//------------------------------// // Part 2: E.O.T.M. // Story: Bound in a Book // by Halogenmyst //------------------------------// Five novels of unknown origin, titles unreadable. The content of each book was fixed, but the words on each page would differ between observers. There was magic instilled into the books, giving the reader some unnatural awareness of the events described. Princess Celestia was aware of these books and gave her prized student the instruction to research them. This same prized student let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Ponyfeathers... There's hardly anything I can actually know about these things!" Twilight wasn't one to complain when she was assigned to read, but these books had just a few too many variables for her liking. "Reading them got you this far, why not just keep doing that?" Spike asked, truly wondering how his bookworm friend was able to keep her hooves off of them. Twilight wanted to read them. Each time she glanced in their direction, she felt them beckon to her, like they wanted to be read as much as she wanted to read them. Twilight kept her composure, however. "There's some kind of ancient magic in those pages, Spike. The words themselves can alter somehow, and I felt absorbed by that story as though I was really there. There's no telling what repeated prolonged exposure could do, and I haven't learned anything for sure yet, it's all subject to change because of the magic. Spike, I have no sure basis to work from, and I need to find one." Twilight explained her frustrations to her assistant. "Why don't you let somepony else read them for a while?" Spike suggested."You'll be able to observe their reactions and stop them if any magic gets too strong, and you'd be able to take notes on whatever you see without being pulled into something like last time." Twilight tried to find a retort for it, but the more she thought about Spike's suggestion, the more reasonable it sounded. Perhaps instead of refining the perspective on the pages, she should expand them, getting a second opinion could give her the foundation she needed to really crack this thing open. "Spike, that's actually a really good idea." Twilight said with a surprise in her voice that was not unnoticed by her assistant. Spike turned away from Twilight and kicked the floor. "I come up with good ideas plenty often." He muttered to himself. A light blue mare with multicolored mane walked into the library, slightly uneasy from being summoned with no real explanation. "You wanted to see me, Twi?" "Rainbow Dash! Thank you for dropping in, I need your help with something." Twilight talked and walked with her friend to where she was keeping the books. "Princess Celestia had given me these books and asked me to research them-" Twilight explained the situation and led rainbow to a room in the back. Rainbow Dash was settled into a soft chair and handed a thin, wide book. She inspected the book and somewhat begrudgingly opened it up. "I'll help you out, but it's to help the princess, not 'cause I'm excited or anything." Twilight looked over her friend's shoulder, reading the first few sentences. "Tell me what it says." She asked excitedly, quill at the ready. Rainbow felt a bit like a child, with her mom testing how well she was learning to read. She understood why Twilight was asking, but it still felt stupid. "Fog rolled across the hills as the morning sky lit up in dim blues. The sun hadn't risen yet, but light spread throughout the sleepy land." Rainbow dutifully read out the first couple of sentences. "Interesting..." Twilight took quick notes. She had read that 'fog cascaded through the hills' and that 'The sun's ascent lit the sleepy land.' The text was probably meeting Rainbow's language comprehension, but then... "Spike, what does it look like to you?" Twilight asked. Rainbow turned the book to Spike, and he squinted at the pages. "Um..Mi..Mia-" Spike's eyes shifted quickly to the two ponies waiting on him. "Er- Fog rolled across-" "Spike!" Twilight stopped him. "I'm sorry alright? It looks like the ink ran out or something, it hardly looks like anything!" Spike tried his hardest to defend himself for not being able to read, something he felt ashamed for, despite knowing magic was involved. Twilight took a couple notes before leading Spike out of the room. "Well, it's probably not comprehension..." Twilight muttered. She then turned back to Rainbow with a smile. "Okay, read at your own pace and relax, I'll be here the whole time." Twilight sat down across the room and held her quill and parchment ready. "Okay then..." Rainbow said as she sat the book open and began to read. The mountains were going to keep the sun hidden for a few more hours, letting the fog linger longer than it had any right to. Amber Dawn was happy to see it though, it made sneaking past the walls of the village easier, and kept him hidden from the lookouts as he ran through the thick forests. Stretching his wings, he took off under the cover of the trees. Most pegasi would have looked for a clearing, but Amber was not most pegasi, and he was in a rush. He ascended as though there was nothing in his way, weaving through each branch until he broke through the tops of the trees. The land was dim, but not dark. The sky was mostly cloudless, but Amber felt it would probably become overcast before noon. Even with the winds brushing past his silver mane and red-orange coat, the quietest thing for miles was the village itself. Given the silver moon still dominated the sky, the villagers were certainly silently waiting for the sun to overcome the moon's presence. Warm air filled Amber's wings, nesting between each feather it pushed him ever so gently up into the sky. With a beat his wings pushed it back, denying the earth below him, distancing himself as he stretched his wings, allowing more air to find purchase in his feathers. Drifting across the rays of light that danced across the sky, he felt something following him. Looking everywhere, he couldn't spot anything above the trees, and it was impossible to follow the colt on foot, the terrain below was simply too intricate to keep up. But he felt it. It was on his tail, and he couldn't shake it. The only option was to fly higher, if whatever was on his tail was earth-bound, he could keep his distance vertically. Amber Dawn beat his wings, pressing the tips of each feather against the air, he pushed himself up and away. The air warmed as he crested the shadow of the mountains. Feeling the sunlight warm him only made it more apparent how cold it was outside. Something was wrong. Now that he had climbed higher, the presence felt closer than ever before. Was it flying too? Amber was certain there wasn't any bird or pegasus nearby, there wasn't any sound. There wasn't any sound. The animals, the wind, everything fell silent. Amber slowly turned to look upward, terrified of whatever he was going to find. What he found however shouldn't have surprised him. The moon was there the entire time, but he hadn't considered it. Everypony in the village warned him of the moon, telling stories of monsters, powers and blood that came when the moon turned itself toward them.The young colt was certain they were all stories to keep him in bed at night, but now, the moon encompassed the sky, and it's light fell squarely on him. The air no longer touched his feathers. His body tightened as though he had fallen in the snow. He dropped from the sky, falling as though the moon itself had thrown him to the earth. The ground was coming toward him quickly, but as Amber's body refused to move, his mind felt a call, a whisper tha- "RAINBOW!" Twilight shouted as she used her magic to hold her friend to the chair. Rainbow Dash felt an uncomfortable pressure, and realized her wings were extended, and being pressed into the chair was urging them to bend a direction they were not meant to go. "I'm okay, I'm okay." Rainbow called quickly, as she adjusted herself and settled back into the chair, breathing a little harder than she should be for having just read a book. Twilight recognized Rainbow had come out of whatever trance she was in, and backed up. "I'm so sorry,your wings started buzzing as your nose pressed further into the pages, I should've stopped it then, but I let it go too long, you practically took off without letting go of the book." "It's okay, Twi." Rainbow reassured her friend with a strange calm. "That was just... so cool." Rainbow's eyes rested on the ceiling, looking a lot more thoughtful than she usually does. Twilight set her notes aside as she saw the huge grin on Rainbow's face. "Rainbow?"  "It felt just like my first flight all over again, like I was there. Don't even get me started on the story, I-"Rainbow Dash looked Twilight square in the eye."When can I keep reading?"