Author's Note
Inspired from the title of this track (not the track itself, but it sounds pretty nice too).
Also inspired by my lack of passion for reading until I came up to fimfiction, although I still only read a bit of fimfiction from time to time, not actual books. Recently I've been trying to motivate myself to read more books but I gave up on a lot of them, every page on I began to lose interest and overthinking on why I couldn't get myself to step into one single sheet of words.
So I'm not trying convince the message of understanding and analyzing books, but to give them a chance and eventually find something out of it.
P.S. I had thought about making this story based on Twilight's past and her growth for books, but I chose to make that a bonus chapter, so I can include both my original idea and... this.
P.S. #2: I don't know how the staircase works in Twilight's castle, but I made up the part about it being spiral. It was done just to fit the story.
Give It a Try
"Ah've came here to talk to you about somethin', Twilight."
The olive toned filly of a rather pale face, with a large red bow, stood by the giant entrance door of the Friendship Rainbow Castle. The alicorn noticed the strange aura growing around her. It was zero dark thirty, at least determined the wooden clock while oscillating through her brain.
"Apple Bloom?" She leaned forward, her eyes were full of concern. "What are you doing here?"
Right this instant, Apple Bloom dropped a newly printed book stacked of perhaps three hundred pages. The sound of the drop startled the Princess, as she put a hoof to her chest. The filly closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, avoiding any eye contact, she spoke up,
"Ah want to learn how to read."
A rush of silence struck her naked underbelly. 'She can't be serious right now' was the repeated phrase cycling through the alicorn's mind. Taking a long sigh, Twilight smiled and teleported Apple Bloom over to her side, giving her a gentle nudge on the forehead.
"We'll see how this goes as we walk over to my library, but for now, leave that book behind."
The staircase showed a long spiral up into the dark caverns of space. Every step for Apple Bloom required a ephemeral amount of courage whispered into her tiny ears. The library seemed like an unfathomable journey that seems to be lost within its own direction. Shivering in fear, Apple Bloom looked behind and was ready to quit.
Twilight summoned two books in front of her. One was an ancient looking book with an old fashioned cover, labeled as a "classic that everypony has to read once in their lifetime", as if it was a treasure within oneself. The other book was fairly new, with a clear and an interesting title to hook just about anyone. She looked up at her mentor for guidance, and straightforwardly Twilight answered,
"There is no such thing as a book being better than another, they're all the same with different values toward different ponies. Just because it's a classic doesn't mean anything more important." She tapped her chin. "Maybe that can be your first lesson on how to create your own reading habit."
A second of hesitation was all Apple Bloom needed to pick out her preferable choice. But she soon realized how little she had thought about judging a book by its cover. 'What if this book was boring? How much time would be wasted if Ah forced myself to read so much?' Such thoughts loomed over her head in a repetitive motion, she almost missed a step that could have had her fall..
"So Apple Bloom —" Twilight put away the "classic" novel back to its original shelf "— what made you suddenly come in the middle of the night just to ask me about reading?"
In a quiet and almost timid manner, the latter gloomily looked up to Twilight. They exchanged glances awkwardly as they continued to trot up the stairs.
"Well Twilight, Ah've been wondering how my family were always so different from other ponies in Ponyville or anywhere else. We are isolated to a huge farm, we speak differently from them, we act differently from them. Whenever Applejack comes home she would talk on the kitchen table on how hard it was to talk with Ms. Mayor Mare because it was so fancy."
Twilight gathered the filly's information together inside her head. "And what's wrong with that?"
"We just do our chores, we do our businesses with other ponies. But one thing Ah felt we lacked was academic education, we don' care about anything else besides our own Apple family members, and most of us just act upon our instincts, which did get us into a lot of trouble."
"And there were other times in school when ponies would just make fun of the way I talk. Often I would miss a syllable or somethin' like that. It sometimes made me feel so left out and weird. At times I barely talked to other ponies, probably 'cause we can' understand them."
Twilight shook her head. "Accents shouldn't judge you for your linguistic abilities, but I see what you mean."
When the two ponies finally reached Twilight's library, Apple Bloom was awestruck by the scintillating shelves and the breathing of the pages on each and every sheet of innumerable books. Everything felt so gigantic and towering over her tiny, filly sized body. She could do nothing about herself as she sat there amazed at Twilight's colossal collection of endless books. She can spend her entire lifetime devoted to completing the sacred haven.
Of course, only if she was devoted.
She wanted to exclaim, she wanted to jump, she wanted to snatch something and pin it down word for word. Unfortunately it wasn't what she expected, when her hind legs would not obey her command. The sheer force of will cannot do so alone when reality was thrown into her face.
"But I never liked reading..." She mumbled to herself.
"We can get started here, Apple Bloom." Twilight walked to the middle of the enormous sized library and placed the filly's book of choice in front of her very own tangerine painted eyes. Apple Bloom wanted to take a glance at it, but under the glistening moonlight from the clear windows above and the silver lust of the book cover itself, she bit her lips in grief and anxious pain. Shaking her head in nostalgia, Twilight took a small breath and closed her eyes.
"First, read the title out loud to yourself."
And she did. The title was called "Her Exemplary Orchard", written by a pony whose name went by Simmer Frost. She realized that she even read the author's name out loud. A trace of awkwardness remained inside her once she opened to the first page. However, it was not numbered.
"As you grow older, the books you read will have a preface section where the author will state her purpose of writing her story. Most ponies would often skip it or skim through with haste, but I believe that it's just as valuable to read it in order to fully take in the character of the author herself. You should give it a try."
Nodding her head, Apple Bloom did so, reading the preface page word for word. Nearly losing interest and on the verge of averting her eyes away, and perhaps even some gleaming tears rolling down her yellow cheeks, Apple Bloom opened a caged door where her mind exploded with beaming emotions.
'Dedicated to my brother-in-law, who gave everything he had to look after me until his time arrived on the battlefield.'
Apple Bloom covered her mouth with her hoof, nearly heartbroken not for herself, but for another pony whom she never met nor knew well. Now though, the once missing pieces were starting to fall into place. She subconsciously flipped from page to page, trying to delve into the blank world of meaningless scope and suffuse it with Simmer Frost's purpose of writing her story.
'But she's into the book too soon, a new reader like her can either fall in love the first time or tire out.' Twilight thought to herself, a mask of vain enfolded her doubtful judgement. She casually watched the silver moonlight piercing through the vaporized clouds, as if Luna had commanded this to be so. A glistering teardrop took a free fall from the sky. Twilight felt as if she was reading a hidden story enwreathed behind the faint mist.
An uncertain future she can tell, but she was no prophet to begin with, so she silently walked away from the passionate filly who could not take her eyes off the first page of the very first chapter. She turned to take a glimpse of a blinking star.
'I heard that there was supposed to be a meteor shower this midnight, but lucky for Apple Bloom she gets to read.'
A relaxing moment after she took a nice stroll around her castle, peeking at its natural structure and listening to the shallow breathing from its unnoticeable crystal fissure, the Princess of Friendship and books returned to the library. Only then she found a defeated Apple Bloom lying on the ground with "Her Exemplary Orchard" tossed aside.
Usually, she would arouse anger.
Tonight, she was the teacher, and she will seek sympathy for her little apprentice.
Without hesitation, she kept her pace walking over to the defeated filly, who was silent and cold even under the hanging lights from the high ceiling above.
"Apple Bloom, what's the matter?"
Twilight could hear a low sigh coming from Apple Bloom, she sat down next to her, stroking her cherry red mane.
"Can you at least tell me what you read through so far?"
Apple Bloom did not move, her head covered and wrapped around by her small yellow hooves. Despite no sounds of complaints, Twilight was certain of the filly's displeasure through her heavy breathing.
"Well, all Ah know, is that a mare named Cauliflower and her colt Rusty Leaves lived alone in a small cottage. They had nothing to do for themselves but to grow pretty flowers in the orchard behind their home."
"That was an excellent start!" Twilight pretended to be optimistic. "I don't see the problem at all."
Apple Bloom looked away in disappointment. "That was all I had until I got lost on page ten..." She let out a slow sigh. "Ah don' know Twi', Ah don' think I can ever do this. Once Ah began readin' the words, they just went lost inside my head."
"Ah hate bein' lost, which caused me a lot of trouble back when Ah was smaller."
"I couldn' understand them, just mumble jumbles when I tried to read it. How am Ah gettin' anythin' done at this point?"
Twilight rubbed her chin, recalling the filly's internal struggles. She levitated the book right in front of Apple Bloom's eyes once more, flipping the pages while answering her,
"What you're telling me, is a feeling of misdirection and lack of resolution. You couldn't get the heavy burden off your chest." She held the book with the tip of her wings: a lavender creamed feather setting the book at the first page, and pointed to the first word of the first chapter. "But it's more the reason why we must keep diving into the frozen lake until our mind is able to adapt to Simmer's writing style."
Apple Bloom could barely look at the book once more. "I... I have to start... All over...?"
Twilight nodded. "And it is the only way to succeed."
"But..."
Twilight gently rubbed Apple Bloom's forehead. "Sometimes you should try to be more flexible and approach reading in different ways, thinking of getting something to work out by only one blunt way can't solve anything. It's called stubbornness—" she shook her head, smiling as she talked on " —something your Apple family was born with since Celestia first overthrew Discord."
"Wow..." Apple Bloom was amazed, yet still unsure. "Well how can I start?"
She was quickly answered with a mini-dictionary, a few hundred page encyclopedia and a packet of post-its in front of her. Puzzled, Apple Bloom turned around to look at her mentor, who gave her a wink.
"Read word for word, but this time, try to understand everything you've came across as clear as possible, search up any word or object that you don't know the meaning of."
Apple Bloom stared down at her new assistant tools in dismay. "Ah appreciate all the help you gave me, Twi', but I just couldn' help but feel as if Ah'm not smart enough or something."
"There is no such thing as one being 'dumb', Apple Bloom, it only means that we as ponies all start from somewhere different, but we all start from the bottom. Given enough time a flower will bloom."
She could not help but let out a smile. "I'm absolutely certain that your sister Applejack, along with Big Mac and Granny Smith, were right to give you such a beautiful name."
Apple Bloom was still in self doubt. "Do you... really think so?"
"Of course I am! And you've came to the right place to improve your mentality even better. Reading may not seem to be an attractive hobby, but it is where one's knowledge and beliefs becomes absorbed within another's self, and eventually it is the ultimate satisfaction to fulfilling wisdom and amenable towards life."
"Actually, I've also made your life just a bit more convenient." She brought over a huffy Spike into the library and set him onto the floor next to the dictionary and encyclopedia. He groaned in protest.
"Twilight, you know it's supposed to be my bedtime, right?"
She giggled. "Anything comes after a friend who's in need of a hoof, right?"
He looked at the awkward little filly, then to "Her Exemplary Orchard", and sighed.
"Fine, but you'll have to buy me more gems tomorrow."
Twilight nodded in delight. She casually walked away once more from the two innocent creatures, a smile remained on her face throughout her steps. After she read the title and author of the book, Apple Bloom began her second attempt with a lump in her throat,
"With a leap of faith, Rusty Leaves was desperate to mark his a thousandth attempt to succeed on catching the curious brown squirrel roaming around his backyard. Ambitious yet cautious he was, the bushy tailed rodent nevertheless had an advantage over him through it sleek reflex and mind-blogging speed..." She frowned at that last word, and could not help rereading the same sentence over and over again. She was mentally distraught, the fog grew thick and unwary around her, until a tap of a claw was felt. Apple Bloom turned around, and there was a young dragon flipping through the dictionary.
"'M', 'M', 'M'... A-ha here it is!" He directed Apple Bloom to take a look at the definition herself, and she read it aloud,
"Mind-blogging, an adjective used to describe something that is rather puzzling and hard to understand, whether it be positive or negative." She lifted her head up and looked away. "Oh. That wasn't so bad."
"See? It's just like reading Power Ponies or Daring Do, with a bit more effort researching on the context, you'll get the hang of everything before you know it!"
Spike noticed Twilight standing behind the shadows of the staircase, a dragon thumb up was exchanged with an alicorn wink, the elements of chemistry lending their hooves and claws to a friend in need. Feeling accomplished, Twilight trotted downstairs to retrieve the book that Apple Bloom dropped by the door. On her way, she caught glimpses of stardust fragmenting past her windows, mirrored through the gleaming crystal surface of her spiral staircase. Spike soon caught up to her, and together they walked in melodic symphony.
"How was it?" Twilight asked.
"Heh, not bad, she was beginning to stop reading it aloud, and soon she was all quiet, her eyes never leaving the book! Except when she needed extra information from the dictionary and the encyclopedia that is."
"By now I'm certain that she's a quarter done with the book!"
She giggled. "I knew you can do it, Spike, I'm so proud of you, but I was especially proud of Apple Bloom, not because she overcame the fear of reading, but from the start I knew she had the will to fight. She wanted to be full of life and unlock her spiritual quintessence."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Spike rolled his eyes once he noticed Twilight bring over another dictionary floating in front of him.
"Page 744 says that quintessence is the essence of something in its purest quality and form. See how easy that was? Now Apple Bloom can go through that book in no time!"
The pony and her little dragon stepped out the castle door, unable to move from the shooting stars synchronizing their dives onto the Equestrian earth. They welcomed the basking of the silver moonlight, illuminating their glowing souls within their bodies. Spike engulfed a welcoming breeze and exhaled it into crystal orbs.
"Hey Twilight, do you think Apple Bloom's ready to take on the book she brought with her?"
He turned around, only to find the Princess of Reading meditating in tranquil silence, in the amethyst darkness brightened with nebulous treasures.
A room inhabited with animal toys, and a giant Princess Celestia plushy stood in the center on a purple toy chair made of cheap plastic. The plastic nevertheless radiated the lavender that was taken in by the unicorn filly reading in Celestia's library. No sooner was she shadowed by a curious holy royalty.
"And what might you be doing here, you quiet little hamster."
The filly lifted her head, to meet the jewelry-eyed alicorn's smile.
She giggled. "Your face looks funny."
"Oh is that so?" Celestia ruffled Twilight Sparkle's mane. She sat down next to her faithful student and glanced at the book she was reading.
'Hm, a historical fiction that tells of Equestria's societal values since the tyranny of King Sombra. The usage of language in that book is rather complex even for elite literature scholars, how is she already halfway done with it?'
"Twilight Sparkle, are you certain that you have understood such literary piece? It's one of the most difficult works to comprehend, and especially for ponies around your age."
Staring down, Twilight gulped. A frown formed around her lips. Sighing, she responded as the golden lamp swayed back and forth. Celestia narrowed her eyes when the tiny unicorn let out a foalish yawn. Something was not right.
"I know, Princess... but I always loved reading books!"
The elder pony smiled. "And?"
"And you always encouraged me to push myself no matter when. As long as it's worth gaining knowledge and absorbing wisdom from other ponies. You know I always looked up to Starswirl the Bearded!"
"Even so, something that's way beyond your expectations would not help you enhance your understanding of the society around you"—Twilight groaned quietly and looked away—"Determination to strive for the better is one thing, but giving yourself time and space for leisure is just as important."
"Oh what do you understand, Princess? You're capable of doing anything..."
Celestia chuckled. "And that is where you're wrong."
"Huh?"
Celestia stood up and closed her eyes, before snapping them open, teleporting another book. Without further ado, Twilight checked the cover and the blurb.
"It was written by Starswirl the Bearded himself!" She exclaimed.
The daylight Princess nodded. "A foal's guide to ponies' daily objectives, and the truth behind each and every responsibility they uphold."
"B-but, why me?"
Celestia smiled. "Starswirl's not only a genius revolutionist in magic, but he's also fairly good at dealing with children. He wrote this book before his bedtime to ensure the future generation may take in the importance of education and as you said, 'wisdom'. Maybe you can start with something easier like this."
Twilight stared at the book. It's cover was of stars that almost resembled her own cutie mark; and a colt sitting on the crescent moon, holding nothing but a fishing rod and its string dangling from below. It immediately pulled Twilight in, and she was already onto the first page.
"My Dream Work..." Twilight read out loud, "Wow... this is amazing!"
"It is, isn't it?" Celestia sat down on the carpet next to her prized student again. "As a Princess who ruled Equestria over a thousand years, I still had my duties to oblige to. Meetings with other ponies in offices, funding libraries and schools, signing negotiations with foreign races, and dealing with social balance among my subjects. When you grow older you will soon take on those responsibilities and mold into adulthood."
Twilight opened her jaw wide, forcing a chuckle from Celestia. She flipped to the first page of Starswirl's book as little Twilight followed along.
"But for now, at this time... let us read together, Twilight Sparkle."
"I'd love to, Princess Celestia!"
They exchanged a heartwarming hug, and the glistening silver moonlight convinced the two to remain that way, while the other abandoned, yet fantastic book, flipped from page to page. On and on, the book waited for the future Twilight to come back to it once more.
Author's Note
Like I mentioned in my previous chapter, this is just a minor bonus, nothing much to it other than fulfilling the story's plot. I mean if Twilight was such an important supporting character, then she needed an inspiration to begin with.
