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// (Noir Report) A Clear-Headed Report on Unclear Findings [Black Flame] 
// Story: The Unique Properties of Dark Magic 
// by Shadestyle 
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Foreword


With a mind currently unclouded by unnatural emotion do I begin this short journal.  Thank god for crystal ink and black paper.  I've always enjoyed white writing on a black medium.  Some small pleasure to help me cope with this foreign land.  And an easy sight to soothe my poor eyes in this bright country.

In memory of my homeland's delightful stories, I believe I'll title this book Grimoire Noir.  A name I'm sure none in Equestrian or beyond will find reference to.






Entry #1, Day 3


Until such time that I learn the pony who rightfully discovered this spell first, I will take the liberty of speaking of it in my own ignorant terms, such that a fresh perspective can be had on what seems to be the simplest dark magic.  One so simple in fact, that it is the first of any magic that I have learned to summon in my life.  The moment I cast that spell was also the moment I had discovered my special talent, when my fear turned to frustration, and then anger, my horn had erupted with a toxic purple aura, and at its tip, a black fire began burning, drinking in the light.  I thus name the spell Black Flame.

When I cast it at a chunk of packed snow that had been frustrating my attempts to shape it into shelter, the flame crashed into it with the force of a charging bull and exploded in a wash of heat that turned the snow around it into smooth ice.  In the center, the black fire had grown, and had begun to devour the ice, burning it away into what I believe is nothing at all.  The heat from this fire saved my life from the bitter cold, and made me realize my talent.

One thing worth noting, however, is that, though its use requires relatively little skill, it's downsides are many.  First and foremost among them being an increase in the user's aggression and a strange, mental pollution that dampens other, interfering emotions.  Like a chain reaction, the emotion required to evoke this fire is also created by it.  Even being near the flame created evokes a feeling of malice towards whatever it is burning for those who are warmed by it.

The first time I cast it was also the first time I learned of the exhaustion inherent to casting spells.  It is now that I look back to that time that where the evocation of emotion drained magic from me, the sensation of emotion restored this lost vital essence.  As I grew frustrated during a long journey afterward, and then, amused at the idea of a mane of the black flames, I felt my vitality return faster and faster at the amusing thought, and the imagined scenario of others seeing me with it.  This culminated in the foolish decision to attempt it, one which my poor tattered mane attests to even as I write this.  Let this be the moral of that anecdotal experimentation, then, that the Black Flame should only be cast on something one wishes burnt.

Experimentation taken after that point in the safety of a new shelter raised worrying questions to which I have few answers.  As I began to test the black flame more and more, I found myself forced to overcome a grudge against the mundane objects I cast the spell on once I had concluded my tests.  Thankfully, as they are obliterated for my continued warmth, overcoming this strange, petty desire for vengeance against ice, snowballs, and a piece of cheese was not too painful a process.  I am unsure whether the grudge was born from using the magic itself, which may mean an unavoidable loss of sanity with each casting, or if those grudges were the result of the emotions evoked by the magic conditioning me rapidly with a petty dislike by association.

That is to say, it may very well be my own personality that causes me to take offense against something merely because I had felt strongly about it at one time.  Though I am cautious and will strive to be respectful of this spell, I have not changed my former feelings towards it.  If I master and harness this magic, I could perform operations on my own that I thought lost to me in this land, such as milling, forging, and smelting.  Heat is heat, and the flame consumes what I deem its fuel.  If I could narrow my frustration, and better manage my anger, will the flame become more controlled as well?  It's worth testing, and I plan to do exactly that.  Maybe I could attempt cutting with it next?

I am unsure if this is a property of the Black Flame, or a property of the mind control spell I pit it against, but, when faced with those whose minds had been put under another's thrall, my noxious fire seemed to mesmerize them, leaving them frozen and unwilling to take action against me.  I'm unable to test this further at this time, and to be frank, any sort of serious, long term testing feels a bit unethical to me.  I'll simply have to keep my eyes open.  If the future goes as I expect it to, there will be no shortage of those whose minds are impaired by other Dark Magic users, and no shortage of situations in which I am forced to evoke that all-consuming fire of hate.

One minor quirk of the Black Flame that I did not feel worth noting at the time, when I had turned it against snow, despite snow being made of ice and water, the flame left behind coals, ashes, and glittering fragments.  It might be a worthless byproduct, but never in my life have I ascribed to the notion that worthless byproducts exist.  Instead, I will refer to it as I believe it to be, a potential reagent.  I'll call this new substance Cold Ash.  Perhaps next, I should seek to mix it with iron, eh?  Cold Iron? ...No?