"Curiosity is a dangerous thing. Just the smallest amount can drive a man to ruin both his life, and the lives of others as well"
"Careful, careful, with those." Twilight pleaded, watching as spike struggled to balance a large stack of books in his hands. "Those are some very old volumes, even the slightest bit of abuse could greatly damage them."
"I'm doing the best I can." Her dragon friend replied, his voice straining under the intense weight of the books. Just as he was about to keel over from exhaustion, twilight magically lifted the burden out of his arms and gently placed them down on the desk in front of her.
"Thank you spike." She said, and then turned here attention to the books. Using her magic she brought three of them to levitate in a circle around her. Each title had something to do with magic. Magic in practice, magical theories, and even the history of magic. With a relaxed expression she laid one of the volumes in front of her, entitled 'The Beginners Guide to Magic, Vol.1' and casually flipped it open to the first chapter, which talked about practicing magic safely.
Spike glanced at her quizzically as she began to drift off into that special world she went to whenever she opened up a book. "You know, I still don't get why you do so much review. Some of those books you've read so much I wouldn't be surprised if you've memorized them."
Twilight gave a light chuckle, knowing how true those words were. "Well, you sort of need to understand magic better to truly see why. I know most unicorns can make magic seem easy, but it takes a lot of practice and discipline to perform it correctly. If something goes wrong, the results could be dangerous to say the least. So every now and then I like to brush up on old lessons just to make sure I've got everything right."
Spike didn't seem any less convinced. "I guess I can sort of understand that. Still, doesn't it get a little boring reading the same old thing, over and over again?"
Twilight rolled her eyes at the dragons comment, although on a certain level she had to agree. After reading through these books so many times there were points were the words of the books would just come to her head ten seconds before she even read them.
Closing the book in front of her, she looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. "Magic, while considered by many to be the greatest convenience in their lives, may also be the most complex practice in written history. To truly master it one needs true dedication and tireless practice to accomplish anything. Beginners may expect to see results early, but to fully be in control of what one does requires time and a lifetime of practice." After reciting the whole verse in her head she reopened the book, and sure enough the opening paragraph was a word for word repeat of what she just said in her mind, with no differences what so ever.
For all his ignorance in the ways of magic, Spike did have a point. She could see a rather dull study session ahead of her. Maybe she just needed to spice it up a little, add a little variety to the same old mix. "Spike, what else do we have on magic?"
"Well, seeing as how you asked me to retrieve everything we had on the subject for you; we have...that." He stated motioning to the massive stacks of books both on and around the desk Twilight was sitting at.
She breathed out an annoyed breath and then thought for a second. "Did you check those older sections in the back?"
"Just as you said."
"Including the ones behind the glass cases."
"Uh..." Spike got a weird look on his face at the mention of that. When they first moved into the library several months ago they found a few cabinets that were protected with glass casings. Inside were some of the oldest books in the library, some dating back to times before ponies even existed. Being interested of course by such old knowledge, Twilight opted to read every book in the collection. She read one book, had nightmares for the next three weeks, and then locked every book back inside the case and had never touched them since.
Spike was obviously not to enthusiastic to have a repeat that episode. "You sure you want to try and read through some of that again? You remember I practically had to move into your bed during all of that."
Twilight's face made a noticeable cringe. She herself was a little hesitant to go through that again. It wasn't that the book she read was scary or anything just...disturbing. It had to do something with ancient history, of species she barely even knew. Something about somepony named Adolf, if she remembered correctly, and these horrible things he did to an entire race of his kind. The descriptions of his actions were so grotesque that she couldn't even think about them without getting a sudden urge to vomit. She didn't even know evil like that existed until then.
After that recollection she was more hesitant then ever to give it another try, but knowing it was either that or another review grind, she settled for giving the books another chance. "Lets just give it another try. Besides what I read was an ancient history novel, how bad could a book on magic be?"
Spike shrugged his reply and then carried off to the back of the library. He came back several minutes later with only a single volume in hand. "Sorry, there wasn't much, but I did come across this. I'm not quite sure what it's about though."
Twilight used her telekinesis to bring the book closer to her face. It was one of the strangest texts she had ever seen. There was no front title, the cover was black and had a large red image of a five pointed star in the center of a circle, with two tips facing upward, two on the lower sides, and one pointing straight down. Twilight blinked a few times as she opened the cover with curiosity. The first page was the title, "The Secrets of Magick"
Twilight frowned. "Well hopefully the author's theories are better than his spelling."
She returned to her desk brushing aside other books to make room for the new one. She began reading, and immediately at the start she noticed two things that struck her as very odd. First, in the books opening paragraph describing magic. While she wouldn't say it was the opposite of the text she had recited early, it was radically different.
"Magick, widely considered by most to be mysterious or even profane, is truly one of the most noble causes one can pursue. In practice one can achieve dreams of the impossible, but such goals require intense concentration and indomitable will to accomplish one's desires. While new comers to the practice may not find the results they seek immediately, with patience and skill, they will achieve the impossible and ascend to the ranks of gods."
Twilight blinked several times at that last statement, either the author had taken exaggeration a bit too far, or he was clearly off his bucking rocker.
The second thing that seemed out of place to her was that the misspelling on the title page was not a one time mistake, it was constant throughout. Whenever the word 'magic' appeared in the text, it was spelled with a 'k' at the end. This seemed a little more understandable to her however, this was after all a really old book that was written hundreds if not thousands of years ago. Maybe it was just a variation, or maybe that was just how they spelled it back then.
These oddities did seem weird to her, but she brushed them aside and reminded herself that she was reading the knowledge of a long lost race, there were bound to be a few things that were different. She did not however anticipate just how different it would be. The way magic was explained in this book was drastically different from what she knew, but at the same time, fascinating beyond anything she could've expected. If it even made sense to say; it was different in every way, yet similar in almost dozens of places.
It often talked about the center of power, or the third eye as it was mostly referred too; from which the user could draw in and use mass amounts of magickal energies. Even though the diagrams it showed were of a completely different species, she noticed right away how similar this concept seemed to the horn that all unicorns bore, from which they could draw in and control all the power used for their magic. She also noted how similar some of the basic spells were. Telekinesis a fire conjuring worked basically the same way it did for ponies, but she was baffled by the fact that book stated repeatedly that these abilities were incredibly complex and should only be attempted by the very skilled, when she had been able to do such things since childhood.
It wasn't just the similarities that peeked her interest though, it was some of the new stuff as well. There were things in the book that she had never seen before, spells that involved candle burning, divination with strange cards, and even complex and advanced rituals for all manner of things.
One such ritual instantly caught her eye. The rite was simply called 'Summoning a Sentinel'. It described a theory that each individual had the potential to contact an otherworldly being that could give great and wise advise on any question one could have, and explained in detail a ritual that could conjure such a being forth.
Twilight's eyes sparkled as her name implied, while she read through the process, examining every detail and the long list of supplies the ritual called for. Around the time she had finished reading, the thought finally struck her. Her she had a ritual that could contact a being that was far older than Celestia herself, and that would answer literally any questions she could ask it. The knowledge that she could gain from performing such a ritual was beyond any comprehension. Long lost secrets suddenly rediscover, old theories and technology suddenly brought back to life. The possibilities were endless. She knew right then and there, she had to perform this ritual.
"Spike, make a note. I need you to go into town and get quite a few things for me."