"I can't believe Princess Luna was willing to loan me this spell book, Spike!" Twilight was almost prancing around the library, a dusty black tome held in her telekinetic grip.
"I don't see what's so great about it; it looks like every other book here to me." Spike rolled his eyes. He had lived with Twilight long enough to know he would never understand her obsession with dusty old tomes.
"Spike, this spell book is over 500 years old! Who knows what kind of amazing magic I could learn from it," Twilight said, moving to her desk and gently placing the ancient tome down and turning to light a few candles.
As she situated herself for a night of study, she couldn't help but feel giddy at the prospects this book could hold. Twilight's horn came alive with magic and the dusty old book was soon encased in a magenta glow. With the care she would use to rock a new born filly to sleep, she lifted the front cover of the book, being as careful as possible not to damage the frail, brittle pages. Twilight made quick work of the of the first few chapters, her mind devouring all the information the book had to offer. At the rate she was going, she might even be done in time to get some sleep before starting her research paper.
Four hours had passed since Twilight opened Princess Luna's book and she was very nearly finished with the tome. The book contained a wealth of knowledge regarding ancient dark magics and the rituals performed by primal unicorn cultists with hopes of summoning powerful demons and spirits to smite their foes. It was an amazing read that Twilight was all too sad to have come to an end as she turned the final page. As her magic lifted the final page, however, Twilight stopped for a moment. She was always extremely meticulous with her magic and always took very precise note of the things she held in her magical grip. This last page was heavier than all the pages before it by nearly 2 grams, a discrepancy Twilight found odd enough to inspect things further.
It's almost like two pages were bound together with magic. Twilight attempted a simple transparency spell to see if there was possibly anything inside the page. She frowned in annoyance when the page refused to bend to the will of her magic, staying as solid as it had been before. This piqued Twilight's curiosity however; The page refused to alter under the effects of her magic, which meant that it had been shielded by an even stronger magic.
Twilight steeled herself and poured every spare ounce of magic she could muster into her horn causing it to ignite in a torrent of magenta and white. She focused all of her attention on the final page of the tome, pouring her magic into the paper, the strain of maintaining the spell quickly sapping the energy from her body. For a split second the center of the page became translucent, and there, dead center of the page, lay a block of text unlike anything she'd ever seen before.
T̠̣͔͖̻̻͉̱̣̯͟ͅǫ̵͚̯̫̼̦̲̞̩̯̲̗̜͇͇͚̤̳͝ ̴̷̛͘҉̺̤̬̹̞̣͓̩͉í̵͓̪̫̼̘̫̫̩͓̺̮̺̖͘͢͞ń̵̡̛͇̼͉͙̤v҉̴͓͉͍͍͎̟̗̦̠̭̭̻̩͕̠́o͝҉̧͜͏̲̭͙̘̫̱̗̻̜̠̟͉̩ͅͅk̢҉͏̵̥͓̗̘̺̫̱̮̙ͅȩ̡̛̜̖̪̙͈͕͎̳͕̫͞͡ ̨͇͉̖̬̞̤̦̮̲̗̺̙̘͎͍̺̝͉͘͠ţ̛̛̪̬͇̟͕̤̝̳͔͎̗͓̮͎́͡ͅh̸̵̰̦̬̝̭͔͜͝e̟̣͔̣̜̺̥͉̹̦͈̺̺̟͖̰͝͝ͅ ̵̵̳̘̳̗̤̱̳͔̻̱̥̝̙̟̬͞ͅG̡͕̖̙̲͢ͅo̷̴҉̼̩̺̞̗͖͈͕̱̥̪̬͙d̡̢̫̯̻͈̱̞̯̟͇͔̠̣́͠͝ ̀̀͢҉̭͙͎̪͇͓̙̻̲̲̬̺ͅr҉͓͕̟̙̠͈͎̝̥̩͔̰̞̝̟̥͇͓̟͘è̴͏͕̮̪̜͇̘͙̹̪̰̺̗͓̰͟ͅp̷̛͈̼̞̻͔̺̥̕̕͡ͅr҉̶̴̹̥͚̼̬̥̭͎͝͡ę͚͉̠̦͕̭̗̙̞́s̝̤͔͇̖̼͕̻̦͙̥̰̘̕͘͢è̸̷҉̩͎͈͔̖͍̺̙̭̝̝͟ǹ̷̖̩̤͙̞̯̳̞̤͢ț̷̳̻͇̖͔̜͍̲́͜͞͠i̵̛͍͚̲̥͠n̸̴̛҉̠͚̜̳̱̝͓̝̦͚̭̣̻͚̮g̷̩̯͍̻̗͇̭͇̜̤̬̞͇͉̟̣͝ ̱̮͉̗̭̤̟͈͇͇͡ì̸̗͈͙͉͙͉̣̣̩͖͓͓̺n̬̻̟̳͍̲̥͙͉̬̖͓̲̫̖̻͟s̷̷̢̗̘̻̤͓̤͠a̢̢̛̪͉̟͓̱͖͘͞n̡̜͎̝͓̪̟̬̹̱̼̤̣̗̙̞̯̱͜i̶̼͚̠̣̕͢t͏̨̧̥͖͓̞̞̻̭͎͓̙͚͓y̸̤͚̺͇̬͟.̝͍̱̰̜̺͙̖̳͕̣̩͢͞͝͠͠
̡̀҉̵̧͖̱̙̭̼͈̟̥̮I̧̲̘̲̙̺͔̗̥̟̜͓̼̥͎͟͞͝ͅͅn͡͏̡̫̠̠̣̳̱̳͈̙̪̮̼̤v̢̕͘҉̠̺̯̜̘̼̼͕͉̻̙̝͎͕̜̭̺ͅͅo͟҉̨̫̫͈̟̠͔̻̠͔͔͓̕͢k̡͏͔͖̖̭͉͈͕̤̭̲̘̼̳͡ḭ̷̮͔͇͚͇̘̘̰̝̠̻͔͟͝ṋ͚̳̝̖̰̯̜̞̹̩̤̬̬̖̪͍͠͠g̡̢̀҉̯͈̖̮͕̯͔͔̰̯̹ ͜҉̦̭̮̘̻̝̦͜t̢͚̘̜̜͢ḩ̴̵̻͍̭̞̻͠e̛̳̹̙̘̺̳̠̼̞̝̠̲̺̯͎͖͚̞͜ͅ ̀͘҉̣̺͖̜̠͓̺̥͍f̶̴̩̖̥̼͘é̵̛̞̥͝ͅȩ̢̳͎̱͉̝͇̖̻̥̼̣̤͝͠͡l̷̝̭͖̙͇͎̼͇̣̦̘̟͢i͏̯͔̦͚̭̠̠͓̼̠̖͟n̯̦̙̯̱̼̟̺̲̬͡͝g̵̵̰̠̮̫͖͓͜͞ ̨͢͏͙̫̤̩̠̮͇͕̪ò̵̠͎͈̟̤̺̞͇̫̥̤̭͚̘͇͞f͢͏̻̥̩̞̩͕̦͎͉̜͠͡ ̵͉̩̮̝̘͓̮̣̲̞̱̩̀͟ͅt͇͕͕̩͔͓͚͕̤͎͢͟e̸̵͍͙̱͚͇̺̥̻̪̱̻͉̕ͅr҉̨͎̠͉̹̙̻̝̞̗̲̗͔̤̺̼͓̟̥̦ŕ̛̼͎͓͈̣̬͕͝ͅͅơ̡̡̩̤̱͇͙̞͕͔̕͢r̨͚͈̯̝͕͜͟͝.҉̸̴̢͙͚̰̝͚̫͈͟ͅ
W̵҉͖͉͉̣̗͓̤̭̖͎̭̰̪̦̦i̵̧̡̪͈͈͎͔͔̣̣̗̹̥̞͡t̴̫̭̪̬͙̠͇͉̘͉͎̲̠̬̲͖͙͍̀h̙͚͓͡ ̸͖̬͔͍̝̝͉̭͖̜̖̟͘͢͜o̢͚͍̳̮͚̺̝̩̝͖͕̟ͅͅú̗̼̟͙̻̼̱͍̯͓͇̺͜͞t͞҉̴͏̠̥͙̳̜͈͔̭̤̙̹͝ ̣̰̱̭͉̪͇̩͟ó̴͏҉͓͔͖̟̼̲͢r̴̀͢͟҉̫͔̝̝̲̩̰̠ͅd̷̯̻̹̟̭̺̜̰̠̲̫̱̹̱e̛̯͇̤̙̞̫͔̱̙͜͟͠r̞̩͍̦̭͙̮̳͓̱̳̼̥͘̕ͅ.̡̧̜͎͉̥̟̪̫͔̘̯̭̕̕
T̬͇͇̱̼̫͍̹͔̤͉͢͠h͏̧͈̜͉̦̖̹̣̭̺̮̠̼̹̝̙͚̜̬́̀͠e͇̝͔̟̘͙̪̩̱͟ͅͅ ̸̨̧͔̳̜̟̳̜͍̬̯̩͕̥̰̹͇͖̭͠͝É̠̞̫̬̰̟̱͉̞͢l̵̴̢̛̫̞̺͔̰̘͝d̲̯͈̱͎̱͇͈͇͍͎̮̤́͘͘͘r͏̷̵҉̰͈͎̳͞i̶̳̦̮̙̪̫̤̤̦̠̕͜t̸͓̹͉̦̥͡͞c̛̗̜̳͓͕̘̣̣h̶̼̦̦͍̣̱͢͢ͅ ͚̦̟͈̖̭͈̩̝̣̠͓̙̰͇͈͝ͅh̯̹͚̯͓͓͘͠ǫ͢҉̟̠̮̖͇̙̝͚͉r҉͔̟̳͎̰̥̻͇̪̦͟͢͢r̶҉͔̼̜̖̗̮̭̀o̴̢̻̮̯̹̙̙̙̮͖̺̼̙͈͘͠ͅr̨̦̳͇̟̬̟̬̥͈̲̪͖̪̞͔̟͠ͅ ̛̺̺̬̮̰̺̥̺̯ͅb̶̷̕͏͕̲̰̞̖̰̟ȩ̗̬̹̟̟͇͓̻͇̲̘̜̰̖͓͓͟ͅͅn̵̸̡̨̳͉̜̹̞̼ͅe̛҉̴͖͔̤̣̮͉͖͍̘̼̰͇͢a̛͍̱̗̗̘̩̪͎͈͕̖͔͞t̸̡̰̤̪̗̮̗̩͔͖͜͝ḩ̵̤͉͓̟̲͕͍͍̦̹̯͚͓ ͜͞҉̪̠̱͙̥͈̖͞t̵̨͓̻̳̣̟͍̣̦̤͕͇͕̮̼̪̘̞͈́͡h̷̷̬͕͔̲̭̥̰̗͡͞e̮̖̪̖̩̗̕͞ ̡̩̰͎̟̻̬̙̫͚͟͢d̯̻̼̹̰͚́͢͠͡e̛͡҉͎̟̞̪͇̞͉̬̯̖̮̱ͅͅp̸̧̻͉͉̬̮͖̫̘̱̻̲̩̱̀͢͠t͏̰̯̮̰̺̜̪͖͍̝̬̞̟͘h͎̣̱̝͈͍̥͚̻̳̞̥̼́͟s̢̮̠̯͍̭̻̜̻̟̼̭̜̳͇̼̩͉̜͢.͜͠҉̧̼̱̰
̮͖̼͓͎̖̺̹̜́͢͟͡͡ H̡͔̹͈̰̲̯̟̙͕̜͝͝ͅȩ̺̝͍̺͟͠͡ ̸̧̡̞̭̰͖̺͇̩̠̠́w̵͖̩͙̲̲̭̹̙͇̻̞͎̼̥̗h͖͍͍̯̜͎̹̬͜͜o̴̢̦͇͉̹̮̫͙͙͎̣̹͚͎̦̠ͅ'͍̻̗͙̰̳͎͎̦͔̜͕̩̕͘͢s̡̛̻̹̭̤̬̀͜ ̠͙̗̪̟̠̙͈͉͉͇͕͈̭̞́͜͜ͅͅͅs̴̼͕̗͍͍̼̜̻̪̯̖͍̀l̴҉̴͓̱͍̙̬̙̪̩̱̭̤̗̹͇́̕ù̢͖̝͔̤͙̠̼͚̦̭͚̺̬̪̻̭͙̭͡m̸̲̭̦͙̻̳͚̗̰̤̰̰͚̯͓̺͓̙͖͜b̶̢̡̛̞̘̮̳͙̲̰̤̞̗̗͍͎͖̝͝ͅȩ̛͚̣̥̱͙̬͓̘̰͉ͅr̴̛̰̬͓̣͙͈͔͉̜̱̗͔͟ͅ ̢̩̖͍͈̮̞͇͇̱͉̕s̢̧̨̹̪̬̬͍͎͘͟h̷̡̡͔̗̤͙̀̀o͝͠҉̘̫͚̫͕̻͉̹̟̝̠̜͉͚͚̼́͠ͅu͕̲͓̣͙̭̫̦̮̫̳̞̠͚̙̤͈̕͠l̸̸̞̪̞͙͈̙̲̜͓̜͇̼̳̦̮̖̕͟͟d̹̠̣͇̥̭͝͞ ̢̨̞̦̰̟̼͙̫̳̣̥̪͇́͟͝r҉̷̶̡̙͔͍́ͅe̸̛͔̭͕̜̤̜͓̘̖̪̜̺̫͠ḿ̢̡̛͈̯̠̗̰̬̦a̶̷̷̠͚͈̘̘͍͚͉̬͇͘͘i̷̬̼̼͈̻͙̗̮͓̳̘̥̝̖̬͡ͅń̨̺̼̙́͟͡ ̡̙̬̬͍͍̰̻̰̘̳̬̪̦̣͖̠e̛͡͏̛̳̖͚̭̱͎͈̪̙̘̣̺̭͖͎̲́t̵͡͝͏̨͈̪̗̟͉̞è̦̞̣̦̻̱̣̞͔̪̝̱̳̟̞̝̪̠̜̕͞r̸̙̹̦͍̰̭͡͠n̴̡̥͉̤̜̥̣͔͇̘̤ͅa̧͡҉̧̡̥̩̠͉̟̦̻̗̣ļ̠̗͕͕̮͍͙̣.̵͕͚̖͇̦̠͎͟͞͝ͅ
Ć̸̬̖̜̫̱̠͍͍̜̲̤t̝̯̖̠̩̱̙̕͜ͅͅh̸̷̀͘͏̣͚̘͉̲̪̞̲͖͙̣͖͓͎͖̝̩ừ̶̧͖͓͕̙͍̫͟l̢҉̻̘̺̼̘͉͕̬̟̟̺̕͡h̸̢̨̛͇̣̩̞̬̺͢ṷ̫͇̱͈͍͎̠͖͚͟͡ͅ!̧̣͉̣͇̪̠͓͈͇̬͍̞͖͔̬͓͇́̕
Twilight felt an overwhelming sense of dread overtake her body as she found herself momentarily paralyzed. Before she could compose herself, a bolt of dark energy shot out from the book, striking her in the chest and knocking her backward. Twilight picked herself up off the ground, her forelegs weak and trembling, her eyes glued to the item sitting on her desk. The ancient tome crackled and glowed with dark magic similar to the kind she used in the Crystal Kingdom. This magic, however, was different; Twilight felt a cold dread as she gazed upon it, fear pooling in her heart. Twilight prepared to teleport herself to the bedroom and get both herself and Spike safely away from this evil book, but just as her horn began to glow, the magic surrounding the book dimmed and faded away.
Twilight eyed the book cautiously, unsure of whether or not it might spring to life again. After a few agonizingly long minutes she bolted into action, snatching the book off the table and placing it into a glass case near the stairwell. With a quick application of magic, locks could be heard turning inside the case followed by a large gem on the upper rim of the lid illuminating. This particular glass case was meant for containing unstable magical objects. Twilight had requisitioned the case after an incident occurred while experimenting with enchanted gemstones. She slumped down onto the floor with a sigh of relief only to be startled by the barrage of thuds raining down the stairwell. She turned to see Spike rushing down the stairs with a worried look on his face.
"Twilight, what's going on? I heard a loud crash and then what sounded like running followed by a loud slam." Spike surveyed the room to see if anything had been damaged.
"It was that book, Spike. I tried to cast a powerful transparency spell on it and got blasted by a wave of dark magic." Twilight's voice was shaking and she felt slightly fatigued, the adrenaline rush from the encounter finally ebbing. "When I managed to get back on my hooves, I sprinted as fast as I could, grabbed the thing and locked it in the special magic restriction case." Twilight pointed over to the case which now contained the evil tome.
"I guess you learned a bit more then you wanted to, huh Twilight?" Spike queried, helping the shaken unicorn off the ground. "Come on, let's get you to bed. We'll write up a letter to the princess first thing in the morning and have someone come for the book." Spike assisted Twilight up the stairs to the best of his ability and got her into bed before blowing out his candle and curling up in his basket.
Twilight laid back on her bed still trembling slightly from the encounter. Her mind flashed back to the text she had revealed sandwiched between the two pages. The language was completely alien to her and the mere appearance of it was unsettling and off-putting. She tried to forget the shocking feeling that had seized hold of her body as she gazed upon it, such a cold, terrifying feeling, as if the words themselves were trying invade and desecrate her mind. She rolled over and through sheer force of will pushed all thoughts from her mind, focusing solely on trying to sleep. She needed to be up first thing in the morning to report all this to princess Celestia.
****************************************
500 miles off the coast of Las Pegasus
No pony, not even the Princesses, knew the things that lay in the deepest depths of the Equestrian sea. Such places were simply not for pony kind to disturb, and no pony had ever dared dream of disturbing them. It was therefore no surprise that the storm brewing over a particular stretch of ocean went unnoticed. Nor was it surprising that no pony heard the strange, alien noises calling up from the deep. Something old, something ancient stirred in the deepest places of the sea. Something that had slumbered for eons, drifting between dimensions.
Only now, its slumber had been disturbed.
****************************************
As the sun peaked through her curtains, Twilight refused to accept Celestia's morning. Turning her head to the offending shafts of light, Twilight groaned into her pillow, sleep still clouding her thoughts. Minutes passed before Twilight rose out of bed, her mind slowly clearing away the foggy remnants of sleep. It took several minutes for her to register that the new day had dawned and with it came obligations that demanded her immediate attention.
Twilight rose out of bed and made her way gingerly over to Spike's basket to gently coax the sleeping dragon out of his slumber. "Wake up, Spike. We have a lot to do today," Twilight said as she made her way over to the dresser, a small brush levitating into the air, encased in a magenta glow. Twilight quickly worked the brush through her mane, taming all the unruly knots and tangles. When she was satisfied with her appearance she placed the brush back on the bureau exactly where she had found it and turned to her assistant.
"Spike, take a letter. I need to inform the Princesses about the dark nature of the tome I was researching last night." Twilight spun around to face her assistant and was greeted with a rather commonplace sight: Spike was still curled up under his favorite blue blanket sleeping rather soundly despite the hour. Twilight hesitated for a moment about whether or not to wake the baby dragon. She did of course recall how he had woken up in the middle of the night to help her back to her room and ensure the dark tome was secured.
Twilight chewed softly on her bottom lip as she eyed the baby dragon. He really does deserve to sleep in this morning, but I must get a letter to the Princesses. Duty winning out over compassion, Twilight made her way over to the sleeping dragon and nudged him gently. "Spike, I know you're tired, but I have very urgent things to report to the Princess. I promise after we send out the letters you can have a nice big lunch and take a good long nap." Twilight cast a regretful smile down at the baby dragon.
Spike rose slowly with an annoyed grumble. He wasn't a morning dragon, and was even less of one when the morning had come only three short hours after he had fallen asleep. As he sat up in his basket, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking up at Twilight, he could tell from years of living with her that her head was most likely close to bursting with whatever words she was going to use in her letter to the princess. Without a word he got out of bed,crossed the short distance to the desk, and retrieved a quill and parchment.
"Let's get this over with so I can get back to sleep." Spike let out a long yawn as he set his eyes on Twilight.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle.
"Dear Princess Celestia, during my visit to Canterlot earlier this week, your sister, Princess Luna, allowed me the privilege of selecting a few spell books from her private collection to study. The book I chose to take home with me was an old tome covering ancient dark magics, including cult magics. While a majority of the book was focused on the history of dark magic and not its application, I did uncover one thing of particular interest. The last page of the book appeared to be a blank, but it was in fact two pages fused together through some form of powerful magic. With a supreme effort, I managed to cast a transparency spell on the two pages and discovered what appeared to be a block of script in the middle of the page in a language I have never seen before. However, it only lasted a few fleeting seconds before the book became enveloped in dark energy and blasted me clear across my study. The book has since been under tight magical security in my library, and I would request that you personally come retrieve it. I do not feel at all safe entrusting this tome to anyone but you at the moment; Its dark magic is simply too powerful."
"Signed your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight sighed heavily in relief, the thought of the accursed book being removed from her humble library doing wonders to ease her nerves. In one fluid motion Spike raised the scroll up, and with a quick puff of green fire sent the letter off to the princess. He could see Twilight physically relax as the wisp of green flame made its way out the window and off toward Canterlot.
"So Twilight, what other plans do you have for this morning?"
"Well Spike, I hope your writing claw is fresh and ready because we have a good deal of information to record about last night's little mishap. I can only assume the Princess is going to want a detailed report of an item when I make a request for her personally to accompany it back to Canterlot."
With a heavy sigh, Spike picked up another roll of parchment and readied his quill. If he knew Twilight half as well as he thought he did, the recount of last night's academic explorations would cover several scrolls, and he was in no particular mood to do that much writing. As Twilight began her recount of the previous night, Spike couldn't help but cast a wary glance at the subject in question. The book sat there in its tiny prison, looking to all the world like any other book in the library. Spike, however, knew the true nature of the object.
Even though still quite the child as far as dragons were concerned, Spike had a dragon's sense about magic. The feeling that had awoken him the previous night was a strong, primal sort of emotion, one he didn't fully understand but knew to be extremely dangerous. Spike's claws continued to write, his eyes never leaving the case which housed the accursed book. He could almost feel a cold, ethereal wind emanating from the case, causing him to shiver slightly.
Spike had a feeling that even after the Princess arrived to take the dark object away it might still come back to haunt their lives. He wouldn't know how right he was, however, until it was too late.