//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: The Book that had Never Been Read 
// by Unwhole Hole 
//------------------------------//

	As it turned out, invisibility spells were much more complicated than Dinky could ever have imagined. Starlight was apparently an expert in them, but despite her superb teaching skills and patient attitude, the best Dinky had been able to do was to shift her coat color to a slightly more reflective hue. 
What Starlight had been able to do, though, was to offer several pointers on how to improve Dinky’s perception-filter spell. It was something that she had known at least partially for a long time. It did not make her invisible, but it made her difficult to perceive, essentially shifting her to the background of any pony’s perception. Anyone looking would be able to see her, but unless somepony was specifically looking for her they would fail to realize that she was even there. 
With Starlight’s help, Dinky was able to vastly improve this spell. The modified version was far more powerful and longer lasting. Starlight had been rather impressed by this, even though her own perception filter spell was so powerful that she could stand directly in front of Dinky and still go unnoticed. 
It was once again night by the time Dinky left the Castle. The air was cooler than it had been in earlier in the weeks, and the wind was stronger. Overhead, Dinky could see the dark shadows of clouds drifting rapidly past the moon and stars. 
She did not mind, though. Even without a jacket, the cool air felt good against her coat, and the darkness seemed more welcoming than frightening. Actually, Dinky was surprised by how light it was outside: despite the clouds, she was able to see almost perfectly, even after she passed the part of Ponyville that was lit with gas lamps. 
At that hour, few ponies were at the Ponyville Hospital. Most of the doctors and nurses had gone home, and only the night crew remained. Although the front porch was lit and a few of the lower windows glowed with artificial light, most of the windows were dark. The building loomed high in the darkness, and although it looked frightening beneath the night-clouds, Dinky did not hesitate to approach it and enter.  
The security at the Ponyville Hospital had never been good. Dinky’s mother had often told stories that she heard second-hoof of a time when Rainbow Dash had managed to sneak in at night in an attempt to retrieve a book using nothing but a skin-tight black catsuit. Dinky had not bothered to dress in all black, though- -in fact, she had no idea where a pony would even go to get a black spandex suit, even though they seemed relatively common for older ponies. 
Instead, she used magic. She engaged her perception filter as she walked through the front door. The nurse at the front desk looked up to see the door open, but then went back to the book she was reading when she failed to see anyone of consequence enter. She had of course seen Dinky, but had only registered her as part of the background. 
Dinky moved through the hospital quickly this way, drifting through the hallways like a gray-purple ghost. Most of the lights had been dimmed in the hallways, and the floor seemed to consist of pools of bright light between longer lakes of shadow. A few doctors and nurses would occasionally walk through this partial darkness, but none of them bothered to notice Dinky and she passed them without pause. 
The layout of the hospital was more complicated than it looked from the outside, but Dinky knew it well. She had spent a great deal of time here as her mother had recovered from various accidents. The psychiatric ward, though, was a place that she had never been to before. 
It was not terribly much different from the rest of the hospital, although it was clearly built in an older section. Like the rest, it was lit dimly and consisted of various patient rooms. There were a few more security guards, though, and Dinky hesitated. If any of them had been a unicorn using a scanning spell, there was a chance she might be found out. Luckily, though, they were mostly earth-ponies- -save for one Pegasus- -and were consequently quite oblivious.  
The only sound in the psychiatric ward was one of distant, low sobbing, and something that sounded like a dog moaning in its sleep. Dinky dismissed both of them and instead sought out one particular patient. 
Finally, after several minutes of searching, she found Diamond Tiara’s room. She managed to enter in complete silence, closing the door behind her and in doing so sealing off all light to the room, save for the dim glow of the moon through the window and the luminescent screens of the ticking monitors that were measuring Diamond Tiara’s vital signs. 
Carefully, Dinky lit her horn. He produced just enough to see if she was in the correct room, but as soon as she did she saw a pair of reflective eyes staring back at her from the bed, glaring at her despite her perception filter spell still being active. 
Dinky’s breath caught, and she lit her horn the rest of the way, revealing that the reflective eyes did in fact belong to Diamond Tiara. She was sitting up in bed, awake but not moving. She just seemed to be staring at Dinky. 
This lasted for several seconds, but then Diamond Tiara’s eyes scanned several times and her heart-rate monitor clicked slightly faster for a moment. “What do you want?” she said in a voice hoarse from screaming. 
“You read the book.”
Diamond Tiara’s eyes scanned for a moment. “If that…is what you want to call it…”
Her eyes settled on Dinky. Diamond Tiara did not seem to blink anymore. Dinky took a step forward, and Diamond Tiara suddenly recoiled, her pulse jumping upward substantially.	
“NO!’ she cried, pulling herself back up in bed. Her eyes were still round and wide, but now she looked absolutely terrified. “Don’t get any closer! Don’t get near me!”
“You saw what was in it,” said Dinky, taking another step. “You know!”
“I don’t!” cried Diamond Tiara. “I- -I saw- -I saw…” Her whole body shuddered. 
“What did you see?” demanded Dinky, her voice going high for a moment as she stopped walking. “I have to know! I have to know what’s in that book!” 
Diamond Tiara just stared at her. “I saw…I saw things,” she said, slowly. She shook her head, closing her eyes. “You- -you stay away from me! You’re a sick pony! If you can look at things like that, if you can read something like that…what it did to me…if you would want that…”
“That’s not GOOD ENOUGH!” 
Dinky leapt forward, scrambling onto the edge of Diamond Tiara’s bed. Diamond Tiara’s eyes went even wider, but she did not scream. She curled into the fetal position, shaking in terror.  
“You’re going to tell me,” said Dinky, calmly removing the book from her person. When Diamond Tiara saw it, she let out a low, horrible squeak. The heartrate monitor increased steadily, and Dinky was vaguely aware that Diamond Tiara’s pulse was now in excess of two hundred. 
“N…no,” whispered Diamond Tiara. “Please! Not that! Dinky- -I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Just- -just- -don’t!”
“Not good enough, Diamond Tiara. I need to know. I HAVE to KNOW.” She lifted the book in her magic and flipped it open, holding it outward toward Diamond Tiara. 
Diamond Tiara squealed and closed her eyes, burying them under her hooves. 
“Look at it!” ordered Dinky. “LOOK AT IT!”
“No…” protested Diamond Tiara, softly. “I won’t- -I can’t!”
Dinky did not accept that response. She leapt forward onto Diamond Tiara, grabbing her long bicolored hair with her magic and forcing her head up. Diamond Tiara struggled and cried out, weakly trying to resist. Dinky was aware that the sheets below her became unusually wet, although she did not know which of them was responsible. 
“YOU HAVE TO TELL ME!” she cried. “I HAVE TO KNOW! What did you see? WHAT DID YOU SEE?!”
“I don’t- -I don’t remember!” wept Diamond Tiara. She collapsed into a blubbering mess. “I don’t…I don’t remember…” 
Dinky released her. As she did, she heard rapid hoofsteps coming down the hall. She jumped off the bed just as the door was slammed open and a nurse rushed in, having been alerted by Diamond Tiara’s dangerously high pulse. 
“Sweet Celestia!” she said, stepping into the room. By this time, Dinky had already reengaged her perception filter, and slipped out through the closing door without being noticed- -or at least noticed by anypony except Diamond Tiara, who had collapsed back into silent staring at her with strange, empty eyes.