Entry #2, Day 4
Where the Black Flame is infuriating, the black crystal is intoxicating. I find it difficult to cast at times, between my holding back as much as possible, and my own fear shattering the careful magical forces at play. I've learned that a strong enough "incorrect" emotion can interrupt me casting a spell, after enough instances of it happening in this exact situation. I don't want to use this spell anymore. Despite that, I must. Any advantage that I don't take may spell doom in the trying times that this book was written in. I refuse to believe that this magic can only be used by a tyrant, I have to refuse it. To that end, I shall name this spell Sombra's Corrupt Crystal Creation, to remind me of what I risk becoming during this study, and of who I must surpass to achieve mastery of it.
Domination. The hunger for obedience, for deference. The type of itch that can only be scratched when another pony grovels before you. This emotion forms the core of SC3, as I'll be calling the spell for short. When this emotion is paired with the mental urge, or command to manipulate crystal, the spell begins, starting by intensifying the emotion until it it's strength matches that of the spell, and then performing the task that one set out to do. Crystal begins to grow, change, and distort in a way professional crystal-shaping crystal ponies call "Disturbing". A firm focus is required to shape the crystal with any degree of accuracy, and unmaking it is far more difficult than even the act of creating it without some sort of seed crystal. Despite that, it is entirely possible to use this spell to destroy crystal, as well as create it without a seed to grow it from. Perhaps I'm wrong, and the seed crystal that the spell locked onto during those experiments was merely too microscopic for me to see. I have no way to test this at the present moment, so for all intents and purposes, I will consider the spell to be capable of generating it ex-nihilo.
Having no desire to spy, and no confidence in it's ability to be concealed from dark magic users, my first experiments in creating dark crystal were of it's physical properties. Having summoned up various primitives, I tested them destructively and in other, more practical ways. One unfortunate thing to consider, nearly every adult crystal pony who participated in testing was able to break the crystals that I created, while I myself was unable to damage the larger ones, beyond scuffing them, or breaking off fragments. Ordinary crystal tools and weapons were able to break through any Dark Crystal counterparts with trivial ease, making it unsuitable for combat against superior crystals, made by superior crystal creators. In all physical respects, SC3 pales in comparison to old fashioned Crystal Pony Ingenuity. Something that fills my heart with pride and relief, and informs me for the seventh time that incorrect emotions can shatter weak, lesser spells.
My next experiments lay in it's magical properties. As the only unicorn on hand, I pray those who read this forgive my small sample size. Even more unfortunately, there may be a bias involved. My attempts to burn it with Black Flame succeeded with ease, the fire obliterating the blackened crystal I summoned, but in the very same experiment, if I created a crystal and attempted to contain a black flame using it, the flame was helpless to resist as I encased it and snuffed it out. Ultimately, these experiments lead me to believe one simple fact. I am not a suitable test subject to compare my own magic against, as I pollute my own results with the intentions of my magic. Something which I will try to remedy in the future via either proxy or assistant. Though I must wonder if there do exist others who could match me in dark magic and yet retain that in their heart by which I may call them "friend". Perhaps I'll have to produce such individuals one day, if I myself prove capable of retaining that quality at my mastery's epoch.
My final experiment lay in it's true essence, the undiluted desire for control. I absolutely refuse to attempt even the most minor perversions of the mind using this spell on another pony, but there exist targets that do not fall under that stipulation. Myself, and that which does not live. Attempts to use the crystal to influence my own mind with simple commands or hypnosis fail. My desire for control fundamentally cannot be used to take that control away from me, something I should have expected. Perhaps, then, It might be suitable for retaining my self-control, something I am unable to test at the present moment. As for the second among my victims, a term used in my homeland, a "Golem", is a creature born from rock and slaved to it's creator. Though my attempts at present fail, I feel it is a failure of lacks, rather than truths. I can tell from the crystal's primordial equivalent of confusion that it fails to control inanimate objects not through a lack of ability, but a lack of capabilities. Rocks do not have muscles, nor do they have joints or eyes. If I give these things to my golem, will it rise and serve me? If I give to it, will it obey in turn?
When compared with it's peers, dark crystal is clearly the runt of the litter, however, it's still a hard, glassy substance that can be produced from nothing at a point of my choosing. Any from my homeland would immediately see what I see, an incredibly potent tool with unimaginable destructive capacity. As they would most any extant or nonexistent object, I imagine. The first, most obvious question is "What type of crystal is it?", to which, dear aspiring magi, I have an answer here at the end of my entry. "It depends." An unfortunate, but true fact of this spell is that, if you do not know what you are growing the crystal from, it's properties default to those of glass, and if you do know the substance, then the crystal that results is a variant of it. I learned of a new substance by this method, when a dark ice crystal I created had come to melt into an equally dark water. In future reference, this substance's name shall be Black Water, my most intelligent and complex name yet, one worthy of poetic praise from all who hear of it. If I spray it at things, would that make it Black Water Mist?