Excerpt from Journal A-Z-26:
Name: Grimoire Maleficarum
Species: Unicorn
Home: Canterlot, lower district
Family: Parents (unknown); Hatched Baby Dragon, Ryuko (Lost to illness)
Mission: Total True Magical Understanding
This is my first scientific journal to be written after I was expelled from the magic academy… All for using Dark Magic. I don’t understand these academics. They say their mission is to understand magic, yet they are content to let entire schools of magic to pass into the void of forgotten memory. How dare they!? No, I must remain calm… They think I’m a monster because I used what they deemed “a dangerous abomination of magic” and tried to force me out to protect themselves. Their actions are what set the foundations for the monsters, but I will not become one. If they want to see a young colt as a monster and coward at the sight of one that’s a quarter their age, then let them! Time will pass and they will be forgotten. But my research will open the doors to new possibilities! One day, ponies will study my journals, but they will be lost to time! I look forward to that day.
-Grimoire Maleficarum
-\/-
As Twilight and Pinkie returned, they found their friends waiting in the train station. They all made it to Ponyville within an hour of each other. They greeted each other and went over their respective adventures. As they did, they made their way toward the castle, stopping only for a moment for Pinkie to stop by Sugar Cube Corner. When they arrived at the castle, they found the CMC at the doors.
“What are you three doing here?” Twilight asked.
Scootaloo was the member that answered her, “We’re here to guard the doors!”
“Guard?”
“Yeah!” Applebloom blurted. “Levi asked us to guard the doors from anyone suspicious!”
“Why would he do that?”
“He said it was to watch for shadows…”
“Shadows? Really?”
“I know it sounds dumb, but we saw them! Living shadows!”
“What?”
“Like, real shadows moving on their own. I know it sounds weird, but it’s true!”
“When did you see them, exactly?”
“A couple days ago. They moved across the ground and made their way toward the castle, but we lost them in an alleyway…”
Twilight looked up to her castle. Her gaze was concerned and slightly angered. “Let’s go, girls.”
The six entered the castle to find… nothing. The main chamber was perfectly empty. However, they could hear something in the background. A light tune. They made their way inside the tune became more pronounced. Somepony was singing to themselves.
Unleash the magic.
The song sounded odd to the ponies.
Free the magic now.
They walked through the halls and tried to use the song to find the pony.
Unleash the magic.
The ponies passed by the throne room.
Free the magic now.
They passed a few of the minor rooms.
Imagine all I’ll learn by setting it free.
They made their way to the second floor.
And now winning these games depends on me.
They approached one of doors they rarely see.
And what doors might open if I try to use it.
They could hear the voice just beyond the door.
But the magic’s what I really want to see.?
They moved to open the door.
Unleash the magic.
They opened the door to find Grimoire standing near a bubbling cauldron with a crystal nearby.
Free the magic. Now.
Grimoire looked to the side and noticed the ponies. He nearly jumped out of his horseshoes. “Gyah!” After taking a few deep breaths, he was able to talk again. “Don’t scare me like that. You could knock, you know!” He shook his head to re-gather himself. “Nearly gave me a heart attack…”
Rainbow Dash flew toward him. “What was with the singing?”
Grimoire added a mixture to the cauldron as he explained, “I sing when I’m alone. It’s… an old habit.” He looks over to the gam and levitates it toward him. He places it on a pendant chain and hides the gem in his mane. “Now then, what brings you to the room I’ve commandeered for a quick experiment? Sorry about that, by the way; but it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. And before you say it, I know. Not the best lesson. But it’s a sad truth.”
Twilight trotted forward and looked him in the eye. “Where’s Leviathan?”
“In town.”
“Is there a reason he’s not watching you?”
“He is.”
“What?”
“He’s watching right now. He can see me, you, your friends, even ponies in Canterlot. Basically, he can see anything under the sun at any time.”
“But, how can he do that?”
“Really? Everything you’ve seen these past few days, and you can’t believe Leviathan can see you right now?”
Twilight had to admit, he had a point. Until a realization hit her at that moment. “What we’ve ‘been through these past few days?’”
Grimoire smiled and looked toward Twilight. “Yes…”
“You know what we’ve gone through with the Elementals...”
“Are you asking or stating?”
“How do you know?”
“There it is!” He jumped over his cauldron and stood in front of Twilight. “You really do need to get to the real questions faster.”
“Then answer that ‘real question’!”
Grimoire rolled his eyes before replying. “Fine, miss picky.” He took a deep breath and some minor dark powers flowed from his eyes. He lifted his head upward and the shadows around the ponies seemed to rise up from the ground.
Twilight, along with her friends, jumped more than a bit taking flight as it happened. “W-what?! How?”
He lowered his head back to normal and the shadows fell back into place. “One of the simplest magics of the Dark school, control of shadow.”
“And this how you knew what happened?”
“Not quite. Just a demonstration to put the real reason into context.” A section of his own shadow tore off and floated around him in six spheres. “They’re called Shadow Tags. They allow me to track anypony as long as they can attach to said pony’s shadow.”
“But why would you…”
“I needed to observe. You six have my sincerest thanks for helping me test and complete two experiments at once!”
“What?”
He ignored her and walked back toward his cauldron. “Let me finish up here and we can discuss it.”
Twilight thought back to the journal she was given by the Sphinx. She then thought of the gem hiding in his mane. Transfer of magic from objects into living creatures. She thought for a moment, and glared toward Grimoire. “What are you planning?”
“Planning?”
She used a moment of silence to put the pieces together. “You value a good, evidenced argument, right?”
“Always.”
“Then allow me to guess your plan.”
Grimoire sighed and rolled his eyes. “Go ahead. This should be interesting…”
“You see, I found your journal in the library.”
“My journal? Wait… you mean D-Q-17? The Sphinx said she wanted to borrow it. I’ve been meaning to go back and pick it up…”
“And one of the spells in the book is about transferring magic from items into living creatures.”
“Okay…”
“Call it a hunch, but you had us go and track down the Elementals, spreading us across Equestria, so you can gather the materials you needed for your spell. That’s why you have that gem, isn’t it? You plan on transferring magic and using it to get your revenge on the academy for kicking you out and getting back at the system you hate.”
After a minute of silence, Grimoire’s expression slowly changed from slight shock to a combination of distain and disappointment. “Are you done?”
Twilight paused a moment. “I… uh…”
He pulls up his journal K-M-11 and pushes it toward her. “Experiments 27 and 32. Read the descriptions.”
Twilight looked into the book at the experiments in question. “Experiment 27: Testing group tactics and cohesion when having to work on multiple, simultaneous projects. Experiment 32: test of Shadow Tag modification allowing for the teleportation of small items.”
“Yeah. And what’s more; if you had actually read and retained the full notation, something I know you’re more than capable of, you would notice that my experimentation showed I couldn’t move inanimate magics into sentient beings. Now…” He takes back the journal. “…tell me, how could I test your cohesion objectively if you knew you were being watched? Simple, psychological experimentation rules.”
Applejack moved forward to challenge him, “How do we know you didn’t write these down while we were gone?”
His expression became more at ease when talking to Applejack. “Ask Twilight. She’s read through one of my previous journals. She verify the authenticity.”
“What?” Applejack turned to Twilight.
“I was more like skimming… but I can say that he is telling the truth. The journal I read had a number of experiments written down that he recorded having done after writing other experiment ideas later on. It’s how he operates…”
Grimoire interjected, “I will have you know that the reason I write things down like that is because it’s the best way for me to do so. I travel around a lot and I write down the ideas. Then I test the idea when I get the chance.”
Twilight groaned a moment, but hung her head. She had to admit, her argument was breaking. Until she thought back to his own evidence. “…You wanted us to find the Elementals… you used our shadows to gather from the Elementals.”
Grimoire’s tone became cold again. “Correct. Three birds with one stone, as it were.”
As Fluttershy cringed at the idea behind the expression he used, Twilight continued, “You plan on moving the magic from what you collected into that gem, creating a magic-boosting stone.”
“Now you’re just grasping at straws.” He turned back toward the cauldron.
Twilight adopted a lower stance, ready for action. “I might not have all the details, but I’m certain you’re trying to bring down the Equestrian system. I read one of the early notes in your journal. You called the academy staff, and extended it to Celestia and her rule, ‘the products of the broken system that needs to be fixed.’”
Grimoire took a deep breath. “You know what? Believe whatever you want. I don’t care.”
“You realize that we will stop you…”
“You know…” He turned back around to face Twilight. “I’d like to see you try. Why don’t we take this outside?”
“You really want to fight Twilight?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t really see Grimoire and Twilight in a real brawl.
“Not a fight. A duel. I’m not interested in harming Twilight. I want to prove a point.”
“What point?”
“A personal point. That your system demonizes my field of magic without taking the time to understand it, and that thought process is holding your system back. That way of thinking is holding you ponies back.”
“And using Dark Magic, the magic of hate and evil, is the answer?”
“IT’S NOT ABOUT HATE!” After a series of deep breathes, Grimoire could continue. “Dark Magic is the magic of understanding and manipulating the world around you on a deep level. If anything, it’s Light Magic that’s ruled by such emotions.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you know? Because I’ve done my research Twilight Sparkle, and the observations side with me. During the assault by Tirek, did you or did you not possess the power of four alicorn princesses?”
“Well… yeah.”
“And did you or did you not have difficulty controlling that magic.”
“Yes. I did, but what does this…?”
“And did you, or did you not, get angry at Tirek when he destroyed your home. Thereby granting you greater control over that magic, basically forcing it to do what you want?”
Twilight couldn’t reply after that.
“You think you understand magic? You don’t.”
“How dare you?!”
“How?! Easily! You go around casting spells to find the easy way out! I know about your record here in Ponyville. The bats that you tried to force to not be themselves?! A ‘Reform Spell’?! Sound familiar?! You think because you can use magic that’s it’s the answer!” After another breath, “That said, I don’t blame you for these actions. You grew up in a system that told you that these were acceptable answers. You were taught by one that doesn’t speak up when she needed to.”
“What are you talking about? Celestia is the princess of Equestria. Why would she stay silent about anything?”
“Let me ask you this, when she dropped off the Chaos Spirit here in Ponyville, did she ask you to use a spell to reform him?”
“No, she asked for Fluttershy’s help…”
“Exactly. Using magic to force ‘reform’? Let me ask you, what is reform?”
“We just wanted to make him good…”
“Morality is relative. You didn’t want good. You wanted to force him to fall in line. You wanted to fundamentally change him without his consent. So tell me, does that sound like the actions of a kind, good-natured pony? Would a kind pony want to force another being to be what they’re not because it fits what they want? Does that sound like a pony deserving to rule? Guess what? Only one other pony in recent memory tried this… King Sombra!”
That’s it! Now Twilight was mad. “Don’t you ever compare me to that monster!”
“Monster, is it? Why is that? Because he uses Dark Magic instead of Light? News flash, princess, Light creates Darkness! No force in existence acts alone. Beyond that, no magical source acts in only one way. You remember the exploits of your first time meeting the pony named Starlight Glimmer? Light Magic! Also, you stated that Dark Magic is fueled by hate. Then why do Changelings feed on love?” He took another series of deep breaths. “Again, I don’t really blame you for the failings of the system.” He starts to leave the room, “Meet me in the town center tomorrow at noon.”
As he reached the door, Twilight looked back at the cauldron. It was glowing in four different colors: red, white, green, and blue. Waves of magic flew from the cauldron and into a set of nearby books. Twilight picked up the books and found that they had been filled with the stories of the Elementals. For the first time, there was a real account of the Elementals put to paper.
-\/-
K-M-11 (394)
This will be the final piece I can fit in this volume. I regret losing my temper with Twilight… but this is important. After being seen as a monster for my beliefs with magic, I just want to show that those who would condemn me for that are wrong. I could see it in their eyes, it was just like the look from the academics. They thought I was a monster. Nothing’s changed. The system continues to indoctrinate the young against the idea that Dark Magic isn’t evil by nature.
That said, my actions were reprehensible. Honestly, part of me hopes that Twilight Sparkle will ask to call off the duel. However, I also know that I cannot turn back now. I cannot just step aside, I have a point to prove here. Dark Magic is not evil. It is no different to any other form of magic. It is all about how it’s used.
Now I must duel Princess Twilight Sparkle. Some would call me mad, but I’m more than ready. The Princess of Friendship, former Element of Magic, and the prized student of Celestia will see what a pony can do if they keep a more open mindset to the uses of magic while truly understanding the consequences.
-Grimoire Maleficarum.