Rainbow Dash is determined to get married. The most successful apple orchard in Equestrian history is going broke. Pinkie Pie is unemployed.

Twilight is finding all this rather suspicious. Is she really the only honest pony in Ponyville? And can she keep it that way?

The School of Friendship is burning down.

Happy holidays.

Written for GaPJaxie as part of the Jinglemas 2018 event. Edited by MrNumbers, Pearple Prose, Undome Tinwe, and R5h

Patreon. Ko-fi. Picture of me looking handsome

It's a week after Nightmare Night, and the dead have risen. Zombies, ghosts and skeletons walk Ponyville's streets. It would be pretty terrifying, except for the fact that they're so nice. Also, they don't seem to realize they're dead.

But not everypony is happy with their new undead neighbors. Rainbow Dash is a little freaked out, Twilight Sparkle is on trial for murdering a skeleton, and Rarity conspires against her ghostly business partner. Will our heroes be able to keep up in a world where busy ponies don't have time to let death slow them down?

After a harrowing and dangerous quest, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have recovered Excelsior's Ecstatic Codex from an evil zebra cult intent on ending the world. The Codex, one of the greatest works of dark magic ever forged, carries within its pages a limitless collection of vile, twisted spells, all specially devised for anypony who opens the cover.

What do you do with a book of dark magic? If you're Twilight Sparkle, you put it in your library. Because that's where books go.

After all, books are for everypony.

Word around Ponyville is that Queen Chrysalis is planning something.

Something big.

Something terrible.

Something beyond imagination.

If only Queen Chrysalis had any idea what that something was.

Artwork by UncertainStardust.

Somepony summons the Abyss. Yes, THAT abyss. Look, everypony should be fine just so long as they don't stare too hard.

Thanks to Tired Old Man, Nova Quill/Firimil, and
Steel Resolvefor their edits and suggestions.

Always fearing for her friends' safety, Twilight Sparkle takes it upon herself to create body doubles to use as protection.

Each body double looks just like the original.

Sounds just like the original.

And is also highly explosive.

Twilight Sparkle wants you to ignore that last part.

The Winged Hussars are the greatest warriors of history. You think a situation is bad, that you can’t escape? Just wait for the Winged Hussars.

They arrive, and they save you. It doesn’t even matter what dimension you’re in.

Twilight has given you a new book to read. Well, she didn't exactly give it to you, you actually just found it in the back of the library. Behind a shelf. On the ground. It looks very old, downright ancient, and it smells like moss and rot. The binding is a little cracked, and there's no title on it. You can't help but wonder what might be inside, and the only way to find out is to keep reading.

Just turn the page.

You can do that much, can't you?

Please?

WARNING: This story contains brief depictions of blood, mild violence, and death, and has ARG aspects to it. It plays with formatting, and includes images. Some "pages" are long, some are only a few words. It is written in first person, to you, the reader, and is a slow mellow horror. You've been warned.

This story relies on unusual formatting for some parts, and thus may not be as enjoyable on a tablet or phone, or if you have specialized custom Fimfic settings.

If you post spoilers, hints, or answers in the comments, please be sure to spoiler them out or warn others. You don't want to ruin the fun, right?

Audio reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28TqbHFchLg

Twilight didn’t know what to say. How easy it sounded, to just not think about things that hurt, but thoughts were all she had.

Thoughts were the only thing that were hers, for better or worse.

Special thanks to lilfunkman for the cover art and for generally being the best support I could ask for.