//------------------------------// // — Chapter III - Crystals — // Story: The King's Student // by That_brony_guy //------------------------------// "Do we really need to take the books with us? We're going to be living in a library, you know that right?" Scales asked Twilight as he hung from one of the book cases as he eyed up several books. A week had passed since the day of the summer sun celebration, and now Twilight and her friends had traveled to Canterlot in order to collect the rest of Twilight's belongings from her home there. Twilight had tried saying that she and Scales were fine on their own, but they insisted on helping out their new friend. Right now Applejack and Rainbow Dash were taking care of the furniture while Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy helped to pack the smaller things they had. They had a moving chariot waiting outside so the move would be rather easy. Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to face Scales, giving an answer for his question. "The library doesn't have all the same books as I do, so I'm taking just a couple extra books for me to read." "Just a couple? Right..." Scales said, turning his gaze to the two full boxes of books and a third box roughly a quarter of the way full. "No, Rainbow, you're meant to be pushing it not pulling." Applejack told Rainbow from the next room along, holding the couch that the two ponies had managed to get wedged in the doorway as Rainbow was trying to move it from the other side in Twilight's room. "It's stuck! See this is why I said we should've thrown it out the window." Rainbow stated. "We are twenty stories off of the ground!" Applejack pointed out as she leaned over her side of the couch. "Height is just a number." Rainbow said with a shrugging motion. "And a jail cell is just a room if this couch hits somepony on the way down." Applejack retorted. "Not if the moving pegasi and I catch it before it hits the ground." Rainbow said, as though it were the greatest idea in the history of Rainbow Dash ideas. "No, Twilight and her folks managed to get it in here, so we'll get it out of here." Applejack said, sighing as she tried once again to move the wedged piece of furniture. Twilight and the rest of the group couldn't help but chuckle softly as they watched the earth pony and pegasus battle with the couch. This felt nice, having friends to laugh with. She and Scales had their laughs, but it was nice to have a change like this. Fluttershy and Rarity were carefully filling a box with a crystalline table lamp as well as Twilight's various notebooks, sealed ink pots and fresh quills, and other objects that needed to be placed into a box labelled 'fragile'. Fluttershy then carefully picked up Scales' bed, a wooden basket filled with dead grass which seemed to be rather warm on the bottom. Most likely some kind of spell Twilight had cast on it. "Hey, Scales, you never answered my question the day we met," Fluttershy remembered, her voice catching the attention of the scaly serpent hanging from the bookcase, "what species of snake are you?" "I can't exactly answer that, my dear Flutters." Scales replied as he lowered his head down to pony height, still clinging to the bookcase. Fluttershy blushed at the nickname as Scales then said, "I don't actually know what species I am." "He was hatched during my entrance exam for Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. It was supposed to be a dragon egg but Scales came out instead." Twilight said as she stroked Scales' chin, earning a soft purring hiss of content from the snake. "He immediately warmed up to me and we've been together ever since. He's the best assistant, and friend, I could have asked for before I met all of you." "Wow, it's like he was made for you." Fluttershy commented. "Yeah, it is." Twilight smiled as Scales slithered back up the bookcase and began taking more books and placing them into boxes. "It does sound a tad bit peculiar though, doesn't it, a talking snake of unknown species emerging from an egg that's meant to be a dragon?" Rarity wondered aloud. "Yeah, that's what everypony who's heard the story says." Twilight told Rarity. "Have you ever wondered about where you came from, Scales?" Fluttershy asked the snake. "Oh, well, maybe once or twice but never in much detail..." Scales answered vaguely, giving a small flick of his tail as though in thought. His tail moved and ended up knocking into one of the shelves of the bookcase, dislodging it and causing it to topple down off the bookcase and crash into the ground extremely close to where Rarity and Fluttershy had been stood. Books were sent everywhere across the floor and the two mares who'd almost been hit by the falling books let out short sharp squeaks of fright. "Oh, I'm so sorry, are you both okay?" Scales asked the two mares as he lowered himself down to see the two mares. "Yes, we're fine, don't worry. Accidents will happen." Rarity said as she brushed off some dust off her hoof that'd flown her way from the fallen shelf. "I'll clear this up." Twilight said, levitating the shelf off of the ground as she raised it to place it back on the bookcase. "We'll pack the smaller boxes." Rarity said with a nod as she moved with Fluttershy and Pinkie. Pinkie Pie seemed to have remained rather silent since the mention of Scales' mysterious origins. She was eyeing the serpent slyly, not in a way that suggested anything other than suspicion. It wasn't noticeable unless you were looking directly at the pink party pony like Twilight was. It wasn't worth Twilight addressing as Pinkie turned back around and happily bounced to Rarity and Fluttershy's sides to help with packing, seemingly having pushed the suspicion out of her mind for now. Twilight turned back to Scales and helped with the scattered books, carefully closing them up again and being sure no spines were bent and no pages were crumpled. Moving books into either the boxes for moving or back onto the shelves, Twilight examined the covers and remembered which books were and weren't in the Golden Oak library back in Ponyville. She had taken some time to read over the covers of some of the books in the library in order to see which she did and didn't own already. Then as Twilight reached to place a book on the bottom shelf, she noticed that the book didn't slide completely into the back of the bookcase. She tried to gently jammed it back, the book in her hoof bumping against something wedged into the back of the bookcase. Twilight placed the book down and crouched down, staring at the back of the bottom shelf with curiosity. There was a book stuck in the back, thick with both layers of dust and with pages. It was lay on its side pressed against the back wall of the bookcase, having been completely hidden from sight previously. It looked like the book had been there for years, collecting dust while going completely unseen by Twilight or any others. Twilight's brow furrowed as she reached out and took the book, feeling the dust rub against her hoof as she pulled it out again. Using her magic to clear the dust from the rather large tome, Twilight looked at the cover and knew this book didn't belong to her. She was pretty sure she would remember purchasing or borrowing a book like this. The book's cover was black with colours of green and lilac decorating the spine. There seemed to be an image of a strange kind of a red unicorn head with sharp wings sprouting from the stumped neck. There was no name displayed on the cover, but it was there to see upon Twilight turning the first page. 'Mastery of the dark arts: volume 1'. Twilight read the title of the book a second time, making sure she had in fact read it correctly. Dark arts? What dark arts did it mean? Twilight looked back to her friends, seeing they were all busy, and then curiously took a peek at the table of contents to see what the book was about. There were well over a thousand pages in the book, something Twilight had already guess judging by the sheer size of the book. Runes, rituals, ancidnts sorceries of tongue and hoof and horn. This was a book of magic. Twilight turned to a random page and read it quietly to herself. "The art of producing offensive crystals from pure magic is an art of sorcery first discovered by the crystal ponies of the northern crystal empire. Crystal spires, capable of being as thick as castle walls or as thin as needles should the caster decide as such, are an easy method of distraction, mutilation or even execution of ones foes or can simply be used to ensure an easy path of escape from danger..." Twilight muttered silently so no pony could hear her. There were images and every accompanying the text. Images of the crystal spires and diagrams of unicorn's casting the crystal spells, showing a step by step guide of how to do it yourself. Twilight wasn't sure whether she should be curious to read on or whether she should be concerned with the nature of these spells. This crystal spell seemed to be magic created for warfare and killing. Twilight flipped several other pages and saw spells that had different purposes to them, it would've been a truly fascinating read if it were so grisly. And what was this crystal empire that it mentioned? Or these crystal ponies? She had never heard of either of those things. There were no ponies in the north, just yaks and ice monsters. She most likely wouldn't be able to find anymore out about this empire, as this book focuses on sorcery, runes and alchemy among other things. "Whatcha got there?" Scales suddenly said, almost causing Twilight to jump out of her coat in pure fright. "Scales! Don't sneak up on me like that." Twilight whispered to Scales, who was now leering over her shoulder. "Why are you whispering?" Scales asked in a mocking whispered tone, before he spotted the book in Twilight's hooves and peeked at the contents. "Hmm... I don't remember this book." "Me neither, I don't remember ever reading this." Twilight said as she closed the book. "Where could it have come from?" "A book sale, when you were younger?" Scales suggested. "Maybe, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember a book like this." Twilight said as she showed the cover of the book to Scales. Scales looked at the cover, his mouth slitting up a curious smile before he turned back to look at Twilight. "Maybe it'd be worth a read, seems oddly curious that you'd have that in your room and yet you've never read it." Scales said. "I don't know, seems a little bit dark for my tastes." Twilight said with a scratch of her head. "I didn't know you had a specific taste for books." Scales said. Twilight looked at Scales and then down at the book, thinking about it for a few moments. There was no harm in a book. There was no harm in reading one either, regardless of how dark the contents of its pages may seem on first glance. Twilight looked to Scales and gave him a small nod. "Alright, put it in the box." Twilight said. Scales grinned softly and nodded as he took the book, wrapping his tail around it and slithering over to the box of books coming with her to Ponyville. His placed it down, but Twilight noticed that he had placed it underneath another book as to hide it from view. Twilight didn't think anything of it in the moment and finished up with clearing away the books that had toppled over. Once Twilight was done clearing up, she stood up again and turned around. She then had to hold back the urge to chuckle upon seeing the couch that was still wedged in the doorway, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash lazily slumped on it in defeat. "Do you really need the couch?" Rainbow asked Twilight. "We could buy ya a new one." Applejack offered with an outstretched gesture of her hooves. "My word, what's going on here?" Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack turned their heads to the other side of the blocked doorway, where Twilight's mother stood with a tray of drinks balanced perfectly on her back. "Oh, miss Velvet, we were just trying to move the couch," Applejack said, "though we aren't exactly getting very far." "Oh yes, that thing was a pain to get in the house when we bought it," Twilight Velvet said understandingly, "in the end, Night Light ended up having to get some of his pegasi friends to throw the thing through the window." Twilight could see Applejack's eye twitching as Rainbow's widening grin threatened to cut her head in two. But before Rainbow could begin her bragging and sign her own death warrant, Twilight cut in. "We weren't making too much noise were we, mom?" Twilight asked her mother. "Oh, no dear, I just came up to offer your friends some refreshments. You've all been working so hard." said Twilight Velvet said she levitated the tray of drinks into the room. "Anything to help our friend out." said Rainbow as she stood up, taking a drink from the tray. "I'm just so glad that Twilight has finally managed to make some proper friends," Twilight Velvet said, before noticing the look she was receiving from Scales, "proper pony friends, that is." Twilight Velvet made her way into the room, with the help of Applejack and Rainbow, and looked around the room at the various things that had been moved and the things that were remaining behind before she looked back at Twilight. "I can't believe my baby girl is finally moving out into a place of her own." Twilight Velvet smiled warmly at Twilight, "you'll be sure to visit, right?" "Yes, I promise that I'll visit." Twilight nodded, smiling at her mother. The two mares pulled forth into a warm hug. Twilight was as surprised as her mother was at how things had turned out. She had been living with her parents her whole life, now she was moving to Ponyville. She wouldn't have it any other way, but she would miss her parents. She would visit like she said she would and she would write to them whenever she had the time, but being so far from home would take Twilight some getting used to. "Oh! That reminds me, your brother is coming to see you before you leave for Ponyville," Twilight Velvet said, "your father should be back with him any minute now." "Honey, I'm home! And Shining Armour is with me." As though on cue, a stallion's voice called out upon the opening of a door downstairs. Hooves trotting into the house let Twilight know her father and her brother had returned. "We're upstairs, having a little problem with the furniture." Twilight Velvet called downstairs. "Bet it's that Celestia-damn couch." Twilight could heard her father say downstairs before he began to make his way up to them. Two unicorn stallions trotted up the stairs, Twilight's father and Shining Armour. Then Twilight noticed that a third stallion was following behind them who she didn't recognise at all. He was a pegasus who had a light orange coloured coat and a short spiked dark blue mane. He was rather handsome as far as stallions went, Twilight had to admit. Though judging by the way Flash looked at Twilight, he was interested in her. "Alright girls, cavalry is here." Night Light jested as he appeared in the doorway. He then placed a hoof on the pegasus's shoulder and said, "oh yeah, this is Flash, one of Shining Armour's army buddies. He offered to come help with the packing." "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," said Flash Sentry to Twilight Velvet with respect in his tone, "you have a lovely home." "Why, thank you." Twilight Velvet smiled. "it's good to see you, Shining," said Twilight before she turned to Flash Sentry, "and it's a pleasure to meet you Flash Sentry." "Please, just call me Flash." said Flash, his face heated up slightly as he gave the unicorn mare a smile. "Alright then, Flash." Twilight gave a friendly smile to the pegasus stallion, earning a faint and barely noticeable blush from him. But Twilight did notice it. Shining Armour noticed the mutual looks between them and butted in, placing a hoof on the shoulder of his pegasus friend. "So, Twily, you need this couch moving?" Shining asked Twilight, patting the furniture in question. "I'd be thankful if you can just get it out of the doorway." Twilight answered. "Did you try teleporting it out of the doorway?" Flash spoke up, "pardon my insolence if there be any, but I've heard many stories of how talented you are with magic and thought you'd be able to move such a large object easily." It was now Twilight's turn to blush. Why hadn't she thought about that herself? And Flash had just called her talented, that ounce of flattery had added to the heat in her cheeks. Applejack and Rainbow however, were just staring at Twilight with looks of irritation that neither of them had even thought to ask one of the unicorns in the room to move the thing. "Right, I'll do that now." Twilight offered an awkward smile as she ignited her horn. With a quick purple poof, the couch was teleported out from the doorway and into the hallway next to the three stallions. Applejack and Rainbow looked at one another and then to Twilight. "You couldn't have sent the thing outside?" Rainbow asked. Several ponies in the room chuckled, Twilight and Rainbow included. Collective sighs of satisfaction come from several members of the group. The moving chariot had almost been fully loaded up with Twilight's things with only a few small boxes left to go. Twilight passed some boxes to Flash, who took them and loaded them onto the chariot. "So, Flash, how did you and my brother meet?" Twilight asked the pegasus, striking up a conversation. "Oh, we met in the guard academy." Flash answered. "We were sparring partners." "Oh, right." Twilight smiled and nodded, trying to look interested while also having no idea of what sparring actual was. "Yeah, you're brother's a good guard, he deserves everything he's earned." Flash stated with a smile. "Yeah, he tries his hardest at everything he does, and always has his friends' backs." Twilight confirmed. "I'm sure that must run in the family." Flash complimented. Twilight blushed faintly and gave a small chuckle. Why was she blushing? Twilight would've slapped herself around the face there and then if she could. It was at that point that Rarity appeared behind the pair, with a smile Twilight could only conclude meant that Rarity was up to something. "So, Flash, being a royal guard must get you a lot of praise from everypony." Rarity commented. "Yeah, I guess it does." Flash said with a nod. "And a lot of that attention must be by mares who just love a guard in uniform." Rarity followed up. Flash's cheeks turned pink at the comment. "Yes...?" he confirmed. "Have you ever thought about... reciprocating such feelings with any mares?" Rarity queried. Twilight's own face couldn't be any redder right now if it tried, but she couldn't bring herself to speak up. "No, why? Are you..." Flash looked at Rarity, the look on his face showing mixed feelings. "Moi? No, no, no." Rarity waved her hoof before placing it on Twilight's shoulder. "I was merely inquiring for a friend of mine." "Oh, right." Flash said before quickly adding, "I'm gonna go check to see if we forgot anything so it won't be left behind." With that Flash used his wings and hovered away from the two unicorns. Twilight looked at Rarity with a red face and asked, "what was that?" "I was helping you find out if he was available, in a subtle way of course." Rarity answered. "That was about as subtle as a brick to the head." Twilight responded. "Well you weren't getting anywhere with him on your own." Rarity said. "Maybe I don't want to go anywhere with him." Twilight suggested. "So you're not interested in him?" Rarity asked. "No..." Twilight said with too much thought behind it. She didn't need to think on it at all. She wasn't interested in Flash, she'd know if she was. "Mmhm." Rarity hummed slowly, eyeing the unicorn, "not your type then?" "I don't have a type." Twilight answered. "Or if I do, I don't know what it is." "Oh, Twilight dear, don't worry about a thing. I'll help you master the arts of romance." Rarity said, rolling the R in romance. "Isn't the stallion supposed to be the romantic one?" Twilight asked. She hadn't a clue about actually socialising or anything like that, but she had read a few books. "If you want to be traditional, maybe darling, but sometimes it's up to a mare to... take the reins as it were." Rarity explained. "You sound like you have a lot of experience." Twilight commented, raising a brow ever so slightly. "I've... some experience." Rarity said, flicking her mane back stylishly. "Once we've got time back in Ponyville then I shall teach you how to impress your suitor while making sure to remain yourself." "Thanks, but I don't think I'll be needing any romantic advice for now." Twilight shrugged off Rarity's offer. At that moment, Fluttershy hovered over and landed in front of the chariot and two mares carrying a small box. She may be Twilight's friend now, but Twilight knew she was struggling with that box. Fluttershy was pathetically weak for a pegasus and for a pony in general, but Twilight found her to be too cute to be mad about that fact. "Here, Fluttershy, let me help." Twilight offered as she mare a helping hoof. "Oh? N-no thank you, I can manage..." Fluttershy said, clearly not managing with the box. "I know. But it doesn't hurt to get some help with things." Twilight said as she ignited her hoof and gently levitated the box from Fluttershy. The action alone made the yellow pegasus blush profusely, and Twilight could've sworn she heard something be whispered silently from the mare but Twilight chose to ignore it. "Umm... thank you." Fluttershy said quietly as she trotted to Twilight's side. "Hey, Twilight, I was wondering..." Fluttershy began, only for the rest to come out as mumbling not too unlike the mumbling that's come out when they'd met. "What?" Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. Fluttershy took a sudden deep breath in and then exhaled again, looking up at Twilight. "I was wondering if you'd like to come up to my cottage sometime soon?" Fluttershy said, her blushing face and eyes alone showing that the little pegasus was mentally scolding herself for how she had worded it. "For tea... or something like that, I mean." Fluttershy added, doing her best to hide behind her mane and still keep some semblance of eye contact. "Uh, yeah, sure. I'd love to. When's good for you?" Twilight said, smiling. "Oh, well anytime is fine... but how about tomorrow midday?" Fluttershy said, looking to Twilight. "Sure, I'll see you then." Twilight nodded as she placed the box down onto the chariot. "Great, I'll see you tomorrow then." Fluttershy nodded, with a look that Twilight couldn't tell whether it was absolute horror or positive excitement. Fluttershy then turned back around to trot away, presumably to get the last of Twilight's things. Then Twilight noticed Fluttershy stop and speak with Rainbow Dash. The two pegasi exchanged words before Rainbow supportingly patted Fluttershy on the back, making Twilight raise an eyebrow curiously. "Looks like Flash isn't the only pegasus swooning over you." Rarity commented with a small smile. That made Twilight's subsiding redness of the cheeks return very swiftly. "I'm sure it's not like that." Twilight said, shaking her head. "It's just two friends having tea." "Tea with plenty of sugar." Rarity teased, smirking. Twilight in response buried her face into her hooves to hide the blush threatening to melt her face off. Rarity chuckled before continuing. "I'm joking of course. Fluttershy isn't like that. Into that sort of stuff I mean, I don't know if she likes mares..." Rarity said with a hoof to her chin, "I never thought to ask, mainly because the question would probably make the poor dear faint. Anyhow, I've got some things to discuss with your mother. She wants me to make her a dress, and we may as well discuss the details while I'm here." "Alright." Twilight nodded. Meanwhile. Night Light, Shining Armour, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had almost completely shirked their duty and were currently engaged in hoof wrestling on one of Twilight's bedside drawers while sitting on chairs they were also supposed to be moving, with Pinkie Pie acting as the one who'd make sure no cheating occurred. Pinkie was even wearing a referee hat and had a whistle around her neck, neither of which Twilight knew where they'd come from. Currently, it was Night Light verses Applejack. "3. 2. 1. Go!" Pinkie made a cutting motion with her hoof and quickly pulled away. Immediately, Night Light and Applejack began trying to force the other's hoof down onto the table. Farm pony verses... whatever Twilight's dad worked as. Earth pony mare verses unicorn stallion, evenly enough matched up in strength. Both ponies grunted roughly as each attempted to slam the other's hoof on the table. Shining Armour was backing his dad's corner and Rainbow had Applejack's. Shining and Rainbow cheered on their chosen arm wrestler, Night Light and Applejack focused primarily on winning. Edging closer and closer on both sides, a struggle of strength until finally Applejack slammed Night Light's hoof down on the table. Shining Armour groaned and looked down while Rainbow hoof pumped the air. "Aww yeah! Hand 'em over, Shiny." Rainbow jested as she held her hoof out. "Fine." Shining Armour grumbled, handing over the fifty bits he and Rainbow had betted. "Should've know not to bet against an Apple." "Lesson learned." Applejack chuckled as she looked at Night Light. "You got some strong forehooves, sir, almost as strong as my brother's." "Thanks, and you're quite possibly the strongest mare I've ever met." Night Light responded, smiling as he leaned back in his seat. "Come on, let me take her on." Shining said, flexing his muscles as he did. "Shouldn't you lot be helping me pack?" Twilight asked the group rhetorically. "Yeah, Twily, we're just taking a little break." Shining replied, the others nodding in confirmation. "Right, okay then." Twilight nodded as she trotted back into the building. She then sat down on some steps that led up into the actual home area itself. If they were going to take a break, then so was she. She sighed as she took the weight off her hooves and lay back, watching the group of ponies hoof wrestling outside as she heard the sound of a slithering serpent coming up behind her. "Slacking off, are they?" Scales asked as he appeared in front of Twilight's field of vision, watching the same group Twilight was. "Yeah." Twilight confirmed with a nod. "I don't blame them though, they've been doing most of the heavy lifting." "Yeah, still must be annoying. So close to being finish and all." Scales replied before whispering, "think there's a spell to fix that in that little tome of yours?" "What, like some kind of high functioning and self sustaining mind control?" Twilight asked, looking down at Scales. "Yeah, so much more stuff could be done if a little mind control was used now and then." Scales explained. "Obviously there's the obstacle of ponies wanting their free will and not taking kindly to it being taken from them. But the point is still valid from an emotionless standpoint." "Yeah, I suppose it is." Twilight agreed semi-absentmindedly as she thought about the spell book. The book seemed so mysterious. She never remembered owning, buying or borrowing such a book, and Celestia certainly wouldn't give out a book of dark magic. Not even to her personal student. She should really turn the book over to Celestia and Luna, have them decipher its origins and whether or not it can be trusted. But it was already packed away in the moving chariot and it would look most suspicious if she were rummaging around the chariot for something she had been planned on keeping secret from them. So, she takes it with her to her and Scales' new home. Then what? Did she just... read it like she would any other normal book she would read? It was a spell book with the potential to house great power, a great power that was practically at the tip of her horn. She couldn't really cast a spell from the book, could she? There was only one way to really find out. The moving chariot set off, leaving another satisfied customer with all their furniture and other things ready to be moved into their new home. Twilight and her friends had quickly made about moving the boxes and furniture into the house, with Applejack and Rainbow quickly eyeing up the library windows for certain reasons Applejack preferred not to say. They had managed to finish with the packing in just under an hour, given that several of Twilight's friends had called for help from some of their friends as well. Now, all her friends had gone back home for now after having offered to help stack Twilight's books onto the book shelves once more. Twilight had refused the offer politely, not wanting any of them to see the tome she had been waiting patiently to study. She knew they would surely question whether reading a book of dark magic was safe, but Twilight knew better. The words in a book can't corrupt, and this was simple curiosity about the darker sides of sorcery. "Now then, which box has that book in it?" Twilight asked nopony in particular. Nopony answered as she began searching through the boxes and the books within. As though luck itself was on her side, the book was in the first box she checked. It stuck out like a sore hoof when among the other books, making Twilight think of Scales' good call to place it under another book to be sure nopony saw it. She and Scales looked at the book's cover once again. "Should I really be reading this?" Twilight wondered to herself. "Why shouldn't you? It's what books were made for." Scales said over Twilight's shoulder. "Perhaps if I just asked princess Celestia about it—" "Then she would just tell you no and take the book away, its secrets never to be told." Scales countered before adding, "how about if the book turns out to be bad mojo, then we'll hand it over to the princesses then?" Twilight thought about Scales' proposal for a moment and then another, looking to the book and then back to the serpent before nodding. "Alright." Twilight agreed. Scales smiled as he watched Twilight open the book as she trotted over to her couch, using her magic to flick on her crystalline table lamp on. Scales and slithered off of her body and was now lay out over the back of the couch, still peering over Twilight's shoulder at the book. Having gotten comfortable, Twilight looked back to the page she had been looking through in Canterlot. Offensive crystals. "A simple spell that any unicorn can cast, but which takes an above average intellect to keep control of..." Twilight read aloud as she read on. "Well then, you should be able to cast that spell easily." Scales remarked. "What? No, I couldn't cast any of these spells. They're far too above what I study." Twilight said before adding, "besides, even if I could cast it I shouldn't. Dark magic is called 'dark magic' for a reason surely." "Maybe it's called that just because it was discovered at night time." Scales quipped. He then followed it up by saying, "magic is magic, there is no good magic or bad magic. No black or white, just a whole lot of grey." "Maybe...maybe one spell wouldn't be that bad." Twilight pondered the idea and looked back to the book, completely unaware of Scales' almost victorious grin. "For beginners, it may seem a bit strenuous. But it will become easier the more the caster uses the spell..." Twilight muttered to herself as she read through the paragraphs. "...feel the raw emotions of negative events in your life, feed into them and focus on them. The stronger the feelings, the easier the spell. Imagine crystal emerging outwards in your mind. Your mind ablaze as an imagining becomes a reality." Twilight pursed her lips in thought at the instructions, reading on as she began to understand what to do. "So if I just focus on something like...anger or hate, then I'll be able to cast the spell?" Twilight said as she put the book down and looked at Scales. "Still think magic is a whole lot of grey?" "Of course, what's a positive emotion without a negative one?" Scales replied. "You can't love without hate and you can't be happy without being sad. All the kinds of things we feel and do are necessary regardless of whether we like them or not. Love and hate, happiness and sadness, mercy and murder. Opposites are not all bad, per se, they're merely...different." Twilight listened to Scales' explanation. Scales may have joked and laughed with the best of them, but one thing he was not was an idiot. He listened to Twilight's intellectual speeches of information, he listened and remembered it all if it was fascinating enough for him. He had a great understanding of many things and even used to do some reading of his own whenever she and princess Celestia were having one of their lessons. To Twilight's surprise when she first found out, anything about philosophy and crystals seemed to be among his favourite reads. Twilight then considered the idea of using anger to fuel a spell. She knew love, and now friendship, had powerful influences on magic and how well the spell is. But she never even dreamed of channeling hate into spell form, it always seemed so ludicrous. Equestria and its magic was a place of love and kindness. But this book proved that it was at least a possibility for magic to have a darker side to it. "It's a curious thing to think about, isn't it, 'are anger and hate truly evil emotions?'." Scales thought aloud, "that'd be a interesting thesis for somepony to write." It would, wouldn't it? Twilight looked down at the book, still open to the spell page in question. Twilight nodded and rose up out of her seat. "What's the harm in a simple spell?" Twilight said to herself. She read over the instructions again and focused her eyes on her horn, igniting it in magic. Negative emotions. Hate, anger, Twilight focused and thought about these emotions. Twilight thought back to her fight with Nightmare Moon, how she wanted to beat her into the stony earth beneath them with all her strength and keep going. She wanted to break her and make sure nopony could ever be hurt by her again. Blow after blow after blow... Twilight felt it. She closed her eyes as it felt like the eyelids were on fire, yet no burning sensation occurred. She felt something touch her horn but kept going. No pain, so she continued. She pushed on until she heard a sound like breaking glass. Cracking, cackling, shattering and crunching. It didn't feel nearly as bad as she thought it would, it felt strangely... right to her. It was a pain to keep a hold of, but with time she could be able to control it. If she ever chose to use this dark magic again that is. Twilight lost her focus and the spell dissipated entirely. The burning sensation was gone and Twilight opened her eyes, gasping at what she saw. Her crystalline table lamp had grown, broken outwards into a jagged mess at least three times the size it was previously. A messy uneven and impossible to use abomination of dark purple crystal that seemed to swirl beneath the surface of glass. Black, lilac and crimson battling within jagged uncut gemstone that looked as sharp as knives. "Incredible..." Scales muttered out as he smiled, smiling a devious smile that Twilight failed to notice. "What happened? I was just trying to summon a bit of crystal..." Twilight said, shocked at what had become of the lamp. "Did you think of a spot where you wanted the crystal to appear at?" Scales suggested, peering his head down to look at the book before Twilight had turned to face him. "What? No, I didn't think..." Twilight trotted over and looked down at the book, seeing it written clearly that a location must be specified for controlled crystal. "Oh, by Celestia..." Twilight groaned. "Hmm, if this is what happens when a mistake is made, imagine what this magic could really do." Scales commented. "Yeah, imagine..." Twilight said with a small nod, thinking about it as she looked from the book to the crystal mass. Then she snapped out of her fascination and shook her head. "No, I shouldn't. This is... far too dangerous to use." "Powers are only dangerous if they aren't controlled." Scales replied. "Nightmare Moon had control of her powers." Twilight pointed out. "Only after princess Luna lost control of hers." Scales countered. "But what if I loose control? I don't wanna be some kind of Nightmare... Twinkle!" Twilight said. "Nightmare Twinkle?" Scales chuckled. "You get what I mean!" Twilight huffed, her cheeks reddening. "Yeah, I get what you mean." Scales confirmed. He then slithered up to Twilight and spoke with a more sincere voice. "You're worried you'll become evil because you used some magic that Celestia doesn't know about. But, Twilight, trust me... there's no chance of you ever becoming anything remotely close to evil." "Yeah, but..." "But nothing." Scales cut in, shaking his tail slightly. "Magic is magic. It has no effect on how you feel in terms of morality." Twilight looked at Scales and smiled. She then went to speak again... ...only for a loud knock on the door to be heard. Pinkie Pie and the others were currently in Sugarcube Corner, getting a sugary recharge after all the lifting they'd just done to help out Twilight. Twilight had told them she could handle the rest and sent them on their ways, a little too insistently so Pinkie had noticed. She couldn't help but feel like Twilight was hiding something, and that Scales had something to do with that something that Twilight was hiding. Pinkie didn't trust Scales at all. She did at first, but now she wasn't so sure. She was completely fine with Twilight, but something about that snake just didn't sit with her the right way. She couldn't even joke about it to herself, which was a major Pinkie Pie sign that something was amiss. She knew her friends wouldn't quite understand her worries. To be honest she wouldn't if she was in anypony else's shoes, which alone would be weird since ponies don't actually wear shoes all that often but that's a whole other thing altogether. "Pinkie? Are you listening?" Rainbow asked, waving a hoof in front of Pinkie's face. "Are you alright, Pinkie? You seem a little... distant." Applejack commented "Are you internally monologuing again, darling?" Rarity asked, taking a small elegant bite out of her pastry. "Hmm? Oh yeah, sorry, the plot in my mind was forming together. But it can wait." Pinkie brushed off the question in the same happy-go-lucky attitude that nopony ever found suspicious before, before digging her face into the chocolate cake she had in front of her. "Anyway..." Rarity said with a slow nod and a look that pretty much said 'it's Pinkie Pie, don't question it'. "What were you saying, Rainbow?" "I was about to ask Pinkie if she was going to throw a moving in party for Twilight and Scales." Rainbow said, turning to Rainbow. "Of course I am!" Pinkie said proudly upon having pulled away from her chocolate dessert. Then a small thought dawned on her and she added, "I just don't know what foods you would give a snake. Don't they eat...animals?" The mares all paused upon realising this fact and then looked at Fluttershy, who had a clear cut look of fear on her face. "I'm... going to head home, check on Angel and... every creature else." Fluttershy said, shivering slightly at the thought as she rose from her seat. The group of mares allowed Fluttershy to leave, speeding out of the bakery with speeds that caught even Rainbow's attention. "You don't actually think Scales will... eat any of Fluttershy's woodland friends, do you?" Rarity asked once Fluttershy was gone. "Well, it's possible." Applejack said. "Don't tell Fluttershy this, but I remember finding a snake in the orchard... swallowing a badger whole." That alone got disgusted gasps from Rarity and Pinkie. "Still saw the poor critter's back legs moving." Applejack shivered. "Well, let's hope Twilight has something to feed Scales with. For Fluttershy's sake." Rarity said before turning to Rainbow. "That would make things awkward between them. Fluttershy trying to go out with Twilight while Scales' is swallowing a ferret in the background..." Rainbow chuckled shortly, before her eyes widened in shock at what she had just blurted out. "I knew it!" Rarity declared with a pointing hoof. "None of you are to say anything about this to anypony!" Rainbow told the group. "I promised Fluttershy I wouldn't say anything!" "Well, looks like Fluttershy might have some competition. You see the way she and that Flash Sentry were looking at each other?" Applejack said. "Yeah, but that's nothing special. Flash Sentry isn't nearly as good looking as Fluttershy." Rainbow commented. "Fluttershy will get with Twilight easy." "If Twilight swings that way, that is." Applejack pointed out. "Details, details." Rainbow waved her hoof. "Pretty big 'details', dear." Rarity said. Pinkie listened to her friends talk to one another, licking the chocolate off of her own face as she did. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Twilight had gained the attention of two ponies in a matter of days, and yet barely any news on Scales. He didn't share anything about himself, and Pinkie was sure that he had knocked that shelf over on purpose. She couldn't prove it and she didn't know why, but she had a strong feeling. A stronger feeling than even her Pinkie senses could muster. She knew she had no reason to be thinking too deeply into this, but she couldn't help it at all. Maybe if she just spoke with Twilight, then she could finally get her worries put to rest. "Well, I'd better be going." Pinkie got the group's attention. "I got some shopping to do! Bye all!" Pinkie said her byes to her friends and then exited Sugarcube Corner. She did have shopping to do if she was going to be throwing Twilight a moving in party, but Twilight's house first. She trotted across Ponyville and arrived rather quickly at the Golden Oak library. Approaching the door, Pinkie knocked on it. "Twilight? You're not busy are you?" Pinkie asked from the other side of the door. Twilight's heart was beating heavily and was practically in her throat upon hearing the door knock. She looked at the book, the deformed lamp and then at Scales hoping he had an plan on what to do. She had to act fast. Twilight levitated the book and closed it, placing it on a table underneath several other books. Before Scales could comment on the hiding place, Twilight shushed him and turned her attention to the ugly mass that had once been a lamp. "What do I do about the lamp?" Twilight asked nervously to no one, and no one answered as she fiddled around on the spot like a filly needing to use the bathroom. "Just say it's normal magic." Scales suggested. "A regular magic spell that went wrong. What difference would an earth pony know?" Twilight looked back at the door, which was knocked on again by Pinkie. She looked back at Scales and then to the door once more, before she trotted over and opened the door. Pinkie looked at Twilight and smiled, her eyes darting quickly at Scales inside the library before returning to the lilac mare. "Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie greeted happily. "How ya doin'?" "Pinkie, I'm doing good. You only saw me like twenty minutes ago..." Twilight answered as the pink pony came inside the library. "Yeah, but a lot can happy in twenty minutes. Other worlds can tell you that." Pinkies chimed before turning to face Twilight. "Uh..." was all Twilight could say in response to that. Instead she shook her head and asked, "was there something you needed, Pinkie?" "Yep-a-roony!" Pinkie nodded, bouncing on the spot as she did. "I was wondering if you'd want... a moving in party?!" Twilight raised her brow slightly at how Pinkie spoke. Same happy tone, yes, but she had come up with that excuse on the spot. Twilight's eyes darted to Scales, who was watching Pinkie with suspicious eyes, before he looked back at Twilight and nodded as though answering an unspoken question. "Uhh...yeah, sure." Twilight said, showing a smile. "When were you thinking of throwing it?" "Well, how about tomorrow?" Pinkie suggested as she and Twilight trotted into the library. "Yeah, but it'll have to be sometime in the afternoon, Fluttershy and I are going to be having tea at her place midday." Twilight informed Pinkie. Pinkie's eyes shifted in a way that suggested she knew something, before speaking. "Yeah, that's fine!" Pinkie bounced on the spot and turned to face Scales. "And don't worry. I'll make sure I find something for you to snack on, Scales." "Hmm? Finally, a pony that doesn't cringe in disgust at my dietary needs." Scales nodded and offered Pinkie a smile, which Pinkie returned after a moment. Then, the moment Twilight was dreading finally happened. Pinkie's eyes went as wide as dinner plates once she saw the 'lamp' on the table. The tangled and jagged mess of crystal that bubbled with an unknown something beneath the surface. Scales didn't seem that bothered by Pinkie's discovery, but Twilight was struggling to contain her panic. What did she say? What if Pinkie had seen this before? What if—? "What's this?" Pinkie asked as she trotted closer to Twilight's failed crystal experiment. "Oh, it's a... lamp." Twilight muttered slightly at the end, still loud enough for Pinkie to hear. "A lamp? You mean that teeny tiny little thing we packed into a box back in Canterlot?" Pinkie asked. Twilight nodded in response as Pinkie looked at her. "What happened to it?" Twilight's eyes hovered to Scales for a moment before she spoke. "Spell gone wrong." Twilight shrugged slightly. "I was trying to unpack everything with magic, but instead it... well you can see." Twilight gestured to the crystal mass. Pinkie didn't look like she was convinced. She looked at the lamp, Twilight and then Scales. Her eyes showed great thought before she offered a smile. "Oh well! Better luck next time!" Pinkie smiled and patted Twilight on the shoulder. She then turned back around to the lamp and trotted a bit closer, raising a hoof to touch it. "Looks kind of cool like this if you ask m—OW!" Pinkie jumped back away from the crystal, stumbling back into the table and knocking its contents off of it. Blood leaked from an open hoof on the base of her hoof, which still had a shard of crystal stuck it in. Twilight acted fast and went to Pinkie's side. "Oh my Celestia!" Twilight panicked to herself. "We need to get you to the hospital." "No, it's not that bad." Pinkie winced upon moving her injured hoof. The shard was stuck in deep, though Twilight was internally happy it wasn't a piece that contained that swirling substance inside. Celestia knows what would've happened if that dark filth was in Pinkie's bloodstream. It was also at this point Twilight saw Pinkie's eyes had landed on the book. The book of dark magic. Twilight had to get her out of here before she questioned it. "No arguments, I'm taking you to the hospital." Twilight said as she helped Pinkie to her hooves, making sure the pink mare didn't move her injured leg. "Scales, get the door." Scales nodded and slithered towards the door, pulling it open with his tail and letting the two mares out. Pinkie looked back at the book and then to Twilight, deep thought in her mind. What are you hiding, Twilight? Pinkie thought as Twilight helped her walk. It didn't take long for Pinkie to be seen by a doctor. It took some time before they could remove the piece of jagged crystal, which doctors and nurses almost managed to cut themselves on it was that sharp, and now they had treated and bandaged Pinkie's wound. "Alright miss Pie, you should be good to go now." the doctor informed Pinkie. "I don't know what you could've been doing to get such a serious injury, that crystal was like a knife." "I caught it on a lamp, actually." Pinkie explained. "Well, I suggest you get your money back." the doctor commented before saying, "stay safe." Twilight helped Pinkie up onto three hooves and out of the hospital, Scales following close behind them. After this, Twilight knew that the spells in that book were too dangerous for use here in Ponyville. Ponies could get hurt, never mind the risk she was putting herself and Scales in. If she was going to ever use one again, she'd have to be extremely careful and do it in isolation.