Anima Insecti

"Twilight. Xjhz zu yq, Twilight. Xahq jxu qvwhwb, ungr jxu kdlu."

With a strangled gasp, the alicorn shot awake, her coat matted with sweat and her body tangled up in the sheets of her bed. This was the fourth night in a row now where she had heard that voice in her dreams, speaking some sort of ancient and terrible tongue that she could not understand. While the words made no sense to her, the tone of the voice seemed to be entreating her, calling to her. It wanted her.

She slipped out of bed, chest heaving, and did the calming exercise that Cadance had taught her all those moons ago. Gradually, the fright began to ebb away, leaving her calm but still mildly unsettled.

Twilight swore at herself, for it was her eagerness for diving into any book that had brought this upon her. As she moved to the washroom to shower off the sweat, she recalled how several days before, she had been perusing the dusty shelves of an antiquated bookstore. She thought of herself not only as the Princess of Friendship, but also as the Princess of Books, and to her there was not a library or bookstore in Equestria that she did not know. That was until she found said bookstore, of which she was sure it had not been there before. And yet, by the state of it, it appeared to have been there for countless decades. This in itself was extremely curious, and it puzzled her, but she did not let that stop her from going inside.

Now, for the first time in her bibliophilic life, she wished she hadn't.

* * *

The interior had been dim, almost bordering on dark, helped by the fact that the store was down a back-alley and out of the direct line of the sun. Motes of dust floated thickly in the air, making her cough. The state of the bookstore was awful, the whole thing feeling dilapidated, like it might collapse at a moment's notice. But there were books here, and if she found anything to add to her collection, she figured she could give it a dusting off when she got home.

It definitely had not been a store to stock the latest releases; all the literature on offer was decidedly antiquarian. Some books she already had copies of, and thus moved on from those. Others she knew she didn't have, but something stayed her hoof. It felt like she was looking for a specific book.

Or a specific book was looking for her. When she rounded a corner, she paused, eyes widening as she saw a book resting on a reading pedestal, standing out in the open like a signal beacon. The book was black. No, it was darker than black. It felt like the void given form. She ran her hoof over the cover, which was made of some substance she couldn't identify. There was a sort of leathery feel to it, but at the same time, she knew it wasn't leather. It made her shiver, and yet she found herself standing there, caressing it, feeling a strange sort of thrill come over her.

"Ah, I see you have found the absolute jewel of my wares," said the owner, breaking Twilight out of her spell and making her yelp with surprise. "I apologize for startling you. Ever so sorry about that," she said in a low, husky voice. The owner of the store was a mare of indeterminate age who had introduced herself as Lost Words. Her coat was grey, her mane and tail as black as that book, and her eyes a deep, dark purple that nearly bordered on black. She was a dark mare, running a dark and dusty store, with a strange dark book that Twilight felt she needed. No, the feeling was more than that, it was like a craving, gnawing in her belly and whispering in her mind: You need this book. "That one is very special, and I won't let it go for cheap, not even for a princess."

"H-how...how much?" Twilight asked, her eyes flitting back and forth between Lost and the book.

"Everything." Lost Words said in an ominous voice, those abyssal eyes staring Twilight down.

"Does that mean...all the bits I have on me?"

Lost Words stared at her for a long moment, letting the silence become entirely awkward, before chuckling and shaking her head. "I don't want bits for it. I want someone who will read it, from start to finish. A book like this comes along once in a lifetime, and if you want it, you must read it. Every page, every character, every little bit of punctuation. You must give it your all. You must give it your undivided attention. You must give it...everything."

"...I can do that." Twilight said, licking her lips, which had become incredibly dry from browsing the store. "So...you're serious? I can just...have it? No bits?"

"Yes. I told you I wasn't letting it go for cheap, and I can tell that you will abide by those terms. You will give that book the attention it deserves, I know you will. I can see it in your eyes. You will read it, you will cherish it, you will love it. It will find pride of place in your collection. You won't ever regret acquiring it."

* * *

But she did regret it now, she thought to herself, letting the warm water cascade down her form, cleaning and refreshing her. If only the water could wash away the dread as well.

First thing tomorrow, she would go back to Lost Words' bookstore and return the book. She wanted nothing at all anymore to do with it. It was an accursed book, a book of arcane knowledge that should have remained unknown, a book whose influence was ruining her sleep and slowly driving her mad.

Turning off the tap, she stepped out of the shower and began towelling herself off. She could do it in an instant with magic, but there was something soothing about rubbing those towels all over. Levitating the towels into the hamper, she returned to her bedroom and settled in somewhat nervously, hoping to get back to sleep, and this time with no voices calling out to her.

***

Thankfully, she had had a dreamless sleep after that, and woke up feeling rather refreshed. In a sense, it was as if the events of last night had not happened. But she knew full well that they had, and that today was the day for action.

Though her schedule that day would be a full one, she knew she could fit in a quick visit to that bookstore before tackling her to-do list. And so, letting a yawning Spike know where she was going, and that she wouldn't be long, she was off.

With a flash of magic, she teleported herself to that same spot, its location fresh in her memory. She walked down the back-alley and found...nothing.

The store was gone. All that was there was the cobblestone wall of the alley, looking completely undisturbed. It was as if the store had never existed at all. "No, that...it can't be." She said quietly, staring in disbelief at where that store had undeniably been just days before. The black book suddenly felt so much heavier in her saddlebag, as if it were a burden that she had to accept and carry hence forth.