• Published 27th Jun 2018
  • 6,866 Views, 732 Comments

Broken Bindings - anonpencil



You've found an "interesting" book recently. You don't know what it is, or why it was hidden in the back of Twilight's library, but you feel so compelled to read it. And keep reading it. And keep reading it...

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Page 31

~*~

Even when I was alone, back when I was whole, I did find a way to have power over my surroundings. It was the only thing that brought me any comfort, really.

I don't know how it is there now, but when I was in the world, there were winged ponies, unicorns, royalty, and just us regular ponies. We were not blessed with any sort of natural magic, flight, or grace the way so many others were. But some of us, like me, got resourceful. Just because we tended to live more simple lives didn't mean that we didn't have problems that needed solving, and sometimes, problems called for a little magic.

I may not have been a unicorn, but I came to learn that there is magic in this world that can be harnessed by anyone. Even you. Even me.

You see, one great thing about living in the city compared to the countryside is that there were libraries there. I had such limited access to books when I lived near those woods, and I only got books occasionally when they'd be brought over by a winged postman, by my request. It worked for my purposes for a little while, but soon I found myself lacking materials I needed to learn and grow. When I moved, a whole new world opened up to me, and I found out what I had been missing.

There were new societies, new species I couldn't refer to as just "ponies" or "others" or "creatures." There was a broad range of "peoples" out in the world, of all different species, and some of them could do magic. And some of them did have materials I had never seen before. In the pages of books, learning of these distant peoples such as Griffons, Zebras, and more, I found that the most powerful things were often the most simple. A certain kind of rock or earth. A specific flower, brewed into tea. A bone, ground up. A sharp pressure, in the right place on the body. All of these had such power.

And to my surprise, words had power too.

When I discovered there were such things as magic words, it was admittedly an accident. Something I stumbled across in part of the library that was falling apart, that I believe was once walled off. In truth, you may have even found this book there, in that part of the library, for all I know. I probably should have been apprehensive, but the idea that words, when combined with the right motions, tones, and materials could give me the same magic as that of a unicorn? It was astounding. And I had the greatest motivation in learning them, driving me forward. A great calamity had befallen my land, my loved ones. I had to make certain that it never happened again. And I believed that these simple, simple words would be enough to give me the power to stop it all. That these words were some heavenly grace, blessing me with this divine mission.

They were only words, I later found out.

They had magic, somehow, I was sure, but without the power and magic behind them, that I just couldn't find or summon, they were only words. I told her that, once I found out. I told her they were only words without unlocking their secrets. But she didn't seem to understand. Maybe she didn't want to understand.

Coming from my mouth, they were only ever words.