~*~
Good, you made it here! I knew you would, and... Okay, I'll admit something to you.
I tricked you!
You see, there wasn't just one word in that story that made the page turn, there were several! I picked words that had special meanings, some sort of resonance in what they were about. The idea is that you'd pick the one that stuck out the most to you, that resounded most clearly in your mind. That way, I could learn just a little bit about the kind of person you are. Or, if you didn't find any and just turned the page instead.
And... I have to say, I'm a little surprised. I didn't expect it to happen this way, but... that does tell me a little bit about you. Not a lot, but at least I have a glimpse into how your mind works now. it's certainly more than I had before.
To be clear, I'm not judging you or thinking poorly of you. Oh, not by any means! And I'm sorry if you feel annoyed and sore at me that I tricked you. I really did love playing tricks on other ponies when I was alive... or whole... or whatever you'3d call it when I was a flesh and blood pony. I haven't had the chance in what feels like decades. It might even be longer than that, in all reality. So it kinda felt nice for me to do this at your expense. I hope you'll forgive me on that much.
I also admit, I'm a little happy that it worked! Turning the page on my own just because you touched the page... I wasn't sure I could even do that. To know that I have that much power in me still, even if it needs you to work? That's comforting to me. It makes me feel a lot less helpless, less hopeless. I thought I'd give it a shot, and it actually paid off! I haven't felt excited like this since the last time someone opened the book, and that was always such a let down. And it's all thanks to you.
Really, I can't thank you enough for this. You've made me feel alive again.
And now we have a 3 in 'you'd'. I've just realised this is probably going to be a sentence at the end, but I haven't been writing these down
9012240
YOU ARE IN LUCK!
I am writing them down!
9013946
Hopefully you have the words written down when I get there.
My notes at this point:
p2 1 thoug1h
p7 7 wait7s
p8 HERNAMEISMUSE[E?]
p12 6 wro6ng +link
p17 nIght afraId staIned
p18 3 you'3d
And I am absolutely gripped.
Alright, at this point i have devised a little theory in note form to unravel the mystery in front of us. Join and speculate with me!
Okay, I will start with what I've figured out and then lay out the conclusions to be drawn from those points and how i got to them.
-The book is lying to us.
-The book is not Muse
-The book used to be human (more theoretical, anything with arms and feet really. Most likely Human though
conclusions:
-The book killed muse's brother
- Celestia made it the way it is(aka into a book as a punishment)
-The book is not nescessarily female, since it's not Muse
How i got to my conclusions:
-The books story about the cat
-The emphasis on the words "Some things only come out at night" made me suspicious, espacially because it was mentioned right after Muse's story.
-The hidden message of "HER NAME WAS MUSE" was, as you can see, made in 3rd person. Why wouldn't the book use an I? The message is already hidden, after all.
Speculation:
I also think the story about the one pony breaking her leg is bollocks, well at least partially. It's lying again. I suspect that the Book(aka the person it used to be) was chasing the pony, the rest though, I suspect to be real.
We can clearly see that the book is VERY desperate not to be alone again, but not only that. It also seems wholly convinced that it did not deserve this fate, so it would be only logical to start lying through your teeth. It doesn't really have anything to lose. From what I suspect it's giving us these little hints out of guilt over what is has done, while at the same time not telling us outright for fear of us putting it down.
Let me know what you think !
Except that what I wound up doing was poring over the story for a hidden link and stopped looking as soon as I found the first one. Also, I feel like if I was actually reading a book like this who was desperately lonely and struggled to communicate with me (and if I didn't already think something was off about this entity), I'd tried to put a finger/hoof to the page and trace out letters and words that the entity could hopefully interpret. It'd be somewhat similar to Riddle's diary in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
I also admit, I'm a little happy that it worked! Turning the page on my own just because you touched the page... I wasn't sure I could even do that. To know that I have that much power in me still, even if it needs you to work? That's comforting to me. It makes me feel a lot less helpless, less hopeless. I thought I'd give it a shot, and it actually paid off! I haven't felt excited like this since the last time someone opened the book, and that was always such a let down. And it's all thanks to you.
Really, I can't thank you enough for this. You've made me feel alive again.
The book is evolving...
Another number! 3. That makes the whole thing so far 1763. I'm very curious as to what this is going to mean.
I'm gonna take this train of thought and run with it. The implication here is that which link I picked said something about me, but what if the words have special meaning in that they relate to the story?
Night seems to be a big theme in book pony's stories, first with the story about Muse's brother, then with the rabbit story. Both involve bad things happening to those who go out at night. Coincidence? Hidden meaning?
Afraid. Not sure about the specifics on this one, but book pony is definitely afraid of us leaving. Maybe it has something to do with that?
Stain. This one is the toughest. However, with the mentions of blood in several chapters and that link involving some sort of blood ritual , it might be referring to bloodstains.
I'm probably reading too much into things again, but I'd rather see meaning where it's not there than miss something important.
I like looking thru comments to make sure I didn't miss any numbers or clues. Honestly, at first I was thinking it may lead to an SCP's number, but if there are more than the ones I've found, probably not.
Really enjoying this reading. Can't wait for the pieces to come together. I also love seeing the theories of those in the comments.
I haven't had any agency in this interaction, so what could possibly have been a letdown last time
Uh