Around the stroke of midnight, few were up who would have even seen a cloaked pony stealthily enter a dilapidated building on the outskirts of Baltimare. Specifically, the old Blue Ribbon Corn Feed building that had been abandoned when the heart of the town moved closer to the port. To most ponies knowledge, the building was so out of date that only the land had value, but no company seemed interested in the location. As a result, the almost century old brick work was cracked and covered in overgrowth. But the fact there were no missing windows, with an almost even split between ancient cracked panes and suspiciously new, if somewhat dusty, panes went overlooked.
“Praise be to the Shadow,” the cloaked pony whispered into the door, with the presumptive door keeper opening it in response.
“The Shadow be praised,” he answered in response.
With purpose, the arrival trotted through the secretly occupied building, past similar cloaked ponies in prayer near dim candles. Upwards the pony ascended through the building, which more and more seemed to be in good repair and only the exterior facade intentionally left derelict. At the top floor, in what used to be the office of the President of the Blue Ribbon company, a lone stallion was deep in meditation, facing away from the newcomer.
“High Templar Pure Faith,” the pony said, “The first of the prophesied four may have surfaced!”
“Yes, Paladin Shoelace?” Faith replied in a bored tone. He had been following Emerald Joy for years, and yet had always been one step behind. He opened a singular eye to look at a picture on a corkboard, that of a lime-green unicorn with a curly pink mane adorned with a bright blue hairbow. However, her deep rose-hued eyes always gave her away – at least until she finally vanished somewhere south of the Everfree.
“I bring you news on the whereabouts of Emerald Joy,” exclaimed Shoelace. “Look!” The pony then withdrew a folded newspaper, tossing it toward Faith. Faith in turn lit up his horn to pick up the paper and examine it. The headline was some corny way of talking about how dark crystal had erupted from some insignificant pony’s back yard.
“She calls herself Raspberry Beryl now,” the acolyte continued, “and she now is in the employ of the usurping princesses.”
“I care not what she calls herself,” Faith grunted with some disgust. “That mare may be descended from Sombra, as she so claims, but she also withdrew her wrath from succeeding where our master said the true firstborn would.”
“But what if it was just a ploy, to weave herself into the corrupt government to allay suspicion? After all, she was the one sent to investigate this dark magic outbreak, but what pony other than her could possibly have caused it?”
“Well, for one, the Solar Tyrant’s secret daughter,” the templar spat. “There have been rumors of Sunset Shimmer returning. And despite how she is despised by the public, you know as well as I that it was merely a ploy for Baroness Shimmer to be held in reserve as an assassin to do her mistress’ bidding.”
“Even so, sir,” Shoelace argued, “why use that kind of asset for such a matter? No, this is Emerald Joy – or Raspberry Beryl, as she is now known – and it is clear she bows her horn to the Solar Throne, at least publicly. The truth may be another matter.”
“This…is true. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Shoelace. Gather the other faithful – we must have a meeting.”
Shards of Darkness
Chapter 02: Black Lineage
The path felt strangely unfamiliar to Razz as she trotted away from the safety of Ponyville and toward the ruins of Everfree Castle. Not that she needed to fear for her own safety – Heliodor was keeping close watch as he soared above, ready to defend her if need be, which would have been quite a shock as phoenixes were not native to this region of Equestria. If that failed then she herself could effortlessly reveal how she was most likely the scariest and most deadly thing in the forest right now. And for a time, she’d appropriately even lived in the forest in the past. Before being taken in by Ascot and Cashmere at the Traveler’s Retreat, Razz had made a safehouse of sorts amid the ruins of Everfree Castle, a place both to hide temporarily as well as forge her counterfeit gems when she still sold them. She now no longer offered her services as a gem peddler – fact was her art was still concentrated dark magic simply colored brightly, and even when properly “disarmed” they still held inherent risk of being eaten by dragons. But, on occasion she was called upon to whip up something from crystal, usually for use of the alicorns, and so she maintained the old space as a workshop as while she had legal permission to practice dark magic – not like she had a choice – it still freaked ponies out when she generated dark crystal in public.
Though in this case, as she hauled the extracted mass salvaged from Coltumbus, the distance from civilization was necessary in case something went horribly wrong. Despite being sure they were some of her original early counterfeit crystals, Razz still was unsure how volatile they were, and that was really dangerous even for her.
Suddenly, Heliodor swooped down and perched on a nearby tree that grew from the ruins of a small house nearby. He chirped in a concerned tone, gesturing to the castle proper which, since the last time he and his mistress had been there, had scaffolding erected around it.
“Yeah, yeah,” sighed Razz, “the whole Castle Everfree Restoration project , but don’t worry, Heelee. Nopony’s doing work today so we should be okay.”
Another chirp, this one longer and more warbling.
“Yeah, I know – when they turn this whole place into a historical site, we’re going to have to find a new labspace. Twilight’s already looking into getting funding for a new facility for me down by Deep Drop Falls. But that’s still a couple of years away and I need a place to do my work now, so here’s where we are for the nonce.”
She then trotted into her old safehouse, her magic reaching out to grab tools normally used to shape forming crystal. “Now let’s see if I can break this bastard apart to the goodies inside.”
“Well, that was fun,” groaned Twilight. After having helped deal with the weird dark magic incident in Coltumbus, she’d been recalled to Canterlot to take part in diplomatic talks with the minotaurs – an unspecified issue with Princess Cadence had prevented her from attending and thus necessitating Twilight’s involvement. They had been long and involved an unhealthy amount of flexing on part of the minotaurs. At least Iron Will and his wife, Princess Circe, were doing well with a child on the way.
“On the plus side,” said Princess Celestia, “relations with the Kingdom of Minos are at the highest they’ve been in years.” She then blushed as she added, “though I do agree, the flexing was a bit much.”
“I, for one, am starving!” said Princess Luna, followed by her stomach visibly growling. She picked up her pace and trotted off to the royal banquet hall. Celestia and Twilight followed suit, also having grown rather hungry. The castle staff, being only the best in service for their ladies, already had a feast ready and waiting for the alicorns.
“So, Twilight,” said Celestia, walking over to take her seat, horn lit up as she dished up some Horsegarian goulash. “What was the matter in Coltumbus that Razz needed your help with recently?”
Twilight gave both sisters a brief recap of everything that had transpired in Coltumbus, from the overnight appearance of the dark crystal tree to Razz’s theory of how it came to be. Twilight then had to remind Luna exactly how the events played into Razz’s early life, and the lunar alicorn lightly smacked herself in the forehead. “I feel completely humiliated for forgetting that, especially all the times I’ve helped her with her nightmares from those days.”
“it’s moments like those that should remind our faithful ponies that despite all our power, we alicorns are not infallible,” Celestia noted. She took a bite of the food before her before continuing. “But I digress, that’s besides the point here. Did the situation get wrapped up before you came here?”
Twilight shrugged. “Sorta. We took all night but we removed the crystal growth from Blueberry Lemonade’s backyard, so there’s no danger to the town anymore. But Razz took the stump back to her little hideout in the Everfree Castle to examine it and verify that it is just her old handiwork that’s coming back to bite us in the rear and not somepony else.”
“That is still a worrying concern,” voiced Luna. “Does Razz have a ballpark estimate of how many towns may have her defective gems in them?”
The youngest alicorn shook her head. “No, she doesn’t, so far the only clue we have is from what Lemonade told us: the only reason she gave her daughter those specific gems was because she remembered they’d been gotten for cheap and that they looked low-quality, so if her daughter lost them in the dirt – which is exactly what happened – then little in the way of value would have been lost.”
“Did Razz have any ideas on where to proceed, or is she still at square one of that?”
“She suggested that the government come up with ways of ‘examining’ the gems in the possession of everypony. The exact nature of which she didn’t specify but all in all, it would have to be a massive national action coordinating the local police forces, town militias, the Guards, and possibly even the Army and the Navy.”
“That isn’t an option,” sighed Celestia. “Obviously that would put ponies in fear that something is not right with the gems they’re getting wholesale, and a large national investigation would only damage the precious stone economy.”
“What if we just were honest about the matter?” Luna suggested. “Razz clearly understands that at the end of the day, she is at fault for these dangerous counterfeit gems being out there, but at the same time I’m sure she would be okay with such an investigation being concentrated only on gems that were food grade or lower. I’m certainly guilty of worse – we legitimately have an entire national holiday based on how I turned into Nightmare Moon, need I remind you two – and counterfeit gems are as an unrelated note a rising problem as well even without the context of dark magic being involved. We could kill two birds with one stone and we’re the richest country on our planet so reimbursing ponies for any gems we need to take certainly wouldn’t be a problem either.”
“That sounds like an ideal plan,” agreed Celestia, who turned to Twilight. “When you speak to Razz next and see if she’s learned anything, ask her how she feels about it. As Luna pointed out, she’ll most likely have no issue with that idea, but she is a minor princess nonetheless and we need to cover our bases.”
“Of course, Celestia!”
After several hours of experimentation and discoveries, not all of them exactly reassuring, Razz was confident that her original gems were responsible for this outbreak. But the final test was, ironically, impossible for her alone to carry out. She had created a perfect replica of her early batch of counterfeits, a crude faux ruby, with the improper sealing spell. It was somewhat amusing in how difficult it had been, as her greater expertise in dark magic over the past decade really hammered in how much of an inexperienced hoof she’d been back then.
But the final piece of the test she needed was a controlled weather spell. And as far as dark magic was concerned, “control” as a concept was relatively difficult as that was what was traded off for raw power output and even violating some basic magical laws. Maybe with practice in the far future, Razz could manage what she needed now, but between little experience in those kinds of spells and having the power output to unintentionally generate a massive land-locked hurricane if she sneezed at the wrong moment, it wasn’t worth the risk.
Fortunately, the preferable alternative soon appeared in a flash of magic.
“Hey, Twilight!” greeted Razz, while Heliodor tweeted in kind from his perch nearby. “Have a nice day with the minotaurs?”
“Mostly, though if I look like I’m avoiding Bulk Biceps later today, it’s because I’ve seen enough muscle flexing to last all week.” She then shook her head and changed subjects. “I need to go over what Celestia, Luna, and I want to do about this issue with the crystals, since it does involve you, but first what have you found about the samples from Coltumbus?”
Razz chuckled. “Believe it or not, you’re just in time to help me with the final test. How good are your weather magic skills?”
Twilight blinked. “I’d say pretty good, why?”
“Here, let me show you,” said Razz, who looked to her hidey hole and engulfed her horn in the familiar green-and-purple miasma. Out of the structure came the faux ruby, and Razz explained its nature. “Since this is as close to a replica as I can make now, I want to test the natural erosion forces on its protective barriers and measure how long it takes to break the resistance and cause the dark magic inside to expand.”
“Aren’t you afraid that it will break into something large like what happened at Coltumbus?”
“Nah, the danger with this kind of dark magic builds up over time if not properly sealed – as grim as a comparison as it is, the worst this sample will give us is about the same as what happened when Spike ate my hoofiwork at Nightmare Night. Horrifying if it happens inside a living body, but otherwise we’re talking the size of a tuft of grass at best.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” Twilight said in a wary tone. The idea of setting off dark magic eruptions, even under controlled conditions, did not sit easily with the princess. She’d channeled dark magic before, but whereas Razz could channel it seemingly without much issue, it was a different story to one of Twilight’s abilities. To the young princess, dark magic produced a powerful, intoxicating effect…that felt completely and utterly wrong. To unleash that kind of sick power even indirectly disgusted Twilight internally, but…Equestria had been saved because of Razz’s knowledge of the left hoof path. If anypony could be trusted in such a situation, then Twilight’s disgust at dark magic paled in comparison to how much she believed her friend had everything under control.
After casting a measuring spell – which after the experiment was performed, she could essentially “access” and immediately know the desired information – on the ruby, she teleported Razz and herself to an open clearing within the Everfree, as to avoid damaging the archeological Everfree Castle site. On cue, Razz buried the ruby in some soft , loamy soil, and then backed off while Twilight in turn opened her wings. Launching into the sky, she quickly grabbed the nearest cloud, then used her magic to agitate the water molecules inside it to a point where it would become a miniature thunderstorm. Dragging the cloud back down to the ground, she then bounced on top of it briefly to kick the storm off. She finally disembarked, landing next to Razz and casting another, stronger spell.
“And now, we wait,” said Twilight, confidently. “Merry Meteo's Monsoon Madness amplifies rain so it will continuously pour at a faster rate – specifically, one month per day, or one year every twelve days!”
“Every twelve days?” Razz gasped. “We’re talking an effect that breaks after years! I thought you wanted answers ASAP!”
Twilight shrugged. “Hey, even though I’m a princess, even I can’t fast forward the weather.”
Razz sighed. “Okay, fine, can you at least cast spells to protect the area so nopony disturbs it, as well as some kind of alarm spell so we know when the gem bursts?”
“Yeah, can do.”
“Good, do that and then take us home – I’m feeling wiped and we have a long wait ahead of us.”
The next day…
“By Sombra’s goatee, are the princesses truly this stupid?” asked Shoelace, stupefied by the news headline.
“Well, unfortunately they are a smart kind of stupid,” replied Pure Faith, a dark grimace on his face. “Smart enough to overthrow our master and rule undisputed for ages...yet foalish enough to do something as moronic as this.”
The newspaper in question boldly announced a government investigation into the presence of dangerous forgeries of gems across the country. All citizens were to examine their gem collections where applicable and any suspiciously low-quality gems – or any gems they had reason to suspect were fake – were to be taken to their local Guard garrison. The article specifically named the reason being the incident in Coltumbus having been due to forgeries made of dark crystal. Ones made by none other than the so-called “Archmagus of Dark Magic” herself; Raspberry Beryl.
“Clearly her plan is to gather all her gems of the past into places of authority so when they detonate, they take out all the guards at the same time! It’s genius!” Shoelace swooned. “We must do our part to help her in this endeavor!”
“Making even obviously low-quality fake gems of dark magic requires great skill and effort, and we do not have the luxury of the mastery that Raspberry does!” Faith reminded his acolyte. “We must make do with what resources we have available! Find me the best gem forgers in the country, I have an idea…”
Shoelace bowed. “It shall be done at once!”