Living Flame

by Random Gamer

Ignition

According to her books, the language appeared to be ponin, an ancient and dead language that was used by all ponies before the current one. After succesfully translating a small part of it, she found out it wasn't an ordinary book... it was a spellbook. The first two spells were levitation and telekinesis but since already knew them, she didn't even try to cast them.

As hours passed, she translated more and more of it, yet the spells still appeared to be the same ones used today. Eventually, she fell asleep on the book only to be woken up by a small hand poking her cheek. She immediately got up and saw Spike. It was also quite dark, meaning that she slept quite a lot.

"Oh, you're back." she said, yawning. "How was the concert?"

"Would have been better if you were there." he said, still upset that she didn't go with him. "Dash doesn't really appreciate Octavia's music. All she did was talk about how boring it was and I could barely hear a thing." Only now did Twilight finally realize how much was Spike upset. She told him she wants a break and yet, here she is, sleeping on books again.

"Spike I-" she tried to say how sorry she was but was cut off by him.

"translated the whole book?" he asked, "Great. At least you'll get yourself a better assistant than me." It was now obvious that he took the broken promise very seriously and though he's not good enough for her anymore. She followed him upstairs, hoping that he would talk to her, but he just went to his bed and covered himself with the blanket. Twilight didn't say anything afterwards and just went to sleep. Hopefully, he'll speak with her tomorrow.

Instead of her usual dreams, however, she wa standing alone in complete darkness. She looked around but there was nothing there. Suddenly, she heard a voice.

"Help me..." It said. "Please..." She looked around in confusion but there was no one there. Even her dreams seemed to follow logic, but this seemed like it didn't.

"Hello?" she said. "Who's there?"

"Behind you..." It responded. Twilight turned around and saw a mare on fire.

"By Celestia!" she said, horrified. "You're on fire!" She made a bucket full of water appear out of nowhere and tried to extinsguish her, but the flames weren't put out.

"Twilight, I am not on fire." she said, taking one step closer to her. "I am fire or more precisely, a creature of fire - an elemental." Twilight's eyes opened wide and she took a step back.

"I've never heard of you." uttered Twilight, still taking a step back every time the fiery mare made a step forward. "How am I supposed to trust you?" The mare stopped, looked at the ground and then back at Twilight, sad.

"You aren't." she said, looking straight into Twilight's eyes. "No one ever set me free from that horrible book." Twilight stopped as well, thinking if she meant the very book she found hidden in the trunk.

"You mean Ultima?" asked Twilight. "You mean the book I found?" The sadness from the mare's face faded away and was replaced with happiness.

"Yes! That one!" she said happily. "I was starting to think it was lost forever."

"Why do you want me to free you?" asked Twilight. Obviously, she though that a pony cannot be trapped inside a book

"Because I'm here so long..." she said. "It seems like forever."

"That's not a reason." objected Twilight. "You didn't give me enough proof to trust you." The fiery mare sighed.

"You know how the book closed when you used your magic and how your magic aura around it turned to harmless dust?" she asked her. "That was me. No thief repellent, no enchantment. That's how I was written - commanded. Any unicorn that interacts with the book will be given different spells, based on what I think is important for them. But there are many, many more."

"No, that's impossible!" argumented Twilight, getting slightly angry. "Sentient books don't exist. Not even in old pony tales." The mare sighed again, disappointed that her efforts in trying to persuade her didn't work.

"Fine." she said, saddened. "I'll have to wait another year, or a century until someone finds this book again. I don't do want to do this anymore, I really don't, but what else can I do?" Twilight though about she said and felt sorry, not realizing she was talking to someone who probably had an opporturnity like this once in a thousand years.

"What do I need to do to free you?" asked Twilight. "Is a spell needed?"

"Yes." the mare said. "You have to summon me using a spell no one has ever used before and then break the casting bond by another spell. That will make me free."

"Is... is it safe?" asked Twilight, doubtful whether freeing the fiery mare would be right. "What will you do after you're freed?"

"Yes, it's completely safe and harmless and so am I. The only thing I wish is freedom." she said. Before Twilight could say that she'll do it, she woke up in her bed in the early morning. It took her a few seconds to memorise exactly what she said and did in the dream, but then it became clear - she was to free someone trapped within the book. She carefully brushed past Spike and went downstairs, the book still on the table, opened.

"Now, to find the right page." she said and turned the page. Suddenly, the pages started turning by themselves and stopped on the two last pages. They contained only one spell, consisting of two words, with each word written on one page. Intricate red markings could be seen around the spell words. They appeared to be decorative, as if signifying the importance of the spell itself.

"Vocet..." she said and the word lit up with an orange glow. "Ignis." The book started twitching, as if possesed by an evil spirit and then stopped. A red pentagram appeared on the floor next to her, accompained by a dark red mist. The fiery mare stuck her head out and then walked out of it, appearing the same as she did in her dream.

"Now the other spell." she said and looked around. Twilight placed her hoove on the book again and turned to a random page. Shortly after, the book itself turned to the right page and similiarly to the previous spell, it was broken into two pages, each containing one word. It also contained the same decorative markings.

"Vinculum..." uttered Twilight and the word once again lit up. "Rumpunt." The portal behind the mare disappeared and the sound of metal shattering was heard.

"Thank you!" said the fiery mare and stepped out of the pentagram. "You have no idea how grateful I am." Twilight smiled.

"Always glad to help." she said and tried to close the book. For one reason or another, she couldn't, not matter how hard she tried. Suddenly, the pages turned back to the page with the spell used to summon her.

"I... I don't understand..." she said, confused about the book's behavior. "Why does it want me to summon you again?" The mare smiled.

"Now that I'm free," she said, her voice darkening. "you deserve to know the truth." Twilight, still confused about what was happened looked at the spell again. A third word, Daemonium, appeared in black, spreaded across both pages. The word had many translations but the one used most commonly was demonic or belonging to a demon. She gulped and her heart started beating faster.

Upon looking back at the mare, she saw something one could only see in a nightmare. Fiery horns grew out of where a pony's ears should be and a ball of fire appeared between them. The fire surrounding her extinguished itself and only burned at the base of her hooves, around her head and tail. Grotesque black wings grew out of her back and her eyes changed from yellow to dark red, with only a small black dots in their centers serving as the pupils.

"What... what are you?!" asked Twilight, horrified. The decorations in the books changed to a number of red pony skulls with horns.

"A demon." she said, her regular voice being overlapped with a fiendish one. "I can't thank you enough for summoning me and breaking the cast-bonding. For your services rendered, you and you only will be spared from the work I have been planning all those long years. Thanks to you, it will finally become a reality. Enjoy your precious Equestria, for it will last long."

"No, no!" said Twilight, panicking. "This can't be happining! This isn't happening! It's just a dream. I'll pinch myself and I'll wake up."

"No, dearest student of Celestia." replied the demon. "This is not a dream, this is a nightmare. A living one." Before she could react or stop it, the demon blew a hole in the ceiling of her library and flew away.