Prologue: Cover Art

The Pages Turn
A FimFiction by Goombasa

Prologue: Cover Art

The full moon was hidden behind dozens of clouds. Luna hated the fact that such a wonderful night had to be consumed by clouds, but the Canterlot gardens did need their rain and she had promised her sister to tonight would be an acceptable night for a gentle drizzle.

But she hadn’t expected to outdo herself! Every star in the sky was perfectly placed and was twinkling harder than ever before. The moon itself was providing the most amazing luminescent glow she could have hoped for. It was a night for romance! A night for lovers! But no... According to the weather schedule it was merely a night for rain. She took a brief walk about the balcony just as the first drops began to fall and she gave a courteous wave to the weather ponies who were starting the drizzle. They gave an equally courteous wave in return before disappearing amongst the black clouds obscuring the night sky.

With yet another sigh of disappointment, the princess of the night turned her head back towards her bedroom, walking in just as the downpour began. She closed windowed door and took another glance outside, only able to see darkness and the raindrops that slithered down the glass panes. The gentle pitter-patter they made as they finished their descent was a comforting sound, but not one that she had wanted to hear right now. As she walked into her room, mulling over the time she has spent in the cozy little chamber since she’d returned from the moon, she gave a soft sigh. It had been nearly six months since Twilight’s coronation, and yet even such a joyous event like that had been enough to coax her out into the open for very long.

She felt bad. Celestia had prompted her many a time to go out and actually try walking about in the daylight, or during the night, outside of ponies’ dreams. She still had yet to venture far beyond the castle. The few times she had done so, she couldn’t help but feel herself being intimidated by what she saw around her. She grew shy, quiet, almost frightened. Even the time she’d spent in Ponyville for the annual Nightmare Night celebration had been touch and go at first, and while she’d enjoyed her time there, it was one fleeting moment, and at the end of the night she still felt herself more of an outsider than anything else. She sighed, placing a hoof upon her bed. “So much to catch up on still,” she mumbled. “Still, I have the rest of time to do so. I suppose it won’t be too big a problem if I just... relaxed for a while longer.”

She closed her eyes and hopped up onto the soft, plush sheets that covered her bed, laying herself down, her head falling against a pillow for a moment. It was far too early for her to be going to sleep and she knew this. She’d brought the night, and there wasn’t exactly any diplomatic matters that required a princess’ touch at this time of night. Normally, she would go dream hopping, but the weather, coupled with a sense of apathy and boredom did little but make her sleepy.

She rolled over onto her side, blinking when she saw her bedside table. Someone had left a large can on the stand. Tilting her head, she levitated it towards her and peered at the label. “Hmm? Caramel corn?” she mused, sitting up. It had been a while since she’d had herself something sweet to eat. Unlike Celestia, she didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, and so there were long stretches of time where sugary snacks weren’t on her mind. Still, if somepony had gone through the trouble of leaving this can for her... well, maybe a little treat would indeed cheer her up. Smiling, she began to twist the cap open. “Oh, I do hope it has a fruity tang to it,” she mused as the top began to slide off.

She was greeted with a loud springing sound as several neon-colored snakes jumped from the can, a few bopping her in her nose. She squeaked and gave a sudden surprised yelp, falling backwards, tumbling off of her bed and onto the cold, hard marble floor below. She winced as her back impacted the surface and she rolled herself over, rubbing her head in confusion and pain. “Ow... ah...” she let out a hiss and carefully pulled herself up to her legs, flicking her mane to the side before levitating the can and one of the snakes up to her face, squinting as she looked them over. “What is...”

A little titter echoed through her room and she let out an agitated growl, tossing the prank can to the side. “Discord, that was not appreciated!”

“Oh come now, Luna, don't take it that way. You just seemed like you could use a bit of excitement in your dull, drab existence for a moment.”

She frowned, tapping her forehoof against the ground, looking around the room, attempting to pinpoint the trickster’s location. “Your brand of excitement is certainly not what I need. Now, kindly remove yourself from my chambers before I have to remove you physically.”

The ancient Draconiquus chuckled, his head slithering up out of a vase sitting upon her shelf, pushing aside several lovely flowers. His mismatched horns had taken on the form of a rose and a daisy respectively, though they quickly morphed back to their original shape as he pushed his way out of the vase. “Oh Luna, please don’t tell me you’re becoming as stuffy and dull as your sister.”

“That stuffy and dull sister of mine is kindly giving you lodging here in Canterlot, well against my personal recommendation, I may remind you.”

“Yes, yes, I’m well aware of the suggestions you made concerning where I would stay after my, hehe, reformation.” He shined his talon against his chest. “And while I do admit, seeing Tartarus firsthand might have been quite an experience, I’m not too keen on a place that’s so hot and doesn’t have a tanning bed.”

“All the same, your little jokes are not welcome here, especially tonight.”

“Oh please, I wish you and your sister would just grow a sense of humor already.”

“And I wish you would just mature or something!”

He snorted. “All the same, I do think that the barrier around the castle is a tad harsh, don’t you?”

“You brought it on yourself, Discord. Celestia and I promised that we would lower the barrier when you could prove that you could be trusted again. A reformed pony wouldn’t transform a trail of party balloons into a flying snake!”

“Now I think that's a bit unfair,” the chaotic spirit said. “After all, you're speaking for every pony now. How do you know that I was the only one who wanted to spice up that boring party.”

“Boring?” she huffed. “You nearly scared the delegates from the griffon kingdom to death! You could have caused an international incident!”

“I dunno, the kids seemed to enjoy it.”He casually examined his lion paw for a moment, his expression growing bored.

“Just refrain from these silly pranks of yours,” she said, waving a dismissive hoof at him. “I am in no mood for your eccentricities today.”

“You don't seem to be in the mood for much of anything,” he observed, floating down near her. “So what has my favorite moon princess so blue?”he asked, grinning at his own little joke.

She huffed, tossing her mane to the side and moving to the door. “If I am going to discuss this with anyone, I will discuss it with my sister.”

“Oh why must you always give me the cold shoulder?” he asked. She didn't even bother looking back at him, knowing he'd come up with some sort of cheap visual pun with his own words. She just trotted out through the door.

“I'll expect you out of my room by the time I return,” she announced, with a good bit more authority than she felt at the moment. “If you're still here, I'm going to pluck the moon from the sky and shove it up your-”

“I get it,” he said, cutting her off. “No need to get nasty. Now go off and do whatever it is you need to, miss moody moon.” He chuckled. “If you need me, I'll be around, of course.”

She rolled her eyes, not even dignifying his words with a response. Right now, she just wanted a normal conversation with sister.

Celestia had never been much of a night owl. It wasn't that she required much sleeping for herself, but the night brought back unpleasant memories for her. Even with her sister back by her side where she belonged, the guilt of her actions a millennium ago still weighed heavily upon her mind. Even without the mare in the moon looking down upon her, a midnight stroll did little more than cause a pang in her chest. As such, she was loathe to remain for the night long after the moon had been risen. Tonight was different though. Tonight, the sky was obscured by the rainclouds, and the taunting glare of the moon did not haunt her.

But why did it do so? She should not feel this way. Her sister was back. She'd made the night shine more radiantly, more pleasantly, more powerfully than Celestia had ever done during the blue mare's absence, and while she'd forgiven her sister for her actions that fateful time long ago, and Luna seemed willing to forget the past herself, Celestia still found it hard to let go of the measures she'd had to employ.

A thousand years. Why such a long time?

Her ear twitched as the door to the audience room she was in was pushed open. She banished her thoughts from her mind and set the documents she'd been scanning to the side. “Luna?” she asked, smiling at her sister warmly.

“I'm glad to see you are still awake,” the younger alicorn greeted, smiling at her.

“Indeed I am,” she said, standing and trotting over to meet her halfway across the room. “But is something bothering you? You normally don't journey to my quarters at this time.”

“I could say the same for you,” she said. “You're normally in bed just after the sun has been set for the night.”

The white alicorn gave a shrug of her wings. “I just thought that I might as well get a bit more work done before I turn in.”

“What have you been working on, if I might ask?”

She gave a sigh and levitated a stack of documents. “I've been in contact with the Gryphon Kingdom for a while now. Relations along the border are beginning to sour. They seem to be under the impression that the local croplands are overlapping the borders.”

Luna couldn't help but let out a small giggle. “Even one-thousand years haven't changed how stuffy they can be.” She gave a sigh. “I suppose time doesn't change everything.”

The older alicorn's eyes flashed with guilt for the briefest moment and she set a wing on her shoulder. “Yes, but what it has changed, I truly believe it has changed for the better.”

The dark blue pony offered her a sincere smile. “Indeed.”

Celestia chuckled. “Come, I received another friendship report from Twilight just before dinner. I think you might enjoy it. It seems her friends had another run-in with the hydra down at Froggy-Bottom Bog.”

“Oh dear, I hope everyone there is all right.”

“From the tone of her letter, I think it's safe to say the damage was minimal, aside from a few jangled nerves.”She began to levitate a letter up off of her desk. “Take a look for yourself.”

Before Luna could look the report over, there was a loud rap at the door. Celestia sighed and nodded towards it. “Who's there?”

“Forgive me for disturbing you, your majesty,” came the reply. “But we have a guest who is requesting the presence of both of you. It seems to be some sort of peddler, and I've tried to tell him that the daily court is closed, but he's very adamant that he has a few items that you both might be interested in.”

Celestia tilted her head. This was rather odd, though not unheard of. She'd been beset by prospective salesmen and inventors for years, and it wasn't uncommon to come across plenty of eccentric ponies who wished to talk to her and her sister about whatever struck their fancy. She gave a light shrug. “Shall we go and indulge him?” she offered.

“If you feel you can, sister.” Luna gave a comical grin. “After all, it is past your bedtime.”

The two of them giggled as they headed out of Celestia's private study, making their way down the hall towards the audience hall, or as some of the subjects preferred to call it, their throne room. That was a bit of a misnomer, as there were no thrones there, and neither of the sisters enjoyed sitting above those they were talking with. As they entered, they were greeted by the sight of a coat-covered unicorn, wearing a ridiculously oversized hat that covered his horn. Celestia could only guess that the strange outfit was worn mostly for shock value. If he caught somepony's eye, then he had a potential customer. He turned to the two of them and bowed deep, with quite a flourish. “Ah, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, exalted leaders of Equestria. It is this humble pony's deepest and most sincere pleasure to finally lay mine eyes upon your radiance.

Celestia's brow raised slightly, though she couldn't help but smile at his theatrics. He certainly did try hard at flattery. Her sister, however, was less impressed. “Good sir,” she said. “The moon has been risen for a few hours now, and my sister needs her rest. Now, we have agreed to see your wares,” here she looked over his shoulder to the large cart of books resting just behind him, “But I would prefer to keep this as brief and professional as possible.”

“Of course.” He stepped away. “I assure you that I would not have bothered either of you if I didn't think my wares were of the common variety. I have traveled long and far, across many of the lands bordering Equestria to discover only the finest writing, of both the ilk of fiction and non-fiction.” He tapped one particularly old tome, it's leather exterior expertly reworked and doctored to make it look as good as new again. “I dare say,” he continued, “I think I might even have a few here that survived from before your reign.”

That perked Celestia's interest. “From before the chaos wars?” she queried.

“It's certainly possible.” He stepped to the side. “But enough of my blather. Please, my ladies, take your time.”

The two alicorns glanced at one another before they approached the cart and began to sift through the aged tomes. Celestia nodded at each one she passed over. He had not been lying about their age, or their quality. Many of them were first editions of books that had been written centuries ago, but sadly many of them she had read before, or had copies of somewhere else, and as she was not a collector of such things, she didn't see the need for a second copy. 'Twilight would have such a field day if she were here right now,' she mused. 'In fact, she'd probably buy the entire cart without bothering to look it over first.' The thought brought a smile to her lips as she plucked a particularly worn book from its place and looked it over.

Luna, for her part, saw little that interested her either. She'd already had enough trouble attempting to keep up with the trends tied to modern day writing, she had no time to go back centuries and try to catch up with everything else she'd missed.

“Do you see anything you're interested in?” the peddler asked after a few minutes.

Celestia looked to him, setting the book she'd been looking over down. “You do indeed have quite a selection,” she said. “But I'm afraid there doesn't seem to be anything here I haven't already read for myself.”

“I don't see much to interest my palette either,” Luna said, giving her wings a shrug. “You do have some interesting stories here, but I don't think it's anything I would curl up with before I go to sleep.”

He shrugged. “Alas, that is the risk one takes as a peddler.” He grinned. “But I see that neither of you found what is probably the rarest book in my collection. So rare that I do believe you two will be the first I have shown it too.”

Celestia looked him over. “Oh? Why is that?”

“Well, such a book should only be shown to those who would truly appreciate it after all, and I seriously doubt that even you, dear princess, have seen the likes of it before.”

That got the white alicorn's attention. “Really now?” she asked with a playful smile. “Certainly a bold claim to make to one as old as I am.”

“Oh come now, you don't look a day over twenty,” he complimented, walking to the cart and began to remove some books from the bottom shelf. “Now, let's see, where did I leave it.”

“Not very organized for one with such rare items, now is he?” Luna commented under her breath. Celestia gave her a nudge and a quick glance, letting her know to avoid being rude.

The pegasus levitated a few more books out of the way. “Ah, here it is. Sorry for the wait.” He smiled and pulled a huge parcel out from behind the books, levitating it up into the air, surrounded by a deep red aura. “You wouldn't believe the kinds of things that led me to discovering this particular book.”He grinned and began to undo the string securing the sheet to it.

“How old is it compared to the others here?”Luna asked.

“If I had to guess,” he mused, tapping his chin with his hoof, “I'd say around nine-hundred and fifty years, give or take a month or two.”

Celestia tilted her head. “Quite a specific guess,” she said.

“Well, you might say I feel very... connected with this particular book.” The string dropped away and with it so did the sheet protecting it. “I'm sure you'll feel the same way, Celestia.”

Before Celestia could ask why, the string and the sheet fell away from the book, revealing a large, well-worn tome. It's leather-bound exterior was scuffed and marred by the passage of time, making it appear as if its cover was more formed of a snake's scales than the tanned hide one would have expected. However, despite it's age, the title, written in fine golden embroidery in flowery prose was just as bright and legible as though it had been printed yesterday.

It read, “THE MANIFESTO.”

Luna frowned at the book and looked towards her sister. “Celestia, what is that thing?” she asked. But her sister was not listening. Her eyes were locked on the book, her normally calm and even expression replaced with one of utter shock, bordering on horror.

“How did you get this?” she asked, her voice dropping down to a threatening hiss.

“Hmm?” he asked, smiling, reaching up with a hoof as he set the book to the side. “This book? It's something I've always kept near and dear to me.” He pulled the hat on his head away, revealing the whole of his face. His tan coat was marred with speckles of grey and his white mane was messy and matted, looking like it hadn't seen the better end of a brush in years. But the most disturbing feature was his horn. It was disturbing in that he didn't have one. There was a base of a horn, to be sure, but about a third of the way up, it was just... broken. It wasn't even like it had been sawed off or carefully removed, it was as though someone had just gripped it and then snapped it off. “After all, you made sure I had plenty of time with that book, didn't you Celestia?”

“Purple Prose,” she said, her eyes narrowing.

“You remember me,” he said, holding his head up. “I feel so special.”

Luna bowed her head forward, tensing, her foreleg scratching at the ground. “Sister, who is this man?”

“Ah, yes, you wouldn't know me, would you?”Prose stated, grinning at her, showing off a row of teeth that looked far to sharp to belong to any pony. “I didn't start making a name for myself until long after you were banished to the moon, and since I got back I was most displeased to see that Celestia had taken great pains to keep me out of the history books.”

Celestia's horn glowed, the golden aura radiating out from it. “And you'll remain out of them after what you tried to do, monster.”

“You should have been proud,” he said with a frown. “I did something your precious Twilight Sparkle was able to do, after all. I created new magic, five hundred years before she did. Where was my crown? My recognition?” His frown morphed into a threatening snarl. “Where was my reward?”

“You chose to use the magic you made to harm others. You sought nothing less than taking a land of your own by force. I won't give you the second chance.” She stomped her hoof down. “You're going back to where you were, monster!”She aimed her horn and fired off a beam at him.

Quick as lightning, Purple Prose levitated another book off of the shelf and forced it opened. It was a copy of “The Iron Shield,” a children's novel about an unbreakable shield used by a great hero to beat back a hoard of rampaging dragons. As the book opened, held in the deep purple grip of the unicorn's magic, the shield materialized from its pages, the golden beam bouncing off of it, flying off and destroying a nearby column. The smoke and debris was cleared with a quick wave of Celestia's wings. “How?” she growled. “Your horn was destroyed in our last encounter. Even levitation should be stressful for you. Using your magic should be impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible, Celestia, and I would have thought that after a millennia, you would have realized that.” he trotted to the side of his books, eyes shifting from the angry sun monarch to her younger sister, who looked confused, but no less determined to show him the door. “After all, I got out of that 'unbreakable' spell of yours, didn't I?” He laughed. “You seem to have the worst luck when it comes to keeping beings like me sedated permanently. Your sister comes back as Nightmare Moon. Discord breaks loose. King Sombra returned with his empire.”

“How do you know all this?” Luna demanded. “If you were around five hundred years ago, how are you so up to date? And how are you even alive?”

“My my, Celestia really DIDN'T tell you anything, did she, Lulu?” He chuckled as the pet name made her eyes narrow. “She imprisoned me in this,” he said, lifting up The Manifesto again. “For over five hundred years after our confrontation, I've been living between its pages, within its world, and now, after all that time, I have finally forced myself back here, and I plan on finishing what I started. And I will start by visiting upon you, the same punishment you did on me.” He opened the pages of the manifesto and it began to glow eerily with the same dark purple as the crippled unicorn's magic aura. Celestia attempted to destroy the book, firing another beam of bright light at it, but the spell merely bounced away from the book. Luna made a move to try and stop him, but her sister pushed her away.

“Stay back!” she ordered. “I won't have you dragged into this conflict!” She glowered at Prose and tried to fire again. He kept the shield he had summoned in front of him.

“I could play all night, but I'm afraid I have an agenda to keep. Our engagement ends here, sorry to say. The story may have just started, but you aren't part of it.” He reared up on his hind legs and slammed down hard, the book taking on a powerful, black outline, crackling with dangerous dark magic.

Luna's eyes widened, recognizing that kind of magic. She'd seen Sombra using such a thing back when she had assist in deposing him, and had even experienced its allure during her time as Nightmare Moon. She shuddered at the memory. “Sister! Move!”she shouted.

But it was too late. The spell was cast and dozens of dark tendrils slid outwards, whipping towards Celestia before she could ready a counter-spell. They wrapped around her, gripping her hooves, her wings, and her neck, constricting her and pulling her taught. Prose smirked as Celestia was dragged towards the book. “It's funny, isn't it, Celestia? Remember how easily you defeated me during our first encounter? Much to my embarrassment, I didn't give you the fight you deserved. But now, look at me. I can assure you, my time within that tome was not wasted.”With a small flourish of his hoof, he closed the book hosting his shield and tossed it to the side. “I am not the same colt who you banished so long ago.”A magical aura began to shine around his nonexistent horn and started to leak down over his entire body, bathing it in the incandescent glow as he fed more and more power into the tendrils holding the sun monarch. “And now, after so long, I think that it might be best if I visited a little tit-for-tat upon you.”He grinned. “What was it you said to me when I was shoved down into the spine of that tome the first time? Something about an eye for an eye, was it not?”

“I will not stand by while you threaten my sister!” Luna shouted, aiming her horn at the tendrils, letting loose a volley of magical bolts, attempting to sever the tentacles holding Celestia in place. As powerful as her magic was, they were dispelled before they could even reach the monarch. Celestia, her eyes wide with fright, writhed against them to no avail, unable to cast a spell due to being unable to concentrate. The tendril around her neck gave a harsh squeeze as she tried to shout out for help. Luna snarled and did it for her, firing off another spell. “Guards!” she shouted, as her magic was once again turned away. “Stop him!”

The room was instantly flooded by dozens of armored unicorns and pegasi, from both the solar and lunar guards. Horns flared, and wings flapped as they encircled the rogue unicorn. He glanced from side to side and smiled. “Hmhmhm, very cute. I have your princess in a vice grip, and neither her, nor her precious little sister's magic works against me and yet you hope that quantity will work when quality failed?” He shook his head as several dozen different magical auras pulsed around him. “Tsk, tsk. It would seem that things have changed for the worst while I was away.” He closed his eyes and his own aura began to balloon out from his body, enveloping everything around him. The guards attempted to back away, but soon they were as encased in it as Celestia was. Luna grimaced as it began to wash over her. The feeling of it washing over her skin made her sick. It felt like being encased in a box of earthworms, the magic wriggling all over her. She tried to pull away, tried to banish it with her own magic, but her power was nullified within his own field. How was this possible, she wondered. He was just a unicorn, a unicorn with a broken horn. He shouldn't have been able to command even a fraction of the power he was demonstrating now.

And yet, here and now, he was. And they were all at his mercy. He smirked, drawing Celestia closer to him, levitating the Manifesto up, opening it to the very center page. “It's time for you to suffer as I have, Celestia. But since your sister was nice enough to bring all these ponies to our side,” he motioned to all the guards around them, “I offer you a boon you didn't give to me. You won't be alone within the Manifesto.” He gave her a toothy grin. “You'll have all the servants you could want... and of course, your dear sister.”His eyes flashed dangerously and the entire room seemed to explode as his aura fluxed. The flash covered the entire room. And then, as soon as the world went white, it went black right afterwards.

Luna shuddered, fearful to open her eyes. She'd shielded them to prevent herself from going blind during the flash of magic, but she had expected something far more traumatizing to accompany the spell. Pain, deliriousness, perhaps even loss of consciousness. But there was nothing. It felt as though she were still standing there, untouched by his magic.

It appeared that was exactly what had happened. “Hmm,” she heard the sinuous unicorn muse, “Interesting. I'm certain you were incased in my magic as well, princess of the night. Add to it, your defenses were as low as everyone else's. So then, how was it that you were not affected as they were?”

Luna chanced opening her eyes and glancing around. Indeed, she was still there, as though he hadn't even cast a spell. However, the meeting hall was now far quieter, and much more empty than before. Her eyes drifted over the place. Nothing remained in the hall save for herself, Purple Prose, and his cart. “Where is my sister?” she growled, taking up a fighting stance once again. Her horn glowed with her signature dark blue aura as she geared up another spell, determined to make this one connect.

The wolfish grin on Purple Prose's face never wavered. “She's safe, little Luna,” he said, like a father assuring a filly that the doctor's needle would be a momentary discomfort. He levitated Manifesto in front of him again. It pulsed with a new, terrible energy. “She and the guards are in here, occupying the same prison I had called home until only a few short years ago.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you?” she demanded. “And why do you go on about that book being your prison? What transpired between you and Celestia all those years ago?”

“That,” he said, holding his head up in a haughty manner, “Is a most interesting tale, but one that I'm not interested in retelling. Suffice it to say that she and I did not see eye to eye, and when she got the opportunity, I found myself shoved deep down into my life's work. This, of course, was after she made sure I wouldn't be a threat, even outside of the book.” He raised a hoof to his shattered horn, caressing the jagged stump.”

“Liar!” she accused, her magic flaring as she let her temper get the best of her, slamming her hoof down against the marble tiles below her. “My sister would never have harmed you in such a way if it could be avoided. You brought it upon yourself!”

His eyes narrowed. “That doesn't matter now, does it?” he asked. “I am free and she's where she belongs, safely tucked somewhere between the covers of this lovely tome.” He chuckled. “Have you ever read this thing? It's quite interesting, some of the most well thought out ideas wrapped up in a fictional tale I've seen in my life.” He shrugged. “That being said, I'm afraid that I'll need you to join her. You understand, I'm sure. Whatever stopped my magic the first time, it won't work twice.” His aura began to flare up once again.

Luna's eyes narrowed as well and prepared herself to counter him. “I underestimated you before,” she admitted, her own horn glowing with the power of the moon. “But this time, you aren't going to get another cheap shot.”

“You're right,” he said with a nod, books flying towards him, all of them opening and flipping from page to page, the covers facing Luna. “So I'll just have to show you that it wasn't luck that allowed me to deal with your sister.”His grin grew wider and Luna actually shrank back. That wasn't just an empty, cocky grin. His expression was one of total confidence, his eyes shimmering with absolute belief that he was the better pony. “It's a pity, I was looking forward to perhaps talking with you after your sister had been disposed of, but it would seem that your loyalty to her regime is much stronger now than it was back when you wore the mantle of Nightmare Moon.”

Luna let out a snort and slammed her forehoof against the ground, hard enough to crack the marble underneath her. “Never speak that name in my presence again!” she snarled, firing off a massive bolt of magical energy, fully infused with the power of the moon above, which she could feel shining down on her, even through the rain.

The unicorn remained unimpressed as it approached him. He waved a hoof and the shield reappeared from the book he'd used before. “You really are Celestia's sister... you never learn from past mistakes.” He grinned and braced the shield in front of him.

As the massive burst of lunar magic neared, it suddenly flared and grew, its dark blue shine turning a bright pink. Both Prose and Luna gasped at this and the stallion attempted to jump out of the way, but he had barely managed to turn away as it impacted the shield, forcing it backwards, slamming the shield and the book into his side and pushing him off of his feet, into the column behind him. As the blast dissipated, he fell to the ground, coughing and rubbing at his chest. Luna just stared, surprised. “What... was that?”

“That?” came a voice from nearby. “That was just a little burst of chaos, dear Lulu.”

Another flash of bright light flicked across her eyes and she winced, rubbing at them. “Discord,” she said, rubbing her eyes for a moment. Indeed, when she opened her eyes, the Draconiquus stood there, between her and Purple Prose.

“Indeed.” He crossed his eyes arms. “I guess it's lucky for you that I was confined to the castle after all, eh?” he asked, grinning at her.

Luna had never been happier to see the living jigsaw puzzle in all her days. “I suppose so.”

“Discord,” Prose growled, stumbling to his hooves again. “I've heard plenty about you.” He scowled. “The manifestation of Chaos, like a hurricane with a brain, but muzzled and domesticated by the Elements of Harmony, and of course the dear princess of the sun.”

Discord's eyes narrowed. “And I know plenty about you, Prose. Back when I was wearing my stone suit, I heard plenty about you and dozens more just like you who tried and failed to usurp power from Celestia.”He smirked. “And I'd watch what you say. Just because I've agreed not to turn the world into my plaything doesn't mean I'm any less capable of dealing with you. You beat Celestia by catching her off guard. I could take her in a one-on-one fight easy, if I really wanted to.” He took a step forward and Luna saw a satisfied smirk cross his face as the unicorn backed away a step. “So what makes you think you have a chance against me?”

Purple Prose tensed, levitating several books up again. “I took out Celestia and I'll do the same to you!”

Discord barked out a harsh laugh, shaking his head. “Luna, you might want to back away. This could get messy.”

Luna gave a small nod and did so. She wanted to assist, but she'd learned not to get between Discord and a target of his. Though, most of the time, those targets were merely treated to a harmless prank, she doubted the chaotic demi-god would be as forgiving with this intruder.

“Gotta say, I'm annoyed, but impressed,” he admitted. “You got the drop on Celestia so well, I'd almost be proud. Almost. But I'm gonna need you to bring her back.”

“You truly are domesticated, aren't you?”

He shook his head. “Not really, it's just that she's the only one who can lift that barrier that's keeping me imprisoned here, and it makes it very hard to visit my dear little Fluttershy while it's still up.”

He snorted. “Well, I do apologize, but I don't have time to...”

He was cut off as another bolt of lunar magic flew past his head, making him yelp. “And I don't have time for you two stroke your egos!” Luna shouted. “Now give me back my sister or I won't just shove you back into a book, I'll plaster your hide all over the moon!”

Discord stroked his chin. “My, my, Lulu, I had no idea you could be so dominant. You look quite cute when you're angry.”

If the alicorn hadn't been so focused, she would have been blushing. Her horn was already revving up for another blast. “Now, Purple Prose. I won't pretend to understand the circumstances totally, but I know that you are a threat to peace, and as a princess of Equestria, I will stop you.”

Prose looked between the two of them, his eyes shifting from worry to scorn to annoyance and finally to resolve. His aura glowed again. “I've come too far to give up now. I have the upper hand.”

Discord laughed again, this one far more jovial than the last. “Upper hand? Perhaps when you hadn't played your hand, but luckily I was able to protect Lulu from your magic before you could send her into the book too. Would have grabbed the guards and Celestia too, but you had quite a grip on them. I will admit, you have good control over your magic for not having a horn.”

The unicorn scowled again. “Be silent! You'll learn to respect your new master soon enough.”

Discord's eyes narrowed. “Chaos is no one's master.” His fingertips began to glow and both he and Luna started to advance on him. Prose started to back away, slowly.

Discord jerked to a stop and Luna blinked, looking up at him. There was a look of shock on his face and he was looking down towards his feet. “Discord? What are you...” her words were cut off when her eyes traveled down with his, towards his feet. Like a pony who had met the glare of a cockatrice, Discord's body was slowly turning to stone.

“What is this?!” the spirit of chaos snarled.

Prose laughed and clapped his forehooves together in triumph. “Ha! You silly filly, did you really think that I would come alone? That I would be vain enough to attack this place without a contingency plan?”

“Well, frankly,” Discord said, attempting to twist his body free of the spell that was snaking its way up his body, “I was kind of counting on it.”

“And you've paid the price.” He held his head up with pride. “Don't worry, I'll make sure you get a cozy spot somewhere indoors this time. The birds won't ever bother you again.”

Discord snarled and craned his neck towards Luna. “Lulu, get out of here!”

“What?” she gasped, taking a step towards him. “But what about...”

“You won't be able to help me or Celestia right now! Whatever's got this kind of power is not something you'll be able to stop on your own! Go!” He lifted his chin as the stoning spell began to inch up over his neck. “Get Twilight! We need the elem...” He was cut off as the spell finished working its way around him, fully encasing him. His statuesque form wobbled a tad before it tilted to one side and toppled over, his eyes holding a look of horror and scorn.

Luna tensed, but as he fell, she felt compelled to follow his last command. She'd never known the Draconiquus to care for anyone beyond himself, and perhaps Fluttershy, so if he was willing to warn her away from whatever it was that Prose was working with, then it had to be something powerful indeed. She twisted her body around and gave one huge gallop towards the nearest window, the stained glass image of herself, as Nightmare Moon, being defeated by Twilight and her friends. Bracing herself, and firing off one last bolt before flying through the shattered glass, the rain pelting her form and the downpour deafening her. Lightning flashed and thunder roared as she spread her wings wide and took off, bolting out of Canterlot with a speed even Rainbow Dash would be impressed with. As she flew, she felt hot tears mixing with the cold rain, and just like the drops from the clouds, they fell to the ground below. “I'll be back soon, sister,” she promised. “Please, just hold on.”

Prose frowned, sitting on his haunches as he examined the bits of shattered colored glass sitting on the sill as the rain blew in from outside. His face was annoyed, but quickly gave way to a serene and satisfied look. “You didn't have to help me,” he said, trotting over to the statue.”

“But I did,” a sinuous female voice whispered behind him. “Don't pretend like you could have taken them both on at once. Your entire plan hinged on getting them all in one fell swoop and if it weren't for me, that spanner in the works would have ended your regime before it had begun.”

He turned from the 'spanner' in question, kicking the statue in the head before laying his eyes on a book, floating above his cart. This one was far different than the others. Tattered, worn, obvious tears in the pages, obvious chunks of its cover missing, and its title near completely destroyed by the ceaseless march of time. “But I've done it,” he said, holding his head up with a grin. “I've conquered Canterlot in one fell swoop. From here, I'll spread like Ivy across the rest of Equestria, and I have no doubt that once the other cities hear of the fall of their precious princess, they won't give me any trouble. I've won.”

“You've won NOTHING!” the book hissed, floating towards him, shoving its cover in his face, making him back up a step. “What you've done here was nothing more than a stepping stone at best, a minor setback for your enemies at worst! Luna is still free, you moronic equine! The princess of the moon...”

“Will fall just as her sister did,” he said with a grin, regaining a bit of ground and pushing the book a more respectable distance away. “She's weak. You saw her hesitate. You saw her hang back. She lacks the confidence and the power of either her sister or Discord. She won't be hard to deal with at all.”

The book flared with a black aura, forcing Purple Prose backwards as it rumbled with energy. “Lamebrain!” it snarled. “Do you honestly think I was referring to HER? NO! Think for a blood minute! The elements of harmony! She's going to warn the element bearers!”

He shrank back under the book's tantrum. “Then we will deal with them when they come for us,” he ventured, attempting to put some confidence into his voice. He failed miserably.

“No! We must not allow them to make the first move. We have to keep them off kilter. If they have time to formulate a plan, all will be lost!”

Prose frowned. “Now wait just a moment, I have what I wanted. The throne of Canterlot is mine now. Celestia is imprisoned, Discord is stone yet again, and her sister has fled. I'm sure I can handle the elements just as easily.

“The elements cured Luna of her nightmare personality,” the book said, its aura flaring up again. “They imprisoned Discord after the original spell weakened. They obliterated Sombra, utterly! Do you want to end up like him? Nothing but a pile of dust and armor?”

He shuddered. “No, forgive my words. I allowed victory to swell my head.”

The book calmed. “Your transgression is forgiven, Purple Prose. But we must not allow ourselves to rest. We've secured a great victory now, so we must go and secure another one.”

“We follow Luna then?”

“We do. I trust you still have enough magic to get us there?”

He opened a book and a carpet fluttered out from between its pages. It began to hover just above the throne room floor and the stallion stepped onto it, grinning. “We'll get there. They won't know what hit them.”

“Excellent.” The book floated down and set itself in front of him, opening and flipping through it's pages. “Just remember, in exchange for everything I have given you...”

“I remember,” he said, smiling down at the book as its pages came to a stop. “When my throne is secured and no one opposes me, I promise to find a way to free you as you found a way to free me.”

“Good. Be sure to bring the manifesto.”

He frowned. “Why?”

The book's pages flittered and Prose suspected that if it had eyes, it would be rolling them. “Would you so easily leave her prison where anyone could access it. No chances will be taken. Use it to access her magic. You might not be able to drag anything else out of that tome, but you should have enough access to raise the sun in the morning. If the ponies see that no sun is up, then they might get suspicious, and that is the last thing we need right now.”

He nodded, floating the book in question, along with other fictional tales, to his side, setting them down on the magic carpet. “As you wish.”

She chuckled as the carpet began to hover off of the ground. “However did you survive without me.”

He gave a slight grin as they began to float out into the cold rain. “It is a mystery.” He reached down and tapped the open book with a hoof as the rainwater began to drip against it. The beautiful picture of a nine-tailed fox was smiling up at him, her eyes playful and mischievous. “Rest assured, Lady Ninetails, soon enough you shall be free.” He leaned forward and kissed the picture before drawing the book close to him, hiding it under his cloak so as to keep the rain from damaging the tattered thing further. “I promise.”

“Thank you, Purple Prose.” came the soft response. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

End of Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Take a Look, They're in a Book

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Chapter 1: Take a Look, They're in a Book

Princess Twilight Sparkle flexed her wings for a moment, looking up at the sky with a tilted head. Something seemed off about the day. It almost felt as though princess Celestia had been late in raising the sun, but that might have just been a side effect of the rather drab and dark skyline she'd had to put up with in the early morning. The pegasi were finally blowing away the last of the clouds from last night's heavy rainfall and at last sunshine was beginning to filter in through her windows. She let out a deep sigh as the rays of the sun began to rejuvenate her. She hadn't slept well the night before, the constant pounding of heavy rainfall coupled with her inability to immediately understand the theories behind the latest magical equation she'd been studying giving her quite the royal pain in her head.

Hoping to take her mind off of her troubles, she trotted back towards the stairs leading up to her bedroom. “Spike,” she called, “Are you up yet?”

A groan answered her. “I am now,” the sleepy little dragon answered. Twilight heard him rolling out of his basket and stifled a giggle at the loud thump he made. Chances were good he had fallen flat on his face. “Well, wake up a bit! We have a lot of work to do this morning, and I need my number one assistant's help to get everything set up.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he called. “I'll get the checklist, but please, Twilight, please tell me there's only ONE checklist this time?”

She blushed a little bit. “Only one, I promise,” she called. “And it's not even that long this time.”

The dragon peaked his head over the edge of the stairs, rubbing his eyes. “Okay, okay, I'm coming. But could we stop for breakfast before we do any of the heavy lifting?”

She smiled. “Of course. But it's not like we have a lot of heavy lifting. We just need to pick up a bushel of apples from Sweet Apple Acres and a load of pie crusts from Sweet Apple Acres.”

Spike started down the stairs, still rubbing his eyes. “I still don't get why you don't just go and buy the finished pies.”

“Well, I'm learning to fly with rainbow dash.”

“So?”

“So I figured it would be nice to try a few more skills as well. So I'm going to spend the day trying to bake a pie myself.”

“I'll open the windows then.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Why?”

The dragon shrugged. “Well, I think it'd be better to open them up now so we can vent out the smoke as soon as it happens. Don't wanna risk staining the books right.”

Twilight gave her assistant a slight scowl. “Spike, I'll be just fine. How hard could it be to bake a simple pie?”

“Says the mare who managed to burn cereal back when we lived in Canterlot.”

Twilight flushed as she walked towards the door, levitating her saddlebags onto her back. “That... that was a long time ago!” she defended herself. “And the box tipped over, that wasn't my fault!”

The dragon shrugged as they walked out into the sunshine. “Whatever you say, Twilight. Whatever you say.”

The alicorn tilted her head up in a slight pout, flicking her wings a few times, flexing the new muscles. She'd grown more comfortable with them since taking a few lessons with Rainbow Dash, and even managed to sleep comfortably with them now, but at the same time she was still very much aware of the new appendages. Now and then, she'd forget that they were there, only to scare herself when she felt a stray feather rubbing up against her side, or when a sudden reflex caused her to flap them, sending her into the air for a short burst. She'd found out very quickly that, like Fluttershy, she still preferred transporting herself via her legs.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a whoosh of hair above her, making her stumble back, just barely avoiding trotting on Spike's tail. She looked up, seeing the rainbow-maned mare in question coming in for a hard, fast landing. She slammed down against the ground, leaving a streak of torn grass upturned soil in her wake, as well as several helpless leaves spiraling in the wind. Before Twilight could recover, her friend whipped around and lunged at her, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a shake. “Twilight!” she shouted, so loud that Twilight's already shaken head began to ring with the sound of bells. Hehe“We got a situation here, you gotta hoof it over to Fluttershy's NOW!”

Quite tired of being shaken like a fresh batch of cider, Twilight brushed her friend's hooves off her shoulders and righted herself, rubbing her head. “Rainbow,” she said. “remember that talk we had a few weeks ago about personal space?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Sorry, but no time for that now! You gotta get over to Fluttershy's! Something's up! Princess Luna just crash-landed there a few minutes ago!”

Twilight's eyes widened. Princess Luna? Making an unscheduled visit? Something major definitely was happening. “Is everyone else there?”

“Everyone cept Applejack,” she answered. “I'm going to get her right now, but you gotta get over there. She says something's happened to Celestia!”

Twilight felt a chill run through her body. “I knew it, Celestia is never late in raising the sun.”

“Luna says it's a miracle the sun rose today at all. She said she'd explain once everyone was there, so get the buck over there! NOW!” Without another word, the agitated pegasus took off towards Sweet Apple Acres to gather up her friend.

Twilight didn't need to be told twice. “Spike, get on my back, now. We gotta get there, now.”

Spike, who had remained silent yet worried through the hurried conversation, wasted no time in mounting up his best friend and caretaker, gripping her neck carefully as she spread her wings. “Um, you sure you can't just teleport us there?” he asked.

“After that revelation, you really think I could concentrate enough to travel that amount of distance without some mishap?”

The dragon considered it for a moment. “Well, I have to admit, when you overshot last time it did take me a while to dry out my scales when we ended up at the bottom of that lake.” He gripped her tighter as he felt her starting to flap her wings in a rather clumsy takeoff. “Um still, this is your first time doing this with a passenger, right?”

Twilight felt her legs lifting off of the ground and gave a few more powerful flaps to gain a bit of altitude. “Don't worry, Spike, Rainbow's done a lot of work with me and I'm pretty sure I can handle this as well as.” She yelped for a moment as Spike shifted his weight to one side and gave her left wing an extra hard flap that threw her right side off balance. She just barely managed to correct herself and avoid going into what would have surely been a very painful spinout.

Spike clung to her, attempting to resist the instinctual urge to dig his claws deep into her sides. “You sure Rainbow's been helping you right?” he asked.

While Twilight was a tad shaken herself, she just rolled her eyes and continued to pump her wings faster. While it was by no means close to what Rainbow could do (heck, she was pretty sure even Fluttershy could have matched or surpassed her in terms of raw speed) she was moving along at a pretty good clip, the world a blur of green down under her. But she didn't bother looking down. Her eyes were fixed on Fluttershy's place, on the outskirts of town, straddling the edge of the Everfree forest.

Following the stream that flowed down near the little cottage, Twilight saw her destination coming into view as she passed over the last few houses in Ponyville. “Alright, Spike, hold on tight, we're going in for a landing!”

“What's this we stuff?” the dragon whined, pushing his face deep into his friend's mane. “Oh please don't crash, oh please don't crash, oh please don't crash...”

“SPIKE!” Twilight shouted as she went into a slow decline. “Be quiet, landing's the hardest part of flying and I need to concentrate. Okay, so Rainbow said keep your legs steady, level out your wings, make sure you have enough space, and...”

Spike gave a yelp as Twilight's form shifted to the side again, almost throwing the poor dragon right off her back. “Ack! I thought you said you were gonna stay level!”

Twilight began to kick her feet, rearing her head back as she tried to regain control, though she was already too close to the ground to stop herself. “Ah! Rainbow didn't cover what to do if we hit a sudden airstream!” she squeaked.

“I'm never flying with you again!” Spike declared, just as twilight came in for a landing, skidding along the ground before tumbling forward, horn over hoof, spike rolling off of her. They came to rest just outside of Fluttershy's cottage.

“Ugh, ow...” Twilight groaned, lifting her head up and giving it a small shake, looking behind her. “Wow, a new record,” she mused. “I only skid about seven feet that time. First time I tried landing, I don't think I stopped tumbling over myself for a solid thirty feet or so.” She laughed. “So that wasn't so bad, was it Spike?” She didn't receive an answer. “Spike?”

She craned her head to the side to see the dragon on his knees, kissing the grass underneath him. “Oh Celestia, thank you so much for this wonderful ground for me to keep my claws on.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and pulled herself up onto her hooves again, brushing herself off. One thing she could definitely say about her wings, they made wonderful feather dusters. She brushed away the stray dirt and grass clinging to her body before motioning for spike to follow. “Come on you. Let's go and figure out what is going on.”

“Twilight!” came a cry from the house. She looked up to see Pinkie Pie waving her hooves in the air frantically. “Twilight!” she called again. “Get in here quick!” She gave a smile. “Princess Luna's got a story to tell!”

Rarity's head popped out from Fluttershy's door alongside her pink friend. “Pinkie, dear, this is no laughing matter. Luna says that what she has to tell us could be a life or death situation for all of Equestria.”

The pink mare blew a curl out of her face. “Oh please, Rarity, how many times since Twilight started coming here have we heard that sort of thing before.”

Rarity stayed silent a moment before tapping her hoof against the ground in reluctant agreement. “I suppose you are right. Our lives certainly have gotten much more interesting over the past few years.”

Twilight came trotting up, Spike at her side. “Is the princess alright?” she asked. “Where is she?”

“Inside, resting,” Rarity answered, beckoning her inside along with Pinkie Pie and spike. “She said she would have been here sooner, but she couldn't risk leading her pursuers right to our doorstep, so she spent the better part of the entire night evading him around the Everfree.”

“Pursuer?” spike asked, tensing. “Don't tell me Discord's gone all coo-coo for Chaos again!”

Rarity gave a worried shrug. “She hasn't been able to tell us anything, and Fluttershy insisted that she get some rest while we gathered here. She's been very careful to see that she wasn't injured.”

“And?” Twilight asked, tapping her hoof impatiently. She stopped when she realized she was doing that.

“She's just exhausted, Twilight. Now come on, quickly. She was waking up at around the time you cra- er, landed, eheh.” She covered her mouth to hide a giggle.

Twilight gave a scowl, which only deepened when Spike and Pinkie began to chortle alongside the white unicorn. Letting her annoyances go with a snort, she let herself be led into Fluttershy's living room, where the shy pegasus was helping a bedraggled princess of the moon to take slow, small sips from a glass on the table. The purple alicorn's immediate reaction was to run to the princess' side, but in an effort to contain her worry, she held herself in place until Fluttershy acknowledged them with a gentle smile. “Oh, Twilight, thank goodness you're here.” She beckoned her friend over. “I take it Rainbow Dash found you?”

Twilight nodded, walking up to her. “Yeah, she did, and then went off to grab Applejack.” She frowned. “What happened, Fluttershy?”

“I know about as much as you,” she said gently. “But I don't want Luna to talk until she's rested a bit more. She almost landed on top of my chicken coop when she got here just before the sun started to rise.” She pat Luna's shoulder as the alicorn wavered between sleep and consciousness, her eyes half open, then closing, then opening again.

“Twilight?” Luna mumbled. “Thank goodness, I made it,” she panted, attempting to sit up, groaning and rubbing her hoof. “Ugh...”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Luna, please don't push yourself. You're really tired, and probably very sore. You don't have to get up, just tell us what's wrong.”

“Are you all here?”

Rarity shook her head. “No, Rainbow Dash and Applejack are still unaccounted for. I can't imagine what's taking them so long. Rainbow might be lazy, but she's usually far more prompt than this, especially when it comes to a dire situation.”

Pinkie crossed her forehooves, nodding in agreement. “Yeah. For being such a super fast pony, she can be as slow as tank sometimes, right? Oh, you think maybe hanging out when him is starting to get to her?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, deciding that it was best not to argue the point with Pinkie. The pony's logic was her own, and as strange as it was to Twilight, she'd learned not to question her reasoning. Pinkie was just Pinkie after all.

The door burst open and the two tomboys of the group came dashing in, Rainbow just barely managing to put on her air breaks to avoid an intimate connection with Fluttershy's back wall and Applejack skidding to a halt right in front of the sofa housing the exhausted princess. “Well it's about time,” Rarity scolded, giving her tail a soft lash. “What kept you two?”

“Well we would have been here a lot quicker if SOMEPONY had just let me carry them here instead of just running all the way.” Rainbow came to rest with the others, throwing an accusatory glance at her traveling companion, who merely snorted.

“Ah made it here, didn't ah?” the earth pony stated, her southern drawl thick with annoyance. “An' there ain't no way ah was gonna go up in the air with you again, Rainbow Dash, 'specially not after the last time.”

“Okay, so maybe doing a corckscrew while you were in my forehooves wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had, but it looked really cool, didn't it?”

Twilight coughed and stomped a hoof against the ground. “Well, since we're all here,” she stated, a little louder than was necessary, “maybe the princess would like to tell us all why we should be worried?” she turned to Luna, giving her a light nod.

Luna returned the gesture and, against Fluttershy's soft, but stern insistence, hefted herself up to a sitting position, her stiff joints popping. Rainbow made a small, worried comment about how swollen the base of her wings seemed. Twilight recognized that as something that only happened from constant, extreme flying, something Rainbow had warned her about from the first flying lesson and made sure to reiterate it every time they practiced and exercised their wings.

Luna took a deep breath. “I wish I had all the details,” she said, “But here's everything that I know...”

“You lost her.”

“I didn't think it would be this hard to find an Alicorn princess,” Purple Prose grumbled. “She was spooked, I didn't think she'd mislead us like that.”

“You underestimated her, just as you did Celestia all those centuries ago.”

“Can you blame me? It was just her sister. The little girl, former Nightmare Moon. It should have been so simple to deal with her.”

“But it wasn't.”

“Ninetails, shut up,” he growled, looking over the edge of the carpet. “We should have just ignored her and moved on to Ponyville. An alicorn princess is dangerous, yes, but I'd be willing to be the elements would be an even worse threat.”

“I told you that when we started following her.”

“You said to go after her!”

“I said to go after her as she heads for Ponyville!” she snarled, her pages flapping in annoyance. “But no, you followed her like a sheep would a shepherd and she led you straight into a wolf's cave! Is it any wonder why your little coup was finished before it even began all those years ago? If this is how you deal with your enemies, I'm frankly astounded you made it to puberty. How in the wide, wild world of Equestria did you-”

“I said shut up, you stupid book, before I throw you into a fireplace!” Prose turned his glare on her, and the book fell silent, sinking down onto the carpet's soft, fluffy weaving. “Yes, I made mistakes, and yes perhaps I was easily led astray, but can you blame me? I was still coming down from the dizzying high of capturing the most powerful being in the world the same way she captured me.” He held up the Manifesto and tapped the cover with his hoof. “So pardon me if I forget myself.”

The book remained silent. “Perhaps I misspoke,” she said, opening again to the picture of the nine-tailed fox. “Being caught in a book myself, I suppose I should have been more understanding. You'd lost everything, and now you've gained everything.”

“I have,” he said, reaching out to her. “And it was thanks to you. If not for you, I wouldn't even have magic again, and it was only because of you that the spirit of Chaos didn't destroy everything we had worked towards already.” He opened his forehooves. “Forgive me, Ninetails?”

“Already done,” she said softly, floating into his offered embrace with what he assumed was a gentle purr. “Oh, how I long to hold you with my true paws, instead of just letting you wrap your hooves around a cover and parchment.”

“Soon, my dear,” he whispered down to her. “We will find a way to break the spell that hosts you in there, as you found a way to break mine. That was what I promised, was it not?”

“Indeed, Prose, indeed it was.”

He smiled at the book but turned his head towards the edge of the Everfree forest. “We've delayed long enough. I think our best course of action is just to go after the Elements at this point. All things considered, I think it might be safe to say that Luna has already reached them by this point.”

“Agreed. And when we find them...”

“We'll make sure they never interfere with us, ever again.” He stroked her cover. “And then, there will only be one harmony. It will be OUR harmony.”

“Mmm, I love it when you talk like that,” the book praised.

He grinned, turning the floating rug towards the sleepy little village. “You'll be hearing me talk like that a whole lot more pretty soon.”

“...and that is the situation as it stands now,” Luna finished now standing and pacing about Fluttershy's living room.

Twilight shook her head. “But how is this even possible? Celestia imprisoned? In a book of all things? By a hornless unicorn? Who was in a book himself?” She shook her head. “This doesn't make any sense. In all of the books I've read on magical theory, there was never anything that mentioned this sort of spell before. I mean, I love books, but they're just that: books! They're works of fiction, or guides on factual information. They aren't prisons or actual places we can visit, right?”

Luna could do nothing but shrug her wings. “I am afraid I have no answers, Twilight. As I said, I know only the most basic information regarding this unicorn and what he is capable of. I don't even fully understand how deep his hatred for my sister goes.”

Fluttershy nervously took a few steps forward. “Uh, Luna...”

The princess craned her head so that she was at eye level with the young Pegasus, so as to avoid frightening her. “Yes?”

“Is... is Discord... I mean...”

Luna closed her eyes. “Have no fear, Fluttershy. While Discord was defeated, it was no more permanent than what you did to him when you encased him in stone yourself. I believe that you could release him just fine. But I am afraid that will have to wait.”

Rainbow nodded, bashing her hooves together. “Right. We got a bigger fish to fry right now. We gotta get to Canterlot and show this guy just who he's messin' with!” she threw a few punches.

Applejack rolled yer eyes and poked Rainbow's shoulder. “Beg pardon, but ah don't think we'll have to go to him if what Luna said is right.”

Luna nodded. “As I said, he pursued me, and while I managed to shake him briefly, I have no doubt in my mind that he will come here to find me, and will most likely be coming for all of you as well.”

“Well, I think it's clear what we need to do now,” Twilight stated. “Come on girls, to the library!”

“That's your answer to everything,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Well in this case it makes sense,” Rarity stated. “After all, need I remind you that the elements are IN the library?”

“Oh, right.” Rainbow smiled and rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry, I forgot, eheh.”

Pinkie giggled a little bit. “Oh Dash, you and your silly selective memory!”

Luna stomped her hoof. “Now is not the time to be ruminating on Dash's weak memory!”

“Hey, my memory is fine.”

“SILENCE!” Luna shouted, the royal Canterlot voice making the entire house shake, scattering a small group of critters that had gathered around the room. “THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE! WE MUST MAKE HASTE TO THE ELEMENTS BEFORE PURPLE PROSE DISCOVERS US!”

“What she said,” Twilight said quickly, rubbing her ear as Luna calmed herself down. “Now come on, everyone, Celestia is depending on us!”

The others gave a cry (or in Fluttershy's case a mildly strong squee) of agreement and rushed out of the little cottage. Luna went with them. Fluttershy frowned, running at the back of the pack with her. “Luna, are you sure you shouldn't be resting? I mean, your wings must still be sore, and as you said, you haven't had a chance to rest since the beginning of last night.”

“Your concern is appreciated, Fluttershy, but I will be fine,” she said, exuding more confidence than she felt. “My sister is in danger. I need to do all I can to help her, even if it is just making sure that the bearers of the elements make it safely to a library.” She gave a slight smile to the little yellow mare.

“Well, okay, if you are sure,” she said. “But please let me know if you need to rest or anything. It wouldn't do for you to hurt yourself on our account.”

Luna's ears flattened. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”

The all group dashed through the town, dodging around a few of the other townsponies who were just trying to go about their day, offering hurried apologies to those that they bumped aside or cut off.

“Oops! Sorry bout that Lyra!”

“Ack, Watch out, Bonbon!”

“Oh dear, I'll get you another one, Turner!”

“Derpy, I'm flyin' here!”

Twilight gave a grunt of annoyance as she hopped over Caramel, who was hurriedly attempting to scoop several dozen fallen seeds back into his saddlebag. “Is everypony out on the roads at once today?” she shouted.

“Well it is Saturday,” Pinkie said, running alongside Applejack easily. “Or as I like to call it, Party day!”

“Priorities, Pinkie,” Rarity chided.

“Says the mare who practically squealed over the idea of Crystal Ponies,” Rainbow teased as she floated by her unicorn friend.

Rarity gave her a glare. “I think we can add that alongside 'Tom' as something we will never speak of again.”

Twilight considered telling her friends to stop goofing off and to actually start focusing on the task at hand, but a gentle pull from the dragon on her back drew her attention. “What is it, Spike?”

Spike didn't reply, but she saw his claw out of her peripheral vision as he pointed up towards the sky, at something that was hurtling towards them at a breakneck speed. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was standing behind her, Twilight would have guessed it was Rainbow Dash, practicing some sort of new trick. But no, it wasn't. “Who...”

Luna cut her off by giving her a quick shove in her side, making the mare yelp for a moment. “That's him!” Luna hissed gently.

Twilight tensed. “Everyone, quick, hide!” she said, motioning around her.

Everyone took her advice and dove for cover. Pinkie and Fluttershy slid under the apple cart, Rainbow dove into the deep foliage of a nearby tree, Rarity and spike hide themselves under a nearby awning of one of the many flower stalls along the street, and Luna and Twilight ducked behind a few small crates sitting at the edge of an alleyway. Twilight cursed to herself as she peeked out from behind her cover, glancing up into the sky, several of the other ponies walking about stopping to observe the arrival of this strange new visitor. Soon enough, all eyes were cast to the bright blue sky, a single dark speck, growing ever larger, approaching them. Soon, a hornless unicorn, floating upon a lovely carpet, looked down upon them all. Twilight could feel her stomach churn as she observed the stallion responsible for defeating Celestia... and yet, her mind couldn't stop its natural sense of curiosity. Despite all that Luna had told her, she still couldn't believe it. How was he able to use magic without a horn? How was he able to summon objects from a book? Why didn't he summon characters from the books instead?

And most pressing of all, how in Equestria did he manage to defeat Celestia?

“Are you sure we should go about it this way?” Ninetails asked, resting between Prose's forehooves.

“Yes. Instill fear and hopelessness in the populace now and they won't bother fighting back. And perhaps they might be useful in flushing out the elements and dear Luna.”

“I doubt it,” she said. “The power of community is tough to break.”

Prose nodded. “Then an example will have to be made.” Clearing his throat, he stood up straight and glared down over the town, giving what he hoped was a perfectly malicious grin. “Fillies and gentlecolts!” he shouted, his voice ringing out with a loud and clear pitch, his booming tenor carrying out over the entire town. “I apologize for interrupting your oh so important lives, but I assure you what I have to say is quite important. For starters, you are all looking up at your new ruler and the master of Canterlot.” He paused for a moment, to let his comments sink in. Silence permeated the place. “Of course, if you don't believe me,” he continued, levitating the Manifesto near himself, “I would be happy to demonstrate just how much power I have now.” He opened the book and flipped through it, smiling at them again. His gaze twisted up towards the sky and he closed his eyes, his magical aura spreading over his body. Slowly, gently, the world began to go black. He could hear the start of whispers down below, and those whispers quickly turned to frightened cries. He opened his eyes and with a bit of smug satisfaction, seeing that, just as easily as he had raised it only an hour beforehand, he'd lowered it just as expertly. The sun was gone, and without Luna around to raise the moon, total darkness enveloped everything. He chuckled and concentrated, raising it for the second time that day, amazed at just how easy it was. Then again, since he was tapping into Celestia's magic itself, that was to be expected.”

He watched the ponies down below dashing to and fro in their panic, even after light had been returned to their lives. It seemed that his demonstration had the desired effect. They knew he was serious, and if there was anyone there who still doubted him, they'd be far easier to spot, and of course, make an example of. He gave them a second to calm themselves before he shouted out over the din of their panic, “Now that I have your attention, my loyal subjects, I think it would be best if you all heeded my next order very carefully. That is, if you want my treatment of you all to remain nice and benevolent.” He swept his forehoof out in front of him. “Now, I know for a fact that the bearers of the elements of harmony are somewhere here in this town. Now, bear in mind that I have nothing personal against them at all, and I can promise any of you concerned about them that they will not be harmed... much.” He added the last word under his breath.

The screaming and shouting had ended about halfway through his second speech. No one spoke. There were a few exchanged glances, some nervous looks, a bit of shuffling hooves, but no one moved to tell him what he wished to know. His even gaze began to contort into an annoyed scowl. “I'm not asking for much, am I?” he asked. “It wouldn't do for you all to get on your new ruler's bad side, now would it?” No one moved again. He sighed, shrugging. “I would have thought that, with so many ponies here, you would all be smarter than this. Oh well.” He waved a hoof and the Manifesto began to flip through its pages again.”

“What are you planning, Prose?” Ninetails whispered from below him.

“A bluff,” he whispered back, stopping on one page, laying the book down next to her. “Trust me. I know what I'm doing, I think.”

“You think?”

“I think,” he nodded. Clearing his throat, he attempted his best impersonation of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “So be it! Then I issue this ultimatum, my subjects! For every hour that you refuse to bring forth the bearers, I shall destroy one facility in this city until it is either razed to the ground!” He stomped his hoof and the book, saturated in his magic again, started to convulse and warp, its dimensions growing larger until it floated next to the carpet, almost equal in length, and certainly much larger in girth. Then, something began to ascend from its pages, something large, something metal, something that made every pony's eyes widen in fear in awe. It was a cannon.

Now everyone in Ponyville was familiar with only one type of cannon: Pinkie's famous party cannon. This, however, was not for parties, that much was obvious. It was sleek, black, and towered above everything else around it. Prose himself looked like a paper doll standing next to it. He waved a hoof and it adjusted itself, swinging its massive muzzle over the crowd, making them all duck and shudder in fear. “Last chance,” he announced. “I'm sure most of you are unfamiliar with this tale, but this cannon is actually quite famous. It's said that this cannon was capable of piercing the surface of the moon. I have no interest in testing such a theory, but I'm willing to bet that it would still be capable of leveling this town to the ground with a few well placed shots.” The cannon stopped its swirling, the tip aiming straight at an old building forged from an oak tree. “Yes, I'll start with this one. If no one talks by the time I count down, that building goes bye-bye.” Prose felt himself tense. He'd hoped that the town would be more amicable by now. He'd demonstrated his dominion over the sun, proving that he indeed had deposed Celestia, and had threatened the stability of their community. Was their loyalty so deep that they would risk their town for those six ponies?

Prose sighed. There was no turning back now. “Ten...”

“My dear, you don't have to do this. We can flush them out another way.”

“Nine...”

“Would it really do to earn the ire of your subjects so easily?”

“Eight...”

“And what of me? Do you think finding any information to free me will by easy if you alienate them?”

“Seven...”

“Prose, please... they've called your bluff. We need to be rational. Destroying this town will do nothing but make future conquests difficult.

“Six...”

“Oh Prose...”

“Five...”

Twilight felt her blood ran cold. Her body felt like it was going to freeze over when the sun had disappeared, and after his speech about what he had planned for Ponyville, she was sure that her heart had stopped beating for a moment. Then came the second when her mind had shut down. The cannon had come out. His countdown began. The cannon was aimed squarely at the Golden Oaks Library. “Oh no,” she half whispered, half whimpered.

The others were tensed and shuddering. Luna's horn was beginning to glow, though Fluttershy was warning her away from doing anything rash. No one, not even twilight had heard of this kind of magic being employed before. It should have been impossible! Yes, books were wonderful, magnificent things, overflowing with knowledge and stories of all forms, but that was all they were! They were just stories on parchment, bound between two covers. Summoning physical objects from within should have been impossible.

“Four...”

Twilight's mind racked, attempting to come up with a solution, her pupils dilating to pinpricks as she felt that familiar tingle of stressed insanity settling onto her mind. She hadn't felt this way since that whole future self debacle!

“Three...”

Oh Celestia, he was going to blow up her home! What was she going to do? Never mind the fact that she LIVED in there, what about all her books? What about the elements of Harmony?!

“Two...”

A multi-colored blur shot up from the ground and into the sky with a loud whooshing sound. Twilight's mind snapped back to reality as she looked up just in time to see Rainbow Dash catapulting herself upwards, towards the pony on the carpet. She heard Applejack breaking her own cover and running out into the open, dodging around several over startled ponies. “Rainbow! Don't!” she called out.

But it was too late. Just as Prose was about to reach for the string to ignite the cannon, Rainbow slammed into the underside of his carpet with a force just shy of her famous Rainboom. Taken completely by surprise, the unicorn didn't have a chance to mount any sort of defense. With Rainbow taking hold of him through the carpet, he and his attacker were flung to the side, as he slammed, back first, through the roof of a nearby shop, the local bookshop. Twilight gave a wince, hoping that Rainbow was alright. The book that he had summoned the cannon from, the Manifesto, as well as a second, smaller, far uglier book, fell to the ground in the center of town. The cannon vanished as it began to fall, and both books landed upon their spines, their pages flopping up in the gentle breeze.

Luna dashed over to twilight, pointing a hoof towards the huge tome. “Twilight, that is the book he's imprisoned my sister in! I'm sure of it!”

Twilight nodded, her mind now working much steadier. “Right, okay. Applejack!” she called, as her other friends all trotted out of hiding.

“Yeah?” the earth pony asked, giving several worried glances towards the book shop where Rainbow had fallen.

“You take Luna and Rarity with you and go check on Rainbow. If she needs help subduing Purple Prose, then try to knock him out, but don't hurt him too bad. We might need his help if we want to break whatever spell he's put on Celestia.”

Applejack gave a slight grin. “You got it, Twi. Ah'll make sure he's alive, but he ain't gonna be lookin' very pretty by the time I'm done with him!”

Luna frowned. “But what about...”

“Pinkie, Fluttershy, and I will secure the book,” Twilight promised. “It shouldn't be too difficult a task considering that he isn't around, but Prose has already shown that he can be dangerous. You'd better stick with them, just in case he has a trick up his sleeve.” She rested a reassuring wing over the moon princess' shoulder. “Don't worry. Celestia will be fine, I'm sure of it.”

Luna still looked conflicted, but she nodded and motioned for Rarity to follow her. The white unicorn gave a nod and offered Twilight a reassuring glance before taking off with the alicorn and the apple farmer, lunging into the book store just as a very frightened shopkeep came barreling out of it.

“What about me, Twilight?” Spike asked, running forward.

Twilight considered it for a moment. She was loathe to put the dragon in any more dangerous situations, especially after the near heart attack she'd had during their first visit to the Crystal Empire. She nodded to herself. “Spike, run to the library and get the elements of harmony. We might have the upper hand right now, but I'm not going to take any chances.”

Spike gave her a salute. “Consider it done!” he said quickly, turning on his heel and dashing back towards the library.

Twilight nodded, turning to face Fluttershy and Pinkie. “Alright girls, let's get that book. And be careful. No telling what kind of enchantments were put on it.” She blinked as her eyes rested on the yellow pegasus. “Hey, where did Pinkie go?”

“Boy, this book looks super boring,” she heard the pink pony stating. Whirling her head around, she saw Pinkie flipping through the smaller book that had fallen alongside the Manifesto when Prose had been knocked from the sky. “But it does have some really nice pictures.”

Twilight gasped. “Pinkie, put that book down! We don't know if it's dangerous or not!”

Pinkie looked up at her. “Oh come on, Twilight, it's just a book. A super boring book, but a book nonetheless!” She smiled and held it up.

“Get your hooves off of me!” came a shout from the book, which wrenched itself from Pinkie's hooves, flying forward and slamming straight into Pinkie's nose, making the unfortunate mare fall backwards with a pained squeak, clutching at her face. “And I am not boring, thank you very much!”

Fluttershy cowered and scooted behind Twilight as the book turned its covered towards them. “What are you?” Twilight asked. “WHO are you?”

“Ah, I beg your pardon, Princess Twilight,” the book stated. “I forgot, Luna left the palace in a bit of a hurry, so we didn't get the chance to properly meet after I encased Discord in stone.”

Fluttershy's eyes widened and she popped her head out from behind Twilight. “Y-you're the one who made Discord into a statue?”

The book gave a laugh. “Indeed I am. Pleased to make your acquaintances, element-bearers. I am Lady Ninetails.”

Twilight's wings flared up as she stroked at the ground with her hoof, attempting to look threatening. “And just how did you do that? Only the elements of harmony can turn him into stone.”

“True, the elements are his natural antithesis, and on their own they are very powerful artifacts, but do you really think they are the only things capable of that level of power?” she asked. “No. I've been imprisoned in this particular book for so long, I've learned a great deal more than you or even Celestia and Luna combined could fathom. There is, of course, a reason why I and this tome were lost to time, after all.”

Twilight had heard enough and gave a threatening step forward. “Curious as I am about this whole situation, now's not the time for me to focus on that. Now get out of my way. I've gotta get Celestia out of that book!”

Ninetails hovered over the massive book. “I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Twilight.” Her cover opened wide and Twilight was suddenly hit with a torrential blast of wind threatening to knock her off her hooves.

It was only through the luck of already being bent forward that Twilight managed to avoid being pushed backwards and dug her hooves down into the grass, laying flat against her stomach to try and keep herself stationary. Fluttershy wasn't so lucky and Twilight could feel her grasping at her tail, whimpering as she was blown backwards. The added force of having a full grown pegasus mare latching onto her tail made Twilight wince, and she slid back a few inches, unable to even raise a hoof or risk being blown away. Heck, she couldn't even conjure a shield to defend against the wind, as it would have taken too much concentration for the position she was in. Teleporting came to mind, but she wasn't sure if she could teleport herself and Fluttershy at once without risking leaving her friend behind in the path of the wind. She groaned, shaking her head. “I sure hope the others are having more luck than we are!”

For most ponies, knocking an enemy out of the sky, slamming them through the roof of a store, and landing on top of them after crashing into the floor of said store would be enough for most ponies. Rainbow Dash, however, was not like most ponies. After she'd made sure that nothing on her person was seriously injured, she looked down at the reeling unicorn before her. His hat had been knocked away and his broken horn was showing. He was reeling and didn't seem to have much idea of what had happened, but he was still conscious. She smirked and gave him a hard hit with her hoof to knock some sense back into him, pressing her free hoof into his chest to keep him pinned to the ground. “Alright, you,” she said, her voice loud and carrying an unmistakable air of authority with it as she established dominance over her victim, “You're going to tell me just what you've done to the princess and what your plan is.”

The unicorn growled for a moment, reaching up and rubbing a hoof across his face where he'd been struck. “I have nothing to say to you.” He looked up at her, raising a brow. “Hmm, a rainbow-maned mare?” He smirked. “Rainbow Dash?”

She blinked. “How do you know my name?” She chuckled and ran a hoof through her hair. “Heh, then again, my awesomeness is pretty well known.”

“Indeed, though that's not really why I'm interested in you.” He raised his head up and the stub of his horn glowed ominously. “Element of Loyalty!” he snarled, blasting her with a bright bolt of concussive energy that sent her spiraling backwards, sending her straight into a shelf of books that promptly toppled over. “Oh what luck,” he growled, rolling onto his stomach and pushing himself up, groaning as he shook his sore body. “I couldn't sway the loyalty of the town away from you all, and yet it's the element of Loyalty herself who comes to me.” He grinned and kicked away a few books at his feet, advancing on the dazed pegasus, gathering more magic around him. “Sounds like a fable I read once.”

Rainbow shook her head and shot up before he could grip her in his magic. “Yeah, well if it ain't like Daring Do, I'm not interested!” She attempted to dash into him again.

Prose jumped out of the way as she arched towards him, attempting to uppercut him in the chin. He smirked and launched another bolt of concussive energy towards her, narrowly missing as she arched away from it. Rainbow frowned as she zoomed around the enclosed area. There wasn't enough room here for her to really build up some ramming speed, so she'd have to keep it limited to quick, concise blows. She stopped as he fired another bolt at her, narrowly missing. She grinned. “Nice try, buddy, but you're never gonna hit me as long as I'm moving like this.”

She grinned and took in his scowl as he charged up another blast. “You little...”

A sound from the entrance made them both start. “Rainbow! You in there? Are ya alright?!”

Rainbow frowned. Applejack! She was coming in here? Oh no! If Prose got a clear shot at her...

Prose apparently picked up on this as well, because he turned his attention away from the little speed demon flitting around the room, focusing his horn towards the entryway. “Well, an element is an element after all. If I can't capture Loyalty right away, I suppose Honesty will do!” He fired off a large beam of magical energy just as the first few blond locks of Applejack's mane preceded her entry into the library. “NO!” Rainbow shouted, reversing her course and launching herself forward, folding her wings to go into a dive. The last thing she saw before the blast wrapped itself around her body was Applejack's surprised face recoiling in surprise and fear as she leaped in front of the attack.

Then, she was pulled backwards, locked in place and hovering in the air, helpless in the unicorn's telekinetic grip. He laughed a little, and she gave him a sideways glance. “It would seem that loyalty isn't so much of a blessing, now is it?” he taunted.

Rainbow's eyes slid back to her friends as she saw both Rarity and Applejack take a hunched over fighting stance, AJ's hoof scratching at the floorboards so hard that she was pulling small chips from the wood. Rarity's horn glowed with her gentle blue aura. While she was no battle mage, Rainbow knew that Rarity was more than capable of delivering pain when it was necessary. Luna brought up the rear, but something in the Alicorn's glance made Rainbow a little uneasy. Not because she looked angry... if anything, she looked more despondent than anything. The night blue mare hung back, not bothering to tense or to take up a fighter's stance, or anything. Then there were her eyes. Rainbow Dash had never seen more open emotion from the princess of the light before. Luna looked terrified. She wanted to comfort her, to let them all know that she was all right, but the powerful magical grip not only kept her from doing little more than flicking her tail, but also kept her mouth shut quite tight, something that this particular pegasus did not approve of.

Purple prose chuckled gently and waved to them. “Back away, friends. I don't want to hurt her, but I will if I feel you three are going to do me any sort of bodily harm. Now, back away.”

Applejack growled and slammed her hoof down, sending bits of the brittle wood up into the air. “Ya'll got quite some nerve tryin' ta order me around after threatenin' mah friend like that, ya... ya...”

“You ill groomed, lanky-legged, fashion-blind pile of glue fodder!” Rarity finished for her, stamping her hoof and raising her head up.

Rainbow grinned and Applejack gave a light smirk to the white mare next to her. “Heh, that wasn't half bad, Rarity.”

Rarity allowed a brief smile of pride to grace her face. “Thank you, Applejack. It just came to me.”

Prose rolled his eyes. “Well, if you'd rather not follow my orders, then I suppose any instance of civilized conversation is beyond your comprehension.”

“Ya'll can throw as many big words at me as ya like, fellah, but I got two back hooves with yer name on em if ya don't let mah friend down right this instant!” She trotted forward a few steps to show how serious she was.”

Prose's grin only grew and he gave Rainbow a small jostling. “Oh, so you don't like my brand of horseplay?” he asked. “Sorry to say, but we seem to have reached an impasse then, because I'm not letting her go and I know for a fact that you wouldn't be silly enough to charge me while I held your dear friend hostage like this.”

Rainbow looked back to the farmer. Her eyes widened as she saw that same dangerous smirk that she got on her face whenever she was about to go for the winning kick while the two of them were playing hoofball with each other. “Ah guess I'm just a silly pony then.” She reared back and then charged forward, head lowered, eyes forward.

Prose nodded as she drew near. “I suppose you are.”

Applejack's body twisted around and she threw the hardest kick she could manage, aiming straight for the unicorn's jaw. But the blow never connected. She blinked, finding her back legs unable to come down from the air. She wriggled a little, but it did her no good. She was stuck. She attempted to look over her shoulders, but before she could get a clear view of what was going on, she felt something pull on her hind legs, wrenching her upwards and suspending her in the air, right next to Rainbow. The two locked eyes for a moment and AJ looked up to see just what had grabbed her. It was a ring of the unicorn's magical aura, coiled tightly around her legs, emanating from the same aura that was holding Dash. The earth pony's eyes widened. She wasn't going to pretend to know a lot about unicorn magic, but she knew enough to know that something like this shouldn't have been possible. If he'd wanted to grab her in his telekinesis, he would have had to created a whole new aura, and she would have been able to see it coming a mile away. “How in the hay did you do that?!” she shouted.

He smiled. “Aren't I just full of surprises?” he asked.

“Well so am I!” came a shout from the doorway. Prose turned his head back, only to be met with a brilliant gleam, like the light of the sun reflecting off of the surface of a perfectly cut gemstone. He snarled and covered his face. Rarity's horn was glowing with a brilliant luminescence. “Now!” she shouted. “Princess Luna, restrain him!”

Luna gasped, shaking off the effects of the light. “Right!” she said, lowering her horn. But then she saw Prose shift the two captured mares in front of him, swaying back and forth. Her eyes widened. She couldn't fire now. She couldn't risk hurting Rainbow or Applejack.

Unlike Rainbow, AJ hadn't had her mouth restrained. “What're ya waitin' for?” she shouted. “C'mon, get him! Don't worry 'bout us, we trust you Luna!”

But Luna couldn't bring herself to fire. What if she missed? What if she misjudged the power of her shot? What if she ended up doing more damage to the two suspended mares than to her target? Millions of thoughts rushed through her head, all of them beginning with those two dreaded words: What If?

Rarity tensed, eyes widening. “Luna, what are you waiting for?!” she shouted. “You have to fire now, before he- MMPH!”

“Before I recover from your clever parlor tricks?” he asked, tightening the lasso he'd thrown around her neck made from his magic. “A little late, my lady, though I do admit that I wasn't expecting such trickery from a mare of your obvious stature and class.” He yanked her towards him, pulling her clean off of her hooves as she tried to resist his pull, until she was forced next to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Now, I've fooled around long enough and I have things to do. So, since you did me the favor of revealing yourselves, I assure you that the town will be spared from any destruction on my part.” Three books were pulled from the large pile on the ground and he held them up, flipping open their covers to a few random pages. “Now, dear Luna... I think that you remember how this works.”

Luna's eyes widened and her horn sparked to life again, but before she could act, her world was engulfed in yet another bright flash, forcing her to back away a step. She could hear the screams of the three unlucky mares, but could do nothing to help. Then, as soon as it had come, it stopped, and all was silent, save for some shouting outside. She turned her head towards the stallion, who smiled and sat there, a look of pure, smug victory on his face and three books clasped in his magical grip. None of the three element bearers were anywhere to be seen. Her eyes narrowed and she forced another spark into her horn, ready to charge him and ram it right down his throat. “You... you bring them back right now!”

“Or else what?” he asked, raising a brow.

She answered by turning her horn to the side sharply and firing off a bolt of magical energy that tore through the store, causing an overturned bookshelf behind him to splinter into kindling. “Or else that is what YOU will look like when I'm through with you.”

“Unlikely,” he said, taking a swaddling step towards her, no fear in his expression at all. “After all, what do I have to fear from a pony who's far too fearful to do anything to save anypony, even when they're in immediate danger right in front of her.

“... shut up...”

“I suppose it's not surprising. You weren't able to do anything to save your sister, and you actually had the courage to take a few shots at me then. Fat load of good it did you.”

“I said shut up!”

“But what's different now? Could it be that the mighty moon princess is scared of me? Oh goodness, no, that couldn't be. After all, she can command a celestial body in the sky every night. Sure, it's not as impressive as the sun, but I suppose it's a cute decoration...”

“BE SILENT, KNAVE!”

“The truth isn't pretty, is it Luna? Does it hurt knowing that, even when you were capable, you couldn't save your big sister? That even when you had the chance, you couldn't bring yourself to stop me, even at the insistence of the others?” He gave a shrug of his shoulders and drew closer. The light had faded from Luna's horn now, and her eyes were half lidded, brimming with barely contained tears. “Let's face facts, dear. You're nothing but a foal masquerading as an alicorn. You have neither the power nor the confidence to do anything. You can't save anypony. You can't help them. All you do is make the stars dance. What good is that, save for giving us all something to look at now and then while we wait for the sun to rise again?” Luna opened her mouth to shout again, but it came out as a weak squeak and, deprived of the strength and confidence she'd initially possessed, she couldn't stop the tears from coming. The dam broke and the floor below her was bathed in a torrent of salty liquid. She fell down to her knees, sobbing. “That's exactly my point, he said, trotting over to her side and smiling. “Powerful as you are, you have none where it counts, little Luna. Maybe Celestia could have saved herself some dead weight if she'd sent you to the moon forever.”

“Stop it...” she practically begged, her voice hoarse and weak, not a trace of her royal Canterlot voice to be found there.

Prose started to walk past her, but he couldn't resist one last good twist of the knife. He'd gone after her power, her family, her usefulness... why not add one more thing to the list.” He leaned forward, close to her ear. “You know, Luna... you're almost pretty when you cry.” He chuckled. “Almost.”

Luna visibly winced and let loose another loud sob and a plea for him to stop. Prose obliged her, holding his head in victory and walking past her, scuffing a hoof against the ground as he did so, leaving a broken and sobbing alicorn in his wake. “Behold,” he whispered to himself, “The power of words.”

While things went all to Tartarus inside the bookshop, even more Tartarus was being wrecked outside. Twilight had managed to summon a shield to keep her and Fluttershy safe from the sentient book, but she was unable to get close enough to keep the book from firing off spell after spell. Fireballs, blades of wind, ice spears, bolts of lightning, and dozens of other offensive spells launched from its pages, slamming into her shield, and the constant barrage was taking up all of Twilight's concentration. If she attempted to do anything else now, she'd have to lower the shield, leaving her and Fluttershy exposed. Fluttershy couldn't leave the shield without becoming a sitting duck either, and cowered behind her friend, trying desperately to come up with a plan to help out as well.

The book let out a laugh as it released a barrage of stone and rock that pelted against the purple bubble. “There's no shame in turning tail,” she called. “After all, you couldn't have known you'd be fighting a superior opponent today. And sometimes a strategic retreat is the only option.” She let out another laugh.

Twilight winced, and closed her eyes, straining to strengthen her shield. Her horn was beginning to ache with the strain of keeping the spell active under the assault and she felt her vision blurring a little, as every hit began to feel like a dull blow to her side. “I won't... give up,” she growled. “Celestia's counting on me. On us. So is Luna. I refuse to give up until Celestia's back, safe and sound.”

The book let out a cruel laugh as it sent a particularly large fireball towards the shield. Twilight did shift herself, just slightly this time, so that when the flames hit the shield, they would bounce away from the nearby cottages. “And just how do you think you'll be able to do that? You're separated, the elements are apparently not in your grasp, and you don't have your precious princess or the spirit of chaos to help you! What do you think you're going to do.”

Twilight smirked after a moment of tense thought. “We're going to have a party.”

“... I beg your pardon?”

Twilight smirked and raised a hoof, spinning it about, as if motioning for the book to turn around.

One of its pages ruffled and, while still keeping a steady stream of spells aimed at Twilight's shield. But she didn't have a chance to keep it up. She found herself staring down the barrel of a very big cannon.

Pinkie Pie grinned from her spot behind the cannon. “Normally I don't like doing this, but in your case, I'll make one great big exception!” she said happily, slamming her hoof down on the button on top of the cannon.”

“OH SHI-”

The book was cut off as a sudden burst of confetti and party favors splashed her pages with vibrant colors and a whole lot of pain. She was launched backwards by the force of the impact, sent spiraling through the air, a shriek emanating from her parchment as she landed with a thud against a thick tree. The book fell to the ground, apparently knocked out. Since the book didn't have a face, of course, it was rather hard to tell, but the lack of motion seemed to be a good indicator. Pinkie kept her cannon trained on it, just in case.

Twilight let out a relieved sigh and allowed the shield to fade. “Thank goodness. What took you so long, Pinkie?”

Pinkie poked her nose with a little wince. “Well haven't you ever been hit in the nose with a book, Twilight?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, I have. Plenty of times. You and Rainbow Dash tend to do that when you let yourselves into my library, remember?”

Her ears flopped a little and she gave the lavender mare a friendly smile. “Not always.”

“Yeah, not always. Sometimes you just drop hot sauce into the punch.”

Pinkie giggled again. “Yep.”

“Please... tell me,” came a soft voice from nearby. They both turned to see Fluttershy holding up the book, which was beginning to writhe in her grasp. “What happened to Discord?”

The book let out a groan, its covers clapping together for a moment.

“Please, I just want to know he's okay.”

“...” Ninetails remained silent for a while longer. “Your friend is fine. The magic I used was powerful, but I am sure that the elements could easily reverse my incantation.”

“Oh thank goodness. I was so worried, but if he's just been turned into a statue just like before, I'm sure he's fine. He's probably very bored, but he'll be okay.”

“Indeed,” she grumbled. “Now, if you would, please let go of me.”

“Oh, um, I don't think I can do that,” Fluttershy said, one eye being hidden behind her bangs. “After all, you are an enemy right now.”

The book let out an annoyed growl. “You better let me go right now, or I'll smack you on the nose just like I did with your little pink friend over there!”

Fluttershy tossed her pink bangs from her eyes. “What did you just say to me?” she asked, her eyes growing hard and narrowed.

“I... I said that... that uh... I...”

“That you what?” the yellow mare asked.

“Uh... I... n-nothing,” the book said, shuddering in her hooves.

“That's what I thought.” Fluttershy set her down against the tree she had been knocked against, patting her. “Now, you just sit here and think about what you've done. You need a serious time out, Missy.”

“Uh, y-yes ma'am,” the book said, still shivering a little bit under her glare.

Fluttershy nodded and smiled, turning away from them, looking over to the bewildered Twilight and Pinkie. “I don't think we have to worry about her for right now.”

Pinkie blinked. “Well, I suppose so, but still...” She kept her cannon pointed at her.

“Good idea, Pinkie,” Twilight said with a nod.

“I'm full of em!” she answered with a giggle.

Twilight rolled her eyes and trotted over to the huge book. She placed a hoof on the Manifesto and took a deep breath. “Don't worry, Celestia,” she said. “We're going to get you out of there somehow.” She flipped open the cover and began to to scan over the pages, looking for any sort of sign of Celestia within the pages. There had to be something there that would give her a clue as to the state of her mentor. The book was thick, and its aged writing forced Twilight to read it slower, squinting to make out some of the faded ink.

“Um, Twilight...”

“Not now, Fluttershy,” Twilight mumbled, waving a hoof towards her friend.

“Twilight, I think this is kinda important...”

“I'm in the middle of something, here...”

“But...”

“Fluttershy, what could be more important than me trying to figure out how to get Celestia out of this book?” she asked, angrily turning towards her friends. She blinked, seeing both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy floating up in the air, held in the grip of a certain unicorn.

Pinkie giggled, spinning about in the air. “I'd say that the two of us being lifted up off the ground by the same unicorn who's trying to single-handedly conquer Equestria. Wouldn't you?”

Twilight's face took on a deadpan look and her worry was momentarily pushed aside for annoyance. “Yeah, Pinkie, I'd say so.”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Purple Prose greeted. “Salutations. It is certainly an honor and a pleasure to meet Equestria's newest member of the royal family. A pity that the family isn't so royal now that I'm in the picture, but it's still quite an honor.”

Twilight let out a dangerous snort and lowered her horn, her wings standing up on end. “You better let my friends go.” A chill ran through her. “Where are the others?”

The stallion chuckled and pulled six books forward, raising three of them up. “Oh, they're fine. They just decided to curl up with a few good books.” He smiled and opened two of the other books up. “Much like your other friends are about to as well.”

Twilight growled and her horn flared back to life as another spell began to build up. “Let them go,” she practically hissed.

“No,” he answered, laughing.

“Why you...” she snarled, preparing to launch a large blast of energy, but before she could, she felt something hard slam into her side. She yelped, being thrown to the side. She rolled along the ground and gasped, coughing and gripping at her side for a moment, looking up with a wince. A large rock had impacted her, and while she was sure nothing had been broken, but a bruise was already beginning to form, and breathing caused her a bit of discomfort. Letting out a cough, she looked to the side to try and spot where the rock had come from, her eyes settling on Ninetails, floating above the ground with her pages opened. She was sure that if the book had a face, it would be plastered with a huge grin right now.

“Ah, I'm free from the influence of that yellow Pegasus now,” she announced triumphantly, floating towards Prose and giggling. “I'm glad to see you safe, my dear. And with a few new trophies as well!

He laughed. “I won't say I came out of it completely unscathed, but all things considered, it was a good day. And now, to do away with these two.” The books at his sides continued to flip through the pages as his magical aura began to expand.

Twilight attempted to recover, stumbling up onto her hooves, but the roar of pain in her side kept her from concentrating on anything more than a few minor magical buildups. Pinkie giggled as she pointed towards the book nearest to her. “Oh oh! Send me into that one! It's one of my favorites!”

Fluttershy whimpered. “P-Pinkie, now's not really the time...”

Prose chuckled. “Who am I to deny the lady such a request? Very well, Miss Pie, I shall see to it that you are placed in this specific book.” He waved around the one she had indicated.

Twilight tried again to access a more powerful spell, but the sharp pain her side from the hit she had took made it impossible. She winced and looked up at the frightened Fluttershy and the bemused Pinkie. “Guys, I-I'll rescue you, I promise!”

Pinkie giggled as the aura worked its way around her body. “Don't worry Twilight, of course you will!” She gave her a big, reassuring smile. Despite the situation, that meant the world to Twilight. “After all, I think we've been through worse together.”

Fluttershy nodded, rubbing her forehooves together. “But um, if it isn't too much trouble, do you think you could please hurry? I'm getting really scared here...”

Prose let out another chuckle. “Oh, don't worry, my dear element. There's nothing to be scared of at all.” His eyes flashed dangerously. “At least, so long as you know your stories well. After all, every book has its own world, and every world has its own dangers.”

Twilight raised a brow, her inner scientist momentarily overriding her worry. “The Microverse theory?” she asked.

Prose's brow raised. “Hm? You've heard of it?” he shrugged. “I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. From everything I've heard, you've always been a bit of a bookworm. Yes, I'm referring to the theory that states all manner of fiction, books included, possess a reality unto themselves.” The huge book holding Celestia was plucked from the ground and pulled to his side, floating right next to Ninetails. “But my time trapped within this book showed me that it was no mere theory, it's just that no one has the curiosity or the gumption to actually see whether this theory was correct or not.” He stroked the front of the book a few times. “And thanks to my lovely assistant here,” he motioned to Ninetails, whose pages gave a flutter of appreciation at the compliment, “I was able to escape my prison, armed with the knowledge that within every book, upon every page, lies a living, breathing world, populated by people we don't see beyond the page, with areas that are still waiting to be explored...” his grin grew more sinister, “weapons still waiting to be used.”

Twilight tensed. “The cannon,” she stated flatly.

He nodded. “And so many other things. And once I've unlocked the full potential of this power, who knows what might come marching out from between the covers?”

Ninetails gave him a nudge. “Prose, you're starting to monologue.”

He blinked. “Oh, am I? Ah, my apologies. Right, to business then.” He stomped his hoof and the world was enveloped in a flash of brilliant white, Twilight turning away to spare her eyes. When it faded, she could hear Prose laughing again. She was beginning to hate that sound. “Five elements of harmony, one princess, and a god of chaos, all collected,” he mused. “Now, I only need a few more pieces to complete the set.”

Twilight snapped her head back in time to see him gathering magic around him again. “You... you give me back my friends this instant!” she shouted.

He threw his head back and shook it, tossing his mane side to side before swaying the six books in his magical grip back and forth in a taunting manner. “So sorry, Twilight. I should have mentioned before, while my magic is plenty strong, strong enough to pull objects from the books, I'm afraid I haven't quite worked out how to do the same for ponies.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean...”

“Indeed. I just shoved them in without knowing if I'd ever be able to get them out.” He sighed and drew one of them close to him. “Quite a pity, I really did enjoy the farm girl.” He stroked the book he'd brought close to him, which seemed to make Ninetails sway in agitation. “After all, she had a fantastic plot.”

Twilight snarled at him, the pain in her side forgotten as she took one huge step forward. “Don't you dare talk about my friends like that! And if you won't bring them back, then I will! But first, I'm going to make sure that pay for what you've done.”

He rolled his eyes. “I've imprisoned Celestia in the same book she shoved me into. I reduced her sister to the state of shattered glass, and I hold all your friends in my hooves, quite literally. As powerful as you are, dear Princess, I think it's safe to say who holds the cards here.”

“Wait, you didn't imprison Luna?” Ninetails asked. “After we chased her all over the forest?”

“There wasn't any need,” he stated, waving a hoof. “If you'd seen her, you would understand. She didn't even have the fortitude to fire off a shot when she had me at point blank range, helpless and at her mercy. I've seen her for what she is, my dear, and she's certainly no threat to us.” He chuckled and drew a seventh book from the rubble of the bookshop's front door. “Now, I know how much you like books, Ms. Sparkle, so why don't we put you into a book with... a lot of... of...” he trailed off as he took another good look at Twilight.

Her wings were spread, her knees bent, and her jaw clenched tightly. That in and of itself would have been quite intimidating for anyone familiar with Twilight to begin with, but that wasn't what Prose was afraid of. It was her eyes. Glowing a sick, terrifying green and rimmed with lashing streaks of darkness, her horn began to bubble and pop with black energy, crackling with sounds that reminded him of the screaming he'd heard in his own nightmares as a child. She advanced a step and let out a low, rasping hiss, “You... will pay...”

If prose hadn't been petrified by what he was seeing, his knees would have been knocking together so loud they might have been mistaken for woodpeckers. He felt his magic waning as fear took hold and six of the seven books he had been holding dropped down to the ground at his hooves. He'd never seen anything like this, in this world or in the Manifesto. “Ninetails,” he said, his voice quavering, “Get us out of here!”

“What do you want me to do?” the book asked, ducking behind his flank. “I don't have the power left after that barrage of spells I threw at her before! Use what I gave you!”

“I can't!” he whimpered, backing away as Twilight started to advance on him faster. “I've already cast the transfer spell five times now, I don't have any energy left for this!” He clutched the Manifesto close to his side with what little magic he still had and could reliably control.

“Well then,” Twilight growled, her clenched jaw curling into a rather sinister smile. “I guess that makes my job much easier.” The ball of dark magic on her horn began to grow larger, the crackling and screaming coming from it growing more audible as she poured more power into it. “By your own admission, you have attempted to depose my mentor, threatened and imprisoned my friends, and caused grievous mental damage to Princess Luna. These deeds shall not go unpunished, Purple Prose. You and your associate will know the meaning of fear when I am through with you!” She reared up on her back hooves, bringing herself up to her full height and throwing her wings out as wide as she could.

Prose gasped and turned away. “Run, Ninetails!” he shouted, attempting to dash away.

“You won't get far,” Twilight snarled, pointing her horn at him and preparing to fire.

“TWILIGHT, STOP!” came a shout from nearby.

Twilight's eyes flickered back from their glowing green hue to normal and she gasped, realizing what was on the top of her horn. She tried to stop it, but the amount of magic built up in her horn was too much to contain. The best she could do was to filter some of her ordinary power into the big glob of darkness in the hopes that it would make it less lethal. Then, it fired.

The blast closed the small gap between the two ponies in the blink of an eye. Prose let out a scream that was quickly drowned out by the sound of the magic imploding in on itself as a little light mixed with a lot of dark. Twilight was knocked backwards as all the energy pushed outward, launching the unfortunate stallion, and two books into the sky, back towards the Everfree forest.

Twilight watched the silhouette of the stallion fade in the distance, wiping sweat from her brow and breathing heavily. She felt a cold shiver running up and down her spine. What had she done? What had she tapped into? She hadn't felt that sort of feeling since...

“Sombra's palace,” she whispered to herself.

“Twilight!” came a shout from nearby, the same voice that had called out to her before. Snapping out of her daze, she turned back to see Spike racing towards her, a huge case resting on his back. He came to a stop in front of her, panting hard, his tongue rolling out of his mouth as he gasped for air. “I got here... as quick... as I could... with the... elements,” he wheezed, dropping the case. It opened upon hitting the ground, Twilight's crown tumbling out. She frowned, picking it up. With her magic and examining it before looking back down to see the other elements in the case as well. Her ears lowered and her eyes brimmed with tears. Spike frowned, collecting himself. “What's... wrong?”

“My friends...”

“Oh no! I was... I was too late? What happened? Where are the others?!” he asked, eyes widening and energy returning to his form almost immediately.

Twilight took in another deep breath and looked towards where Prose had been standing. While they'd been blown back by her spell, the books had been far enough away to avoid being caught in the blast. She pulled them towards her and looked them over. “Don't worry spike,” she said, looking over the books in front of her. “I have our friends right here.”

“A Night in the Canterlot Court”

“Sir Neigh-a-Lot and the Dragonkin”

“The Star Sentry”

“Last Train to Baltimare”

“Daring Do and the Timberwolf Trail”

She pursed her lips and looked over the titles a second time, trying to come up with some options. Fear, worry, exhaustion, and a multitude of other walls kept blocking her path to an answer. She almost felt like crying again. How was she going to get her friends out of this?

A soft claw on her shoulder brought her back from her thoughts. She looked down at Spike, attempting to wipe away the mist that had been forming near the sides of her eyes before he could question her about it. Thankfully, the young dragon's query was not about the possibility of liquid pride (or rather sorrow) being shed, but instead, something a bit more disconcerting. “Twilight, what was that you were doing when I came here?” he asked.

She frowned, tapping her chin with her hoof as she considered. “I think it was...”

“Dark magic?” he finished for her.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah... all I can remember is pouring all my hate for what he was doing into my horn and the next thing I knew, all I could concentrate was my... my want to hurt him. It felt so weird. So scary...”

“Twilight,” Spike said, his voice taking on a stern tone, “Celestia AND Luna both warned you about what dark magic could do if you used it too much. In fact, didn't they tell you never to use it unless, it was absolutely positively...”

“The last choice I had, yes, I remember spike,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes, not used to being lectured by her assistant. “I promise, I won't use them again.” She made the motions for a Pinkie Pie promise before smiling down at him. “Anyway, we have bigger problems to worry about, like our friends. And Celestia... and...” her eyes shot open. “Oh no! Luna!” She turned to the book shop!”

“What? What's wrong with Luna?” Spike asked, frowning.

“Prose said he hadn't bothered sealing her into a book like the others,” she said, dashing for the bookstore, her friends' prisons still gripped in her grasp. “But whatever he did to her... I think it was bad, Spike.”

Spike gulped as he followed her, feeling that tiredness from his run to and from the library beginning to catch up with him again.

Purple prose hissed in pain as he laid there on his side. Every move he made hurt now. He couldn't even tell what was broken and what was just bruised or strained. All he knew was that everything on him hurt. Yet, he was intrigued. He'd never seen a pony do something like that. He'd of course heard of the power of dark magic before, but only in theory. Such powerful, negative energy was thought impossible to use effectively by anyone, at least back before his imprisonment. Yet, he had met an alicorn who possessed the power to use it as she saw fit, taking to it as naturally as she had her own magic. The hornless unicorn smiled, the gears in his head turning, plans already being formed. There were ways he could use this...

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something nudging him on the back of his neck. Groaning in pain, he took a deep, labored breath and tried to crane his head to see what it was. Failing that, he decided it best to just assume. “Are you all right, Ninetails?”

“Just fine,” she said. “The blast was nothing compared to what I've endured in the past in the Manifesto,” she whispered. “What about you.”

“Well, I'm not dead,” he said, forcing a cheerful note into his voice. “How long before you have enough energy to heal me and restore my powers?”

“Hmm,” she mused, floating in front of him, opening her pages to one of a drawing of a concerned looking nine-tailed fox sitting back on its haunches. “I'd say about half a day, at best. Probably a few more hours than that if you want me to get you something to eat and drink.”

He smiled at her. “Food does sound nice right about now.” He paused and his eyes trailed down to the ground. “Seems I messed up again.”

“Neither of us were expecting that,” she said. “You still dealt them quite a blow, one that will keep us unopposed for at least a while longer.”

“A while?” he asked. “Do you think that Twilight would actually be able to save her friends?”

“After seeing what she did with dark magic?” the book said, bending forward slightly in an attempted nod. “I think she might actually be the one to come up with a way to draw them out of the book before we could find a way.”

He considered this. “Hmmm, then it is perhaps a good thing that I didn't send her into a book like I did the others.”

“Why do you say that?”

He chuckled. “She's just a little bundle of magic. She can do extraordinary things, things even Celestia and her sister could not. She's clever, but I feel there may just be a way for us to weave a thread for ourselves into her tapestry.”

“You're doing it again.”

“What?”

“Stupid metaphors.”

He coughed. “Forgive me. Anyway, I mean she might be useful to us later down the line.”

“Is that why you let Luna go too?” she asked sarcastically.

A flush pushed its way past his coat. “I told you, she's no threat to us. I broke her. Utterly.”

“I'm not so sure. She's still an alicorn.”

“Ninetails,” he began, attempting to edge closer to her, grunting at the strain. She obliged him by floating within hoof distance. “Please, trust me, as I have trusted you. They are powerful, yes, but Luna is unstable and Twilight will be too preoccupied with her friends to notice a little bit of subterfuge here and there.” He chuckled. “Not everything went according to plan now, but we still have the upper hand. We'll just have to alter the plan a little bit.”

She chuckled as well. “I do trust you. And I've followed you this far. I'm willing to go much further.”

“I know, my dear.” His eyes softened. “I need to sleep. Wake me when you feel your magic refreshed.”

“Of course.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. “Do we still have the books?”

“I'm afraid not,” she answered. “The books were left behind when Twilight began to build up the dark magic. But we do still have the Manifesto.”

A grin broke across the unicorn's face as he felt sleep beginning to take him. “Then that's all we'll need...”

END CHAPTER 1