Ah, reshelving day, one of Twilight's favorite days; since she could glance at all the books she had read, borrowed, or recently acquired. That is, before Golden Oaks Library was destroyed along with many of those books. More than a year had passed and she still felt sorry for some copies or originals she planned to read again for their interesting content.
Today was supposed to be reshelving day again and Twilight couldn't help but feel nostalgic for most of the morning.
She let her hooves guide her through the place's corridors as memories flooded her mind. Twilight was not the kind of pony to waste time by just remembering or thinking about the 'how it should've been' situations, she was always busy studying or researching, and if she wasn't, she would enjoy the today and admire her surroundings.
A poke on her flank snapped her out of the trance, and she turned to see Spike staring at her with caring eyes.
“Twilight, I know I should leave you alone whenever you're trying to focus on something, but I don't like seeing you like this. What's the problem?”
The gesture was enough to make her smile “Don't worry Spike, I was just thinking about the library...” she lowered her head and gave Spike a quick hug “For a very long time, I've wanted to forget about what happened back then, but regardless of my attempts, the image of the fireball keeps coming back.”
Spike stayed silent and listened, he knew Twilight needed to expand in her thoughts to be open to any suggestions or any comment at all.
“While I was wandering around, I came up with an idea.”
“What is it?” Spike asked, genuinely interested.
“Maybe we shouldn't forget what happened, maybe we should remember it!”
“Uh... Wouldn't that be kind of, you know, sad?”
“Probably, but that is part of our past, part of what made us who we are now.”
“Like when you learn about your mistakes?”
“Precisely.”
“I don't know Twilight, to remember mistakes sounds good, but bad experiences?”
“It's not just about recalling what went wrong, you also have to realize how that changed you. When you do, you can see the determining factor so you can avoid it for future occasions or share it if it was a good thing!” Twilight clapped her hooves excitedly “Come Spike, let's do some reshelving!”
“Alright... I still don't get you, but if it makes you feel better, I'm okay with it.”
Spike followed Twilight to the library of the palace, and watched his friend levitate a bunch of books and put them in the ground before aiming for another bulk.
Might as well get done with it Spike thought and, with a sigh, he approached the seemingly endless horde of books to organize.
Time flew by, with Twilight reading the titles aloud and Spike sorting in silence.
After two hours, they decided to take a break. It seemed like they were only half way through. Golden Oaks Library had never had that many books.
“Ugh... I'm exhausted...” Spike collapsed in a pile of unsorted books.
“Yes, I have to admit this has been quite a tiresome task” Twilight admitted and lay beside Spike. “But fun either way, don't you think?”
“Well, it does bring back the good times at the library,” Spike grabbed some books with his claws and inspected them, still on his back “Did you find anything interesting to read?”
“Of course! Some tomes on the different colonies beyond Equestria, as well as their inhabitants and history. Also there were some about the explanation and physics of teleportation and-”
She was cut off by a “Sorry” from Spike “I meant, something interesting for me to read.”
“Oh, right” she replied with a chuckle “Why don't you tell me what you like reading besides those comics? Are you into romance stories?”
“Yuck.”
Twilight hit Spike's arm lightly “Come on, Spike, don't you think it could give you a few tips to impress Rarity?”
“Nah, those things are too fuzzy and unreal,” he crossed his arms and scanned the floor for any striking cover, and found one. “Hey Twilight, this one looks... Well, not normal.”
“You mean uncommon.”
“Whatever, take a look.”
Spike held the book with strange-looking cover and lifted it from the ground. Twilight graped it with her magic, bringing it closer to her.
In the front, a silhouette of a pony could be seen, although barely. Shades of black hid it's face, but in the dark holes where it's eyes should be, two lonely red dots stood out, as if they were it's pupils. The blurred muzzle of the creature showed it's teeth entirely, not as a smirk, or a grimace of anger; but as if it didn't have skin there at all.
It was Impressive how much detail could be filled to the image the more Twilight stared at it. It wasn't long before a shiver ran through her spine and dropped the book.
“What is it, Twilight?! What did you see?!” Spike asked, concerned for his friend.
“N-nothing, it just looks strange,” she answered almost immediately “How did we get this anyway? It looks like a horror novel.”
“Maybe it came with the other ones of general literature.”
“Yes, it could have...” she levitated the book again, her curiosity growing about this new found piece. Both pony and dragon resumed the reshelving and, before they knew, it was getting dark.
Spike yawned and rested his head on Twilight's side “I think I'll go to sleep now, night Twilight.”
“Good night Spike, sleep tight.”
The young dragon began to walk towards his room, glancing back a couple of times at Twilight to see her lost in her thoughts “You should get some sleep too, Twi', royal duties must be exhausting as well.”
After a short pause, an idea came to her “You're right, I should get some sleep,” then she took the supposed-to-be horror novel with her “A late night reading might also be gratifying.”
Spike shrugged quickly and turned to the bedroom again “Have it your way, but don't tell me I didn't warn you about getting some rest.”
Twilight climbed up to her bed and Spike positioned himself in his usual basket spot. He liked staying next to her so he could 'protect' her from anypony including herself. As always, he fell asleep very quickly, leaving the alicorn princess with a single candle to read a book she would read all night long.
A single ray of sunlight penetrating through the window woke Spike up. He's first reaction was to cover himself under the blankets to protect his eyes. "Morning already?" he thought "It's probably time for breakfast..."
He suddenly stood up with eyes wide opened "It's time for breakfast! Twilight probably wants to eat right now and I didn't cook!" Just as he was about to head to the kitchen, he noticed that the pony he was looking for, was still in bed, reading that horror story they found the previous day.
It was normal to find her reading in bed, but something was wrong: Twilight was shaking, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was hugging her pillow tightly. It was terrifying to see her like that.
“Twi'?” Spike began “What's going on?!”
At the shout, Twilight contracted and trembled. Then she turned to see Spike; he was biting his claws and glancing around, trying to find something, anything that could her snap out of the blackout.
“S-Spike,” she managed to say.
The dragon jumped to her bed and wrapped his arms around her neck “You're okay?! Please tell me you're okay! You were scaring me and you looked frightened and you, you... you...”
“Shh... I'm fine... Sorry for scaring you like that... It was this book.”
“Is it cursed?! I can burn it right away!” he prepared a flame to engulf the book with.
“No, Wait!” Twilight put her hoof in Spike's mouth “It was the book but it isn't cursed. It actually kept me awake because it was impossible not to keep reading! I'm only at the hundredth page and it is totally catching.”
“You mean you were enjoying reading that thing?!”
“No... Well, kind of. It is a scary story, so to be scared is the point. Like nightmare night.”
“Makes sense, but there are levels, Twilight.”
“Scales.”
“Whatever! You get my point,” he said in a loud tone, rising his claws “Besides, you've read horror stories before and never been like this.”
“Truth to be told, you're right. I don't know the exact element which drags me into the story but I couldn't help but keep going.”
“You'll keep reading, won't you?” asked Spike with a knowing expression.
“Of course! I have to find out what happens next!”
“Alright, but I'm staying by your side, so you can keep calm.”
“That's very sweet of you, Spike,” she leaned to caress his head with her own. When she rose, she pondered another option “Spike, could you do me a favor?”
Her assistant nodded enthusiastically.
“Get the girls, maybe this could be something to enjoy together!”
“Or suffer together...” he whispered in response. Loud enough for Twilight to hear.
“You could always stay in the bedroom if you're too scared,” she suggested.
“No way, I have absolutely no idea why you ponies like to get scared with those stories, let alone enjoy them... But somedragon has to make sure nopony gets traumatized.”
Twilight chuckled at the sentence “Don't worry that much. As you said, company might help get through it without anypony 'traumatized',” she winked at Spike.
The latter got out of the castle to accomplish his task.
While he was walking, Spike realized something Twilight had said didn't make sense Hundredth page? he stopped dead in his tracks Up all night and just the hundredth? he knew his friend was known for being one of the fastest readers ever. She could finish entire tomes in an afternoon. Weird...
After an hour, Spike returned to the castle, and fortunately, Twilight wasn't reading that book she appeared to be addicted to last night.
The rest of the day was uneventful. A few errands to take care of, and some letters to read.
At 7:00 P.M. The castle's gates were knocked, and Spiked opened them to greet the five excited ponies for the sleep over there.”
“Hello, Spike.”
“Howdy, partner.”
“What's up?” Rainbow Dash even offered a hoof/fist bump.
“Good evening, darling.”
“How are you doing Spike?”
“Great, thanks for asking, Pinkie.”
They chatted on the way to the saloon reserved for parties and events like this, and soon, the imminent topic was brought up by Applejack.
“So, what's the spooky story 'bout? Have you read it already, Spike?”
“Not yet, and frankly, I'm not into scary stuff, more like a comics guy.”
“We know,” the ponies said.
“I just hope it's worth staying awake for!” Rainbow exclaimed with a demanding tone.
“Like you haven't slept all day long already,” Applejack teased.
“Hey! It was just a quick nap!”
“Hi girls!”
They all turned to see their hostess, approaching with a smile.
After some greetings and hugs, they resumed their chats as they put their sleeping bags on the floor and got set to listen to the spooky tale they had been promised.
Spike had also brought his basket for the night. After all, he had to watch out for the scared-y ponies. Who formed a semi-circle around this night's speaker.
Everything checked, Twilight took the book and opened it.
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Rainbow called for attention “You're going to read the story?”
“Well, yeah, I actually haven't finished it, and I could exclude some important details if I try to recall everything by myself.”
“I think it's a good idea,” opined Fluttershy “Twilight does know how to read perfectly.”
“Thanks. Now, shall I begin?”
Rainbow crossed her forelegs and raised an eyebrow, everypony and dragon else nodded, followed by a few 'mhm's'.
“Very well then. This is the tale of a creature who once could be called a pony, a creature who would put many spawns from tartarus to shame. This is the tale... of The Fallen...”
Author's Note
Just like Rainbow, I hope to write something worth of your reading time. Thanks in advance.
And in case someone noticed, yes, this story was (partially) inspired by The Fallen from Magic: The Gathering.
