Reading passion
One day Twilight Sparkle was trotting on one of the many paths of Ponyville while reading a plain, yellow-colored book about the history of Equestrian printing press.
Weather was sunny. One would only talk about it while nervously choosing a conversation topic during a date or any other not less important occasion like meeting to discuss the current economical situation. After all everypony had observed that there were many sunny days in Equestria and it was not likely to change thanks to all the pegasai who spend days adjusting the clouds.
On the other hoof Twilight had recently noticed the strange printing contraption in the local pony school. It was such a terrific sight, because the machine seemed to have a mind of its own. Words came out of it without hesitation and some even joked that nopony needed to lend a hoof to make newspaper.
Trotting home Twilight read “Thousands of years ago every document and book was hoof written. Ponies used ink obtained from various plants in the forests of Equestria and bird feathers to preserve all the important events and discoveries written on paper, but unfortunately not many books were available due to the slow process of writing.”
“Ouch!” a voice exclaimed in a surprise.
“I am sorry” mumbled Twilight, who had just literally ran into a teal-colored pony.
Twilight had been up late last night to catch up on biology studies, which certainly had an effect on her sleep. Her daily routine included walking around Ponyville while being sucked in a book. In fact, Celestia’s diligent student could even boast how many books she had read while walking from Canterlot University to the library and then back home. Actually anyplace was good for reading - cafes, parks, hallways etc., etc.
Twilight continued “It was believed that the first book was written by a great scholar of unknown origin.”
“Ahem, you gotta be more careful, Twi,” an orange-colored mare named Applejack said while pulling a large cart full of big red apples.
“Yes….alright…” said Twilight still looking at the book, which was practically attached to her.
“Ahem,” Applejack said once more.
“It was certain that Equestria needed more books to satisfy…..” Twilight read on without paying much attention to her surroundings.
“Twilight Sparkle you gotta move out of the way!” the irritated earth pony raised her voice.
“….the growing demand for literature.” Twilight slowly finished reading the last sentence and raised her head to look around. She found herself in the middle of a small path. Applejack was there not far from her, not being able to move an inch, because she had an apple-filled cart, which couldn’t go around Twilight, who had been standing there for a while.
Slightly embarrassed by the situation, Celestia’s student quickly trotted to the side of the path and apologized “I….I am sorry. It will never happen again.” Applejack made an all-knowing face and left without saying a word, clearly in a hurry to make some bits.
Trying to grasp the situation Twilight looked around once again. She was in a not so familiar part of Ponyville. There were some beautiful, pink, potted plants on every corner of the nearby junction, which was empty. There were no ponies in sight. A few simple one-story homes stood there, not giving any hints about the place. A chill run down Twilight’s spine as she tried to remember whether she had been here before.
“Umm…I might have passed here the other day….when coming to Pinkie Pie’s fourth party this week…yes…that old house….it looks sort of familiar….a hay roof, two windows on the side, yellow walls… ” Twilight thought while carefully investigating the place.
Celestia’s student wasn’t the most outgoing of ponies. She usually spent her time in the library organizing and reading books. She also had a habit of putting all the books down on the floor, reorganizing them in the tall bookcases and repeating the process in case some books were misplaced.
Twilight didn’t have a good knowledge of the layout of Ponyville since she had spent many years in Canterlot. There Twilight on many occasions would just take a pony pulled carriage, if she needed to get someplace unknown. Honestly she had grown quite accustomed to such means of transportation, especially because Twilight could easily read books while in a carriage without worrying about the destination.
In Ponyville a baby dragon named Spike usually accompanied her. He always knew the way and helped Twilight in this matter feeling the need to assist since she was quite clueless without a map. However today he was helping Rarity, who needed to prepare the new autumn collection for the upcoming exhibition. Many gems were needed to match the different colors of leaves. Twilight did hesitate to let Spike go, but Rarity quickly dived into a sea of pillows, which were conveniently placed on a nearby sofa, and declared how fabulous it would be to have Spike help her.
Twilight decided that she must find somepony to ask for directions since she didn’t know where to go. “This part of Ponyville can’t be completely deserted,” she thought, “I will just have to wait a bit…..” Seeing that there were no conveniently placed chairs anywhere the violet pony had to stand and wait. Normally she would just continue reading, but Twilight was rather wound up and focused on the task at hoof.
The paths around her were completely empty and one would be able to hear a needle drop. Still after some time she noticed an earth pony briskly walking with a grocery bag in mouth. Twilight almost jumped in air, because now she could finally get directions to her comfy home.
She approached the pony and asked “Hi! Could you give me dir…” A sudden realization struck her like lightning. Twilight couldn’t simply ask for directions! Celestia would accuse her of being sloppy and lazy! If she can’t even find her own home in the neighborhood, how the princess could trust her with neatly organizing books and friendship research. Twilight would have to return to Canterlot and repeat pre-school again. She would have to learn such things like crossing the street and reading simple maps all over again.
“No….this can’t happen,” Celestias student decided.
“Excuse me, I didn’t quite catch that. What did you say?” the previously mentioned pony said putting the grocery bag on the ground.
“Um…I was just wondering……no, never mind,” Twilight quickly rushed away.
The earth pony shrugged her shoulders and picked up the bag.
Reaching yet another vaguely familiar junction after fruitlessly trotting around for some time Twilight noticed that it was gradually getting darker. There were no stars in the sky yet so she couldn’t use her astronomy knowledge to find home, but it was getting colder and colder.
After a while she found an antique shop, which was as ancient as the things it sold. One could barely see through the windows. Twilight got a crazy idea, which could work so she walked right in. A bell rang and dust started to fly in all directions as she closed the door. On the right an old mare was sitting near a counter, which despite everything was rather new. She had a bored look and looked like a gargoyle who sits in the same pose for decades. On the left there were several hoof-carved figures made from wood used for decorating one’s home. Also there was a wide range of dishes available like spoons, forks and plates. Amongst them Twilight found a compass, which was dirty, but still working.
With new-found energy she bought it and exited the shop with relief. Carefully adjusting the compass she observed her surroundings. It seemed like Twilight needed to turn left and follow the path down to get closer to home.
“Hi! What’cha doing?” a high-pitched voice said in a happy tone.
Twilight looked around her, but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.
“Up here, silly!” the voice continued.
Finally she noticed a pink mare on the nearby roof. Realizing that Pinkie Pie could find it a bit suspicious that she was trotting around with a compass in hoof in the evening all alone, Twilight decided to be careful. However, it also wasn’t an everyday occurrence seeing a pink mare on a roof.
“I-I…I am…looking for….treasure,” she stuttered.
“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Can I join? Oh, pleaseeee?” Pinkie Pie was excited about the quickly made-up plan as she suddenly appeared right in front of Twilight.
“Umm….you can’t ….I was about to go home.”
Pinkie Pie frowned, but her eyes were considering whether her friend was lying or not.
Twilight acted quickly to change the topic “What are you doing here?”
“Surveillance!” Pinkie then reappeared on the roof and left saying “No time to waste, byeee!”
The violet pony sighed in relief and continued trotting towards home. The way back was rather uneventful. Some ponies did see her, but they must have thought that she was coming back from a friend’s house as they didn’t pay much attention to her. Soon she reached a market and didn’t need the compass anymore.
After five minutes Twilight reached home and opened the door. Spike was sleeping, probably unable to stay awake, because he was a baby dragon. She went to bed and closed her eyes quietly saying “Well, I will have to do some serious reading tomorrow; I have lost so much valuable time.”
Somewhere far away Celestia made a facehoof.
