Sapphire awoke the next morning to the sun shining straight in her eyes. The unicorn's eyes fluttered open and she used a hoof to block the sun. Much like a bat's eyes, vampire eyes are extremely sensitive to sunlight. A single ray renders a vampire virtually blind. This is why her kind prefers to travel by night. But being raised by mortals has it's perks.
Sapphire's horn shone a dark blue as she wrapped her magic around one of the spare blankets on the floor, unfolded it and draped it over the open window. It didn't help much, but it was far better than before.
With a yawn, Sapphire sat up in bed and stretched. She felt her bones pop and she let out a small sigh. She grabbed the blanket she lay under and tossed it to the side. Immediately a strong chill blew in through the blanket-covered window. She reveled in the cold breeze. Sapphire absolutely loved winter. She got up out of bed and was immediately hit with another crisp breeze. Her fur stood on end and she shivered slightly.
"Mornin' Sapphire," The metallic voice of Deathwish greeted the drowsy mare. Sapphire grumbled in response.
"I'm hungry," She stated bluntly. She strode over to her saddlebags where they hang on a rack nailed to the wall. She levitated them onto the small table just beneath the rack and unlatched the brass buckles. Her hoof reached in and produced a small square of cloth. She unwrapped the cloth to reveal a small apple tart. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a bottle of apple cider. She popped the cork off the bottle and took a quick swig. It was physically impossible for a vampire to get drunk, but that never stopped Sapphire from enjoying the taste of fresh squeezed cider.
As she chewed on the tart, Deathwish felt this to be a good enough time for him to ask, "So, are we gonna speak with the contact today? Or are you gonna wait another day?"
A moment passed and Sapphire swallowed her tart and replied, "Nah. I spoke with him last night. The contract has been made-" She shuffled around in her satchel and produced a small note tied around with a leather band and read aloud "-'You are to kill Noble Molten Gold of House Gold at midnight. No later. Payment of six thousand bits has been made. Failure is not an option.'" She tucked away the letter and pulled out another apple tart.
"Could've taken me," Deathwish pouted.
"Eh, didn't feel like waking you." Sapphire drained her cider and tossed the empty bottle on the floor. Her eyes fell upon where the bottle hit her saddlebag. They settled on her left saddlebag.
Deathwish followed her gaze and asked, "What's that?"
Sapphire undid the buckle to her bag and used her teeth to pull out a large leather bound book. The book was untitled. "This? I have no idea. I found it in the library while you were out exploring the town or whatever." She opened the book, then promptly slammed it shut. "Whoa..."
"You felt that too?" Deathwish asked from across the room. As soon as Sapphire had opened that book, a tidal wave of dark magic erupted from the yellowing pages, sending the scythe slamming against the back wall.
"Y-yeah..." Sapphire slowly replaced the book in her saddlebag.
"Where did you say you found that book again?" Deathwish asked, edging closer to Sapphire.
"The North Pines Library..." She replied slowly. Sapphire could hear Deathwish muttering to himself.
Moments later, "We need to return that book. Wherever it came From." He shot a glare at the book.
"What are you saying, Deathwish?" Sapphire demanded, slightly taken aback. "You're joking right?" She placed a protective hoof over the saddlebag that contained the odd tome.
"I'm afraid I'm not joking, Sapphire. That book must be returned! It's a danger to us both! Do you know how much dark magic is radiating just off the cover?"
"Enough to take out the King's entire guard," Sapphire snarled, "Exactly why I took it! Who knows what would have happened if it got into the wrong hooves!"
"Well whoever owned it before sure did a damn good job of keeping it safe!"
Sapphire wanted to retort, but he was right. So with a sigh, she said, "I understand that, Deathwish. But you don't understand that the amount of dark magic this book is radiating could easily be detected by any kind of necromancer or any kind of dark wizard for that matter. Whoever owned it before didn't take that into account. It was only a matter of time before a dark wizard of some kind to come along, find this tome, and pretty much take over the world."
Deathwish nodded his body in understanding, said, "What you say is understandable, Sapphire. But the previous owner would have most likely put some kind of barrier around it to avoid detection."
"That's the thing, though. I easily detected it. If they did put an enchantment on it, it must be wearing off." Sapphire retrieved the book from her saddlebag and placed it on the table. "I just don't want some psycho necromancer finding this book and attempt to conquer Equus."
"Nopony wants that," Deathwish replied with a nod. "Uhh... Sapphire?"
"What's with the look, Deathwish?" Sapphire asked, concerned. She turned her whole body round to see what her scythe was staring at. Before she could say anything else, her jaw dropped. The book had an aura about it that was a mixture of crimson and jet black that held it in mid-air. The tome itself had turned an intimidating crimson and a strange symbol that appeared to be an upside down star emblazoned the cover. The amount of dark magic radiating from the book increased two-fold and Sapphire braced herself to stop from being slammed into the back wall. The book creaked on its spine as it opened itself, revealing it's yellowing and decaying pages. Sapphire couldn't hold herself any longer. As soon as the book had opened itself, a torrent of dark magic erupted from the pages and Sapphire was thrown against the back wall like a rag doll.
Sapphire, groaning, rubbed her head but didn't have time to flinch as another wave of dark magic surged into her, pressing her further into the thin wooden wall of the cabin. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, that's when the book spoke:
"Ego choerdas vocant. Quis ausus est expergisci a somno cosopiri sumpintero?" It demanded. Large bouts of dark magic were still erupting from the book's pages, making it virtually impossible for Sapphire to breathe let alone speak.
"Loquere catulis! Quist est expergisci a somno?!" The Necronomicon was completely ignorant to the fact that it was crushing it's victims.
"Can't... Breathe..." Sapphire managed to choke out. The Necronomicon realized what the mare was saying, and closed itself, dramatically decreasing it's dark magic output. Sapphire fell to the floor, gasping for breath, holding a hoof to her chest and practically crying.
"Quid ergo faciom, qui e somno expergisci audet?" The tome asked again.
After a moment of silence, Sapphire finally managed to catch her breath and choked out, "L-listen. I-I don't k-know what you're saying. I don't u-understand that language," Sapphire replied, venom dripping from her words. She stood up on trembling legs, but fell to the floor once again.
If the Necronomicon had teeth, they would have been ground to dust by the frustration it was feeling. But it kept calm, as much as it wanted to murder everything in sight and bring the corpses back as his zombie minions, it didn't. Add to the fact that it couldn't actually do that itself.
"I am the Necronomicon," it said. "You do not understand my language because your intelligence does not allow you." Sapphire cursed under her breath and glared at the book.
"What makes you so sure about that?" Sapphire snarled at the book.
"I am the Necronomicon, the most powerful book on all of Equus. That is how," The Necronomicon replied simply.
"So? That doesn't make you any more smarter than a beggar." Sapphire could feel the rage boiling inside her. Just looking at this book made her sick to her stomach.
The Necronomicon made a sound similar to that of one clicking their tongue as it thought. "Maybe not, but I am powerful enough to tell you that you are not intelligent enough to understand my language."
Sapphire shot a look at the tome and asked "How old are you, exactly?"
The Necronomicon was taken a little aback by the question, yet replied simply, "Ten-thousand two-hundred and sixty-three."
At this, Sapphire's eyes widened and the only reply she could come up with was, "Uh..." Then there was silence.
"You do know that that language hasn't been used for over five-thousand years, right? It's a dead language. It's a miracle if you can find a scribe who understands it.
"Be that as it may, I still deem thee stupid." This got Sapphire's attention, but before she could say anything, the ominous aura enveloping the book suddenly vanished and the sound of somepony yelling could be heard.
"Silence and dispel," Said a gruff voice from somewhere outside. Sapphire's head darted in the direction of the voice. Moments later the door creaked open and in the door frame stood a rather tall griffon. The griffon glared down at the book, then at Sapphire.
"Uh... Who are you?" Sapphire queried, staring at the intruder. The griffon bounded over to Sapphire and stared her straight in the face, brows furrowed and face twisted in rage.
"My name is Morvis Geldri, and I'm here to discuss your theft." His voice passed through his beak like steel and Sapphire could not help but shiver.
**
[12:36 PM, The night before]
"Gone?! What do you mean it's gone?!" Morvis Geldri bellowed, not at Ink Pot, not at anything in particular. His daughter cowered under the shear volume of her father's voice.
Wiping tears from her face, Ink Pot said, "I-I'm so s-sorry, f-father- I have no idea where the book went!"
"We have to find it!" Morvis declared, "We have to find it befo-" His ranting was put to a stop when Melena put a claw to his beak.
"Instead of shouting, why not search for the book using it's magical signature? Like that one time you were parading through town with skeletons as steeds and you dropped the book in the sewers?" Melena giggled as she recollected that night. It was the most humiliating thing she had ever seen him do.
Morvis blushed a deep crimson and replied hurriedly, "I-in my defence, you got me drunk with that crystal berry wine you bought when we took a vacation to the Crystal Empire." As embarrassed as he was about the ordeal, he couldn't stop himself from laughing at his past self. "But nevertheless I see your point." With that Morvis' head tilted upward, twisting his body around as he searched the night sky for the signature. After a moment, his eyes locked on something in the distance. What he saw was a thick beam of black light shooting up into the night sky. It may have been black but it was seen by Morvis' eagle eyes. He began to head in the direction of the beam but was stopped by his wife grabbing his shoulder.
"I know you're anxious to get your book back," she started, gazing at Morvis with serenity as she continued, "but you're exhausted. You need to get some rest. You think if she knew what she had just stolen, do you think she would still be where she is?" Morvis rubbed his chin with a claw.
"You raise another good point, dear. I suppose you're right. In the morning we will retrieve the Necronomicon from the thief. Even if it means I have to kill her." Morvis looked to his wife, who gave him a cold stare. "What?"
Melena sighed. "You are not going to just kill her. You are going to negotiate. If she doesn't cooperate, then we will notify the guard and they will retrieve the book."
Morvis thought on the proposal for a moment before saying, "I don't know. I'm bringing my rapier just in case things go wrong." Even with his wife's assurance, Morvis could not help but feel his hatred for the thief fester deep within him.
Melena gave her husband a reassuring look. "I'm sure the moment she lays eyes on your build, she'll run away in fear."Morvis couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Come on, let's go home and get some rest." She continued with finality. To that both her husband and daughter nodded agreement. They walked toward their little home just on the far right side of their library.
They walked up the steps. Morvis was the last inside, holding the door open like a true gentlestallion would. As he prepared to make his way into his home, he noticed out the corner of his eye, a strange shadow. He veered around but was met by nothing save for the empty streets. With a shrug, Morvis turned back around and entered his home, closing the door and barring it.
**
-Somewhere deep within the Frozen North-
A malevolent forced stirred from its slumber. The earth around the base of the Alicorn Mountain shook as the darkness regained consciousness. In a cave located just at the peak of Alicorn Mountain, the zombified remains of an ancient minotaur lay bound to the wall in steel chain links covered in centuries of rust and decay. The crimson blood gem that rested just in the center of the minotaur's chest shimmered dimly. He could feel the dark magic slowly growing within him. The Necronomicon has been awakened, and so has he.
A soft chuckle escaped the the open throat of Lord Valgar.