The Lost Book of the Creator

by contodaslasganas

Chapter 1: A Normal Day... Gone Terribly Wrong (Edited 2015-02-06 05:38 EST)

A normal day was all Twilight hoped for, one in which the entire town was free of parasprites, unplagued by chaos, safe from any evil from the depths of Tartarus.

Just one normal day.

And so far, her hope remained intact. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary during the morning, and in the afternoon, she had been able to read through the entire seventh volume of An Abridged History of Equestria in peace. Granted, there was a large lightning storm taking place just outside, partly due to the previous lack of scheduled storms, but Twilight kept convincing herself that nothing would go wrong.

Today, everything will be just fine. No need to worry, Twilight.

Princess Celestia’s letter was still etched into Twilight’s mind. Relations between the ponies and the changelings had slowly deteriorated; Queen Chrysalis was unwilling to budge, but the Princess sought a way to please both of them. According to the letter, Queen Chrysalis would not relinquish demands for control of the Crystal Empire, and the Princess feared that war would be imminent.

As much as it pains me to do so, I ask for you and your friends’ assistance, should war be the ultimate option. You six may be the only ones who can help me defeat the darkness that is these changelings.

Twilight shuddered upon the simple thought of that word: war. She knew she couldn’t abandon the Princess in her time of need.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

“Huh? Who could that be?”

The rain was already pouring down harshly. Jagged streaks of lightning struck every couple of seconds; the wind was unceasing as gales ruffled leaves and threatened to upend small animals still outside.

Obviously, Twilight expected no one to be out in such inclement weather, making the hasty knocks on her door seem more ominous. Twilight slowly opened the door, and she managed to catch a glimpse of a small figure in black as it scurried away. A streak of lightning illuminated it for a brief second before it seemingly vanished into the darkness..

As she debated over whether or not to chase after the figure, Twilight noticed something new on her doorstep. At first, she could only see a large, faded brown rectangle— a book, she mentally remarked as she inspected it further, completely forgetting about the creature who had left it. A gust of cold wind prompted her to step back inside, where she could easily discern the title of the tome.

The Book of the Creator. Hmm, why does that name sound so familiar…?

Suddenly, Twilight’s eyes grew to the size of oranges, her brain turning numb for just a second as she attempted to process what lay in her hooves.

THE BOOK OF THE CREATOR! But all copies were supposedly destroyed in the Great Flame near the beginning of time!

Twilight quickly sat down in her favorite reading chair, the book squarely in her hooves, ready to open up to the first page–

“Twilight! When are you going to make dinner? My stomach’s rumbling!”

“In a minute, Spike!”

An exasperated Twilight pondered over whether or not to prepare food, but something about the book didn’t seem to let her, having taken her full attention. She prepared to open the first page, when all of a sudden, as if commanded by a massive internal force, the pages rapidly flipped on their own. Twilight stared at the object in bewilderment.

This much magic? In a book? How is this possible?

As if on cue, the book became completely still, frozen as it displayed two pages in strange lettering. The symbols then began to morph, slowly contorting into the familiar curves and corners of the Equestrian alphabet. The thought of reading such a strange book captivated Twilight, who directed her eyes to the very top of the page.

Chapter IV: Creation of the Ponyfolk

The Creator, seeing Her planet teeming with life, basked in the joy of Her creations. The small animals chittered happily, the griffons and the minotaurs gleefully strolled around, conversing about issues of substance or even nothing at all.

Still, the Creator felt something was missing. A certain shape formed in Her mind, and to Her canvas She returned to create the masterpiece plaguing Her thoughts.

Alas, the Paint of Life She was nearly depleted, and only the most miniscule amounts of the blackest and greenest of colors remained. Still, She painted and painted, rationing the colors by leaving holes in her design.

At last, the Paint had run out, but Her final creations were complete: two small black beings, riddled with holes where the Paint was lacking, who possessed four legs, four hooves, and a heart as caring as the Creator’s. The figures leapt out of the page, bounding joyfully upon Her fields; to the Creator, they were perfect exactly the way they were.

“But what shall they eat?” asked the Creator, not wanting Her new creations to starve. A sudden thought came to Her, and so it became: the creatures, who She named the Ponyfolk, were to feed on emotions, growing stronger with the love they felt for one another.

And love each other they did. The Ponyfolk quickly grew in size and in number, never hungry, flourishing by their own love.

As Twilight struggled to understand the meaning of what she had read, the book’s pages interrupted her thoughts as they flipped once more to a certain page: The Fall of the Perfect Creation. Twilight continued eagerly, now completely carefree of her surroundings. She lost herself in the sea of words facing her.

Chapter X: The Fall of the Perfect Creation

Alas, this perfection would not last. The curious Ponyfolk discovered they taste of the plants that grew bountifully, and as they ate, their skin became colorful. Slowly, their holed exteriors grew patches of hair, and from there arose the three types of Ponies, as they called themselves: the horned ones, the winged ones, and the bare ones, all covered in hair.

As fate would have it, though, unbeknownst to the Ponyfolk, the transformations were gradually decreasing their lifespans. The Creator witnessed this and decided to take action; one night, She appeared in an elder Ponyfolk’s dream, warning him of the cost of the transformation and assigning him the task of spreading the word.

Alas, most of the Ponyfolk, having never heard of this ‘Creator,’ ignored the elder. The few who listened were slowly shunned from the rest as more of the Ponyfolk transformed.

The Ponyfolk who had not transformed were gradually caught in a bind: though they survived out of love, their numbers were slowly dwindling. From the untransformed, they received nothing but negativity, negative emotions that only shortened their lives.

As the last two of the untransformed Ponyfolk began to wither, they pleaded with the Creator for a chance to survive, a way to receive more love, a way to stay alive.

And the Creator heard their pleas, providing them with invisible cloaks that stuck to their skin.

“Now, go to the other Ponyfolk. Wish to look like them, and so it shall be. May you find love enough to sustain yourselves, and any foals you have shall be blessed with the same gift.”

And so the untransformed Ponyfolk, donning the name of ‘Changelings,’ blended in with the transformed. They received the love they so longed for and needed, and, for a time, they prospered.

But even this peace would not last, for once the transformed Ponyfolk discovered the secret, they ostracized the untransformed, denying them the love they needed to survive. The horned ones, the only transformed who had retained their conscious control over magic, spent years studying the Changelings and finally discovered a way to locate them, even when they were disguised. As more of the horned ones learned this spell, the Changelings were pushed further back.

The population of the untransformed dwindled yet again. What few remained sought sanctuary in the corners and crevices of the world, waiting for their Creator to help them, to save them from destruction. The ponies, meanwhile, built their own villages and towns, flourishing and unwilling to share with the Ponyfolk who held their original form.

In time, the word Changeling would be forgotten among the transformed, and the spell to locate the untransformed was lost to the passage of time, though instructions still exist in this Book.

It is said that soon the Creator shall bring forth another Ponyfolk, one in the same design as the original, who will unite the untransformed and renew their hope for survival.

Twilight simply gazed at those last words in shock, piecing together the jigsaw of ideas that floated around in her mind until she reached a disturbing conclusion that she refused to accept.

Is this true? Could we have been the cause of this all along?

…

Well, there’s only one way to find out for sure.

“Spike! Come down here for a second! I want to send a book to the Princess!”

Princess Celestia should be able to verify this book’s authenticity.

Seconds passed, no response emanating from the room above.

“Spike? Did you hear me? Can you come down for a second, please?”

Again, no reply.

Hmm… That’s strange.

Twilight slowly ascended the stairs, pondering over whether Spike could have fallen asleep or not, before she noticed the door to her bedroom.

Weird. Spike never closes that door.

And then she heard steps. Soft steps, as if muffled by a barrier. The sounds could not have been made by a dragon’s feet; to Twilight, the sounded much more like hoofsteps.

Preparing for the worst, Twilight began to charge her horn.

Intruders? In a library? My friends would never enter through the bedroom. Either they love books as much as I do, or they’re looking for something.

The next seconds extended into hours, or so it seemed. She reached the bedroom’s entrance and slowly turned the handle, inching the door open as carefully as possible— at least, until she noticed Spike tied up with a rope, a magic bind clamping his jaws shut.

And I was hoping today would be normal.

Catching sight of Twilight, Spike concentrated all of his dragonfire in his mouth and heated up the bind, destroying it in less than a second. “Twilight, look out behind you!”

Instantly, a figure shot up behind her at incredible speed, attempting to grab Twilight in a choke hold and silence her. Unfortunately for him, this pony in black had failed to notice her glowing, from which a small beam shot out and launched him towards the opposite wall with tremendous force.

Twilight quickly galloped towards Spike and tried to cut the rope that held him prisoner, but another figure knocked her down to the floor. Escaping its limbs and scrambling to her hooves, she inspected her surroundings and searched for more of those hidden foes, backing away inch by inch as she recognized how hopeless it would be to tackle them all at once.

There’s three of them! I can’t do this; I’m outnumbered.

Hastily, she began to summon more magic in hopes of preparing a teleportation spell, but a strange prickling sensation indicated the futility of her action. Twilight fixed her gaze on the pony to the right and confirmed her fears.

He’s summoned a magic barrier. No magic can get in or out.

Unable to formulate another plan, she did what any other pony in her situation would do.

“ANYPONY OUT THERE! HELP! BRING THE PRINCESS OR RAINBOW DASH OR PINKIE PIE OR APP–”

No more could she scream as a red bind encircled her muzzle. Two of the cloaked ponies rushed over to her. In desperation, Twilight summoned some more of her magic and chucked one of them towards the other. Perhaps luck was on her side, for the force of the impact was enough to send all both of them barrelling towards the pony in the back. At the point of collision, one of the captors inadvertently let loose a small missile of magic, streaming right past Twilight and exiting through the window, cracking it into millions of minute fragments. That was when she realized it.

Of course, I broke his concentration! The barrier’s down!

Her horn began to glow, and noticing Spike’s condition, proceeded to burn the rope that held the dragon in place. However, before she could prepare the teleportations spell, before the other three ponies could charge for their next attack, another cloaked equine suddenly burst in, proudly displaying some rectangular object.

“Come on guys! I found the book!”

Twilight did not hesitate and levitated the Book of the Creator towards her, for some reason feeling as if it were her duty to protect it. The magic was slowly building up, the bright, powerful glow already atop her horn…

But she noticed too late that something was tunneling wildly through the broken window right behind them.

THUMP

---

Meanwhile…

“I can’t believe I got stuck with stray cloud duty.”

Rainbow Dash had finished packing a small gray cloud in with the rest, kicking it with full force to add to the downpour.

“Well, I guess that’s the last one! But why do I always get stuck with these types of jobs? I’m fast enough t—”

Rainbow scowled as she caught herself thinking aloud once again, secretly glad that nopony else was around. That was when she heard it. Compared to the thundering below her, it was barely audible, but to be a weather pony, perfect hearing was a must.

She heard it once more.

A cry for help.

Her name.

Huh? That sounded like… like Twilight!

After only a couple seconds of flight, Rainbow dashed in the direction of the voice, but before she could fly any closer, a small arc of magic blazed through the air and struck her squarely on the underside of her wing

OW!

The pain quickly spread throughout her entire left appendage, and soon Rainbow Dash could no longer control it as she careened towards the ground…

She blacked out as soon as she landed… on top of a surprised unicorn and her assistant.

---

Uggghhhhh…

Twilight groggily awoke. Her first attempt at rising proved fruitless; a rope bound her to the back of a chair and restricted the movement of her head. Her range was still enough, though, to spot two other figures in the same situation.

“Rainbow Dash! Spike! Are you okay?”

The loud yell gave Twilight an idea:

I can talk now!

“ANYPONY! HEEEEELLLLLLP!!!!””

“It’s no use.” One of the ponies in black approached the trio, his eyes as black and soulless as his cloak. “The barrier is now soundproof; we don’t want a repeat incident, Miss Twilight Sparkle. And don’t even think of using magic, or we may be required to use force.”

Who is this pony? I haven’t met him in my life! What does he want with me and my friends?

“Oh, my apologies, I haven’t introduced myself. You can call me Death Hoof; I doubt you need an explanation of my special talent, right, Miss Sparkle?” The captor levitated a small box towards himself and sat down. “Now, enough with the pleasantries. It seems you’ve come into possession of this magnificent piece of work.” One of the cloaked ponies approached with the Book of the Creator in his telekinetic hold. “It’s really such a shame I have to destroy it.”

Twilight struggled against the bind, unable to comprehend why anypony would want to destroy a book. “No! Stop! Why are you doing this?”

“I suppose there’s no real harm in telling you. Our contractor is paying us a hefty sum to have this book destroyed, so here we are, to do just that.”

Facing his companions, Death Hoof uttered only one word.

“Ready.”

The two remaining figures slowly approached; one held a jagged dagger in his mouth while the other a small dish filled with some unknown white powder. Death Hoof suddenly charged up and fired an incineration spell at the plate. The fire turned green as it consumed the substance, and a pungent aroma quickly filled the room. The armed pony suddenly took the dagger out and pricked his hoof, slowly letting the blood trickle down onto the flame and turning it a deep crimson as Death Hoof spoke once again.

“You see, this book contains information that could subvert the coming war, and our contractor wouldn’t like that. Because of the magic in this book, however, the only way to destroy it is with a special fire, blood…” The cloaked unicorn leaned dangerously close to the purple mare. “And a unique incantation. That is why we need you, Miss Sparkle.”

Hearing the way he pronounced her name, the way each syllable seemed to drip with disdain, made Twilight grow queasy, but the unicorn holding the book would not give her another chance to think about it: he threw the object onto the mare’s lap, front cover face-down. “The spell is in Ancient Equestrian, a language we know that you know. Read the inscription there and cast the spell.”

Twilight mustered up the last of her courage and stared directly into those cold eyes, unwilling to budge.

“No. I have to bring this book to Princess Celestia. With it, we may be able to stop the war between ponies and changelings! We can prevent the… the deaths of… Why are you laughing!”

Death Hoof’s companions were on the verge of crying… but from laughter.

“Ahem!” Death glared at the others, who quickly muted themselves, and looked back at Twilight.

“You know what? I think that’s a good idea— no, a great idea. We should let you send it to the Princess.” The unicorn leaned forward even more, his head right next to Twilight’s as he spoke that one sentence, the one question that completely bewildered the mare.

“Who do you think contracted us?”

The entirety of space-time stopped. Twilight processed his sentence millions of times, but each time mentally denied that the Princess was involved. Still, a small ounce of doubt began to seep in as she remembered those rumors of Princess Celestia killing changelings at will, even if they supposedly posed no threat...

Oh what am I thinking? Those are just rumors! No, she wouldn’t want war. Not when so many ponies could die…

“You’re lying! She would never want war to break out!”

“Deny it if you want,” Death Hoof continued as he distanced himself a little from Twilight. “To tell you the truth, I don’t really care if you believe me or not, but right now, I want you to cast that spell…”

One of his companions quickly dashed towards the Rainbow, pressed a dagger directly on her throat.

“... or Jack Knife here will have a chance to show off his talent.”

Twilight stared in horror at the scene before her, her sight anchored at the point of contact. A small trickle of blood descended down Rainbow’s neck as the weapon slowly, but surely, dug deeper.

“B-But you said my magic wouldn’t w—”

“Oh, no need to worry about that. This magic comes straight from the book. Any creature who can read it can cast the spell. Now, I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to. After all, time is running out for your little friend there.”

Twilight’s eyes disconnected from the image of her best friend, and she tried her best to hold back the tears clouding her vision.

“F-fine, I’ll do it.”

“Well then, let’s see it.”

Blinking rapidly to clear up her eyes, Twilight fixed them onto the incantation that lay before her.

“O creator huius libri, da mihi potestatem ut disperdere quod quas tu fecisti.”

Suddenly, the book began to tremble while a white, rapidly intensifying light engulfed it…

And soon, more words began to appear. Unexpectedly, Twilight felt the urge to continue, as if something inside her were unwilling to let her rest until those words were uttered.

“Et excite custos liber!”

The book flew out of her lap and spun in the air violently. The unicorn holding the flaming dish slowly levitated it towards the artifact, and as soon as the two items touched, the entire display exploded into a chaotic swirl of color and magic. All the ponies in the library were knocked back as a pile of ash replaced the artifact. The dish once in a levitation hold dropped to the floor and shattered noisily.

This time, Twilight wasted no time. She tried once… twice…

And on the third try, her levitation hold caught one of the dish shards. The magic barrier was down. Now all she had to do was cut herself f—

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Instinctively, Twilight threw the shard at the Death Hoof, who winced in pain as it struck his left cheek. Unfortunately for her, two of his companions had already reached her, and they had already placed Spike and Rainbow upright. She charged up a magical beam...

And found she could no longer shoot it.

Why? Why isn’t it working?

Death Hoof simply smiled as he placed Twilight upright and facing her two friends, knowing full well that his job was complete. From that angle, she spotted the reason for her failed attempt at magic: the unicorn in the back had his glowing horn towards her.

He must be restricting my magic somehow!

Her thoughts were cut short as she noticed Death’s short nod to Jack Knife, who deftly pulled out a crooked dagger…

And thrust it into Rainbow’s chest.

Twilight’s entire world shattered with just that. In many other situations, it had been possible for her and her friends to die, but seeing it happen now, that one simple stab that could take life away… Such an image would not be erased from her mind anytime soon, and words as well as magic failed her in this time of need.

“Don’t worry. Even if you hadn’t pulled that little stunt, it still would’ve happened. I can’t just leave you with all that information I told you, now, can I?”

Jack Knife pulled out another weapon— this time, a small, foldable knife— from his sack and approached the dragon. Spike squirmed in vain, and Twilight stared in utter shock, knowing she was unable to stop the horror that would befall her favorite assistant…

CRASH

Multiple green blasts of magic later, all of the captors were lying on the ground, struggling in their new constricting binds. As Twilight’s eyes followed the path of the beams, she spotted the creature who had subdued the assailants. It was a changeling, but that was not what surprised her: it was the same creature who had left the book at her library.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble I or the book may have caused.” The changeling rapidly unfastened the ropes, though Twilight was still too stunned to help. “Quickly, I’ll teleport you away. Don’t worry about those other ponies, I’ll handle it. Take this sack, it should help you along your journey. I’m sorry again for the large task I must bestow upon you. I beg you, protect the book as long as you can.”

With that, the changeling charged a large amount of magic on his horn.

“B-But the book was already d—”

One blinding flash later, Twilight, Spike and Rainbow Dash were gone.

---

“—estroyed!”

But Twilight was no longer in her library. As she recovered from her disorientation, she recognized the ominous darkness of the Everfree Forest and reasoned that she was not far from Fluttershy’s house. Her eyes still held tears, but for that one second, Twilight did not know why.

Her memory began to take hold, however, when she saw Spike lying unconscious in front of her.

“Spike! Are you okay?”

COUGH COUGH

Twilight rapidly turned her head at the sound and noticed the multi-colored mane of a fallen pegasus. Her coat was stained in red, and a blade protruded from her chest.

“RAINBOW DASH!”

Twilight bolted towards her fallen comrade and placed a hoof on the handle, but after attempting unsuccessfully to take the blade out, she began to panic.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow, I’ll find a way to take it out.”

But to Rainbow Dash, the outcome seemed inevitable.

“Stop, Twilight, it’s not going to help.”

COUGH

“Come on, Rainbow Dash, you can make it! I can get Fluttershy and we can s–”

The unicorn was stopped by a blue, sweaty hoof grappled tightly around hers.

“No, Twilight, just… just stay with me for a moment, okay?”

“B-But I c—”

“Please?”

Twilight sat down next to her, deciding not to leave her in this time of need.

“Hey Twilight, r-remember when I was in the hospital that one time, and you t-tried to calm me down? When you gave me that awesome b-book?”

“I remember, Rainbow. You wouldn’t stop thinking about your wings.”

The tears in Twilight’s eyes had quelled a bit as she fondly thought back to those days of old. They seemed so far away, and the pit in her heart grew ever so slightly.

“And h-how about that one time when you helped me with m-my stunts? Too bad I won’t b-be able to fl—”

COUGH COUGH

The oceans could compare to the rivers gushing from both ponies’ eyes. The final moment of their friendship was nigh: no more would they participate in adventures, no more would Rainbow ask Twilight for help with one of her stunts, no more…

No, I can’t let it end like this.

“I guess it’s the end of the line for me. I-I only w-wish I could have b-b-been a bet-t-ter friend…”

Rainbow Dash struggled to move her other hoof, placing it in Twilight’s as she spoke:

“Thanks for all the memories, T-T-Twilight. Thank you for b-b-being my f-friend.”

The hoof began to feel limp, the last breath of life ready to escape from Rainbow Dash, the pony who would stick by her friends until the end…

Until now.

…

I WON’T let it end like this!

“NO! I WON’T LET YOU DIE! HANG IN THERE, RAINBOW! YOU WERE ALWAYS A FIGHTER, SO FIGHT WITH ME NOW!”

Twilight summoned all her magic onto her horn, digging into the depths of her being to summon the largest healing spell she had ever attempted. Small scratches on the pegasus’s body slowly disappeared; a bruise on her head dissipated ever so slightly as the magic engulfed the pegasus. A warm light emanated from the blade’s point of contact…

But it was not enough.

No, I can’t let her die! She shouldn’t have to die this way. I don’t want to lose one of my friends. Please, body and soul, give me all your power!

I don’t care if I die. Just please, let her live! Use my entire life force if you have to!

Please… heal Rainbow Dash.

…

…

“I understand.”

An unknown voice spoke in Twilight’s mind, but at this point the unicorn was unquestioning in her state of despair.

“I shall lend you my power.”

All of a sudden, the amount of magic pouring into Rainbow Dash increased twenty-fold. The pegasus elevated five hoof lengths as Twilight’s eyes turned light green; vibrant ribbons of multicolored hues surrounded Rainbow in a cocoon, and in only thirty seconds, the dagger was out of the body. Twilight’s magic mended all of Rainbow’s damaged organs at an astounding rate…

Until the spell was finally complete. Rainbow Dash floated down as Twilight struggled to stay on her hooves…

And blacked out soon after.

Author's Note:

UPDATE: This chapter was edited recently, so some minor changes may be present.

EDIT: I completely forgot to include translations for the spells (or, at least, what they are supposed to mean)!

"O creator huius libri, da mihi potestatem ut disperdere quod quas tu fecisti, et excite custos liber!": Oh, creator of this book, give me the power to destroy that which thou hast made, and awake the guardian of the book!

Well, here's the update! This is officially the first chapter. Anyone who has read the one-shot can attest that I changed pretty much nothing; I just added a story around it.

BTW, if anyone knows Latin, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions in fixing those phrases (I don't speak Latin, but I like using it for spells )

Any other comments welcomed!