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Grimoire

by Samsara

Chapter 1: The Zebra

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The Zebra

"There you go, Twilight, darlin'; the finest herbs from my very own garden."  Zecora gleefully nudged over a small satchel of herbs and spices that Twilight had to order several days in advance.  The unicorn dropped her small pouch of bits onto the counter and tossed the herbs into her saddle bags.

"Thanks a ton, Zecora.  I don't know what I'd do without you."  Twilight Sparkle, librarian extraordinaire, could never bring herself to do any gardening, and so had to resort to buying anything that her most recent 'scientific ventures' required.  

"You are most welcome, Twilight.  Though I fear you should hurry; the forest is dangerous at night."

"You're right...  Sun's about to go down.  But before I go, what music is this?  I've never heard it before, but the accent sounds almost like yours."  Twilight referenced the soft, comforting sound that had been radiating throughout Zecora's home for that whole encounter.  Something about it had a powerful, emotional connection, without being forceful or angry.

"I am afraid you are mistaken, my dear.  This artist and I were born in places nowhere near.  Though I do not blame you for failing to recognize, for these are lands far beyond your eyes."

"Well the music is lovely, may I ask who it is?"

"This stallion is one who seems to reach out directly to me.  He is a singer from the southern islands, by the name of Bob Mare-ley.  His songs teach of the beauty of all walks of life, even in times of great, horrible strife."

"Ah, well thank you Zecora.  I'll have to look him up later on.  Oh, and thank you again so much for the herbs."

"You're most welcome, once more.  Now, get your flank out that door!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going.  It was nice catching up with you!  We've gotta do this again soon."

"Perhaps when the night is further away, we can 'catch up' all day."

Twilight nodded and headed out into the waning light of the ending day.  The sun was already gently brushing against the mountain range by Canterlot, but the canopy of trees always made the night come early for the forest.  Twilight felt a soft breeze brush through the fur of her coat, causing a small shiver to run up her spine.  She glanced around, as if looking for the source of the wind, and kept on walking.  She followed her path slowly but surely, peeking into the gradually growing shadows of the unnatural forest.  As she walked, it seemed to her almost as if the light itself was draining away from the environment, leaving the shadows to engulf everything that she could see.  Twilight sped up her trot, caving into her irrational side and allowing fear to take her over for just a while.  As she ran, she heard things in the forest; the squeaks of small creatures, the roars of larger ones, squeals, moans, cries, chirps, even some sounds that she'd never heard before.  Each time she heard or saw something unusual she could feel her heart skip a beat, her breathing rate rise, and of course, her movements getting clumsier.  As she ran, gritting her teeth and glancing around quickly to avoid any hazards, she felt her hoof clunk hard against something jutting out of the ground.  She gasped, tripping up beneath her own hooves and falling flat on her face, sliding along the ground for what seemed like miles.  After coming to a stop she rolled onto her back and looked around, searching for any evidence that something had done that on purpose to trap her.  Her head whipped side to side to try and find her assailant, sending bits of dirt and other natural debris flicking off of her face from the impact; she could feel that she may have scraped up her jaw a little during the slide.  Finally she sees what she tripped over: a book.  Twilight found herself dumbfounded at this very thought, crawling over to it and inspecting it.  She tried to stand, but buckled down in agony as she felt her hoof send a splitting pain into her foreleg the moment she put weight on it.  The book was only partially buried, and she could see the indentation in the ground where her hoof had struck it, but somehow it didn't take any damage.  For that matter, there wasn't any water damage on the pages from what she could tell, which was certainly odd for something lying in moist forest soil.  Twilight used her magic to wrench the book free, looking it over and shaking off some of the dirt to get a better view.  The thing was bound in leather, or at least that's what she hoped it was (somehow the texture reminded her of horse hide) and the pages on the outside were trimmed in fine gold.

Twilight winced and looked down to her hoof, only to be greeted back by a small crack which, luckily, wasn't bleeding.  Her gaze shifted back to the source of this injury, inspecting and admiring the hefty thing that levitated before her.  She used her magic to slightly open the pages, listening to the crackle of a well aged book spine being flexed gently to be read for the first time in ages.  She couldn't enjoy this for long, however, because as soon as she began to see a soft glow come from within the slowly opening book, she was snapped back into reality by a snarl from over her right shoulder.  Twilight shut the book quickly enough for some dust to escape its pages, spinning her head around and seeing a large pair of yellow eyes staring at her from somewhere in the dark.  She got up, holding her injured hoof in front of her and ran, levitating the book alongside her and forgetting that she had extra room in her saddle bags to store it in.  Running with three legs wasn't something that she was used to, but in a rush of adrenaline-filled reflex she managed to keep her balance all the way until the forest opened back into civilization.  

Upon exiting the forest, Twilight slowed down, still moving quickly away from the horrors that stalked behind her, but at least gave herself enough time to catch her second wind.  She looked over toward the mountains and saw that the sun had disappeared completely, painting a small corner of the sky the same thick crimson that always reminded the unicorn of fresh blood.  She put her injured hoof down after having forgotten about it, only to yank it up once more as the weight of her body sent a stabbing pain into her foreleg.  "Dammit!"

She began her slow trek back home, deciding not to open her new tome until she was in the safety of the library.  She had nopony to talk to however.  Not a soul was walking around outside at this point; most were either staying comfortably inside their homes or otherwise just avoiding any social contact.  The few that were socializing did so inside at dinner parties or other such events: the solitude of the little town actually came as a surprise to the unicorn, especially considering the usual hustle and bustle of Ponyville lifestyle.   As her body calmed down from her dangerous fright just moments ago  she started to really feel that crack in her hoof, as well as the added difficulty of walking without one of her legs to help support her.  On her way back she did take the time to examine the book, at least on the outside.  The binding and quality of the book itself gave the impression that it was almost brand new, but the leather on the outside and extreme weathering of the colors begged to differ.  There was no title at all, and the binding seemed to her to be stitched in a very delicate and precise manner.  Everything about this book was a mystery to Twilight, and not being one to question the neutrality of inanimate objects, she found it absolutely fascinating.  

Before she knew it, the unicorn found herself stepping up the walkway to the Library.  She used her magic to open the door, not wanting to touch anything with her injured hoof, and glanced around for Spike on the way in.  Twilight set the strange book down on a small table that she kept next to her sofa, just to have it someplace safe, and then slowly limped over toward her bathroom.  She spent some time looking in the mirror and examining her face, picking out small bits of dirt from her fur and washing up a little bit.  She slowly placed her cracked hoof under some warm, running water in the sink, trying to wash out any dirt before wrapping it up in medical gauze.  Twilight kept everything that could possibly be relevant to first aid in her medicine cabinet just in case something strange happened; lucky her.  She popped a couple of painkillers and then walked slowly out into her living room again, trying to put her hoof down and use it to walk, but after a few grieving seconds she resolved to let the painkillers set in first.  She levitated her new book alongside her and started up the stairs, giving the heavy thing another good look-over.  The portions of the book that she'd been holding onto seemed to her like they'd been getting less and less weathered.  It was almost as if the book was repairing itself just due to her very touch.  Twilight gently laid the book onto her desk and went to get a new candle and some paper.  Everything about this tome screamed at her to read it, and she wanted to be perfectly prepared to take notes, copy down phrases, correctly cite her source, and of course, analyze the living hell out of this book.

All prepared, the unicorn readied herself for the examination: candle lit and at a safe distance from anything flammable, ink and quill perfectly placed for her to reach without blotting, book set at a slight angle so that her head can turn and read it perfectly, desk giving plenty of space to rest her forelegs while she worked, and not a sound in the world to disturb her.  She took one deep breath and reached with her injured hoof to open the book.  Once more, the crackling of a book spine, along with Twilight's own excited heartbeat, were the only sounds that seemed to enter the room, until the door opened that is.  Twilight quickly shut the book, as if she were looking at something inappropriate, and whipped her head around to see Spike standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Twilight.  When did you get back?"  Spike looked to the unicorn like he had just been woken up from a deep slumber.

"Hey, Spike.  Sorry if I woke you up, I just got back a few minutes ago."  Twilight, trying to act nonchalantly about the new, eerie book that she possessed, laid her foreleg across her lap and revealed the bandaged hoof to the little dragon.

"What happened to your hoof?"  Spike's perception wasn't completely impaired, even by the lack of sleep, and he expressed his concern for the unicorn in a very genuine manner.

"Oh, I just bumped it against a rock on the way back.  No big deal, little cracked but it's nothing time can't fix."  Twilight didn't know why she felt the need to lie to Spike about the book, but it came almost reflexively.

"A cracked hoof?  You really should go see the doctor about that.  I don't think that's something that just goes away, Twilight."

"Well it's too late right now anyway...  I'll head over to the doctor's office tomorrow and have it looked at, alright?"

"Alright, Twi...  I'm just worried about you is all.  You've been spending a lot more time inside lately than usual."

"Oh don't you worry about me.  I've been staying inside because I have a lot that I need to do and a lot that I want to do inside.  There's nothing different or wrong about me, now go back to bed, it's late."

Spike shrugged as Twilight finished her sentence.  He rubbed his eye and set off toward his bed, ignoring the soft candlelight that Twilight produced in her study.  

"Alrighty...  Time to read this thing."  Twilight looked down at the book, brushing her injured hoof along the cover.  The book was magic, and the unicorn could tell.  She didn't know how, or why, or even what was magical about it, but just being in its presence caused her to feel almost invigorated .  Touching it brought a warmth to her hoof, and seemed to create a magnetism between her hoof and the suede finish of the book.  The tiniest fibers aligned themselves with her hoof and adjusted appropriately as it moved across the cover.  She pulled her hoof away, watching as the cover of the book itself seemed to follow the appendage.  With a curiosity about her, she waved the hoof over the book, which responded by opening itself in that direction, revealing the very first page on the inside.  No author's notes, no imprint, no title, nothing.  She waved her hoof over it once more, watching in awe as the page turned for her with no contact whatsoever.  The unicorn couldn't help herself but to sit and blink, staring at the pageful of incomprehensible lettering.  She'd heard of enchanted objects, but ones that seem to follow your own command via gestures were still almost surreal as far as the unicorn was concerned.  She sat and studied the letters, feeling like if she squinted at them hard enough they might blur into some kind of readable language.  She gave up after a few seconds, waving her other hoof across the book to close it once more, noticing that the cover had become slightly more pristine.  Each time she took her eyes off of the book it seemed to change, but never for the worse for whatever reason.

Twilight blew her candle out, resolving to go to bed and try to decipher the enigmatic script at a later date, though she immediately noticed a pale glow from the gold trim of the pages.  Under no light, the book seemed to have been illuminating itself.  She waved her hoof over the thing once more, opening it back up (and finding an almost silly kind of joy in doing so) and marveling at the glow.  The book's pages seemed to give off just enough light to read, or at least attempt to read, the words without any kind of eye strain.  It didn't project this light, seeming to be under a spotlight that wasn't really there.  

"What the hay are you?"  Twilight asked the book, half expecting (and half hoping for) it to actually answer her, but to her disappointment it just sat and glowed on her desk.  She re-lit her candle, which seemed to burn away the ghostly glow of the book's pages and replace it with the soft, flickering orange light of the flame.  Twilight levitated her quill over and began writing a short series of notes on this book.

The Unnamed Tome:

Found in the Everfree Forest, not sure how much it weighs, but it's definitely heavy.

Seems to be bound in some kind of animal hide, indeterminable without some kind of forensic analysis, though I

hesitate to actually do so for it looks almost like pony-skin, gruesome as that is.

The lettering is strange; it looks absolutely archaic.  Each character seems to be constructed of some series of

wedges and dashes, almost like they were carved into clay or stone and then pressed onto the page, or meticulously

colored in by a quill.

It responds inexplicably to the gestures of my hooves; I needn't touch it to cause it to move and open, nor use my

magic.  It seems to be enchanted to obey me entirely on its own, though I don't know why...   I'll have to ask Spike to

test out this telekinesis for himself to see if the effect functions with just any living being.

The pages illuminate themselves without any light source, though this doesn't seem to project onto any other

surfaces.  I can't explain this (I'll be damned if I'm not going to try though...) but it seems almost like some sort of

illusion; like the light itself isn't actually real, but just a trick to allow me to keep seeing the illegible words...  Almost

taunting me

The book seems to change and repair itself each time I look away, almost like it's trying to please me without me

noticing.  This is by a large margin the most bizarre thing I've ever found in my life.  That being the case, I'll start

keeping a journal of observations with every single interaction I have with the book, should anything of note happen, I'll

need a record...  Though honestly, I don't think anypony would believe me if I tried to tell them what's been

happening...  I'm hardly sure I even believe it all myself.

Twilight set her quill back into the inkwell, sitting back in her chair and looking into her candle for no other reason than to distract her eyes while she thought.  She certainly had a strange day, and it wasn't getting any less strange now that this book was in her possession, but something about it was (for lack of a better word in the unicorn's mind) spellbinding.  Everything about it shouted that it was special, important, beautiful, but then also scary.  It was almost too good to be true, and Twilight knew this, but she couldn't let it go.  She looked over to the book, still sitting just like any ordinary book on her desk, wide open with those strange letters etched masterfully into the pages.  She stared into it for a few seconds, expecting something incredible to happen, but finding herself disappointed as the pristine pages stared right back.  She sighed and waved her hoof over the book again, closing it up and twirling it so that its edges lined up perfectly with the edges of her desk.  The unicorn kept looking at the book, not wanting to take her eyes off of it, but constantly berating herself for being so suspicious of such a simple object.  She eventually just sighed and stood up, blowing out her candle and walking over to her bedroom.  

"Don't you go anywhere while I'm sleeping."  Twilight called down over her shoulder as she climbed up her ladder, giving no weight to her words and just trying to joke to herself that it's just a book, just like every other book she owned.  "It's just a book."

Next Chapter: Absorb the Words Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 26 Minutes
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Grimoire

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