Twilight Sparkle relaxed in her castle, enjoying her time off of her duties as a princess and a headmare. The times where she could rest were rare, but when she did have them; she usually spent it with her friends or in her bedroom reading a book. Which she was doing now; since Spike and Starlight left the castle to do something of their own, she was alone and enjoyed the silence that filled her home. However, just as she was about to turn the page of her book, she heard a loud knocking on the door. She sighed and ignored it; if it was one of her friends, they would come in, and it wasn’t the time of day for mails, so that could only mean it would be a bother. Maybe a fan? She liked them, a lot, but she didn’t want to ruin her only time to relax by signing autographs.
However, whoever was at the front door knocked again, even louder than before. Twilight rolled her eyes and stood up.
“Alright! I’m coming!" She exclaimed as she walked in the throne room, then towards the entrance door. She kept a straight face to hide her annoyance as she opened the door, but widened her eyes just after. There was nobody! “A prank? Real funny…" She started to say while looking around; however, no creature was in sight. She sighed and got ready to close the door, but suddenly something caught her eye. A dusty old book laying on the ground; with no hesitation, she picked it up with her magic to inspect it closer. It was brown, and its cover had a black symbol showing her cutie mark, or more accurately, the symbol of magic itself. On top of the cover was the title, “Hum… “The Book of Knowledge”? I’ve never heard of it, but I guess it must be a gift… Some pony knows I love books!" She thought aloud while an excited smile formed on her face.
She went back inside her castle before closing the door. She quickly went to her bedroom and put away the book she was reading originally, which she already read multiple times and opened her new book. She loved reading, but it was even better if she could learn something from it, so a book named “The Book of Knowledge” was bound to be interesting for Twilight, even more so if she never heard of it. The only thing she wondered was what could it be possibly about? Only way to find out: start reading. Although the book looked old, the pages didn’t seem they’d crumble if she were to move them too roughly. Moreover, the pages weren’t numbered, so unless she counted them, she didn’t know how many they were.
The first few pages were about ponies’ anatomy; unfortunately, something she already knew, but it was an interesting part nonetheless, since she still learned some things. Things which weren’t even taught at school! The next part was about biology and geography; the book didn’t make sense in what it contained, but Twilight continued to read without questions. When her eyes were on this book, she couldn’t keep herself from reading further, and strangely enough, the book didn’t look like it was getting closer to the end even though she was sure she read at least a hundred of pages! The pages… yes, it looked like she still had to read the same number of them as when she started reading! Maybe it was just her imagination? Or… could this book be infinite? Did it have an end at some point?
A few hours later, Twilight still hadn’t move from her reading spot, still laying on her bed with her book open in front of her. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door;
“Twilight?!” Spike’s voice shouted, "The girls called us to a picnic! Can you come?" He asked
Twilight didn’t reply, she kept staring at her book, then turned her eyes to the door, then back to the book. She bit her lip and sighed. She couldn’t miss an opportunity to spend time with her friends. She sighed and stood up, she’d read it tomorrow… or maybe tonight.
***
Twilight and Spike sat down on the nap placed on the grassy ground as their friends passed the sandwiches out. Their little picnic went just as usual, all having fun together, especially with Pinkie; however, there was one, very noticeable difference. Although Twilight was happy to be with her friends, she couldn’t think about anything else than her new find; she wanted to read it until the end. She wasn’t even sure why! Books always intrigued her, but her friends came first no matter what she could possibly read! What worried her most were the possibilities of what she acquired; who knows what was in there. Could she be able to understand it all? She highly doubted her abilities to do so.
"You look tired, Twilight. Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked, worried about the lavender alicorn, “You barely took a bite of your sandwich.”
“If there’s something bothering you, you can tell us, darling,” Rarity added, remembering what happened on the previous times when they didn’t listen to her or didn’t take her problems seriously.
Applejack put a hoof on Twilight’s back to encourage her to speak.
“I-It’s nothing. Just something silly… I was just scared I would fail something… an assignment from Princess Celestia, so don’t worry,” Twilight replied hesitantly.
“Pfft, you? Fail something? As if! You worry too much; every time you had to do something, no matter how hard it was, you succeeded. Besides, you have us if you need any help, but honestly, I’m pretty sure you don’t need any,” Rainbow Dash encouraged the young princess before hugging her with one front leg.
“Thank you, Rainbow” Twilight whispered, feeling slightly guilty that she lied, but felt relieved by her friend’s words, nonetheless.
“No problem, now stop with that sad face and have fun!” The rainbow-maned pony added as Twilight formed a small smile on her face.
“If you want, I can give you a huge party!” Pinkie yelled in excitement
That stupid book could wait a bit after all; her friends were way more important.
***
She opened it, the very moment she finished her breakfast. Could anyone really blame her? It wasn’t every day you found a magic book with infinite pages, even though she took a break yesterday to spend time with her friends, she couldn’t wait any longer. She quickly got to the most interesting part: magic. The book referenced spells she never heard about. The firsts were pretty harmless and easy to learn and master; yes, of course she was going to learn it all. To know all the spells that exist was her dream, a dream she remembered when she opened that mysterious book.
"This is truly fascinating… There’s a spell to increase the speed of pegasi, a spell to change the size of the caster! There are even spells Princess Celestia taught me!" Twilight muttered excitedly under her breath as she the instructions to learn said spells, “Oh, I wonder if I can find some of Starswirl’s spells!” She added as excitedly as before.
For some reason, the more she read, the more the book drew her close. As if it was calling for her to learn and discover the mysteries of the world. Was it something similar to what Princess Celestia wanted of her? To accomplish her destiny? No, she didn’t think so. Some of these spells could be learned by anyone, so she doubted you’d need to be special; however, her talent being magic did help.
***
How many days has she been doing this again? Oh, right, four… with no sleep at all. Twilight had large rings under her heavy eyes. It also didn’t help she didn’t even go out of her room for these past days; she knew it was unhealthy, but these texts were really something else. Something she couldn’t possibly ignore. She learned in four days more than she did with Princess Celestia in one year! The spells she tried to cast were easy to learn and came naturally to her; which is strange even if her talent was magic, it didn’t explain everything. It was a bizarre feeling, but it was like the book whispered to her, taught her how to better use her magic… That feeling was warm and welcoming, she liked it.
KNOCK-KNOCK
“Twilight? You’re still in your room? Aren’t you hungry?" She heard Spike’s voice from the other side of the door.
“I’m fine… I ate earlier today! I’m actually working on something! Princess duties, you know?" She answered as she looked away from her book.
“I hope you’re not reading that weird book again? You spent a whole day with it! Knowing you, you should’ve already finished it!”
“I-It’s not a weird book!” She replied with a yell while a small blow-like sound resonated around the book, “Besides, I’m working. Something important concerning an announcement Princess Celestia planned to make!" She added, then remained silent waiting for an answer.
“Ok… Take good care of you, Twilight. The Princess should be a bit gentler with the work she gives,” Twilight heard him say before hearing the sound of someone walking away.
She sighed, then returned to her “study.” Yes, she also didn’t eat anything in the last few days and was starving; however, she was sure she’d find something that could help her, at some point in the book.
***
Twilight could barely move her legs. They were numb, maybe because she hadn’t moved from her bed since she started reading it. The young princess didn’t care much about it; she didn’t need to stand up anyway. She read for such a long time; she must be near the end now, mustn’t she? It had a limit, right? Or was it really a gateway to infinite knowledge?
“Twilight? I-I’m coming in,” A voice, she recognised as Applejack’s, said. The earth pony entered hesitantly in the room, looking around. Her eyes finally landed on her alicorn friend, who didn’t even look at her and still kept her eyes on the book she was reading, “She’s here, come in, girls.”
Right as she said that, five other ponies came in, all with worried looks on their faces: Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, Starlight and Fluttershy.
“Spike wanted us to see you… He was worried," Applejack started while the others nodded, “What is going on? We know it’s not an assignment from the Princess,”
Twilight kept her eyes on her texts and ignored her. Rarity stepped closer and inspected her lavender friend: she had large dark circles under her bloodshot eyes, her mane and tail weren’t even brushed, her wings looked like they wouldn’t be able to make her fly as the feathers were in a bad state.
“Darling, please… Leave that thing and come with us. You need to see the sun and then go to sleep. You need rest,”
For the first time since they came in, Twilight glanced at them and spoke. “I don’t need rest. I’m alright. Thanks for being worried about me, but there’s no problem at all,”
"Alright?! No problem?!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she flew in the air, “Look at yourself! I bet you can’t even walk! You’ve been in that stupid room for ONE MONTH! Just listen to us; it’s for you own good!”
“I don’t want to. I’m fine.”
“Come on, Twilight! I made you cupcakes!" Pinkie replied hopefully
“NO!” She screamed, unable to hold her temper anymore. Fluttershy backed away, startled by the sudden outburst. Seeing this, Twilight calmed down, "Please, just, trust me, girls. I promise you, once I finish this book, I’ll sleep. Then we’ll go back to doing what we used to do…" She said in a calming and comforting voice.
The mane 5 and Starlight looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Finally, Applejack looked down.
“Okay, we’ll come back tomorrow,” She said as she turned around, “Come on, we’re going.”
As they went out the door, Rainbow stayed a few seconds later, staring at Twilight. “Tomorrow, we’re getting you out of here, no matter if you’re willing of not,” She flew out of the room as the door closed behind her.
“Good riddance…” Twilight softly mumbled under her breath.
***
She could tell the moon has risen in the sky and that it meant her friends would come in a few hours to take her knowledge from her. Of course, she already planned something to counter that, so she wasn’t worried. However, the unexpected happened when her faithful assistant barged in the room, his fists tightened.
“That’s enough, Twilight! I don’t know what’s up with this thing, but you’ve never been this obsessed! It’s obviously doing something to your mind!" He growled at her.
“It’s not, go back to sleep or you’ll wake Starlight up,” Twilight simply answered, not caring a bit of what he said.
Spike kept his mouth closed and gritted his teeth. He stared at the book in front of Twilight, then at the alicorn herself. The others said it was unlikely she could even stand up; if he could grab that book, she wouldn’t be able to catch him. Spike spread his wings and flew at her with a warcry. Twilight widened her eyes in surprise as she was pushed out of the way. Spike grabbed the book and flew towards the door, only for it to be closed on his face. He turned around and saw Twilight’s horn glowing in a green color.
“Give it back,” She said in a threatening voice; however, Spike held it closer to his chest.
“No! I’ll burn it, Twilight! That’ll bring you back!” Spike replied as he puffed up his chest.
“You don’t know how precious it is!” Twilight retorted, Spike’s chest turning back to normal as he couldn’t feel any flame in his throat, “This may hold all the secrets of the universe, and you wish to burn it? I should have known somebody like you couldn’t understand the worth of knowledge!" Twilight narrowed her eyes while a green aura appeared around her horn, “You are a bad dragon, and a bad friend… You need to be punished…”
Spike struggled as much as he could, but it was impossible to avoid the green blinding light.
***
10657th page
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10661st page
…
10668th page
She read so much and was still so far from the end; however, the spells she learned were worth it, all of it. She would have loved continuing her reading; however, her door opened yet again in the recent days and interrupted her. She looked at the intruder and recognized Starlight.
“Twilight…” She muttered, startled by the darkness of the room, empty of any light except for Twilight’s horn lighted to turn the pages. “Y-You put a magic shield around the castle,”
“Yes,”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to be disturbed… Out now,” She replied in a feelingless voice.
“No, you’ve gone mad, Twilight! All for that book! We have to get rid of it!" Starlight tried to reason with her, stepping a bit closer, “I was on a dark path, too… You showed me the way, so I’ll do the same… I don’t know what’s this doing to you, but whatever it’s telling, it’s a lie! I don’t how you didn’t starve or collapsed of exhaustion, but it will happen at some point!”
“Silence!” Twilight interrupted her in anger, “I’m not like you. You were chasing a foolish dream because you lost a friend. While I’m looking for the answers to everything there is. This knowledge is priceless!" Twilight added before sighing, “Every need or thought that crosses your mind, there is a spell for it. In this book. I don’t need to eat or sleep, soon not even live," Starlight widened her eyes in fear as the book glowed slightly, “You’ve been writing letters to Celestia,”
“H-How do you know?!” Starlight asked, noticing she also dropped the “Princess” before Celestia’s name.
“This is my castle. I know everything that happens here. You dared to speak to Celestia about this? So she can come and burn this wisdom?”
“Y-Yes I did! SO what? It’s for your own good!”
“The unlimited amount of magic is for my good, you brainless idiot!” Twilight screamed in frustration. “Only a powerful spellcaster could read it and learn. It came to me. It talked to me. I believe it’s safe to say it chose me.”
Starlight whimpered, unsure of what she should do. Then, she remembered something else.
“I have one question for you, Twilight” The unicorn started, waiting for Twilight to answer, which she did with a nod, “Where is Spike?” She asked in a shaky voice.
“Who? Oh, right, Spike. Don’t worry about him. He’s in a better and happier place now,” She answered as two green orbs glowed in the darkness behind her.
“W-What did you do?”
“It’ll be painless, I promise,”
A green light surrounded Twilight’s horn as she shot a beam of magic, waking Starlight in her trance of horror. The unicorn shot a beam of her own; the two of them collided and created a shockwave strong enough to blow the furnitures away. However, Twilight kept her composure and didn’t move an inch while Starlight grunted and sweated, the alicorn’s beam slowly getting closer. Finally, it hit her in the chest and threw her at the door.
However, it wasn’t the end yet. Green warp holes appeared around her as claws came out of it and pierced her body from all sides. She couldn’t hold her screams while her body cracked, her eyes and injuries glowed green. The lavender princess stared at her with no emotions on the face.
It was time to read again.
***
And while, Twilight read without stopping, the ponies of Ponyville all walked helplessly as their eyes glowed green. Each one of the inhabitants of the small town building a large unknown circular structure.
She may not have finished yet, but she had to be close, right?
When she has all the knowledge, things would go back to normal.
They had to.
Author's Note
I hope my grammar is a bit better compared to my previous stories
