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To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle,
Your quick thinking and skill at magic have saved us all from a terrible catastrophe. I couldn't be more proud of you. I'm so glad everypony in Ponyville is once again well, and you'll be happy to hear that the cure was also a complete success here in Canterlot.
The magical plaques have been restored to the library, and Star Swirl's old spells again reside within them. The library is once more safe from the terrible scourge of plums!
Good luck on your new studies, Twilight. I'm sure you'll do well.
"Plums!?" asked a confused Rainbow Dash as Spike finished reading the letter to the group.
Twilight laughed. "I'll get to that part in a moment."
She had presented the basic story of what had happened to the crowds at the celebration held in her honor earlier that day, but now her friends had all gathered in the library to hear it again in greater detail—and to tell their own tales of what had happened to them. The arrival of Princess Celestia's letter had interrupted them.
"What 'new studies' was she referrin' to?" asked Applejack, tipping her head to one side.
"Ah yes," said Twilight in a more serious tone. "Spike, I need you to fetch me a book."
Spike leapt to his feet. "Sure thing! Malevolent Maledictions and Misspells again?"
"No!" Twilight shuddered at the mention of the book. She then chuckled and said, "No, Spike. I need... Auntie Albatross's ABC's."
She turned to her friends with a smile, rubbing her hooves together with happy anticipation.
"I have a lot of reading to catch up on."
Comments ( 191 )
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I quite enjoyed this. I'll likely be parroting some above commentors, but the concept really is very original. And, as Zay-el said, I wouldn't have minded it being longer. Perhaps you could add the perdicaments of the other Mane 6 and such, as mentioned in your blog entry on the story?
Well done - an incredibly unique story with a interesting, yet terrifying concept. I can't imagine if I suddenly couldn't read though, it would take away so much.
Words have incredible power, even more so if they take on a life of their own, as many stories do - but what you have done here is taken that concept and twisted it in a way that highlights the true capability of the written word.
The only way I can think to improve this would be to add a bit more depth to the situation, maybe some more descriptions and hint of dark to bring out the undertones of power. Then, you would have something wonderful - though there's not much that needs improving as it is!
I commend you on this, good work!
Frostwyrm
There's one fun thing about having a cold (or strep, in my current case) and that's my temporary Don Lafontaine voice! 
That was surprisingly good! I admit, the concept pulled me in from the start (and the picture helped, too), so I was more than eager to start reading. I'm very glad I took the twenty minutes to read it, because it was fun. It was a very original piece that explored something I had never even considered before. It didn't outstay it's welcome, and it wrapped up quite nicely. Awesome job with this, I loved reading it.
That book/movie was brought to my attention in the comments on EQD. I'd never heard of it before, but even that is predated by the book Snow Crash which used a similar idea six years prior. The Guardian's words are similar to the nam-shub of Enki from Snow Crash. But I got the idea from the title alone, with helpful input from my 8-year-old daughter.
Humans are quite good at spotting similarities. (Ponies too, most likely.)
Because if there's one thing this fandom's all about, it's crossing ponies with everything else. Gets to a point where I'm assuming a crossover at the slightest similarity, no matter how obscure or ill-fitting
Anywho, it's a very lovely little tale you've crafted here. I, like others, would've prefered it to be a bit longer, but you were still able to craft a very fascinating and compelling narrative here. Really loved this style of the idea, as well as the fact that there wasn't a total snap-back at the end (poor Twilight. But, with her attitude, I'm sure she'll be back to her normal reading level in just a few sleepless nights). Awesome job overall.
Like a lot of people has been saying, this is a really neat and unique idea. However, I wouldn't have made the description so spoilerrific. It's a perfect summary of the first chapter - which is precisely half of the entire story! Add to that the image paired with it, (props for hiring FoxinShadow, by the way) which spoils what happens in the second half of the story. There wasn't much that happened in this story that I didn't already see coming. I have a running fic on EQD that's going into it's 20th part, and the description for that is a mere two sentences:
"While studying advanced magic techniques, Twilight stumbles upon a powerful spell that nopony has ever conceived. What will it cost her to possess this power, and what will it cost her friends?"
Note that it doesn't even mention what the spell is that Twilight figures out, let alone what the implications of learning it are. Heck, it doesn't even clarify whether or not she even uses it. That way, my readers are already going into part one with a mystery to figure out before they even start.
Actually, I dithered over how much to put in the synopsis. Some novels I've read have very limited synopses, some contain amounts of foreshadowing similar to what I used in mine—a balance between mysterious and interesting. It's turning out that the synopsis as-is has been instrumental in pulling in some readers, or so I judge by the comments here and on EQD, so I think I chose right. Maybe for my next story I'll give less away and see how that goes by comparison.
For now, I think of it as telling you where the journey is going, then bringing you along for the ride. 
Loved it
Oh that was really well done.
I wasn't certain where you were going from the description other than Twilight having no choice but to protect herself by losing the ability to read. It was a good reason why instructive writing had suddenly become hazardous, and how Twilight had to deal with a crisis without the one thing about herself she prized more than her magical ability.
Also I really liked that one little thing you threw in there. It sounded very much like the frusterated addendum of somone who had seen what he treasured most being threatened. *Snicker* Plums.
It makes me wince. Very good story, but I'm now imagining myself if I were unable to read...
...I need to go lie down.
The way this plays out really reminds me of Doctor Who, specifically some of the Tenth Doctor's episodes. I see from your bio that you read a lot of scifi, but do you happen to also be a Whovian?
Edit: Now I can only think of one thing: "It's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive!"
A terrific story, I like how it managed to execute a new plot idea in such few chapters. (I could use some more mane 6 shenanigans however 
)
Also, the great cover pic and description - those thigs definitely pull a reader in (plus it's fine the way it is, you do have to reveal something about the story if you don't want to make it sound like anypony else's).
I'm watching you... like an hungry reader. 
Okay, new is definitely dating you a bit, yeah.
I must thank you for that groaner of a pun, though. I found the Wiki page with a list of all the songs and I'm now replaying EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. And I'm singing along.
I don't think I've matured at all in the years since I first watched one of the videos. 
Image: http://pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/133602796360.gif
Congratulations! You've been reviewed!
Don't take it too seriously. It's satire, but it does have some valid points.
That .gif is immensely overused.
.jpg)
Image: http://arch.413chan.net/29703_-_fluttershy_okay_scrunchy_Scrunchy_Face-(n1310424219995).jpg
Thanks for spotting the "let's" and "whoever" glitches, as well as the extra space after the "Okay," in chapter two. I've fixed 'em!
Now continuing with the statire... 
I think you need to see a font doctor. Your font seems to be having trouble with its kerning when entering a block of italics. All the "missing spaces" are actually in the source material. This seems to be a display issue on your end. (Try jiggling the monitor cable.)
"Sugarcube Corner" seems to be the proper name of the place, at least as far as I've been able to tell. I couldn't find any official mention of the name. I've only got the wiki to go by. ("Wikis—For Accuracy!") The actual objects you put in your tea are "sugar cubes." Unfortunately, the show never shows real words on screen, probably to make internationalization easier. All signs are pictorial... (For plot issues with this, I hide behind "artistic license!")
You spelled "pupilless" wrong (and "find" in your plot section). I can't blame you, it's not a common word, and therefore not in most online spellcheckers. But it, and "bakeware" are both in Miriam-Webster ("bakeware" since 1946). Never rely 100% on the spellchecker. Like your GPS, following it blindly could lead you astray. 
Paragraph seventy-seven is just: "Yesss." So I'm guessing you meant seventy-six. ("1... 2... DERP!") But there the comma is correct and shouldn't be a semicolon as you suggest. The phrase "its words once more steady as iron" cannot stand on its own, not without an extra "were" in there. Besides, semicolons are evil... Or at least rather pompous and annoying. Full stop.
And there. I've just promoted your satirical review blog with my response. You're welcome!
It's a horrible thing, having to maim yourself to save one of your true loves... (and everything else). But at the same time, she'll love re-learning how to read all over again. Painful for a moment, but then she gets to have a good time re-learning once again, I'd expect she'd be back to her old self rapidly, though... kind of a poor curse if it's just a one-shot effect. It strips knowledge but doesn't have any persistent effects?
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