Twilight Sparkle narrows her eyes at the text she had just read. And so she read it again. Then again. Then once more, until the words didn't even sound like words any more. She dropped the book down and peered around the oaken library.
"Spike? Where'd you go?" A muffled sound came from the kitchen and she rolled her eyes. Did he always have to be stuffing his face with rubies? "Spike, have you heard about... well, come here, Spike." The drake, whose mouth still uncleverly hid a large bounty of jewels, arrived looking exasperated. He muffled a few words, urging the alicorn to speak.
"Spike, I was doing some reading..." An eye roll from Spike. "And I found this term. It reads 'There were once ponies who could speak with the dead, not to bring them back, but to dance. To celebrate. To hear the warnings and...." Twilight paused, narrowing her eyes at the text. "And that's where it ends."
Twilight slammed the book shut and dropped it on the paneled floor with a sigh. Spike continued chewing up his all-too-many gems, pondering what had just been read to you. With one last swallow followed by a pleasing shudder, Spike turned to Twilight Sparkle.
"Well... I haven't actually heard of something like that. I mean, raising the dead to dance around with other ponies... it sounds kind of pointless, don't you think? But it doesn't sound too crazy. I mean, I could imagine a fair amount of ponies doing something. Maybe Zecora, Princess Luna, definitely Pinkie...." Spike continued to form a short list of ponies who might do such an absurd thing, but Twilight was no longer listening. The gears in her head were churning at the sound of Princess Luna's name.
"Hm... Spike?" He stopped listing ponies and looked back up from his spiked feet. "Do you know for certain if anypony actually does this. Especially Princess Luna?" Spike smirked a bit.
"No. But why does it matter? Ya know, Twilight, just because you find something in an old book doesn't mean it's always important. If we're both being honest here, this is something you do all the time." Once again Twilight neglected to listen to her faithful dragon. Instead, she picked up the old book once again, her violet hooves wrapping around the careful binding. The book itself was a basic history of Equestria, but it was published about 50 years prior. These kind of books always got Twilight giddy - the history or history? No better book for her.
The first 100 or so pages were in fantastic condition, telling about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and what their powers gave to the land of Equestria. The last 100, however, couldn't even be considered sub-par when it came to condition. Most words were scratched out, worn away by weather, falling off, and smothered in both dirt and dust. It didn't make for an easy read, but all it did was make Twilight more fascinated.
On page 189, the curious words wore away into the pages. Ponies that had become dead, to dance with their ancestors... it was a fascinating concept to the inquisitive purple unicorn. Something that she considered interesting to try out in the future. But first, research must be completed. Was this something she could come back from? Be alright afterwords? Important questions swirled around her head as a list began to form.
Step one - speak to the Princess of the Night.