Chapter 1 - The Train Ride
Trees rushed passed the windows of the passenger train that was gliding down the tracks. The sky was as blue as it ever had been, and the temperature was agreeable to pretty much everypony. The scenery between Canterlot and Ponyville was near legendary, and some ponies took this very train ride, just to enjoy the sights.
A young, lavender unicorn sat in her seat on the train, a book hovering in a gentle purple magical aura in front of her. She paid no attention to the scenery outside the window, no matter how beautiful it was; she had seen it more times than she could possibly count in the past few years. Instead, she was reading from the very last book in her own library about the topic she was traveling to Canterlot to study. Twilight Sparkle was always a pony with a plan or a goal in mind. Usually when she wanted or needed to study something, her own library home, the Golden Oaks library, had a large enough collection to fuel her efforts. But when she decided to take it upon herself to study the ley lines that run underneath the world, as well as make up the very borders of the realm, she found that her own collection was failing her.
This current book she was reading was the very last book on the subject, but it was very small, and it did not contain the information she needed. It turns out that no pony nor griffon knows much about the ley lines. For being something so powerful as to break up the world, no one has thought to put much study into them. Twilight decided that maybe the Canterlot Royal Library would hold the information she sought. It had been a slow time around Ponyville; summer had set in and there had been no big, immediate threats to its inhabitants – or any of the ponies in Equestria for that matter – that required the attention of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight concluded that she was to take a vacation; at least, that’s what she told her friends. In reality, she was using this “vacation” to travel to Canterlot on sabbatical.
When the princesses heard of this, they were delighted to take Twilight for however long she may need to stay to do her work. Almost the very next day, Twilight now finds herself on the Canterlot Express, traveling towards the grand capital of Equestria. The trip was a fairly long one, and Twilight had only the one book to keep her attention for the four hour train ride. She had just finished it already though, only an hour and a half into the trip.
Twilight slid the book into her saddlebags that rested at her hooves on the floor of the train, heaving an annoyed sigh. While she hadn’t expected much of it, she was still disappointed that the book she just finished had provided her with only an hour and a half of information on the ley lines that was already pretty much common knowledge to anyone who lived anywhere ever. She let her head rest in a hoof as she stared out the window at the passing landscape. She considered sleeping the rest of the way there, but it was nine-thirty in the morning, and she was as awake as she could possibly be. This trip never seemed to get any quicker, no matter how many times she might have taken it in her life. She looked around the train cabin that she sat in; it held six separate seats for six ponies, but because she was the Princess’s personal student, she got a whole cabin to herself. Though, the train wasn’t particularly crowded anyways, so she probably would have gotten one anyways.
To pass the time, she pulled out a notepad and began to write out some formulas for spells she had been working on as well. Twilight was actually Equestria’s lead expert on the creation of new magical spells. Some ponies were born with a massive amount of raw power, but no book smarts to put that magic to use in different kinds of spells. Some were born with the ability to comprehend spells and remember them as if it were second nature, but just didn’t have the magical strength within them to become powerful casters. These two kinds of ponies are both rare. Equestria’s greatest mages are few and far between, because they possess both of these abilities, which allowed them to climb the ranks in the princesses’ ranks of mages. Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, was even rarer, in that she took her understanding of magical writings to new levels, allowing her to create new magical spells. But, she was also the single most powerful unicorn the land had seen since ancient times. She often found herself casting spells that had never been thought of or written down by any mage off the top of her head because a situation called for it. She was even better than both princesses at this, though obviously the Alicorns held much, much more power than she ever could wield in her mere mortal body.
The spells she had been working on were ones that would allow for the creation of teleportation circles that linked together and allowed ponies to travel any amount of distance, simply by stepping into the circle and saying a certain passphrase. Teleportation was one of Twilight’s strong suites; ever since she was a filly, teleportation was almost as natural as levitation for her. Sometimes she wished she could just teleport to Canterlot, but even that distance was a little too much for her to pull off without tiring. This was her answer to that, she decided that morning as she climbed onto the train and dreading the ride.
She sat and quietly scribbled runes on the scroll in front of her, matching them up in pairs and triplets and occasionally quadruplets, and then connecting the pairs via lines on the paper. She would scribble out runes when she decided they were wrong or wouldn’t work, change the connections between pairs, and rearrange the symbols into different alignments. Occasionally she would rest the scroll down on the vacant seat next to her, and would syphon magic into the scroll and through the runes, feeling how they reacted. Either she would be content and move on to the next step, or she would grunt agitatedly and rework the whole section. One of the maids in the car, a young unicorn herself, stopped by to check on Twilight in her cabin. Before she was able to ask Twilight if she wanted a drink, she noticed that she was doodling magical runes on the scroll.
“M-miss? Why are you writing runes on that scroll?” She asked, bewildered. She didn’t recognize many of the runes written down, but she had been a good student throughout school.
Without looking up or even pausing from her work, Twilight responded, “I’m just working on a spell that will allow any pony to teleport any distance by stepping into a magical circle and using a passphrase.” She didn’t once look up at the maid.
“Wow! You must be amazing to be creating spells like that! W-would you like something to drink?”
“Orange juice, please.” She replied politely. She was very good at being polite when ignoring others during her work; Spike had gotten on to her many times for being rude when interrupted and had to break herself of the shameful habit.
“One orange juice, coming right up!” The light yellow coated pony trotted away to take the order. Twilight’s eyes continued to study the runes laid out in front of her, making the magical connections in her head, her horn flashing bouts of light occasionally, to check if the matrices work together. About two hours later, and a few glasses of orange juice ordered unconsciously, Twilight wiped her brow in fake exertion and lifted the scroll she had been working on in front of her, grinning at her work.
“If I could work like this every day, I might get more of my projects done!” She said to no one in particular, rolling up the scroll and sliding it in a scroll case to show to the princess or somepony else later. She looked out the window and could see Canterlot coming into view. They were at the base of the mountain, but it would still take another thirty minutes before they arrived at the station in Canterlot; the train slowed down a lot going up the large mountain.
Twilight finished off her most recent glass of orange juice and turned her attention to the research she would be doing when she got to Canterlot. She had never really been all that curious about the ley lines to be honest, until she read that one particular book that said no one knew much about them. When something mentions unfound knowledge, it’s enough to make the mare giddy with excitement, and this was no exception. After binge reading probably three or four books in one night on the subject and concluding that the lack of knowledge was indeed there, she decided to go to Canterlot. Furthermore, if she can’t learn anymore there, she planned on actually traveling to the ley lines to study them personally. She had almost hoped she wouldn’t find anything, because she loved to be the foremost expert on a subject, like she was with spell creation. If what she had been reading was right, the ley lines are pure, arcane, magical energy barriers that pretty much prevent any sort of passage. No one truly knows what lies beyond them, if anything indeed DOES lie beyond them. Twilight had an idea to may be able to tap into the ley lines and use their supposed infinite energy to fuel non-unicorn powered magical devices all around the realm.
Just the thought of it all made Twilight wiggle in her seat in excitement. Before she knew it, the train had pulled into the station, and she could hear the magically powered speaker system on the train call out, “We have reached the Royal Canterlot Train Station. Those boarding the train should please wait for those exiting before stepping on.”
Twilight grabbed her carry on and her suitcase and exited the train into the sprawling, busy streets of Canterlot proper. The train station sat right in the heart of the city on the main strip, where the University of Canterlot was, along with several large business buildings, the Arcane Sciences Guild, and many, many shops. All of the buildings in Canterlot were stylized after the castle, so many of the buildings were gothic and regal, with large, useless spires stretching high into the sky, and large arches acting as the entrances to many public buildings. The majesty of the castle, though, dominated the whole city. Even from the main square, any pony could see the intricate and beautiful architecture, with its spiraling towers and moon and sun themed styling. You could see it from every part of the city (which was required by law; you are not allowed to build a structure that significantly hinders the view of the castle), and its sight acted as the inspiration for many artists, builders, and ponies in all walks of life.
Twilight always found herself astounded by the beauty of Canterlot no matter how many times she visited, even though she was born and raised in the city. She stood with her stuff hovering by her for a few seconds, taking in the familiar sights and sounds. A smile spread across her face as she trotted off down the street towards the castle. The sights, sounds, and smells of different shops and restaurants and bakeries and cafes bombarded her senses, almost making her feel light headed. The feeling was a good one though, and she was excited to get to spend some time here again. Though the days before her moving to Ponyville were very lonely in retrospect, they were still some great times in her life. While she attended the university, she would spend most of her days in a café or in a club of some sort, reading and studying to the beat of some nice, smooth jazz and the smells of lattés being brewed. Even though Canterlot was the capital, and the princesses lived here, Canterlot was still a fairly cool, rainy city. The flora and fauna of the region needed cooler climates with lots of rain. That was Twilight’s favorite weather, and it made for a very cozy time in her university days.
As Twilight passed many ponies she would wave at a few that she knew, and they would wave back. All of the ponies in the Arcane Sciences Guild knew her by face, so ponies would stop and talk to her, even if she had never seen them in her lives. But, she had to break those conversations short, for she had a mission she was on. Thirty minutes of walking and distractions later found her at the entrance to Canterlot Castle. She stood and stared up and took in the grandeur of the mighty fortress and home to the living Goddesses, and also essentially her home as a filly. She slowly walked passed the guards who didn’t even give her a second look, through the massive portcullis, and into the castle courtyard. It was packed to the brim with many plants that aren’t native to the area, tirelessly kept prim and cared for by the many castle landscapers. Statues of ponies long dead but not forgotten lined the pathway towards the throne room where Celestia lead the day court.
Twilight walked the length of the courtyard and into the throne room where she found Celestia sitting on her throne as she usually does, looking a tad bit bored as a noble sat and regurgitated some babble about something even Twilight thought was boring at the princess. As Twilight stepped into the massive room, the princess spotted her, and gave her a smile. She nodded towards Twilight, and then went back to listening to the noble, whose name was Granite Quarrysmith if Twilight remembered right. Twilight sat down and looked at the throne room while waiting. It was very long and very tall, and it almost looked like a church. Banners of the iconic two sisters orbiting the half-sun/half-moon lines the walls, and the scene was captured in all its glory in a large, stained glass window that sat behind Celestia. In the daytime, sun shone brightly through the window and all of the Celestia theme elements were brought out. But, in the glow of the moonlight, the dim lighting caused the dark, Luna themed glass to have a beautiful, peaceful glow as well. The whole thing seemed teemed in magic, and it was a wonderful thing.
Celestia’s sweet voice carried easily throughout the hall, revealing a certain air of authority that even Twilight still thought of as awe-inspiring. “Lord Quarrysmith, I understand your concerns, but you must believe when I say that the most recent peace dealings with the Diamond Dogs in the north will not cut into any profits that your mining and quarrying may get. The Diamond Dogs have no resources that we need, thanks to your family and its work. Now, I have some matters to attend to with my student, if you will please excuse us.” Celestia smiled at the pony who dared not argue with her, and he bowed before taking his leave, not stopping to look at Twilight. Twilight smiled back at her mentor as she trotted forward, the clopping of her hooves echoing throughout the throne room.
“Princess Celestia, it’s so good to see you again!” Twilight said cheerily to her monarch and teacher – and in many ways, her mother-figure – stopping at the base of the raised throne platform.
“Twilight, it’s also such a pleasure to see you in person as well! I can’t tell you how excited I was when you told me of your planned sabbatical to Canterlot! I already have your room prepared for you whenever you wish to bed down for the night. I also have your favorite reading spot in the royal library prepared with lots of pillows and a precast mage light candle for when you want to get to your research.” The princess motioned for Twilight to come to her.
Twilight climbed up the stairs, and leaned in to meet Celestia’s cheek in a sweet nuzzle, knowing she was very privileged to be one of the very few ponies to ever get to greet Celestia with a mutual cheek nuzzle. “That’s too kind of you, Princess. I really do appreciate you having me for an indefinite amount of time, though. I promise I won’t be too much of a bother.”
“Oh, think nothing of it, Twilight. To be honest, it’s about time somepony decided to take it upon themselves to study the ley lines. When Luna and I first stopped Discord’s rule and brought the warring tribes together to form Equestria, we were much too concerned with keeping the country together to research it, and there were always more important magical things to study. After Luna’s banishment, I never saw the ley lines as something I needed to worry about. But, I’m sure with your wonderful abilities, that you’ll bring the knowledge to the minds of the public.” Celestia smiled down at Twilight and laid a hoof on her shoulder, causing the lavender mare to blush lightly under her fur, averting her gaze from the Princess.
“Hehe, well, I’d sure love to be the first to do so, if I can’t find what I’m looking for in the royal library.” Twilight looked off into the throne room, thinking for a moment, before saying, “I promise I won’t let you down though, Princess. And if I think about the ley lines is true, I may have a way of harnessing their power and using it to fuel magical devices all around Equestria! I’ve been devising a plan to be able to capture and transfer magical energy through a gem-based system that could spread all across the nation! I haven’t been able to test anything yet, but I think I should be able to make it work on a small scale.”
“That’s an awfully big plan you have there, Twilight. The thought of bringing an infinite supply of magic to the masses and bringing to Equestria a new technological revolution is enough to make even me very excited. It’ll be hard, but if anypony can do it, I believe you would be the one.”
Twilight blushed even harder, not having prepared for so much praise from her mentor. She nodded though, using the princess’s confidence in her to fuel her drive. Suddenly, a thought popped in her head, “Oh, Princess! On the way over here, I designed a spell that might allow ponies to create teleportation circles that allow any pony to travel any sort of distance in an instant with just the use of a certain phrase or word!” Twilight magically reached into her saddlebag and brought out the scroll with the spell on it, unfurling it and showing it to Celestia. “You’ll see that it requires an insane amount of magical energy for it to function, but when I tested the matrices on the way over here, it should function nigh perfectly. If we can manage to harness the power of the ley lines, we could have teleportation lines that lead all over the entire country, allowing ponies to traveling anywhere, anytime, instantaneously!” To Twilight’s surprise, she saw Celestia’s face turn to one of amazement.
“Twilight Sparkle…” she said softly, her eyes quickly darting over the spell on the scroll, “You never cease to amaze me. You wrote this on the way over here?”
“Y-yes, Princess.” Twilight said, now a little shyly.
“This spell is incredible! Your ability to just write spells off the top of your head is more impressive than I think you know, Twilight. If you can manage to figure out a way to harness the ley lines, this spell right here could completely revolutionize Equestria as we know it.”
“Really? Do you really think it would help that much? To revolutionize the whole country?”
“Yes, I do. If you don’t mind, I’m going to keep this scroll and work on this myself in my spare time.”
“Of course! I’d love for you to, and to check my work on anything I might have missed.”
“I’m going to close day court early today, so I’m going to leave you to get moved in and go the library as I’m sure you’re excited to do.” She chuckled lightly, looking at one of her guards and nodding, to which he trotted to the guards at the entrance to let them know of the early closing. “If you need me, I will be in my quarters.”
“Thank you, Princess!” Twilight waved to her teacher, “I promise I won’t let you down!” She trotted off and into one of the private doors leading out of the throne room. The door contained a staircase that once Twilight reached the top of, opened into a very long hallway. At the far right end was a large, white and gold door that led to Celestia’s tower. To the far left, was a black and blue themed door that led to Luna’s. Along the hallway were a few private bedrooms for ponies like Twilight, who were very close to the Princesses. Her friends, the Elements of Harmony, were also allowed to stay in these bedrooms if they wished. Twilight levitated her luggage next to her effortlessly, trotting up to her usual room that Celestia reserved for her when she stayed. Her magic also reached out to the door and she let herself inside, revealing a very large suite with many of the same luxuries that the princesses themselves enjoyed in their own private chambers.
As Twilight entered the room, to her left was a heavy stone brick wall, and to her right was a large, open sitting area with a faux-leather couch and loveseat, a dark wooden coffee table, a very soft and luxuries rug, as well as a magically burning fireplace that could be turned on and off by the occupant. The sitting room lead directly into a small sort of meeting or dining room with a long table and six chairs around it. Against the far wall behind the table and chairs was a decently large window with thick curtains and blackout Ponetian blinds. Then there was a small corner that turned to the left, revealing the biggest bed Twilight has yet to see anywhere. It was a four poster, pillow-top super king with dark blue silk sheets, and a lamb’s wool comforter adorned with the Royal Sister’s crest. On the wall to the left was a door that lead to the nicest master bathroom Twilight had ever seen with a massive walk in closet that could house a pony if need be. Twilight lowered her suitcase on the cedar chest that sat at the end of the bed and leapt onto the bed, letting out a long sigh as the soft bed eased the aches from the train ride over.
After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a couple minutes, Twilight slowly rolled out of bed, stretching out and yawning, deciding that she might as well get to work with her research. She still had a large portion of the day left to spend studying before she could allow herself to relax in this heavenly room. Plus, she could maybe even bring some books with her if she felt the need. While the Royal Canterlot Library was public, it did not permit anyone to take any books out of the library. However, many years ago, Celestia permitted Twilight the permission to do so, so that she may not spend two days in the library without ever leaving. Without even unpacking, Twilight left her room, and started towards the library.
Luckily for her, the library wasn’t too far from the private quarters of the Princesses. In fact, Twilight new a secret passageway that wasn’t used anymore that she could take to quickly access the library directly. Twilight walked down the hallway towards Celestia’s room a little ways, then knocked on one of the walls. When she found the hollow spot, she focused and teleported herself to the other side of the stone wall, finding herself in a long, dimly lit hallway that seemed to stretch on for quite a ways. Twilight walked for about five minutes until she reached a dead end, and teleported again to the other side, finding herself in a rarely traveled part of the library. The Royal Canterlot Library was one of the most beautiful rooms Twilight has ever seen in her whole life. The ceilings were high enough on all levels that pegasi could comfortably fly around with ease, and the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of bookcases made up hallways and passages that could wind up being well over a hundred feet in length. The huge stained glass windows that lined the walls on both far ends of the library stretched from the floor to the ceiling provided an extravagant amount of natural light throughout the whole library, and the same was true for the lower section of the library as well. The upper section had no windows, though, as the tombs and volumes contained there could be damaged if touched by sunlight. It was kept very dark, and only a very dim light by the light of a unicorn horn would be allowed up there.
Twilight was very familiar with this library, though. She knew exactly where to look for the books she would need for her research. She made her way up some stairs to the top, dark section of the library. Instead of the grand, very well lit library that was the other two levels, the cases were adorned instead with the dimmest of mage light candles, providing just enough light so one could see where they were going. There were some lunar guards at the top of the staircase, but they didn’t even bat an eye as Twilight passed them and into the private section of the library. Instead of using her horn for lighting, Twilight had a spell that would give her dark vision for as long as she could focus on the spell, which she cast immediately as she passed the guards. Suddenly, the mage lights became as bright to her as any ordinary candle, giving the upper level of the library a warmer, homier feel. This spell is typically what caused most of Twilight’s exhaustion from a long study session, for the constant flow of magic to her eyes was enough to wear out even her after a period of time.
Twilight made her way to the “magical anomaly” section of this dark place, finding it after a couple minutes of searching. Twilight’s eyes scanned the rows and rows of books. This wasn’t a particularly large section relative to others, but it still held a very impressive amount of books. This part of the library wasn’t alphabetically organized, so Twilight kept looking for mention of books that might contain knowledge on the ley lines. She found a few books that mentioned it directly in the name, and a few more that might have some sort of information on them. She took a stack of about seven books with her and retreated to the spot Celestia had prepared for her. It was in the very back of the library, with silence wards placed around it so that no sound would disturb studying. There was a single mage light candle that hovered above the large amount of pillows set there by a maid that provided Twilight with all the light she needed to start her research.
She sat the books down on a small table and huddled down in a pillow, getting herself comfortable and letting out a deep sigh before opening up the first book and starting her research. The first book was directly related to the ley lines, and contained a little bit of information on them she hadn’t learned before in her library. It held a little bit of information on just how much magic they held. From almost twenty miles away from the ley lines, the research team was picking up readings on magical devices that maxed it out easily. When they still tried to get closer, their machine broke. The unicorns of the group were physically feeling the effects of the wall from about fifteen miles away. By ten miles, they had to turn around because the immense magical output was starting to make them light headed. They were never able to actually see the lines, though, so they couldn’t report what they looked like.
Twilight didn’t read the whole book. She was really good – perhaps the best – at skimming books and still getting all the relevant information from them. That book only took her about an hour. The next one about twenty minutes, as she decided it didn’t have any new information. She started to become a little bit flustered as book after book was failing her and not giving her any new information that she hadn’t previously had. After she cleared the books that specifically mentioned the ley lines in their titles, she moved on to the books that she thought might contain some information on them in a particular chapter. As she’d hoped, all the ones she picked out did in fact mention them at some point. But, she still wasn’t learning anything new. As she closed the last book, she guessed that she’d been reading for probably two and a half to three hours at this point, meaning it was probably around four or five o’clock. She stretched and yawned, covering her mouth to try and prevent her grunts from echoing before she remembered she was under a silence ward. After she realized that sound couldn’t get out either, she realized that this place could be a bit spooky if someone wanted to take her out or something.
Twilight shivered at the silly though and got up to take the books back to the shelf. She wasn’t feeling too tired yet, even though the spell she cast had been going for quite a while. After this next round, she’d probably take some books with her back to her room to study before bed. The great thing about this trip is that she could stay up all night if she wanted and sleep in as late as she wanted tomorrow. This research was the only responsibility that she had right now, and that was a good feeling for her. On her second trip, she acquired five more books, all about the ley lines. To Twilight’s frustration, after around a thousand pages and several hours later, she found herself both extremely frustrated, but also curious as to how the authors of those books all managed to spend over a hundred pages saying the same thing over and over again.
Twilight closed the last book and growled in frustration, collapsing into her pillow bed she had created. It was probably getting pretty late now, and she was starting to feel the effects of the darkvision potion draining her energy now. She decided that it was time to take some books back to her room with her. She returned the books to the bookshelf and started to look for some to take back. She found several more that she had missed, but then her eyes caught the title of a book that piqued her interest. It wasn’t related to the ley lines; instead, the title read, “List of Alchemical Spells.” The reason this caught her attention, however, is because as far as Twilight knew, alchemy was the creation of potions. She had never known of alchemy to have spells involved with it. It could very well just be spells for the quick creation of potions, but this was in the magical anomaly section?... She grabbed the book in her magic and pulled it from the shelf. The book was extremely old; it looked like it could have been close to a thousand years old, maybe even older. But, as she opened the decrepit cover, the words inside were perfectly preserved. What lie inside the book, however, shocked Twilight. The book was filled with what looked like spell matrices… but something about them was off. Usually with spells, the symbols would usually stand for a spell, but this appeared similar to an equation that needed to be balanced.
Twilight stared at the book in total shock. This was… a new form of magic? She looked at the runes on the page, and understood what some of them meant. She saw element symbols for water, earth, fire, and air, and different combinations of the four, as well as some symbols she wasn’t sure of. After a few minutes of attempting to decipher the book, she decided to take it with her to her room. With that book and the few more books on the ley lines that she found, she’d have plenty to read for the night. Twilight picked up the books in her magic and headed for the exit. The same two night guards were standing ever tall as twilight passed then, and they said not a word as she carried out the books in her magic grasp. She made her way down the stairs and into the middle level of the library. The room that was once bright and well lit from all the natural lighting was now fairly dark, with some normal mage light candles keeping it well lit enough to see fine still.
She returned to the part of the library and found the hollow spot in the wall, teleporting to find the secret passage when she was sure no pony was looking. Once again she made the trip down the hallway and back to her suite, now bringing with her several very old books, and one extremely old book. She set them down on her bed and sat down on the bed for a moment, rubbing her eyes. Before getting back to studying, the tired mare decided a nice shower would do her well before hitting the books. It always helped both relax her, yet wake her up a little bit. She grabbed her shampoo and conditioner from her bags and walked into the very fancy bathroom. The shower was also a very large tub, and the tub was half the size of her bathroom back home in Ponyville. A smile went across her face as she turned on the water in the tub, letting it warm up as she went to the mirror. She looked herself over in the mirror, still well groomed from that morning. She always liked to spruce up a little more than normal when visiting Canterlot for really any reason.
As the steam started to come from the bath, she set her mane and coat products on the side and stepped into the small puddle of very warm water that had pooled in the tub. She sighs as the warm water soaks into the fur of her ankles, and turns the shower on. The hot shower and the relaxing feeling of lathering her mane and tail with her hooves leaves her feeling extremely relaxed after she finished with her shower. She dried off with her magic, leaving her mane and tail feeling soft as the bed sheets she would sleep in that night. With a quick few teleports, Twilight also found herself with a nice, hot latte from the kitchen to make the next few hours much more relaxing than a chore.
Twilight took a sip of her latte and sat it on the nightstand, turning off all the mage lights in her suite, save the one next to her on the night stand. As she cracked open the first book on ley lines, the book on alchemy came to the forefront of her mind, but she pushed it back. She wanted to finish the other books before she got distracted by something else. It was the least she could do, since this was why she was actually here. But, a whole new branch of magic…
The hours seemed to pass slower than normal as Twilight kept forcing herself to stay on task and not stray to the other book. It was difficult – especially with the fact that the books were winding up the same that all the rest were; all the same information. It was all speculations that ponies have been making for hundreds of years, and long, drawn out conclusions based on evidence that no one, save for that one book, has yet to provide. Around half past eleven and a latte, Twilight found herself at the end of the last of her research books, with the old, magical tome sitting in front of her. It was so enticing that she almost felt bad about reading it. The book seemed too old, its secrets so ancient and almost… forbidden. Surely Celestia knew about this form of magic; surely she knew of this book's existence. But then, why has she never said anything about it... unless she didn’t know? This new magic could lead to so many great things that ponykind has never even considered until now. It could be up to Twilight to rediscover old secrets, just as she was going to do with the ley lines!
As Twilight’s thoughts turned towards the near future and the many different things she could be doing very soon, she opened the book in front of her and started to read.