Heartache: Cherished Friendship {Book the First}

Twilight turned off the lights, not wanting to waste power, and chose a random book. Her plan starts now. She walked over to a table, and sat down, reading the book of law she had chosen. It. Was. Horribly. Dull. Despite that, she continued on reading, or at least tried to. It was too dark. Completely forgetting about her magic, she continued to struggle to make out words for an hour. Then, she gave up. Not with her plan, but the book. She’s done reading about how littering is bad.

She put the book where she found it, remembering her magic now and levitated the darn thing, and chose another book. Doing the same process over again, she could make out the title. This was the same book she used to cast Star Swirl’s unfinished spell, which switched her friends’ destinies. As she read through it, she found a spell that could illuminate the horn more than naturally. She cast it, and her ignited horn shone bright like a star. It was perfect for reading.

In a few hours, she finished the whole book. She glanced at the clock. It was midnight. She just realized how heavy her eyes felt. She levitated the book to its shelf, and chose another book. Setting it upon the table, she learned that this one was about mechanical engineering.

She spent her time reading about gears and levers, which was more interesting than a lecture on why littering is bad for Equestria. At one point, she fell asleep, but the rope tugged at her mane, jerking her back up. Once in awhile, she would look up from her book, and see shadows. She knew it was a trick of her eyes, but it was still creepy. Background sounds would come to her ears every now and then, making her jump. She couldn’t help the feeling of being watched.

Around 5, she closed the book. She had been reading very slowly, so she hadn’t finished it. She figured she didn’t need to, since it was already early morning. She untied the rope tied to her mane, and flew around for a bit, using her wings for the first time in quite a while. She flew up to the chandelier, the one with the magical gemstones that hold magical memories of her friends.

She looked down at the floor, and thought she saw a black hoof reaching up for her from the floor. Despite her heart lurching, she flew down to it. Somehow, she tripped over it. Dang, she thought, what is up with me?

She got up to her hooves, and saw no black hoof on the floor. Instead, she saw an old, dusty, strange book. That’s strange, she thought, hadn’t Starlight and I picked up every book and placed them on their correct shelves? She extended her hoof to pick up the book. The moment she touched it, all went black.