Loose Pages

Twilight stared at the book, and it seemed to be staring back at her, taunting her. She had it resting atop a small table, covered by a glass cloche, with a light pointed at it. As if it could risk running away on its own. Obviously it couldn't. It had been sitting in its spot in the library for who knew how long, presumably, and it didn't seem capable of moving on its own. Yet she couldn't be completely sure. That was making her increasingly nervous.

She'd run tests on it, but they had all returned nothing. It was as if the book itself was completely unaffected by magic. She could levitate it and move it around, and even teleport it, sure, but everything else she'd tried as far as scanning it went simply bounced off without so much as a single reaction. It felt like some spells phased right through it, as if it wasn't there. The few pieces of physical equipment she'd pointed at it hadn't returned anything noteworthy either. It was by all means a seemingly normal book, of average weight for its size, with no discernible magical properties.

And yet it wasn't. It couldn't be. She'd run other tests, too, of the more practical kind. She'd had other ponies come in to look at the book. Pinkie saw it as a collection of baking recipes. Rainbow Dash saw a new Daring Do book. Bon Bon had seen it as a book on cartomancy, apparently. Twilight herself still saw Celestia's autobiography, and Spike still saw it as a guide to wooing a unicorn. Everyone saw it in different colours, too, from the white and purple Spike saw to the patchwork of colours Pinkie had described. She hadn't had anyone read the book, of course, even if it had been particularly hard to convince Rainbow Dash not to.

She was at an impasse. All she could figure out was that the book was clearly magical, and that it actively wanted to be read. It was unclear whether it could actively read ponies' minds or if it merely acted passively, but it was clearly presenting itself as something they would want to read, and something that didn't exist. She'd checked all the titles she'd been given by the ponies she'd shown the book to, and indeed none of those were in the archives. It didn't seem like the book was actively tempting ponies beyond changing its appearance, though.

Twilight rolled onto her back over the sofa, still staring at the book. She liked a mystery to solve, and a challenge to overcome, but after hours of going at it she felt like she'd exhausted all the options she could think of. And the book could be dangerous. There was no telling what would happen once somepony actually read it, but she wasn't about to trust a magical book that hid its own magical properties and tried to trick ponies into opening it.

She was smarter than trying to open it herself. She recognised her own talents and abilities as a magic user, but she also recognised that the book was clearly beyond them. That stung a little, but it was also exciting, in a way. Or it would have been, if she hadn't run out of ways to try to figure out what exactly was going on with it. Twilight didn't like admitting defeat, but she also acknowledged that the book could be dangerous. All things considered, she really only had one option.

"Spike?" she called out, rolling back onto her belly.

"Yes?" Spike called back from the other room.

"Take a letter." Twilight sat up and cleared her throat. "Dear Princess Celestia..."

The train to Canterlot wasn't particularly busy, and while some of the passengers did chat among each other the carriage was overall rather quiet. Twilight could hear the chugging of the wheels beneath them as she leaned against the window, looking out to Ponyville down below as the train climbed its way up the mountain. She tried to relax, yet her eyes were inevitably drawn back to the briefcase resting at her side, just as her mind was inevitably drawn back to its contents.

She'd explained the situation to Celestia in her letter. The Princess had thanked her for being careful and suggested she come to Canterlot so they could look at the book together. After that, Twilight had gone back to finish Golden Oaks' reshelving, and she'd gotten together a list of all the books that needed replacing. The book had been left on its table, and it hadn't moved from there. It was still there the morning after. Twilight had slept poorly that night, her thoughts swirling around the mystery the tome held.

The briefcase was locked and enchanted with all sorts of security spells. It was probably unnecessary, since the book hadn't shown any signs of moving on its own, but Twilight figured it was better to be on the careful side. Without thinking, Twilight brought a hoof to rest over the briefcase, even as she forced herself to look out the window again.

"I'm sure Princess Celestia will figure out what's up with it." Sitting at her side, Spike reassured her.

Twilight merely hummed a response.

By the time the train rolled into Canterlot's station, she still hadn't calmed down. If anything, she was growing a little more jittery. "What if it's something really simple I didn't think of and she laughs at me?" she lamented as she walked off the train, with Spike resting on her back.

"Relax, Twilight," Spike reassured her once again. "She's the one who asked to see you, remember? And I'm sure you would have figured it out if it really was simple."

Twilight took a deep breath. "You're right." Briefcase in tow, she began to make her way towards the castle.

The walk there was uneventful, even if Twilight couldn't shake her nervousness. Once at the gates, the guards let her through with a nod, and she walked in and began to make her way through the tall marble corridors. From his spot on her back, Spike asked, "Do you think we'll have time to pay mom and dad a visit?"

"I'd like that, but I don't know," Twilight replied. "I guess we'll see." She stopped walking in front of a tall set of double doors. She swallowed, took a deep breath, looked to the briefcase floating at her side one more time, and pushed the doors open.

The room beyond them was tall and long, with a vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows lining the sides. An expensive red carpet led from the entrance to the opposite end of the room, and there, on a raised podium atop a small staircase, sat Princess Celestia. She smiled as she saw Twilight. "My faithful student. Please, do come forward."

Twilight bowed her head slightly before the Princess, and so did Spike, who had gotten off her back. Together they walked down the length of the room, while Celestia stood from her seat and moved to greet them halfway. "It's a pleasure to see you, Princess," Twilight said. "Though I do wish the circumstances were different." She eyed the briefcase again.

Celestia looked at it too, a hint of apprehension entering her features. "Indeed. Let us not waste any more time, then." She nodded towards the briefcase. "Please, show me."

Twilight nodded. She took a step back, set the briefcase on the ground, and one by one began to undo all the magical locks and seals placed on it. The process took about a minute. Finally, with one last flash of light from Twilight's horn, the latches on the briefcase came undone and it slid open. The book lay inside, surrounded by foam panels cut to keep it still in the middle.

Celestia's horn lit, and she picked the book up in her magic. Her expression was unreadable as she scanned the cover first, then the dust jacket. Twilight and Spike both looked at her. After a few more seconds of silent contemplation, she set the book down into the briefcase again. "Spike?" she said, looking at the little dragon.

"Yeah?"

She smiled at him. "This is going to get really boring, so you're free to go for now. Shining should be in the west wing of the castle, if you want to go say hi to him. You still know your way around the palace, right?"

"Of course," Spike replied. He looked to Twilight, and after she nodded he scampered off back towards the door and disappeared behind it.

Celestia spoke again. "Twilight, I'm afraid I'll have to hold you a while longer. I hope that's okay with you."

"Of course, Princess," Twilight said.

"Very well." Celestia teleported in a scroll and unfurled it. "This is the letter you sent. Is the list of spells you tried on the book listed here exhaustive, or did you try something else?" She levitated the scroll down to Twilight's eyes so she could read it.

Twilight scanned over Spike's writing for a few seconds. "I believe that's everything."

"Very well." Celestia rolled the scroll back up and made it vanish in a flash of magic. "There are a few more tests I'd like to perform." She closed the briefcase, picked it up in her magic, and began to walk towards the door. "Please follow me."

Twilight walked behind Celestia. Together they made their way down the corridors and across the castle's hallways, up spiral staircases and past tall windows and doors, until they eventually reached a part of the castle Twilight wasn't familiar with. As she looked around curiously, Celestia led her through a door into a room lined with tables filled with scientific and magical equipment. The briefcase was set down on a table in the middle of the room. Celestia opened it again and took out the book.

The next few hours were spent running all sorts of magical experiments on the book. Twilight marvelled at the sheer amount of spells Celestia knew, and she felt more than a little humbled as well. There was also the simple matter of what equipment was available there, far more than what she'd had back in Ponyville. The Sun was still climbing in the sky when she'd arrived in Canterlot, but it had begun its descent when the two of them finally took a break to have something to eat.

Truth be told, it felt nice. Twilight hadn't felt that close to Celestia since moving to Ponyville, and she'd missed it more than she'd realised. Perhaps that was why the book tempted her with an autobiography of the Princess. Perhaps Celestia had missed her too, and that was why she'd chosen to help out personally rather than have someone else look at the book.

Regardless of all that, though, things were not looking too well. Despite all their tests and all the spells and time spent, the book was still refusing to give up any of its mysteries. Twilight grumbled wordlessly as she bit into her daisy sandwich. Celestia was a bit less perturbed, but she did seem pensive as well.

She swallowed a bite of her own food, and then she spoke. "Perhaps the only solution is to read the book, after all."

Twilight looked at her weird. "But, Princess... That's..."

"That's what the book wants, yes," Celestia replied. "But whatever enchantments were placed on it, they seem to be beyond even my understanding. I wholly admit defeat on the matter. If we want to figure out what exactly the book does, reading it seems to be the only option left." She took a sip of tea as Twilight pondered her words. "Of course, we shouldn't."

Twilight blinked a few times, tilting her head, but then she nodded. "So what you're saying is that we should let the book be?"

Celestia nodded as well. "At this point, that may be the best solution. There are some things that are best left ignored. The book may be dangerous, or it may not be, but if we can't determine whether it is or not without endangering somepony, then it's for the best if we just leave it somewhere it can't hurt anypony. It's not worth the risk."

Twilight pondered those words awhile. Eventually, she gave a sigh. "I guess you're right." She still looked a little dejected though.

Celestia smiled at her. "I know. It's bothersome to go without an answer. But sometimes that's what life is like." She took another sip of her tea. "Why don't you go see Shining and Spike? I'll take care to place the book where it can do no harm."

Twilight still looked a little off, but after a deep breath in and out she gave Celestia a nod. "Alright then. Thank you for everything. I'll come see you again before I leave." She stood, having finished her sandwich, and walked out the door and away from the room.

Celestia finished her tea. Then she calmly stood up and walked back to the table where the book was resting. She looked at it, scanning its red cover and black title once more.

There was, of course, another possibility. That the book wasn't malicious at all, and that the contents it would show were genuine. It was unlikely to be the case, but it wasn't impossible. She wasn't willing to risk anypony else's well being. But if there was one pony she trusted with being able to deal with any potential evil spells the book may hold, it was her own self. And in the event she ended up corrupted by it, she trusted Twilight and her friends to restore things to their rightful state. She doubted the book was stronger than the Elements.

It was a dangerous gamble to take, and it would have been far safer to let the book be, as she herself had suggested. But she couldn't let the chance pass her by. Not with what the book promised her, and her alone. It was her own safety she was risking, after all, and she deemed it a risk worth taking.

Celestia opened the book, and began to read.