//------------------------------//
// What is a mare? 
// Story: At Twilight's End 
// by Shrouded_Legacy 
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After finding her way to the library, which inspired some childlike prancing about after seeing the sheer size of the library, not to mention the selection of books, Twilight had to rein in her excitement so she could find what she needed. Admittedly, she wasn't entirely sure of what she was looking for, but she grabbed a couple grimoires that looked promising for defensive spells, a reference to enchanted artefacts, and, to her personal excitement, a report by Star-Swirl the Bearded himself on “Experiments Against Ethics: Perilous Advances in Enchantment”. There were several others that were similar, but this was the only one she needed now. “Star-Swirl's own reports to Celestia! I'll have to come back for these!” Twilight noted as she pulled the tome. Her vision briefly brushed back across Star-Swirl's reports, longing for a chance to read them thoroughly, before she pulled away with a small groan.

“First thing's first; I need to know what I'm up against. Star-Swirl, let's see what you could scribe...” Twilight began reading -

To My Dear Celestia,
I have wandered Equus for many years, and as such I have seen a great many ordeals. I have borne witness to many unsettling things, but nothing has quite matched the subject which I write of now. The fear I have of these studies is matched only by my revulsion of them. Before I can properly qualify my observations, however, I must remind you of a few things...

Twilight skimmed through a couple paragraphs explaining the process of enchanting. It was a topic she, as the personal student to Princess Celestia, was already quite familiar with. Enchanting is the process of infusing crystalline gemstones with active magicks. The purer the crystal, the stronger the effect would be. Also, each type of gem has different latent magical properties, and as such, they would behave differently when enchanted.

Twilight was surprised and intrigued to find, however, that a more advanced method of enchanting actually changed the nature of the gem, allowing you the ability to use it however you might want. This took a significant amount of energy, however, and only proved useful when performed by a team, as together they could meld it easier. He went on to explain that these types of gemstones were most often unstable, but could be used with great power. He cited the Crystal Heart as one such artefact. It would take a team of about about seventy to one hundred Unicorns to power it, but that relic actually has the power to warp and empower the natural magic field surrounding the entirety of Panequea.

The Unicorn team that placed the enchantment nearly killed themselves attempting this feat, since channeling the required energy exhausted their neural synapses, but the results were extraordinary. Star-Swirl went on to describe how inspirational it was to unlock the true nature of the Crystal Heart, and his admiration of the team that sought to use it to protect their kingdom by cycling the emotions of the ponies around it. But he ended his praises with a darker passage.


… Then I understood what power we truly had over the natural order.

Dearest Celestia, I write this to warn you of those who practice magic in the shadows. While the Crystal Heart was a triumph of love and light, it was brought about by those who champion the darker arts to produce such effects.

The construction of the enchantment was astounding, as I've said, but as I read through the written reports of one of the researchers, I found that after they laid the groundwork, they had a difficult time trying to find a power source strong enough to warp the magical field to feed on ambient emotional surges, instead of only directed magical energy. It was at this point one of the primary researchers brought up a particular field that surpassed every other in pure power.

Necromancy.

Note that this was not the first time that Necromantic Enchanting had been carried out, but after the success of the project so many years ago, it became a legitimate field of research. The power required to morph the structure of the gem was very high, and as such there were a grand total of thirty-four killed for love of country. Twenty-five were willing participants, and the other nine were prisoners serving life sentences.

I applaud them for achieving what many of their contemporaries believed impossible, even if their methods do leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. What they proved, however was that it could be done. I have seen many artefacts in my travels that were immensely powerful, and after this I became curious as to how they were made as well. The groundwork of the enchantments I knew, but now that I could no longer assume that their research was indeed ethical, I conducted many in depth studies of these artefacts.

The three most malevolent enchantments I've come across I refer to as the Necroid. 

The first item is the Alicorn Amulet. It is a stylized amulet depicting an Alicorn with its wings unfurled with a garnet inset on a shield in the fore. The groundwork of it's enchantment was incomplete, but still allowed for continuous growth of magical power. It was designed by a Unicorn who managed to soul-siphon an Alicorn prince into the gem at it's center. The downside was that you would slowly lose what made you who you were, as the power (or rather the soul, I should say.) in the amulet slowly took over. Its creator ultimately destroyed himself and half of a city in a duel with his 'rival power.' The Alicorn Amulet was lost to the histories after this event.

The second item is the Voidsever. A carved emerald ring that empowered ones conjuration. It was created in time of war by a Unicorn who sought an advantage against his liege-lord's foes. It was made to fit around the horn of a Unicorn, but the groundwork of the enchantment allowed for slight manipulation of the size, so that it could be used by others in the event of his death. It greatly reduced the amount of energy needed to conjure weaponry, and as such one pony could wield multiple weapons effortlessly. He was assassinated, and the ring stolen, but since then there has been tales of a curse surrounding the use of the ring. Apparently it has a hunger for souls, and if it isn't used to take the life of another it will sap the strength of whoever wields it. I have recovered it, and I will bring it to the Castle of the Two Sisters for safe keeping when I can.

And the last, and perhaps most insidious in its creation, was the Hollow. A regal velvet cape, with several polished jet gemstones embedded in the fur trim. It is unknown where it came from, but it is being held in the Academy at the Crystal Empire. I managed to get the curators to allow me to study it, and what I found was disturbing. It enchantment is simple; it maintains a passive field. It shifts all magical energy around it. The disturbing part is that this field can be changed at will with little to no energy from the user. I only examined three gems, but each had more power in them than should have been possible. I have to conclude that multiple murders in conjunction with Necromantic Enchanting is the only way for mere ponies to achieve the results seen here. After reading through the tests performed, there seemed to be no ill effects on the researchers, except that they became... agitated after a prolonged absence of the cape. Their conditions continued to decline until they were driven mad and began to kill each other to wear it.

I dared not don it myself, for it would seem the souls trapped inside have become either harshly malevolent so as to cause fear of being without their power, or beatific so as to cause intense jealousy of others that might use it themselves. The chaos contained within is akin to the magic of Discord, and while it is possible that he is the source of the enchantment, it does not seem his style. There is no fun to be had in the death of a toy.

With this comparison, surely you too can see how dangerous it is to exert such control of the natural realm. Even if it weren't unethical to manipulate the natural order in such a way, no ethical code would ever allow for the enslavement of equine souls...


Twilight didn't finish reading the report, now unconcerned about the ethical dilemma that Star-Swirl wrote of.  “I DIDN'T MISS!!” Twilight shouted at the scroll. “That cape! Celestia's solar-flaring MAREHEAT!” Twilight jumped away from her research materials and kicked the wall. The exerted force actually managed to dislodge a brick, not to mention leave an imprint of her hoof on the stone. She began shouting obscenities while thrashing about, her mane burning with all the fury of Celestia's sun.

“Saucy.” the voice laughed cheekily.

“RRRAAARRRGHH!!!!” Twilight screamed, trying to release her overpowering anger. “And YOU! You would have to have known about this! You must have a lot of arcane knowledge to be able to draw complete zebraic glyphs, and if you and Luna fought him, surely you knew about his BUCKING CAPE!? Something you could've mentioned BEFORE I SENT EVERY LAST BIT OF MY MAGICAL ENERGY TOWARD HIM!?” Twilight raged, twitching with every attempted movement.

“Now, how would that have benefited Us?” The voice asked, a bit smug. “If you were to calm down, you would realize that if We would have volunteered that information, you would have turned us in to Celestia. If there were no rift between you two, We would've been in much more danger than We ever had been with Luna. Surely you can forgive a mare for looking out for herself, right? Champion of friendship and trust?” She laughed a bit haughtily.

This stopped Twilight in her tracks as her blood turned cold. “You... You set me up?”

“No, We just allowed your mistake to ensure our future.”

“Why... Why did I ever let myelf trust you?”

“Because I offer you comfort, Twilight Sparkle. I offer you power.” The Voice spoke lowly and darkly. “We never lied to you. Together we would be even greater than the Royal Sisters. And in the darkest corner of your mind, you don't want to be recognized as a student, but as an equal. You know that We want you, and We know you want Us, even if you'd never admit to it.”

“But I... No, not like this.” Twilight flushed as she sought to defend herself. “You offered companionship... unity. Like with Luna! Surely she wanted love just as much as I! I wanted to be recognized, yes, but in love, not the fear that you cast. I don't want this... I... I...” Tears started to fall as she realized that she had brought this 'Nightmare' to life. “Not like this...”

“We all want for things in our hearts, Twilight Sparkle. You are not mistaken, Luna sought love at first, but when she found it and it was taken from her... longing turned to hatred, and hatred spreads like wildfire. You sought power you lacked to overcome your foe, and We supplied it. Now you seek companionship because you lack it, and We, thus far, have supplied it. Now that you realize that We, too, have been seeking something, is it truly so surprising? We want to live, and you are my best chance at realizing my own goal.” 

Twilight tried to think about this, but found it much harder than it ever was before. There were so many things happening concurrently that she couldn't parse out the genesis or destination of any of them. “You seek life, I seek companionship, and...” Twilight had a thought. “Am I to be as Luna was, then? Is that your idea of a symbiotic relationship?”

The Voice stilled. “That was a mistake. She sought help, and I, in love for her, offered my soul to her cause. I fell prior to the conquest of the Crystal Empire, and my soul followed her until the enchantment was broken, along with her armor. Since then, she and I have worked together again, as in the olden days. You must speak with her.”

“You... Bound your own soul?” Twilight gaped.

“As I said previously, I was foolish, and Luna too innocent.”

“Why have you been using the Empirical We? Why the separate voices?”

“Luna and yourself have become part of who We are, but I am still myself as well.” She replied evenly. The concept confused Twilight, but she thought it was minor in comparison to the many other things she had learned today. Not to mention that she still had to return to Ponyville.

After a beleagured sigh, she huffed, “Back to the books then.”

“And pass up the opportunity to surpass your idol's studies of an extremely powerful magical artefact?” The voice said coyly.

“I am NOT going to risk my life so haphazardly. The Voidsever may be hidden here, but I will not use it unless I absolutely must.” Twilight paused. “But I suppose having it around couldn't hurt.”

“There's a good filly.” The voice laughed.

Ignoring her, Twilight began to search for Voidsever.



After some time, Twilight managed to find a set of saddlebags, a cloak, a couple more grimoires with both defensive and offensive spells scribed within, and, eventually, the Voidsever. As night fell once more, Twilight decided to get some rest before heading back to Ponyville. Before settling in, though, she wanted to crack open a couple of the spell books. She already had an impressive repertoire of magic spells learned, and her near iodedic memory would allow her to recall any of them given a reason to do so. “It is still good to brush up before heading into a test... especially against such a strong foe. Trixie's magic was all flash and no substance before, but if she can handle transmogrification spells, combat spells should be easy for her.”

Twilight picked through her collection and found a new one to start with. “One With the Shadows: A Hoof of the Brotherhood.” Twilight paused a moment to wonder why the princesses would have a spell book used by one the more infamous guilds in history. Granted, at the time very few knew of them, just remembering their mention as stories used to scare foals straight. The princesses would know the truth, but in order for them to have obtained a spy's/assassin's spell book... there was a story there that Twilight would love to hear.

She opened the book and began to read about one of the spells she cast during the fight with Sombra. The shadow teleportation spell, called “Slide”, was developed to have a method of short range teleportation in lowlight environments where the glow of a horn would give away the user's location. Twilight was surprised to find out that the spell matrix was based on a seal, a magical symbol that acts as a focal point for the spell.

“To be able to cast a seal spell without the seal being present is unprecedented, at least in my studies thus far...” Twilight ruminated. Intrigued, she delved deeper. Always a fast reader, Twilight read through, following several different rabbit holes due to the book referencing other things, until she came across a passage she had to reread to make sure she understood it properly.

“...and therein lies the primary difference between basic magic and shadow magic. 

Basic magic uses a concentration where your horn draws the energy needed to itself and requires mental fortitude to morph the energy into the form you seek. The glow exhibited by the horn is a byproduct of the combined aura of the magical energies. This is even shown in black magic (a.k.a. Dark magic), named for the black aura that surround the horn. The amount and style of manipulation is determined by your willpower and knowledge, therefore it stands to reason that your spells normally revolve around your talent. People practice and are more knowledgable about things that they are passionate about.

Shadow magic (a.k.a seal/runic magic, thought the latter is only very recently coined), on the other hoof, is a recent development that hybridizes power of Zebraic fetishes and the versitility of Pony magic. The mental component is less taxing as it uses glyphs that act as the focal point for the magic. There are a few exceptions, such as 'Slide', 'Flash', and 'Fear', where there is no true focus for the magic being used. These exceptions actually form a field of foci, normally spherical, and allow for manipulation of the field. The primary drawback to this type of magic is the necessity of the glyphs or seals, but as their presence reduces the neural strain of the magi's spellcraft, it is well worth adding to any serious magi's repertoire, even if only to understand the concepts.

This being said, shadow magic carries a stigma not only because it is a bastardization of two distinct types of magic, but also because at it's onset, the primary users would carve runes into themselves, and some actually combined it with necromantic enchanting to place the magic in their blood. Beware these approaches, however, as they morph the magic. The phrase 'Shadow magic' was coined for these abnormalities. The aforementioned spells in particular seem to turn the field to an indiscernable shadow for the channelling and execution of the spell, making them particularly useful for espionage or other ponies who wish to remain concealed and utilize magicks.”

Twilight closed her eyes and considered this while recalling the event during that fight. When Sombra's cut healed itself, dark tendrils had shown in the wound to knit his flesh back together. “A healing spell, seal based. Character composition... fi del ae, omega... Matrix complexity: High.” She opened her eyes and looked up the characters she recognized in a grimoire. “Mend.” She closed her eyes hummed as she drew the spell matrix in her mind.

She couldn't have known it, but as she traced the matrix in her mind, the lines wrote themselves in her eyes.  By the time she fell asleep, her eyes glowed white with the newly learned rune.