Dead Space: Divergence

Twilight sat up in bed with sweat streaming down her face. Wow, I haven't been this sweaty since I competed in the Running of the Leaves. She briefly reflected on that day, letting out a big yawn. She didn't move a muscle, listening to the soft pattering of the rain on the window. Twilight laid back slowly, excited to let the sound of the rustling leaves lull her back to sleep. Just as she closed her eyes, a sudden clap of thunder jolted Twilight out of bed and to the window. The rain came down in a smooth and steady stream on the glass pane, but Twilight's attention was drawn past the rain and onto something else. A shadowy figure was out in the rain, on the road below. It stood motionless at the base of the library. What is that? Twilight thought to herself as she observed the figure. It looked up to the window with eyes shining white and a gaze that completely unnerved Twilight. A flash of lightning illuminated the area, and the figure was nowhere to be found.

Was it just my imagination? she pondered. Quietly slipping by the sleeping baby dragon, she trotted carefully down the stairs avoiding all of the squeaky steps and arrived at the front door of the library. As she reached for the door, her hoof froze merely inches away from it. A lump was forming in her stomach at the thought of what she had seen. It was nothing, Twilight. Stop freaking yourself out, she commanded, but her body didn't respond. Going against all of her sense, she stealthily crept to a window and peered out of the corner, looking for the thing that she had seen, but there was only the light rain and the darkened streets. With her courage mustering and the fear receding, she opened the door to the library.

"Hello?" Twilight called out, not expecting an answer other than the gentle breeze gliding past her. "It was probably nothing. I better get back to sle-" she stopped. There was a book, on the doorstep. "Oh, what's this?" Twilight wrapped the book in the lavender aura of her magic lifting it up to get a better look. It had no name, no author, no anything. Twilight rifled through the pages of the book several times to make sure she wasn't imagining it, but it was completely blank.

"This is really strange. First I see a strange figure, then I find a blank book. Could tonight get any weirder?" Twilight touched the book which was unsurprisingly wet. "Since, it's empty. I might as well use it for a planner or something, but I'll have to dry it off." She cast a heat spell, and warmth radiated from the book, drying it in an instant. She set the book down on the nearest table, leaving it ready for use tomorrow. "That's enough adventure for one night. Time to get back to sleep." Twilight climbed back upstairs without looking back, closing the door behind her as she entered her bedroom.

"Twilight, Twilight!" called Spike, waking the alicorn from her slumber. She fell out of bed taken aback by the sudden yelling.

"What is it, Spike?" she yawned looking at the door to the bedroom. This better be important. she thought, getting up and stretching out her lavender body.

"Library. Downstairs. Trouble."

"I'm coming." Twilight shot to the door, scooping up the baby dragon on her way to the lower floor of the library. Shock paralyzed her the moment she was in view of the the main room. "What in the name of Celestia happened?!" The library was completely ransacked. Books were spread all over the place, desks were overturned, and a window was broken.

"Did someone break in, Twilight?"

"Evidence would suggest as much, but I can't be sure, Spike. We'll have to clean up first. That way, we'll find out if anything was taken."

After nearly an hour of reorganizing, Twilight and Spike managed to rearrange everything to the way it was before. Twilight had a checklist of books in front of her, while Spike confirmed the presence of all of the books.

"Lastly, Zebra's Guide to Zoology."

"Check. That's all of them. Nothing was taken, so why was the library a mess?"

"I don't know, Spike. Maybe it was just an accident."

"Wait, what about that?" Spike hopped off of his stool and picked up a black book. It was the same book that Twilight had found earlier that morning. "It's the only thing that doesn't belong."

"I found it last night. It was on the doorstep, but it's completely blank." Spike opened the book and started reading the text inside.

"Umm, Twilight. This book is full of words." He held up the book exposing the pages that were all filled up.

"That can't be! It was wet and blank when I found it." She took the book in her hooves, looking it over again and again for answers.

"Maybe it was written in invisible ink, and the water made it show up."

"Don't be silly, Spike. If it was written in invisible ink, it would have been wiped of words when it got wet."

"Oh, right. Maybe… the words disappear when it's wet."

"Spike, that's not very likely."

"You never know Twilight." Spike shrugged and walked upstairs. That statement had the alicorn's attention. As much as she wanted to read the book, Twilight wanted to learn the secret of its disappearing text first. Maybe I should try getting it wet again. Twilight never thought she'd see the day when she… thought that thought.

Twilight ran to the kitchen and poured herself a big glass of water. She then returned to the book lying on the floor of the library. She levitated the cup over the strange book eager to see the outcome of her experiment. Carefully… Carefully…

"Heya Twilight."

"AHHH!!!" Applejack opened the door at that very moment. Twilight dropped the cup on the book, dousing it in a lot of water.

"Applejack! You ruined my experiment!" She glared at the orange Earth Pony standing at the door.

"Ah'm sorry, Sugarcube, but uh… what experiment?" Applejack looked around, searching for said experiment she ruined.

"I was about to wet this book."

"Now why in th'hay would ya wanna do that?" She glanced at the wet book on the floor.

"To inspect the words inside. I think it's a magic book."

"Well okay then. Ah just stopped by to ask if ah can borrow yer measurin' scale. Granny Smith wants ta make her special Triple Apple Pie and she wants exact measurements. Or at least ah think that's what she said." Twilight trotted off into another room to fetch the scale. Applejack trotted over to the book, interested to know what was so magical about it.

"Hey Twilight!" she shouted into the other room.

"Yeah?"

"How exactly did ya plan on inspectin' this here book? It ain't got no words to inspect."

"WHAT!?" Twilight charged out of the other room with the scale in her magical grasp and practically tackled the farm pony to the ground. She dropped the scale and looked at the now blank book on the floor. "SPIKE, YOU WERE RIGHT!" Twilight shouted to the baby dragon that was upstairs. "This is uncanny! A book that loses its words when wet."

"What the hay was that about?" barked Applejack. She was rubbing her nose from were she had crashed into the floor. She was about to start into a rant, but Twilight clearly wasn't paying attention to her. "Well, ah gotta go, Twi. Thanks for tha scale… and tha damaged nose." Twilight gave a sheepish smile as Applejack turned to walk out of the library, but before she made it out of the door. Twilight called out to her.

"Applejack, wait. Look at this." Twilight quickly dried the book and set it on the ground. They both stared intently at it for about a minute before Applejack got frustrated.

"I don't think that tha book is gonna do anythin' special, Twi-" She stopped mid sentence as the book glowed with a bright light. It rose into the air spinning wildly before letting out a pulse of energy, knocking books from shelves and flipping desks. Applejack and Twilight dove for cover as the book slowly fell to the ground.

"Twi?"

"Yeah?"

"Did that book just..."

"Uh-huh." They rushed to see the book that was now covered in words. Twilight was flipping through the pages, and Applejack looked around at the mess that was just made. "This book it amazing! I can't wait to read it!"

"What about tha library? Don't cha need to clean it up?"

"I can do that later. Right now, I have a book to read." Twilight picked up the book and trotted outside with Applejack behind her.

"You have fun with that. I gotta get this scale back to Sweet Apple Acres, and maybe stop by Ponyville Emergency Care. See ya later." Applejack waved good bye and trotted on home. Twilight carried to book to the park where her favorite reading bench sat beneath a beautiful willow tree. There she opened the book and began to read.

The sun was starting to set on Ponyville when Applejack finally found Twilight. Applejack was joined by the rest of her friends, all of them interested in what was inside the mystic book.

"Hey, Egghead!" shouted Rainbow Dash as they neared the bench were their lavender friend was resting. She looked up from the book that held her attention.

"Oh. Hello, girls."

"Darling, were you here all afternoon?" questioned Rarity.

"Huh?" Twilight looked at the setting sun, unaware that the time had gone by so rapidly. "I guess I was. It's just that this book is amazing!"

"Really!? What kind of book is it? Is it a super fantastical fantasy book? Or is it a sciencey science book about science?" asked Pinkie as she bounced around the group of ponies.

"Honestly, Pinkie, it's both."

"What do you mean, Twilight?" Fluttershy picked up the book, but she quickly put it down. "It doesn't make much sense to me."

"It uses a bunch of big words, but believe me. It's amazing. Let's go to the library, I have to write about this."

Twilight traveled with her friends back to the library to talk about the mysterious book. Fluttershy opened the door to the library and the six friends entered. Spike was waiting for them, with a clean library.

"Hey girls, what's up?" he asked, placing a book on the shelf.

"Spike, did you clean this mess up alone?"

"Yeah, it was nothing."

"Of course it wasn't, Number One Assistant. We're just here to talk about this book." Twilight lifted up the book, but Spike didn't pay attention.

"Yeah, Twilight think's that there is something awesome about it, but it's just a book. Books aren't awesome, I am."

"Very funny, Rainbow, but you won't be saying that once I tell you about it."

"Well go on, dear. Don't leave us in the dark."

"Yeah! I'm so excited, I could scream! Or bounce, or eat cake. Anything really."

"Well take a seat everyone, because you'll all be blown away, by what I'm about to tell you." They sat down on the couches while Twilight put the book on her podium. "Okay, this book is amazing! Why, you might ask?"

"We've been askin' that since ya told us that it's amazin'." answered Applejack.

"This book is about…"

"Fashion?"

"The Wonderbolts?"

"Cake?"

"No to all of those. It's about universes." she finished, waiting for a response from her friends. They all sat quietly, until Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

"That's it? I thought you said it was awesome!" she yelled.

"So, there's nothin' special about it?"

"I think it's special, Twilight. Umm, unless you don't think it's special. Do you?"

"Girls listen, you aren't understanding me. We all know about Zebrica, Saddle Arabia, and the rest of the neighbouring countries, but this book is saying there’s more than that. Other countries, other worlds even." The other five ponies collectively gasped as Twilight's words finally sank in.

"You mean, there are worlds other than this one right here!?" questioned Rainbow Dash

"That's what I said!"

"That is so awesome!"

"OHMYGOSHTHATISTHEBESTTHINGIHAVEEVERHEARDWENEEDTOHAVEAPARTYONANOTHERWORLD!" Pinkie was bouncing off of the walls, while Rarity walked over to Twilight.

"That sounds delightful, but how do we even get to these places?" Rarity picked up the book. It was upside down, but even if it wasn't, Rarity wouldn't have been able to make any of it out. "This looks like gibberish to me." she commented to Twilight

"There's a spell in the book. Right there." She pointed to a very distinct scrawl on the book, surrounded by many equations. "The only problem is that I have to test it on somepony. It'd take some time for me to test it on myself." Applejack's ears perked up and an idea buzzed into her head.

"Well, what if ya were ta test it on somepony else. Would that speed things up a bit?"

"I guess scientific data gathered from a test subject would be more effective."

"Ya know what? If ya need a test subject, then ah'd be glad to volunteer to be the first fer this." Applejack puffed out her chest as everyone's eyes fell on her.

"Me too! There are other places that need to know the name 'Rainbow Dash.'" Rainbow piped up.

"Oh! Oh! Pick me! PICK ME!" screamed Pinkie.

"What about the fashion? Doesn't anyone care about the fashion?"

"I care Rarity, but you also can't forget the critters."

"Ah wonder what other worlds're out there?"

"I can't say no to volunteers, if you're all willing. I'm sure we can start tomorrow. Spike, take a note. I'm going to test the new spell tomorrow afternoon, and since you were the first to volunteer, Applejack, you get to go first."

"Yee-haw!" Applejack reared back, waving her hat in excitement.

"Done. I can't wait to see what other worlds are out there."

"I know Spike, I'm so excited, but we should all get some rest. We've got a big experiment ahead of us." Everypony said their good nights and went home, eager to return tomorrow.