S4 introduces the idea that the book actually controls reality, and is written by an Author with an unknown agenda. A different version of page 23 than is in the actual book appears in Robin Hood’s pack (4.08) while he and Will search the library, suggesting alternate timelines or potential futures. This is later described by Isaac as an “experiment”.
August explains (4.16) that Author is a position assigned by the Sorcerer and Apprentice rather than a singular person. The Sorcerer’s house in Storybrooke contains a hidden room full of blank books. The Sorcerer trapped the current Author (Isaac) inside the book (4.15) when he abused his power; storybooks are created to record and pass down important stories, and Isaac began to dictate rather than record, forcing the Apprentice to send hatchling Lily to the LWM.
Isaac has a special quill, which is used to create storybooks (4.16). The quill is made of enchanted wood (4.17) and is described as a quasi-living entity (5.13). The quill can only be used with special ink (4.18), and can literally rewrite reality with a stroke, giving Cruella her power over animals and taking away her ability to kill. The ink necessary for the Author to rewrite the endings in Storybrooke – where Emma has dibs – has to include “dark Savior blood”, which through a loophole could be acquired from Lily (4.20).
Isaac uses the pen and blood to write a new version of reality based on a combination of his own ideas about villains getting their happy endings and Rumplestilskin’s idea of a good life (4.21, 22). He also writes himself a happy ending in the Land Without Magic, but by doing so he forfeits his Author powers. In the changed reality, Henry picks up the pen and uses Regina’s blood to undo everything Isaac wrote. The Apprentice tells him that the pen cannot bring back the dead. Henry breaks the pen, believing that no one should have the power it wields.
Being magic, the pen continues to exist in the Underworld. The late Apprentice tells Henry that the rules are different in the UW, and it would be possible to write a dead person back to life from there (Cruella’s goal). The version of Merlin’s house that exists there contains an unfinished storybook that includes Hades’ story with Zelena (among others -- the Author for that book is unknown). A fresh supply of ink appears with the quill there (5.15). Henry decides to use the pen after all, but to recreate Hades’ story from the book after Liam rips it out. Henry’s initial uses of the pen occur while he is sleeping (5.16) and result in scenes about Snow and Charming.
He later uses this ability to identify the unfinished business of many of the Underworld souls. Hook uses the Underworld-storybook as a vehicle to send the pages that include Hades' weakness to Emma in the living world.
In their adventure to destroy magic in New York, Henry and Violet discover dozens of previously-unsuspected storybooks in the rare reading room, which bears many curious similarities to the Sorcerer's Mansion in Storybrooke.
In S6, Henry uses the pen to give the Evil Queen a "fresh start", under the reasoning that since she's an extra copy of Regina, it's not actually interfering with his own book's characters. Shortly afterward Henry experiences a bout of automatic writing and passes out, leaving pages of strange symbols (although he was not using the magic pen at the time). Isaac claims to have of this phenomenon, and links it to the approaching final chapter of the book before he leaves town.
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