It was a bright and sunny day in Ponyville. The castle that the youngest princess lived in sparkled and glittered in the late morning sun. Princess Twilight Sparkle herself walked out and breathed in the fresh air. She held it a moment then let it out in a sigh. Her dragon friend that was sitting on her back did the same. "Ahhh. It is a nice day out. So what are we doing again?"
"We're just heading into town to pick up a few things for our kitchen pantry." Twilight replied starting off down the trail.
"Huh, I though we already had more than enough." Spike said laying down between her wings and staring up at the blue sky.
"Well you can't really have too much. We don’t want to wake up hungry for a midnight snack and not be able to have the snack that we want." Twilight said. She really didn't care about the groceries it was the castle. Yes she did feel much more at home after her friends decorated it and enjoyed it much more. The thing was that still from time to time the big halls still made her feel lonely and she still did not feel exactly the same as she did when she lived in the treehouse library. For one thing the library was in the middle of Ponyville and the castle was set apart a fair distance away. She also liked the homely feeling the treehouse library had that the grand castle did not. She was a princess but she still didn't feel like she should be treated special and the position that drew ponies to reverence only made her feel lonely. She wounded if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna felt that way. At least her friends treated her no different than they had before. She didn't know what she would do without them.
She trotted into Ponyville's streets with Spike falling asleep on her back. Ponies she passed either bowed slightly or acknowledged her in respect and she was certain that she caught glimpses of ponies with cameras darting behind wagons and stands. She chuckled to herself and just started looking around at the different stores and venders pretending that she didn't see them. She couldn't understand just what so interesting about pictures of her just walking around or shopping. She really didn't need any kind of food just as Spike had said. If she did go buying more produce some of it would probably go bad before they ate it. She was really hoping Apple Jack was in town selling apples so she could walk over and talk to her.
In the end Twilight didn't buy anything though she noticed that most of the venders watched her eagerly hoping she would choose them. After all it would be good for business if they could gloat that a Ponyville's princess chose to buy their goods over others. Twilight left and headed to the book store in town to see if it had any new books she hadn’t read yet. The store owner who had seen her often starting the day after she had moved into Ponyville waived hello to her from behind his desk and she waived back. She was glad that he didn't treat her too much differently.
After browsing the shelves for a time she was disappointed to find nothing new that she was interested in. When she turned around to leave she caught a glimpse of somepony stepping up to the front desk. Her rainbow colored mane and tail caught Twilight's eye instantly.
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" The store owner greeted her. "Found some books you like. Boy you sure burn through those adventure novels fast! Oh what's this? Want to try a romance novel then?"
"Shhhhh!" Rainbow Dash hissed shoving the three books she had on the desk and looking around. "No pony can know that I'm buying that one! They can only know I read cool books like Darning Do. If you tell anypony I'll never come here again"
"Alright." He said still smiling as she quickly dropped bits on the desk. Then she groaned in agony as he took a couple minutes to count out her change. She flipped the one romance novel upside down to keep anypony who might walk up from seeing the title. Then for extra measure she put another book on top of it.
On the other side of the room, Twilight watched with a hoof over her mouth to keep from laughing. If Spike was awake there was no way he would be able to keep laughing out loud. The second the store owner put her change down Rainbow Dash swiped it up, crammed the books into a bag and flew out. "Thank you. Come back anytime Rainbow Dash." The store owner called after her.
Twilight let out her laughter finally. Spike snorted and sat up halfway. "What…so funny?" He asked groggily.
"Nothing Spike go back to sleep." Twilight told him and he promptly did. Rainbow Dash and a romance novel? The world had no end to amassments. Twilight followed Rainbow Dash pretty sure she knew where she would find her. She often went to a cloud or rooftop to sit and read where she would not be interrupted. Twilight had to wake Spike to make sure he could hold on once she started flying. He just yawned, wrapped his arms around her neck and dosed off again as they flew. Twilight quickly spotted Rainbow Dash sitting on a roof in the center of Ponyville with two books closed beside her and one open in front of her. She jumped when Twilight landed. "Wa!" Rainbow Dash jumped slamming to book shut. "I was just...Oh it's just you Twilight." She said with relief then she looked a little irritated. "Don't scare me like that! I mean I wasn’t scared, scared is not the word. I was startled."
"Sorry." Twilight said with an apologetic grin. Spike yawned and stretched before sliding off her back. Scratching his stomach he looked around. "Twilight, why are we on a roof and where are the groceries?"
Twilight laughed. "I decided that we did have enough to eat at the castle."
"I told you." Spike said sitting down and putting his head in his claws.
"So Rainbow, what are you reading?" Twilight asked turning back to the pegasus. "I thought you've already read all the Daring Do's twice."
"Three times actually." Rainbow Dash replied looking down at her books and flopping the one she held back open. "Lately I've been reading that new series."
"What new series?" Twilight asked craning her head to see the books stacked next to Rainbow Dash hoping that one was the romance novel. Rainbow Dash pushed the two unopened books over in front of her. "You know, I told you about them."
Twilight read one of the titles out loud. "Book four of king Sombra's life." Her face twisted in confusion. "You were listening weren't you?" Rainbow Dash asked looking a little annoyed. "A couple Ponies read through what was left of his history and created historical fiction stories of his life. Remember? I told you about it four times."
"Oh yeah, I was kinda' distracted when you told me about it." Twilight replied. "Sorry."
"Anyway Twilight, what do you know about King Sombra? I mean me and the others were trying to distract the crystal ponies so all we ever saw of him was when he chased us as a cloud, his ugly crystals and the short time when he appeared before he was defeated again."
"Defeated by none other than Spike the brave and glorious." Spike added with his head held high.
"Well," Twilight started as she collected from her brain every bit of knowledge she had learned about him. "From what I've read and have been told from Princess Celestia and the crystal ponies it's a bit of a dark story. You see at some point he managed to gain a powerful position the Crystal Empire even though he was an outsider, as I'm sure you've noticed that he's not a crystal pony. The details are all lost on how but is seemed to be by some shady means. A lot of ponies were disgruntled on not only how he took over but things that he did in his position. He was so afraid of losing his power so he created his magic of dark crystals to intimate all who opposed. It worked, they didn't oppose and he eventually took complete control. After that treated the citizens of the Crystal Empire so badly that he gained the attention of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They came to free them but as me and Spike-"
"Spike the brave and glorious." Spike said posing and flexing muscles.
"Found out that he always thought ahead." Twilight continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted. "He had already cast a curse to make the Crystal Empire vanish. We now know that he actually sent it and all the crystal ponies to the future. He probably figured that in a thousand years the princesses would have been dethroned by some enemy and he would be free to take back over. You know the rest after that."
"Oh," Rainbow Dash replied lost in thought. She tapped her chin with a hoof as she pondered.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked sensing that something was amiss.
"Well reading these books I started to actually feel a little guilty about it all." Rainbow Dash replied.
"What do you mean? I saved an empire." Spike protested before Twilight could speak. "And you guys helped a little."
"I don't understand." Twilight said.
"Well in these books and they are very good. Great plots and action and all that but King Sombra is not what I expected. He's actually pretty cool and likeable." Rainbow Dash explained.
"Oh?" Twilight said looking at the books anew. She opened one and began flipping through the pages.
"Yeah, I began to wonder what if he was actually like that." Rainbow Dash asked. "If so then it would be pretty sad. I mean in the books he's not really a bad guy at all. He's even kind and 20% cooler than anything I would have expected. That's why I was starting to feel this way. I mean we didn't actually save the empire like Spike the brave and glorious," She said poking Spike with a hoof. Spike just posed again. "Perfect title for me don't you think." He said more than asked.
"But we were still part of it and if he really wasn't all that bad a pony it would be pretty sad with what happened to him and all." Rainbow Dash continued. "What do you think Twilight?"
Twilight closed her eyes and thought it over. After a couple minutes she opened them. "Well Rainbow Dash I think the key word to remember here is fiction. It's historical fiction even if they follow events that actually happened and that everything in between only came from the imagination of the writer. Even down to the personality and intent of the ponies from history. Consider this, in the future any pony could wright about you in historical fiction and stick to the events that happened but portray you as scaredy-cat who barely overcame her fears to do the amazing things you did."
"What!" Rainbow Dash shrieked with her wings flaring out. "Who would do that?! If they did I would give them a big piece of my mind!" She hit her hooves together for emphasis.
"They generally wait until you’re no longer around to protest." Twilight said. "But anyway I think from King Sombra's actions we can know that he was not like he's described in these books. I've gotten some of the crystal ponies to talk to me about what happened. Most were pretty reluctant and from what the ones who did told me I can see why." Twilight actually shuddered as she remembered what they had said. "King Sombra did some awful things and would have done more if not stopped." Twilight tapped the book with a hoof. "One thing to keep in mind always Rainbow Dash is that historical fiction and even movie films about ponies isn’t how you learn who a pony really was wither they make it over historical events or an entirely new story with some real pony portrayed in it. Parts or most of it comes from the artiest imagination or just what sells best. Their meant for entertainment. They’re not textbooks or unbiased documentaries and even those can be wrong sometimes. These are just books somepony wrote for entertainment not for facts."
Rainbow Dash though it over. "You’re right Twilight, I didn't realize that." She said. "I mean in these books that fact is way less obvious than Princess Celestia: Vampire Hunter."
Twilight's face twisted up. "Say what?"
Rainbow Dash laughed. "Never mind, you don't want to know. Just stay out of that far corner of the book store."
"Well I'm glad I could help. Twilight said standing up and stretching out her wings.
"Hopefully no pony believes these books." Spike said.
"I wouldn’t worry about it." Twilight replied.
"I don't know Rainbow Dash kinda' believed it." Spike pointed out.
Twilight just shrugged. "Unfortunately it does just happen sometimes. It's best to remember for yourself not to believe everything you read or see in a film." Twilight said then looked back at Rainbow Dash with a mischievous grin. "So what's this about you getting a romance novel?"
"N-nothing." Rainbow Dash replied slamming the book shut again and trying to hide it under her forelegs. "J-just one of them happen to have characters that get a little sappy and...stuff. I'm only reading to keep from breaking the series."
Twilight tipped her head sideways trying to get a better look at the book. "It doesn't look like one of the one's from the series. It doesn't even have Sombra's name in the title."
"Sure it does." Rainbow Dash said sitting on the book and wrapping her tail around to cover the spine.
"Then let me see."
"No!"
"If it's just one of the series what's the big deal? Let me see it." Twilight said circling around her trying to get at the book.
"NO!"
"Rainbow, let me see."
"NOOOO!" Rainbow Dash snatched up the book and took off.
Twilight flew after her. "Come on. I won't make fun of you. Let me see."
Spike watched as they both quickly disappeared. He put is claws on his hips and glared at the dots that they were now. "Don't you think you've forgotten something!" He yelled after them. "How am I going to get down from here? Great, just great!"
* * *
Miles away in Canterlot Princess Luna sat in the royal library sorting the newest shipment of books. She had the guards bring various new fiction novels every few months as she had grown quite fond of many of the stories especially Daring Do. This box of novels seemed a little more dull than the previous ones as she levitated them up one by one with her magic. As she neared the bottom of the box she picked one up and her eyes widened. She stared at the cover that depicted her sister sitting in a chair and holding an ax. “Princess Celestia: Vampire Hunter?” She read the title out loud. She stared at it a moment longer then a smile spread over her face. She jumped up and galloped down the hall. “Oh, sister I have a wonderful new book for you to read!”
THE END
Author's Note
Celestia will hopefully will take that book in good humor.
It is marked as complete but I plan to expand on this story soon.
