Chapter One: Astral Travels for Beginners
I have whirl’d with the earth at the dawning,
When the sky was a vaporous flame;
I have seen the dark universe yawning,
Where the black planets roll without aim;
Where they roll in their horror unheeded,
without knowledge or lustre or name
- Nemisis, H.P. Lovecraft.
“We all leave our physical bodies when we go to sleep at night. You may have thought you were simply dreaming, when actually you were outside of your body traveling around the astral planes.”
Twilight Sparkle looked up, her gaze incredulous.
The purple alicorn stood between two bookshelves that were built a little too close together inside a closet of a bookshop on the upper-northwest side of Manehattan. Between its uniform hoof-laid brickwork, large paned windows, and decorative arches, the shop blended in well enough with the surrounding buildings. And if it wasn’t for the fact that Twilight was on break from helping her friend Rarity set up her new boutique she never would have even known the shop was there, let alone even decide to go in.
There weren’t any of the conventional features of a small book shop that many ponies have come to expect. No cart full of priced-to-move books out front. No posters in the windows advertising new editions or special sales. There wasn’t even a sign hung up to let passing ponies know it was a bookshop. Just the shelves of books Twilight could see from the outside window.
The shop itself was deeper than it was wide. Aside from a single pair of bookshelves and a ceiling that was a little too low, the shop was virtually empty save of course for a check-out counter, a stone step by the door, and a battered chair and table that could possibly be used for a reading area.
The shop didn’t even have any flooring or baseboards installed, and looked more like a studio apartment that had been recently gutted and used as a ramshackle bookstore; but what caught Twilight’s attention more was the fact that most, if not all, of the books on the shelves appeared to be self-published.
Many of the books were hoof-bound with sewing thread, similar to the tomes and various written materials of the underground press during the post-gryphon-war period when publications like that were common. Some of the books had simple stamped leather covers, whilst on a shelf here and there sat a book with seemingly more sophisticated bindings and fitted with metal bosses and clasps to hold them shut. However, buy and large, most of the books were just stacks of paper tied together that were either too badly written or their subject material too outlandish to be picked up by any of the major equestrian publishers; so the shop seemed to be more of a service to the local literature community than any kind of established retail bookseller.
Or for all Twilight knew, everything on the shelves could’ve been written by the shop’s owner; a grey-dark stallion reading a paper-bound book at the checkout counter who didn't even look up when she entered the shop.
Twilight was about to leave when something on a higher shelf caught her attention. Using her magic, she reached for a book bound in black leather and pulled it down to inspect it more closely. It’s leather cover was soft, plush, and embossed with a rather stylish unicorn sitting in the lotus position stamped into it with gold leaf. The words Astral Travels for Beginners were also stamped across the top in fancy calligraphy. This one seemed to be the most professionally bound book in the entire shop.
She rolled her eyes at the title though. The only real experience she’d had with astral projection were the few brief moments she had traveled through time, but even then that was with the aid of magical spells available only to high level unicorns. So the possibility of a book detailing clandestine techniques on par to those only know by ascended magic users inside of an underground bookstore seemed rather unlikely; if not downright impossible.
“For instance, if you were dreaming in full blown color, or maybe flying or falling. In these scenarios you would actually be astral projecting.You can learn to consciously leave your body by using the contents of this book, or you can use the dream control methods described within. Just so you know, there are many different methods to induce an out of body experience. There is no best method. The best method is whatever works best for you!”
Twilight snapped the book shut and placed it back on the shelf.
She assumed that it was nothing more than a fairy tale. A sickly-sweet concept meant to keep a young foal’s mind occupied long enough for them to fall asleep so their parents could get some well-deserved rest. Afterall, even Twilight herself, the ascended alicorn Princess of Friendship and one of the only ponies with unlimited access to the spells and tomes inside the Canterlot Castle archives, was barred access to divine Celestial sorcery such as Astral Magic.
She moved down the aisle and began to disinterestedly flip through the pages of another book claiming to be a collection of first hoof encounters with Starswirl the bearded. She focused more on thoughts of whether or not she’d have enough time to grab something to eat before heading back to Rarity’s boutique, silently chiding herself that she could’ve been enjoying a nice hay-burger and fries if she had just walked to the end of the block. But she just had to go inside what looked to be an interesting bookstore and was now stuck with an empty stomach reading the insane ramblings of some lunatic’s manifesto supposedly recovered from an ancient equestrian mountain tomb.
She tried to focus more on what she was reading, when a nagging doubt began to surface from within the furthest reaches of her mind. And with ever flip of a page, every historical plausibility and inaccuracy, it began to form into, not a doubt, but more of a voice. A scrap of a half-remembered conversation that she’d had not too long ago:
“If you’ve ever studied astral projection, you’d know that spirits are on a plane above ours and can easily cross between the two.”
And without a second's hesitation she brought both books up to the counter.
“I’d like to buy these two books.” Twilight said. “...and I guess a few of these bookmarks please.”
The shop owner didn’t respond, he didn’t even look up from his book.
“Hello?” Twilight spoke with a little more frustration. “I said I’d like to buy these.”
Still he did not answer, and Twilight leaned in.
He appeared to be sleeping. Moreso his eyes were open but they didn’t appear to be scanning the pages as if they were reading. They looked hollow, as if they weren’t focused on anything in particular, like he was sleeping with his eyes open. But the more Twilight looked at him, the more she began to suspect something might be wrong.
He was wearing a knit hat and scarf even though the thermometer on the wall was reading somewhere in the mid 80s. But, despite the excessive heat, he wasn’t sweating and his skin seemed pale. He wasn’t even breathing. His lips were parted open as if he had just taken a breath, but his chest didn’t move, and he never exhaled. He appeared to be dead.
Twilight nudged him on the shoulder, softly at first and quite hard a second time, and in the span of one quick second his pupils dilated, he inhaled sharply and the skin of his face flushed as he fell back into his chair; as if his very soul had just fallen back into his body.
He looked around for a few seconds, confused, as if he didn't know where he was before his eyes fell upon Twilight and his expression soured.
“Who are you?” He hissed. “What do you want?”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” She leaned back, slightly offended by his tone. “I want to buy these books.”
“Ah… Yes.” He said sluggishly as if he just remembered he was in a book shop. “You want to buy these books.”
“That’s correct.” Twilight nodded. “How much are they?”
“You’re an Alicorn?” He ignored her question and looked her up and down, carefully moving his eyes between her horn and wings.
“Well yes?” Twilight made a face. “ I’m a princess.”
“I’ve never had an Alicorn in my shop before, let alone a princess.” The stallion grinned with a little too much teeth. “To what do I owe this...honor?”
“It’s not an honor.” Twilight was very confused now. “I was just walking down the street and saw that this was a book shop… This is a book shop right? These books seem a little… amateur?”
“It certainly is a book shop, you’re highness.” He said through his grin. “And they certainly are not amateur.”
“Did you write them yourself?” She asked flatly.
“I did, actually!” He said emphatically. “Chronicles of my many… adventures.”
Something about this stallion made Twilight more than a little uncomfortable. Something about his frequent pauses as if he was carefully constructing his sentences. Something about how he was leaning on the s in every word like some kind of talking snake or a stereotypical cartoon villain. But more than something was his sharp, unwavering grin. He had the grin of a madpony. Like a wolf baring its teeth.
“Are you alright?” Twilight didn’t want to follow their current conversation any longer. “You’re pausing an awful lot, are you cold or something?”
“Dreadfully cold.” He said. “I’ve been cold for as long as I can remember...All I long for is the heat of the sun.”
“But it’s almost ninety degrees outside.” Twilight pointed at the thermometer on the wall. “It’s the middle of summer.”
“Some winters never end,” The stallion re-adjusted his scarf. “ and some summers just pretend, only warm the air.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It’s not something a princess should concern herself with.” He said. “Although if you really want to buy those books it might be something you’ll find out about much sooner than you think.”
Twilight couldn’t help but laugh, and for the first time in the entire conversation the stallion stopped smiling.
“I doubt that.” She said. “I’m and princess and all, but even I don’t have access to magic like this. There’s no way this book could actually make you do something like that.”
“This book isn’t about magic.” The stallions said, flat and serious.”Magic just facilitates it. Just like you can use magic to rake a yard, read a book, or build a bridge… Anything you can do with magic you can do by yourself.”
“Well yeah, that’s Magic 101” Twilight recited. “All ponies have some form of natural magic. That’s why pegasi and Earth Ponies can do inherently magical things like grow plants quickly or manipulate the weather. A unicorn’s horn just amplifies the natural magic they possess. That’s why some unicorns are better at tasks that require finesse such as sewing or surgery while others can perform great feats such as moving heavy objects or performing powerful spells.”
“Exactly.” The stallion said. “So then it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that something like being able to leave one’s own body at will is an inherently magical property that us less magical ponies could possess.”
“I guess you have a point.” Twilight hesitated. “I just don’t completely believe that something like this would even be available to the public, after-all, only Celestia and Luna are allowed to use magic such as this.“ The stallion’s eyes narrowed as she spoke the princessess’ names. “I’m not even allowed to use this kind of magic.”
“You know.” He spoke slowly, as if he was holding back a great rage. “There are stories that go back centuries that state quite plainly that normal ponies were capable of incredible magical feats without the aid of Celestia’s magic. From simple healing to reanimation ceremonies to possessing the ability to see into anypony’s future… There was even one about weaponizing a pony’s natural magic and causing a great and terrible war that spanned several dimensions.”
“Alright alright you’ve made your point.” Twilight was growing more and more uncomfortable the longer their conversation went on, and wanted nothing more than to get away from this pony. “How much for the books?”
“Hmmm…” The stallion leaned back in his chair and was contemplative for a moment. He looked at nothing for a long time, then at the books, then at Twilight, then her horn, then her wings, and then back to the book as if her were reasonsing with himself about something. “Those are some of my best works you know,” He said after a while. “ and the only copies at that. For anypony else they wouldn't be for sale, but for a princess? How does a hundred bits sound? I’ll even throw in the bookmarks for free.”
“Is this some kind of joke?” Twilight asked angrily, feeling like she was being swindled. “I could buy a gilded encyclopedia set for twenty bits, let alone a hundred. What kind of pony do you take me for?”
“ Forgive me your highness, I do admit I haven’t been in Equestria for a very long time,” He said with a feigning apologeticness. “I tend to forget the kind of buying power bits have these days… How does thirty sound?”
“That’s still a little pricey…” Twilight paused to think. “Whatever, thirty is fine. I have to get back to helping my friends anyway.”
Twilight levitated the bits over to the stallion and let them clatter onto the counter, grabbing the books with her magic and heading out the door before the stallion could say anything else to her.
***
“After the end of the Great Gryphon War, when the new Equestrian borders were drawn up, Starswirl travelled from his home in the former Percheron territory to the new Equestrian capital to begin his career as a magician. There he learned of ‘The Celestial Sisters”, two alicorns that controlled the sun and the moon that had came to power at the beginning of the war. Realizing they were all-powerful he reasoned that they must be destroyed, and after a failed altercation Starswirl was defeated and captured by the Celestial Sisters who imprisoned him in a dungeon deep below their castle in the Canterlot mountain range.”
Twilight sparkle was sitting at the reading table in a Manehattan hotel room, leafing intently through the prologue of one of the books she had picked up from the bookstore earlier that day. It was well into the night by the time Rarity’s boutique was completely set up and no trains were departing from the city for the rest of the evening, and despite being able to fly Twilight still preferred travel by locomotion, so she checked herself into a hotel for the night.
She had drawn the thick curtains shut, replacing the big city lights with the dull slow flicker of a candle’s flame, and, since she wasn’t feeling particularly sleepy, read well into the early hours of the night.
“Starswirl spent several years imprisoned beneath Canterlot Castle. His magical abilities waning with each passing year, to the point where he was unable to even lift a spoon to eat with. After a decade, Starswirl was able to escape, but was completely unable to muster up the power to cast a single spell. He became a derelict, living off the streets; until he began studying and practicing black magic; ultimately gaining greater magical abilities that he had ever possessed by sacrificing his younger sister to the dark gods of Tartarus.”
Twilight shut the book and groaned loudly. If the first book wasn’t a fairy tale then this one had to be. She’d read practically every scroll and letter in the Canterlot Archives on Starswirl the Bearded, and none of them ever mentioned Starswirl practicing black magic. She’d even heard first-hoof accounts from Celestia herself and none of them ever included Starswirl trying to destroy the princesses, or being imprisoned, or even having a sister for that matter.
Twilight heard a bell-tower chime twice and rubbed her temples. She had a headache and was angry. Angry at herself mostly for letting herself believe that these books would be anything besides flights of fancy, not to mention the money she spent on them. Money itself wasn’t the issue, since she was paid a royal salary, but it was the principle of the matter. That was money that came straight from the Canterlot treasury, it should be spent on things that go towards the betterment of Equestria, not some lurid pulp-fiction that’s not even worth the paper it was written on.
Now it was well past midnight and she hadn’t learned a single thing, save of course for the fact that she can be easily swindled into buying dime-store rags if they piqued her curiosity enough.
She huffed and re-opened the first book with indignant determination. She was going to learn something from those books:
“Here is one simple Astral Projection method that is easy to learn…
Step 1. Simply lay down with the lights off. Make sure you are completely relaxed. Lie there and be quiet and still, calm and clear your mind.
Step 2. Imagine your astral body which may look like gray matter shaped in the form of your body. Imagine it lifting and floating out of your body, floating up to the ceiling in your room.
Step 3. Turn and look down and try to see you body lying there. If you are successful you may want to stay in the room and float around a bit, staying close to the body. Or you can choose to walk through walls and travel to wherever you wish to go. You can fly there or you can will yourself there instantly. “
***
Twilight was beside herself, literally. But she didn’t remember how.
She knew she must’ve gone to bed quite later than she usually does, she thought, but she didn’t remember falling asleep. She remembered reading fantastical factoids in her books, she remembered those clear as day. Starswirl overcoming phantasmal dragons, defeating great and powerful warlocks with magic even the Celestial sisters could only dream of using… But she never remembered falling asleep, and she definitely didn’t remember how she came to be standing beside herself; watching her own body sleep face-down at a Manehattan hotel’s reading desk, drooling all over the pages of her new books.
“Hey, stop that…” She commanded herself. “I, you… We spent a lot of money on those books and your.. Our drool is going to ruin it!”
But her efforts were to no avail. Her body didn’t wake up, and it certainly didn’t stop drooling. She had to think of something else. But what could she do? She’d never had to wake herself up before.
She reached out to tap herself on the shoulder, but her hoof went right through the sleeping body, almost knocking herself off-balance. She raised her hoof to her face and was surprised to see that it was transparent. Her usual violet-colored coat was now a pellucid raspberry pink, as if she were standing in a candy-colored spotlight, and her whole body was wrapped in a glowing aura that connected itself to the sleeping body’s horn like a long, slender, magical umbilical cord.
Twilight figured she had to have been dreaming, but never had she dreamt anything like this before. Everything seemed slightly altered, slightly sharper, like she were looking through a gemstone lacking any imperfections.
She tried to move but she caught herself looking around, in an almost mild euphoria, at the shadows dancing across the wall being cast off by her reading candle’s flame that was still burning silently on the desk. Except, the more she focused on it’s flame, the more she could begin to hear the faint, bird-wing sounds of it burning away it’s wick.
Quietly, almost imperceptibly at first, but then growing in intensity until the sound was an omnipresent vibration in her ears. She didn’t know how long the transition had taken, or how long she had even been staring at the candle. It could’ve been five minutes, it could’ve been five hours, all she knew was that she couldn't look away from the tiny dancing flame or the dissonant shadows it was creating…
The bell-tower chimed four times, and Twilight's eyes snapped open, and suddenly she found herself face down at the reading desk, lying in a puddle of her own drool.
She groaned and picked her head up, tearing off a page that had become fused to her face. She had no time to even process what she had just experienced, because as she looked down she was consumed with anger as she beheld a large ebony stain that consumed most of the pages of the open leather book she had been sleeping on.
“Oh what the? No, oh no!” She stammered as she picked up the book, realizing her drool had soaked through at least thirty of the pages. She tried to seperate them but they held taught to each other, glued together from a fusion of quill ink and saliva.
“Of course!” Twilight threw the book down in a fit after a few more pages had torn from her gentle prying. “Why would I expect any different? Why would I expect him not to use treated paper and hydrophopbic ink like every other bookstore?” She even tried to magically dry the paper as a last resort, but that only seemed to further cement the pages together.
“Buck it, it’s not worth it.” She said, closing the book had and flopping angrily into the hotel bed. “Thiry bits well spent.”