Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Apologies if it's a little rushed. Feedback would be very appreciated.

Shadow Personality

Ruby sighed and closed the book she’d been reading over; she was hoping to learn how to combat shadow magic, not learn spells that consisted of dark magic. She put the book away and frowned; light magic had yielded no results either. As she turned and started to leave, something caught her eye. Cautiously, she approached it, tilting her head slightly to read the title.

“Shadow Spells for the Gentle Pony?” she read, frowning a little. She certainly hadn’t seen this one earlier, but she was sure she’d checked there. As she pulled the book from its place on the shelf, she could have sworn she felt a rush of energy follow it.

“Maybe I should leave this one alone...” she muttered to herself, but her curiosity compelled her forward, and she moved over to one of the tables and opened it slowly. Holding her breath, she slowly laid the front cover on the surface, closing her eyes as though she expected something to come flying out at her. When nothing happened, she began nervously laughing at herself; what was a book going to do to her?

She turned the page, beginning to read through the spells listed within; they certainly seemed to be what she was looking for. Several pages later, she looked up at the time, frowning when she noted how late it was. Luckily, Lilly was away on a trip with Ruby’s parents for the week. She closed the book and left the library, heading home and getting into bed.

* * *

Ruby awoke with a start the next morning, her eyes darting around her room to find the source of her fear. After fumbling for her glasses, she noticed something out of place on her bedside table.

“I don’t remember checking that out,” she muttered to herself, looking at the book. “In fact, I remember putting it back on the shelf...” She picked it up, gasping and nearly dropping it as the words on the front changed.

“Dark Spells for the Wicked Pony,” formed right in front of her eyes. She felt her legs shaking as she stared at the book.

“I’ve got to be dreaming. That’s all there is to it,” she muttered to herself, squeezing her eyes shut. “It’s just a dream.”

A moment passed, then another, and she slowly opened her eyes. The book was still in her hooves, but the title was back to normal. She breathed a sigh of relief and set the book back down, exiting her bedroom and heading outside. She had plans to meet with Snowbelle and Grace later on, and she needed to pick up new quills and ink before then.

After purchasing her quills, Ruby headed back towards the library. She wanted to check over the spell books one more time before lunch. When she arrived, she scanned along the titles, frowning upon seeing the same book that had mysteriously appeared in her bedroom.

Maybe they just have more than one copy, she thought, brushing it off. After coming up with the same results she’d gotten the day before, she left the library and went to meet her friends.

* * *

“Ruby!” Snowbelle exclaimed, hugging her friend, grinning. “It’s so good to see you!”

Ruby laughed, hugging her back. Grace waved from the table the pair had occupied. When Ruby joined them, Grace frowned.

“Are you wearing contacts?” she asked. Ruby shook her head, adjusting her glasses.

“No, why?” she replied, frowning herself.

“Your eyes, they look weird. Darker or something...” Grace muttered, leaning in closer to inspect them. Ruby quickly withdrew, narrowing her eyes.

“Maybe you’re just imagining things,” she growled, then quickly covered her mouth with her hoof.

“Somepony’s in a bad mood,” Snowbelle chimed, Grace nodding her agreement. Ruby frowned, lowering her hoof and shaking her head.

“I don’t know why I snapped at you. I’m sorry,” she told Grace, who quickly forgave her. The trio ordered their lunch, chatting while they ate, the rest of the afternoon going smoothly.

As Ruby headed inside her home, she paused, seeing that book sitting on her desk.

“I don’t remember leaving that there,” she whispered, quickly checking around to make sure nothing else seemed out of place. Finding nothing wrong, she cautiously approached the book, startled to find the title once again had changed.

“Ruby’s Evil Magic.”

She took several steps back, almost tripping over her hooves as she went, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

“No!” she exclaimed, running into her bedroom and ducking under the covers, trembling. Several minutes passed before she peered back out. Relief and fear washed over her when she didn’t find the thing sitting on the table. She cautiously walked out towards the desk, finding the tome still sitting there. Slowly, she glanced at the title, hoping it had just been her mind playing tricks on her earlier, but the words still remained. They seemed to be glowing, pulsing at her. She reached her hoof out to touch it, quickly recoiling inches from it. With a gulp, she picked it up, staring at the title, her eyes widening when she saw the letters changing color, from a golden color to a deep red. She quickly threw the book and retreated to her bedroom, closing the door and crawling back under her covers.

“It’s all in my head! It’s not real!” she repeated to herself, over and over until she eventually dozed off.

* * *

The next morning, Ruby woke up and fumbled for her glasses, sliding them into place as she opened her eyes. As she looked around, everything appeared fuzzy, so she slid them back off.

“That’s odd,” she muttered, walking over towards the mirror. She put the glasses back on, causing things to blur once more. She frowned and removed them, looking at them curiously.

“I guess I don’t need them anymore,” she told herself, glancing in the mirror. Upon seeing her reflection, she yelped and dropped them to the floor. Her usually blue eyes were a dark red, like the lettering on the book’s cover had been the night before. She closed them quickly and reopened them, but they were still red.

“What is going on?!” she cried. She moved her hoof over her eyes and quickly moved away from the mirror, hurrying past the book that still lay on the floor. “This can’t be happening!”

She hurried out of the house, keeping her head ducked as she ran past ponies, headed for the library. As she went, she collided with another pony, knocking both herself and the passerby to the ground. She hurriedly stood and glared down at the young mare.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Miss Starquill!” she exclaimed, standing as well and dusting herself off. Ruby snarled.

“Watch where you’re going, peasant!” she snapped, pushing past her. Many of the other ponies in the square all watched, wide eyed. She cast her glare towards each one in turn. “What are you looking at?!” she demanded of them.

“Ruby, what’s going on?” a familiar voice asked from the crowd, her sister Jade stepping into view. She looked between her sister and the young mare, frowning.

“This fool ran into me!” Ruby snapped, then blinked, covering her mouth. “Ah, no, that’s not what happened! I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I ran into her. I’m so sorry,” she quickly exclaimed. “I should have been paying attention.”

The mare didn’t meet Ruby’s gaze as she scurried off, Jade approaching her sister.

“This isn’t like you, did something happen?” she asked. Ruby thought on it for a second, keeping her gaze down so Jade wouldn’t see her eyes as she nodded.

“Mhm. Something is definitely going on. Come with me,” she told her, heading back to her house.

* * *

“’Shadow Spells for the Gentle Pony’?” Jade asked, reading the title of the book Ruby had handed her. Ruby looked to the book in Jade’s hoof, still seeing the red lettering declaring Ruby’s Evil Magic.

“That’s what it was called when I found it, anyway,” she told her. Jade frowned again, looking to Ruby.

“So, you say this book has been following you, and you think it’s what’s causing these outbursts?” she asked, Ruby nodding in response.

“It’s changed its title on me twice now,” she informed her. Jade looked the book over some more, examining the covers and contents of the first few pages before giving it back to Ruby.

“It looks like a normal spell book to me, but I’ll do some research and see what I can find out,” she replied. “Meanwhile, try to stay calm. I’m sure everything will be okay. There’s probably a simple solution to this.” With that, she hugged her sister and left.

Over the next couple of days, Ruby continued to get worse. Her horn appeared sharper, and she swore her mane, tail and coat had darkened. She snapped at her friends, getting angry at them over nothing, until she closed herself off from them. By the third day, she seemed an entirely different pony.

* * *

“Ruby? May I come in?” Snowbelle called, knocking on the door. She and Grace were worried, she’d been locked in for a whole day. There was a growl from the inside.

“Why would I want you here?” a voice snarled from the other side of the door. Snowbelle frowned and tried the door, finding it unlocked. She stepped inside, looking around. The curtains were drawn, so the room was dark.

“Ruby, what’s going on?” she asked, noting the figure by the desk, leaning over an open book. Red eyes with slit pupils turned her way, a snarl on her lips revealing pointed fangs. The once light blue and purple mane was now nearly black, wings pointed at the tips, horn sharp as a blade.

“I told you to stay out!” she growled, turning to face the pegasus. Snowbelle took a step back as Ruby slowly approached, horn sparking with magic.

“What’s wrong with you?” she pleaded, stepping back until she was pressed against the door. Ruby continued advancing, practically growling.

“Maybe YOU’RE what’s wrong!” she snapped, flicking her horn in a slicing motion, magic sparking from it and striking Snowbelle. She gave a cry of pain, tucking her front leg under her as she tried to open the door. Ruby went to strike again as the door was thrown open, Grace standing on the other side. Snow hurried to escape, her back leg struck by Ruby’s spell as she did.

“What are you doing?!” Grace exclaimed, moving to guard her friend. “What’s happened to you?!”

“You should worry more about what could happen to you.”

With that, Ruby went to strike again, her horn glowing with a black aura. A cold smile formed on her lips as she aimed at Grace, releasing the blast and causing both Grace and Snowbelle to cry out in pain.

“R-Ruby, stop!” whimpered Snowbelle, looking towards her friend as the bow in her mane began to fray and fall apart around her. Ruby simply laughed, staring down at the two as she continued her spell. After a moment, however, their cries seemed to get through to her as her eyes flickered back to their normal color and she quickly stopped, backing up into the house.

“G-Grace...Snow... I-I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, tears filling her eyes. The two of them whimpered in response as the tears spilled down her cheeks and she began to sob, repeating over and over that she was sorry. That was how Jade found them awhile later, Ruby sobbing and apologizing, and Grace and Snowbelle whimpering, crying themselves. Ruby seemed to have regained control of herself, her appearance back to normal.

“I found some information on that book,” Jade told her softly. “It’s a dark spell book, and the magic in it takes hold of the reader. The only way to stop it is to destroy it.”

Ruby looked up at her sadly, nodding a little as she went in to get the book.

“But Ruby, there’s a catch... Destroying the book... could destroy you as well. There’s a high risk that you won’t survive it.”

Ruby looked back at her, giving a small whimper as she retrieved the book anyway. It was then she noticed the title was back to normal, but the words were still red. Jade followed her inside.

“There’s a way to control it,” she added. “With this.” She gave her a charm, hooking the necklace around her neck. “But it won’t ever go away completely. Not unless we can find a pony with strong enough magic to drive the darkness out of you. Then we’ll be able to destroy the book and you’ll be fine.”

Ruby gave a small nod, looking towards her friends as they limped in.

“We’ll help,” Grace told her. Snowbelle nodded.

“Mhm, this stupid spell won’t be enough to beat us,” she added. Ruby nodded again, but she could still feel the darkness in her, begging to get out. But she wouldn’t give up, she would find something to break its hold, and she would destroy the book. She wouldn’t let anything stop her.

The End

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