//------------------------------// // Spell (1) // Story: Behind the Masks // by Troutking //------------------------------// The old floorboards of the library creaked under the pressure of her steps. The book, encompassed by a faint glow, floated in the air. Darkness surrounded the pony, only held back by the faint flicker of a candle. Clouds of dust billowed off the book's cover as she dropped it onto the central table. An oppressive silence was soon replaced by the sounds of her coughing. "Who," spoke out a voice from within the shadows behind Twilight. Her heart stopped at the unexpected voice. She slowly turned towards the sound. A shadowy figure stood on the bookshelf with yellow eyes staring at her. Taking the candle on the table, she moved the flickering flame towards the figure. At first, she only noticed the grand shadow of the creature. It was as if the devil’s pet was looking down at her. Frightened by the imposing figure she attempted to throw the book at it in a feeble attempt to defend herself. Her eyes adjusted just soon enough for her to see the owner of the shadow. Rather than a demon sent from the pits of Tartarus, the shadow belonged to an owl perched upon a bookshelf. "Oh, it's just you Owlowiscious. Sorry, I thought you were something else... Though I thought I asked you not to sneak up on me like that after the last time." "Who," he repeated, while spinning his head rather quickly like a merry go round. "Since you're here, could you please get me my quill and ink from my desk?" Without another word, the owl flew up the stairs. Returning to the business at hand, she floated out a few pages of parchment from the cabinets beneath the table. The scrolls landed softly on the table beside the book. They carried the distinct odor that only high-grade parchment could have. The light of her magic reflected off a single gold panel on the cover of the book. She trotted towards her old worn out satchel. Many fond memories were attached to the ratty beige bag. The faded image of her cutie mark laid in the center. Sifting through the contents of the bag, Twilight pulled out a single scroll wrapped with a blue ribbon. She laid the scroll down onto the table as she returned to the center of the room. She diverted her attention to the flapping of wings resonating from behind her. Owlowiscious hovered mid-air, an inkwell in one talon and a small white feather in the other. Grasping the ink and quill with her magic, she returned to her former activities. "Thank you Owlowiscious." "Who," The bird fluttered over to his perch and simply watched Twilight. Twilight removed the ribbon from the scroll. While examining the scroll, she found the inventory list for the library. She began saying each title out loud then proceeded to check the shelves if that book was there then checked the logs to see if a book by the same title was rented or sold. The farther she proceeded down the list, the more her frustrations at the lack of progress grew. Reaching the end of the list, she sighed heavily. "Uhg, every single one of the books in this library is on this list except for this one." While re-wrapping the scroll, she only glared at the solitary book. Its tan brown color held no notable markings or signs besides the blank gold plate. It held no sign of an author or a publisher. She began to pace back and forth. "Maybe it's a diary... No, it couldn't be, no one would make a diary with that much detail on such an obscure legend of the mirror pond. Though… I’m not exactly an expert on diaries so it’s an option for now. Maybe it's a self-made book by the old owner of the library? Hmmm…” She quickly looked at the page she had book marked for the Mirror Pond and examined the writing. “No, seems too professionally crafted to be made by a single pony. Maybe I can ask around town tomorrow about the previous owner to verify. " "Wait, this could be a part of the old owner's secret collection! So he wouldn't put it on the stock list since it's not for rental or sale! Wait... then why would he hide it? What would explain the whole false back to one of the bookshelves... Maybe it's an extremely rare and valuable book!" Her pace increased as her mind raced around the idea of finding such a tome. Stopping short, Twilight turned and stared at the book. "But then why did he leave it here if it might be so valuable? Does it have some sort of dark secret? If so, should I read it further? Think, Twilight, think... Ok, I'll take a peek at the other pages to see if it has anything dark secret... ish, and if it does I'll close it for good." Her magical grip extended towards the book, bringing it up to her face. She started to flip through the pages giving a brief look at each title. The name of each spell was always placed at the top of the page, but each page had its own style of writing as if the author couldn't decide how he wanted to write it. She gave only a brief glance at the page for the mirror pond and it’s corresponding spell. She stopped and turned back a few pages to a spell that had caught her attention. "To See the Truth" was printed in bold at the top of the page in a stylized script that must have taken much effort to write. "Hmmm... let's see... allows caster the ability to see the truth within ponies and sapient creatures. Magic skill level recommended before casting spell is very high... Huh, a truth spell. I haven't seen a book with one of those since I studied at Canterlot." She continued to read down the page. She hoped to find some long list of ingredients for it, like most high level spell she was aware of usually have. Yet as she read the book, she was only greeted with a rather messy incantation. Almost completely unlike the rest of the book, the actual spell was hastily written near the bottom of the page. Rereading in hopes of finding some sort of requirement or even a glyph, like they used back before the Banishment. She was met with none of her fantasies. "It doesn't seem terribly complex... might as well give it a go. Maybe I'll see if it really is Spike who took the book on How to Impress a Mare in Seven Easy Steps.” She laughed before starting the spell. The room was illuminated by the purple glow emanating from Twilight's horn. "From the souls and minds of friend and foe. A truth they shall reveal. I shall see the weight they tow. Whether to hurt or heal. I shall see the sinner's woes, their fears, and their desires. Through my will I shall not be blind. And..." Flowing magic abruptly stopped at the interruption of the spell, sending shivers down Twilight's spine. Twilight shined magical light to closer inspect the book, in hopes of seeing the rest of the spell but with little success. After a moment, the room became eerily silent once more. Twilight looked around to see if the stoppage of the spell caused anything to happen. Gazing upwards, she saw a solitary light floating above her. It floated down, much like a feather. As it came down to eye level with her, Twilight stared into the orb. All she saw was a familiar glow of her magic encompassing a dark center. As she stared into the ball, shivers tore through her body. She looked towards the table and floated her quill and paper over. When she returned her gaze to the ball, she found it had disappeared. "Strange... that could have been the side effect of not completing the spell properly. I've heard weird stuff usually happens when you mess up a spell. But... something isn't right about this spell in the first place. Hmmm...I'll need to study a bit more on spell configurations and structure to figure this out." She whispered to herself. Soon enough, books around the library became encompassed in her magic. Books of all sorts detailing the creation and wording of spells. Twilight cleared a small section of her table to prepare for the studying ahead. "Twilight... what are you doing up so late? I thought you promised no more late night study sessions. Also why were you shouting so loud?" A voice yawned from the darkened stairs. Nearly jumping out of her skin from the sudden voice, Twilight froze in place. Attempting to calm down from her near heart attack, Twilight turn to confront the sound. In front of her was merely a baby dragon on the stairs. "Oh, sorry Spike, Owlowiscious just frightened me is all... did I wake you?” "Yah..." The dragon said sleepily. Twilight smiled sheepishly at Spike. "Sorry, I’ll head to bed soon; just give me a second to put everything away." Yawning several times, Spike turned around, he proceeded to trudge up the stairs. Twilight began to clean up before remembering one of the reasons why she chose the spell. "Hey, Spike, can I ask you a quick question?" Spike stopped on the mid way up the flight of stairs and turned to Twilight. "What is it?" "Did you take a book called 'How to Impress a Mare in Seven Easy Steps' from the bookshelf?" She talked calmly knowing full well the answer he would give. Spike could barely keep his eyes open. "No —” yawn “—didn't, Twilight. Is that all you wanted to ask me?" Twilight expected some sort of alarm from the truth spell but received nothing. "Yes, thank you. Have a good dream, Spike." "Ok..." Spike continued his way up the stairs. Does she know? Whispered a faint but worried voice. Twilight turned towards the voice but no one was there, not even Owlowiscious. "Spike? You still down here?" She received no reply. Twilight shrugged off the noise as her simply hearing things. She returned everything to its rightful place. After the last book was back in it’s place, she moved to the stairs. The steps creaked as she ascended the stairs towards her bedroom. The bed nearly beckoned her to it as she made her way across the hallway. Embracing the covers, she collapsed from the exhaustion. As she drifted off into slumber only the thought of the whispering voice remained in her mind. Does she know? Covering the entire land in its radiance, the sun signaled the waking of the town of Ponyville. The warm breeze that summer was known for carried bird song to the ears of all residents. Pegasi quickly moved or removed clouds to create a picture perfect morning sky. Tiny beams of light shone through the window onto Twilight’s face. Drifting out of unconsciousness, she opened her eyes slowly. A gentle yawn escaped her mouth as she levitated her blanket off of herself. Subtle cracking and popping noises came from her joints as she got up. As she stood beside her bed, she gave a brief look around her. Everything was in it’s place just as she liked. Twilight commenced her morning rituals, brushing her hair and teeth along with checking her plans for the day in her itinerary. Wafting through the air, the smells of hay bacon, wheat and other foods reached her nose. She became entranced by the lovely smells and proceeded to follow them to the kitchen. As she approached the scents of various foods, she spotted Spike setting up the table. The baby dragon finished setting up and turned to see Twilight. "Oh, Twilight, I was just about to wake you up for breakfast." "Wow, Spike, that's quite a spread you made. What's the occasion?" He held a forced smile. "Occasion? Why would I need an occasion to do something nice for you Twilight?" "Well, you don't usually do stuff like this unless you get something out of it." "What? No... I mean why would I do that?" His eyes darted all around. Twilight decided to pressure the dragon. "I suppose you're right. It's not like you stole a book from the library or anything. Right?" A small drop of sweat traversed down Spike's face. Keeping her eyes on the baby dragon, Twilight took a seat at the table. Avoiding her gaze, he searched for a way out of this situation. Twilight levitated a few hay bacon strips onto her plate before speaking again. "Well?" Her gaze bore down on him. "Well...I didn't...uh..." A sudden knock at the door interrupted him. "I'll get it!" The little dragon quickly spun around and ran towards the entryway. A brief sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he reached for the handle. Pulling the door open revealed a pink pony wearing a smile across her face. Pinkie Pie hopped into the library, filled with her usual giddy. Spike looked at Pinkie, his worried face now replaced with confusion. "Uh... hey Pinkie. What are you here for?" Pinkie continued to bounce up and down happily. "Don't you remember, silly? You said you would help bake cupcakes with me today. You promised you would after I gave you those gems!" "I did promise you that, Pinkie... but, isn't it a little early to bake cupcakes?" "It's never too early to cook up some cakes! But if you and Twilight were busy with something I could always come back later." Turning his head Spike spotted Twilight still looking at him expecting an answer. "You know what Pinkie? It's the perfect time to be cooking!" "Are you sure Spikey? I wouldn't want to interrupt anything." The dragon pushed Pinkie out the door. "No, no, it's completely fine! You weren't interrupting anything at all! Now, come on let's go make some goodies!" Pinkie looked back to Twilight as she was being pushed. "Okey dokey lokey! Cya Twilight!" Just before Spike crossed the threshold of the house, a voice spoke out. Dear Celestia, she knows doesn't she!? Twilight turned her attention towards the door. "Did you say something Spike?" Both Spike and Pinkie were gone before they could hear her question. Ignoring the strange voice, Twilight returned to eating her large breakfast that was set out in front of her. Her mind pondered the spell she found yesterday. Eventually Twilight stood up from the table and turned her attention to the book. She levitated the tome over to the table and flipped to the "To see the Truth" spell. "Maybe the spell was a dud... but if it was then why did it feel so strange?" Twilight reviewed the page over looking for a clue about the purpose of the spell, or if there was something she missed in the casting ritual. "There aren't any additional requirements for the spell... so it must be the last part of the spell that makes it take effect. Where are my books on spell structuring, they should help me figure this out..." She started to scour the library, looking for any book on spell structure and composition. Several books levitated off the shelves onto the table, Twilight checked once more to make sure she had taken all of the books she needed. Giving a quick glance to the clock a sudden realization came to Twilight. "I have that meet up with Rarity and Fluttershy! I could just not go and apologize later… no, we've been planning this for a week. It wouldn't be right to do that." Twilight sighed loudly. Twilight left her library, only giving a brief look back at the stack of books. Sighing, she made her way towards the spa.