Twilight was a very happy pony.
She still worried for her brother and that worry was always somewhere within her mind, but for right now, she could say she was happy. Ancient Scroll had just left on his errand in town, and the moment he was gone, the lavender filly had made a beeline for the study.
As per Sunset's responsibility, she followed the excited filly into the study with Trixie on her heels -- though Twilight paid them no mind. Instead she scanned the bookshelves looking for... something.
She didn't even know where to start, she just knew that any number of these books could give her access to knowledge she couldn't have even dreamed of -- at least that's how she felt at the moment.
She knew Ancient Scroll had traveled all over the world in his time, and had no doubt that she'd be able to find some new and exotic books she'd never seen before and couldn't get anywhere in Equestria.
Sunset looked on in amusement, having already been used to going in and out of the study at her leisure. While she wasn't nearly as ecstatic as Twilight, Trixie did take the opportunity to look around the shelves with some interest.
"So," Sunset asked from near the desk in the back, "have you found anything interesting, Twilight?"
Twilight, who was looking over three different books held in her magic, only gave a noncommittal 'uh-huh' in response. Sunset went to ask again, but decided to leave it be and see what Trixie was up to instead.
"And what are you looking for?" Sunset asked curiously as she trotted over to the azure filly, "anything good?"
"Well..." Trixie narrowed her eyes at the book being held aloft in a soft pink glow, "Trixie isn't really sure."
"What do you mean?" Sunset replied as she moved closer to get a better look at the book, "what'd you find?"
"This," Trixie held out the book for Sunset to read, "Trixie thinks it might help with her studies on Mind Magic, but..."
Sunset read the title of the worn looking brown book with a raise eyebrow. It almost looked like a journal, not dissimilar to that of Frigid Gale's.
"...'Pathokinesis: A Study on Changeling Mind Magic'?" Sunset looked back to Trixie with a furrowed brow, "Trixie, where did you find this?"
"Trixie found it in one of the drawers of Uncle Scroll's desk," the azure filly replied as she flipped through the book, "she didn't know what path... patho... kin... pathokinesis was, and she was curious."
"Lemme see that," Sunset replied yanking the book out of the indignant filly's magical grip, "if this was in Uncle Scroll's desk, then he probably didn't want you to see... it..."
Sunset frowned in bemusement as she skimmed the pages of the book.
"These... this looks hoofwritten or possibly hornwritten," she muttered, "I'm not sure, but it's... did... did Uncle Scroll write this?"
"Trixie doesn't know," the azure filly replied as she took back the book from Sunset, "but it has piqued her interest and so she shall read it."
"Trixie, I don't think that's a good idea," Sunset replied with a disapproving frown, "seriously, you should at least ask Uncle Scroll if it's okay first."
Trixie huffed and went to argue, but then stopped and narrowed her eyes slightly at Sunset.
"Very well," Trixie finally replied as she floated the book back on the desk, "Trixie will ask Uncle Scroll when he returns. She will know the secrets held within that book, Sunset Shimmer, mark her words."
"Yeah, okay Trixie," Sunset responded with a shake of her head, "whatever you say."
She turned back to see what Twilight was up to and was surprised to see she was already muzzle deep in a book. As she made her way over to the lavender filly, she could see a stack of several books next to her.
"What'cha reading, Twi?"
Trying to talk to Twilight when she was reading was normally like trying to chat up a brick wall, but the sheer unexpectedness of the nickname was enough to pull the lavender filly out of her reverie.
"Twi?" Twilight asked, turning to the orange filly with a raised eyebrow.
Sunset merely shrugged in response.
"Why not?" she replied simply, "rolls off the tongue pretty well in my opinion."
Twilight looked at her for another moment before giving a shrug of her own and turning back to her book as she spoke.
"Well, to answer your question," she explained, "I was looking through some of these books to try and find some kind of magic that would be useful for tracking."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Sunset replied with an understanding nod, "something like that would make it easier to find your brother obviously."
"That's what I was thinking," Twilight replied, nodding in agreement, "so far it's been surprisingly difficult to find a spell like that, but I think I may have just found something that can help."
"Really?" Sunset asked, trying to get a peek at what the lavender filly was reading, "what'd you find?"
"Well..." Twilight glanced back to Sunset nervously before looking back her book, "it's... kind of dangerous, and not exactly legal per se..."
Sunset raised a wary eyebrow at Twilight and waited for her to continue. Twilight swallowed and grinned sheepishly as she explained.
"From what I've read, you can apparently use Blood Magic to--"
"Blood Magic?!" Sunset cried in horror, "Twilight, that's--"
"I know, I know!" Twilight interjected, raising her hooves defensively, "I know how illegal and dangerous it is, Sunset, trust me!" she lowered her hooves and gave Sunset a pleading look, "Just hear me out on this one though, that's all I ask."
"I don't know, Twilight," Sunset replied uneasily, "Blood Magic is one of the deadliest branches of Magic known to ponykind--"
It was at that moment that Trixie chose to trot back into the study, momentarily distracting the other two fillies.
"Trixie has returned," the azure filly announced, "what did she miss?"
"Wait, when did you leave?" Sunset asked with a confused frown.
"Trixie only left a bit ago to use the bathroom," Trixie replied as she made her way over to the others, "you should pay more attention, Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset looked at Trixie for another moment before shaking her head dismissively.
"Well, whatever," she turned back to Twilight with another disapproving frown as she spoke, "Twilight here was just telling me about how little she values her own life."
Twilight rolled her eyes before giving Sunset a flat look.
"Sunset," she said with a hint of irritation, "you act as if I haven't already read through the dangers of Dark Magic what, three times now?" she shook her head, "trust me, I know the risks of using Blood Magic."
"Then why?" Sunset replied, "why even think about it?"
"I have my reasons," Twilight answered with a small grin. She straightened up, raised a hoof, and began to speak, "first of all, while Blood Magic can be extremely dangerous to both caster and those it's cast upon, its corrupting effect takes a bit longer than most other branches of Dark Magic and is therefore more easily manageable.
"Secondly, it shouldn't be all that hard for me to learn, given my apparent affinity," her countenance turned somewhat somber, "finally, and most importantly, Blood Magic can give me access to some of the most powerful Divination, Communication, and Enhanced Tracking spells available."
She gave Sunset another pleading look.
"It's risky -- very risky, but it might be worth it."
Sunset sighed and pinched her nose with a hoof before looking back to Twilight with a worried frown.
"Twilight, I know you want to do everything you can to find your brother, and I know I said to use what you're good at," she said with a slow shake of her head, "but this? This is too much. It's more than you can handle right now -- not to mention the many, many horrible consequences if something goes wrong or you get caught."
"Trixie can't believe she's saying this," the azure filly added, "but maybe Sunset's right, Twilight Sparkle."
Both Twilight and Sunset looked at Trixie in surprise and saw she was looking back at the lavender filly with concern.
"Trixie doesn't really know anything about Blood Magic," she explained, "but from the way you're both talking about it, it sounds like Twilight could get herself killed doing it," she shook her head and trotted closer to Twilight, "Trixie can't and won't allow that to happen."
"You see?" Sunset said, turning back to Twilight, "even Trixie thinks it's a bad idea."
Twilght looked between the two before biting her lip and turning away. She contemplated their words -- her face scrunching up in indecision for a moment. Eventually she sighed and turned back to the others.
"Maybe you're right, Sunset," she conceded, "I just... saw an opportunity and... jumped on it, y'know? Besides, I don't even think Uncle Scroll has any books on Blood Magic anyway."
"He probably doesn't," Sunset agreed, "and even if he did, I doubt he'd keep them out in the open for us to read."
"True," Twilight said with a nod, "I'll just keep looking for something else -- some other, less dangerous spells I could use in the meantime."
"Good," Sunset replied before trotting to the door, "I'm gonna get something to eat. You want anything?" she offered to Twilight.
"I'll join you after I clean some of this up," Twilight replied with a small smile, "I'm hungry, but I'll decided for what when I get out there."
"Suit yourself," Sunset replied as she made her way out, "just don't take too long."
"Oh, wait for Trixie," the azure filly cried as she followed Sunset out, "she's absolutely starving after being cooped up in here for so long!"
"Trixie, it hasn't even been that long..."
Twilight watched the two of them go before turning back to the pile of books she had been reading. She frowned and levitated one of the books from the pile, inspecting it carefully.
Twilight focused her magic and, without a sound, the book changed back to it's original form -- it's dark green cover changing to a deep maroon with gold lettering and metal plated edges.
'Cosmic Awareness: A Theory' became 'Carmen Sanguinarium: The Bloody Arts'.
Twilight eyed the name with distaste but put on a determined frown nonetheless. She hadn't expected to find something like this in Ancient Scroll's study and to be fair, she didn't think anypony else would've noticed it -- it was hidden behind a rather powerful Transmogrification spell after all.
But Twilight knew a Transmogrfication spell when she saw one.
She had studied the spell inside and out, learned every single facet right down to the smallest little detail. She wouldn't have been able to dispel the Transmogrification through the normal process -- even with her rather abnormal magic power.
Since she couldn't break through it, she instead decided to work around it. Like carefully picking a lock, she had poked and prodded the enchantment until she had it figured out, and she had to do all of this without letting Sunset catching on -- a harrowing process, but she had done it.
She had hoped she could convince the orange filly to agree with her plan, but wasn't surprised when she didn't. Twilight did indeed know the risks of learning Blood Magic, but she was certain she could handle it if she was careful. and she wouldn't pass up this opportunity.
Thankfully Sunset had mentioned that Ancient Scroll would allow them to take books out of the study as long as they were maintained and returned to their proper places -- well for Sunset and Twilight anyway.
Trixie wasn't allowed to due to last night's incident involving the plates -- the good plates.
Twilight chuckled as she remembered the event before lighting up her horn and placing the spell back on the book and laying it back down on the pile of books she planned to read later.
She levitated the books onto Ancient Scroll's desk and hummed to herself as she trotted out of the room.
Neither Twilight nor Sunset had noticed that there was another book missing from that desk.