossed her forelegs behind her neck, satisfied.
“Well, Ms. Twilight…” Mrs. Subtext began. And Twilight was eager to hear her admit defeat.
“This is very nice, but you should remember that everypony gets a different meaning from what they read, and one shouldn’t try to find or conform to a single interpretation.”
“Buh?”
She did not just—
“Now, if that’s settled, let’s talk about next week’s book,” said Mrs. Subtext.
She did.
Twilight crossed her forelegs and sank into her chair. This day hadn’t turned out as planned, but Princess Celestia said one should always be optimistic. Maybe next week’s meeting wouldn’t turn out as bad.
“This is a personal favorite of mine,” the old mare kept talking as she rummaged through her bag, looking for the book. “And it has recently come out!” She then pulled a book with a black cover. “It’s the last installment of the ‘Sunset’ saga: ‘Coming Dusk’!”
Twilight ‘s face fell flat.
“Isn’t it exciting?” Mrs. Subtext asked while giggling “This is the conclusion of the romantic vampony story of our time!”
Twilight felt her left eye twitch.
“I am so very sorry, Flim.” Twilight Velvet kept her head down. “Twilight has a short temper, but something like this has never happened.”
“You’re damn right it hasn’t, Twi!” yelled a thoroughly disturbed Flimsy Subtext. “When was the last time somepony heard of a filly shredding every piece of paper in an entire house with a tornado of magic!?”
The paramedics finished wheeling out the last pony out of Flimsy’s house. The poor colt was covered in paper cuts, and had patches of fur missing. Twilight Velvet kept apologising profusely as Night Light waited in a carriage with their daughter.
“This is the fourth book club in seven months, Twi.” said her father while looking at the building. The broken windows and splotches of ink in the walls gave it an eerie look. It was a pity that there was still half a year until the next Nightmare Night.
His daughter avoided her gaze, too embarrassed to actually answer. Night Light stroked her mane gently. She would still be grounded, but there was no point in making her feel worse.
“Tell me.” He laid on the seat next to his daughter and spoke again. “What happened in there?” He softly tickled Twilight behind her ears. “ Did she badmouth one of your mom’s books?”
Twilight tried to stifle a laugh, but couldn’t hold it. She giggled as her dad kept tickling her, and once he stopped and she caught her breath she answered. “It’s not that…” she sat upright before continuing. “She just started talking about that new vampony book, and—”
“You mean that ‘Sunset’ thing?” Her father cut her off. “Sheesh, I’m surprised you didn’t send the whole neighbourhood to the Moon.”
“Dad…” Twilight whined.
He smiled. “I’m just kidding, honey.” He then gave her a small hug. “But don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be cleared up soon enough and we’ll be able to put all of this behi—”
“Your daughter is banned from participating in any of Canterlot’s Book Club activities, or even getting near us again!” Night Light’s reassurance was interrupted by a yell from Ms. Flimsy.
“I’m ruined!” cried Twilight as she pressed her face against the cushioned seat of the carriage. “Princess Celestia is going to disown me as her student.”
“Now, now, Twilight. You’re going to poke a hole in the cushion.” Night Light grabbed Twilight with his magic and brought her close to him. “Princess Celestia won’t disown you, in fact she wrote us a letter this morning about a certain thing we were going to discuss with you.”
As Night Light had anticipated, this perked his daughter’s interest.
“What is it, dad?” she asked curiously.
“It’s about the dragon you hatched during your entrance exam. Since he’s already learning to speak, Princess Celestia thought it would be a good idea to introduce him to you.” He said, remembering the contents of the letter.
Twilight’s face brightened when she heard this “She really said that?”
“That’s right,” Night Light continued “now you can have a little friend to force to accept your opinions about literature.”
Before Twilight could protest, her mom got on the carriage and slammed the door behind her. She was seething, and Night Light could swear he saw steam coming from her nose.
“Uh… Mom?” ventured Twilight.
“Yes, honey?” answered the white unicorn through her teeth.
“Is…” Twilight paused before continuing, “is Mrs. Subtext going to press charges?”
Twilight Velvet gave a menacing look through the carriage’s window before letting out a loud sigh “No, no she won’t.” She let her head bounce with the rhythm of the moving vehicle for a while. “After a bit of persuasion, she agreed to let this slide, provided we fix her windows and restore her collection of books.”
“Oh!” The filly perked up at that. “Really? That’s very understanding of—” she stopped talking once she saw the smug look on her mother’s face.
“Flimsy had a collection of first editions of the Sunset saga,” Twilight Velvet said, “those are very, very pricy.” She then turned towards her husband and asked him “Do you think it would be a fitting punishment if Twilight were to buy those out of her allowance?”
A look of abject horror appeared on the little unicorn’s face.
“I think it would, honey.” Night Light smiled. “What’s more, I heard the author was going to do a signing of books here in Canterlot next week, I’m sure Flimsy would appreciate that.”
Everypony in that block came out immediately when they heard the anguished cry of a young filly.
