Since her transmigration, this was the first time Aurora had encountered such a thorny problem. Magic that could manipulate memory and trigger without any warning was even more dangerous than the Memory Stone the Four-Leaf Sage had tracked.
"Regrettably, I don't know either. Even Star Swirl the Bearded never studied this kind of magic. The Four-Leaf Sage once encountered a similar incident, but that artifact related to deleting memories has been lost for many years, and it's quite different from what you've experienced."
Celestia said somewhat dejectedly. The bizarre nature of this matter forced her to wonder if Equestria was about to face a new enemy.
"This magic book itself can be considered a type of artifact. I recognize the material used for the pages; it's a plant found only in the Everfree Forest that can preserve magic in a relatively stable form."
"I suspect the pony who wrote this book hid an unknown magic within the text. Once a pony understands the content, it triggers on its own."
'I fell into a trap!'
Aurora felt that the pony who invented this magic was incredibly devious.
"So... Flying Light, did you understand that knowledge?"
Twilight Sparkle asked.
Although she didn't remember what was written inside, she still had an impression of how abstract the contents were.
"Well... I don't remember what I understood either, but I'm certain I didn't understand most of it."
Aurora shrugged innocently; she really wasn't hiding anything this time. Moreover, she also retained the impression of the content being abstract, which made her even more curious about what that one sentence she did understand actually was.
"Flying Light, I think you should take another look at the title page."
To figure out the cause, Sunset Shimmer had spent the entire day flipping through the now-blank magic book, aside from taking care of the unconscious Aurora.
Upon hearing this, Aurora immediately recalled that part. It seemed that of the entire magic book, only this memory remained in her mind.
She quickly flipped to the page Sunset Shimmer mentioned:
'Let's make an exchange, shall we? An exchange regarding "memories".'
'What the hell! Could it be the work of the Garden of Recollection? But they wouldn't be this unethical, would they? At least they'd give a heads-up before deleting memories... Or is it a Memory Stealer or a Cremator?'
'Is the Daimos Boundary not an illusion? Does this place really have the world-building settings of Star Rail?'
The more Aurora thought about it, the more her head hurt. If her memories really had been swapped away, she couldn't even be sure how much she had lost.
'No, calm down. I can't panic now.'
Although the only remaining sentence really sounded like something a certain Memory Weaver lady would say, and her consciousness had even seen a place very similar to the Daimos Boundary, a careful look at the information on hand showed that nothing could confirm any involvement of Star Rail-related factions.
The only certainty was the residual Nightmare magic Celestia mentioned in the book, and that was a type of magic unique to Equestria.
Furthermore, if the opponent really were a Memory Weaver, stealing memories would be as easy as taking something from a pocket, and no pony would even notice anything unusual afterward. There would be no need for such elaborate theatrics that required reading a magic book to trigger the effect.
This indicated that it was at least certain to be a familiar magical power, rather than the Imaginary energy of the Path of Remembrance.
And the most crucial point: what did the other party exchange for her memories?
Aurora thought of the abnormality in her left eye's vision.
Memory Weavers can only tamper with things on a mental level, but her eye felt wrong on a physical level.
It felt as if the other party was deliberately maintaining a state that allowed her to notice something was wrong without letting her know too much.
'So annoying! Riddlers, get out of Equestria!'
Celestia saw Aurora staring at the book without a word, but from her slightly twitching eyes, she guessed her student must have a mountain of private thoughts by now.
"Princess, could you please help check Flying Light's eyes? Ever since she woke up, her eyes seem to have been uncomfortable."
Seeing that the discussion about the magic book was mostly over, Sunset Shimmer immediately informed Celestia about the abnormality in Aurora's left eye.
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Aurora's eyes.
From the outside, nothing seemed unusual, but the occasional involuntary twitching on the left side of Aurora's face betrayed her discomfort.
"Flying Light, if you weren't feeling well, you should have told me right away!"
Celestia chided gently, then stepped forward and tilted her chin up for a careful examination.
"Sorry, I just wanted to figure out what happened first..."
Aurora whispered a small defense for herself.
Because Celestia was holding her, Aurora was forced to tilt her head up and look directly at her.
But from Aurora's perspective, looking at Celestia felt like the pressure of staring directly at the sun; it was so bright she could hardly keep her eyes open.
And when she tried to close her right eye and observe Celestia with her left, she basically couldn't see Celestia's form or features at all—just a sphere of pure light.
The stinging in her eye and the consumption of her internal mana made her feel somewhat weak, so Aurora was forced to close her eyes.
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