//------------------------------// // (Present Chapter 45) Meeting Fury // Story: The Unique Properties of Dark Magic // by Shadestyle //------------------------------// Despite Celestia asking me not to, I ended up not doing anymore spying. Instead, I made my way up to the top of my tower, staring out over the land from on top of the roof. The tower wasn't meant to be stood on top of, so I ended up having to use the new spell Nightmare Moon inadvertently taught me to get up there, slipping out of the window in my 'mist' form, collapsing into embers and floating up on top of the slanted rooftop. I half-sat, half-stood on top of the tiled rooftop, hanging onto the spike jutting from the middle of the towertop as I looked at the forests surrounding my new little home away from home. "It wasn't all bad. When you scare people into line, at least it means they're learning a lesson... No, that won't work. She knows right from wrong better than I do," I mutter. After a while, I try again, trying to figure out the right words. "I couldn't understand anymore. I still don't, really. All I knew was negative emotions. It was just my means..." I shake my head. That isn't the right way to explain it either. After all, I did that to myself. I put in work... Hard work, in fact, to make sure that I was exactly the kind of monster I wanted to be. Even with Luna trying to pull me away from it, and Celestia trying to keep me focused, I put in the effort to push past all of it. I don't know how to explain it to them. I sensed something as I stared at Star Road. Something familiar. A tiny dot on the horizon, flying slowly over to the floating island. I feel cold anger boiling up inside me, as I slowly picked apart the sensations and recognized the dot. Recognized the sensations of those obsessed with the false "ideals" of the Shadow Realm. Letting go of the spike, I slide down the rooftop, leaping off and turning into a flurry of embers as I fall down into the forest below. It seems there are more messes for me to clean up. Twilight Sparkle is a weirdo. There's no doubt about it. In Eclipse Flash's humble opinion, if ever there was a pony who apparently needed to be a scholar of friendship to get up to speed on the concept, it would be this one. That said, the unicorn is pretty interesting in spite of that, if perhaps precisely for the same reasons she's an oddity. "Oh, oh no! I was so frantic to get up here, I completely forgot to tell anypony about this!" she shrieked quietly, pacing around. She had been having quite a fun time grilling Dr. Real on all things ancient-magitek, until the purple pony suddenly had a moment of dawning realization, followed by a neurotic breakdown. "Ok, I can fix this, just head down, tell my friends about the civilization next door, and pop back up, easy peasy, oh but I don't want to interrupt spike and his new friends," she mutters to herself, continuing to pace outside by her hot air balloon. Priss raises a hoof. "Question, Ponyville is that way, right?" she asks, pointing over in a direction. Twilight stops. "Yes, that's right," the unicorn responds. "And what would you do if you fell off a high place, just as a random question?" Priss continues, casually waving a hoof around. Twilight, not quite realizing the implications, answers blithely. "Oh, well, I would just cast one of my teleportation spells. I know one in particular that actually cancels out a pony's momentum, so it would be simple enough to-" Priss turns and bucks Twilight, intending on sending the mare flying straight towards Ponyville, only for her to blink to the side in a flash of instinctive magic. "-teleport to a place within my line of sight and... You just tried to kick me!" Twilight suddenly realizes. Priss rolls her eyes. "Yeah, because you were working yourself into a tizzy over nothing. Real's kids are fine to watch your little boy for a few minutes. Now hold still so I can give you a free trip home," the mare smirks, adjusting her angle as Twilight scrambles into her hot-air balloon and takes off before another kick can arrive. Eclipse groans. "That may have been a bit too far, Priss. We don't want ponies to think we're violent, remember?" "What? I was just going to use a Lucky Shot, completely harmless!" Priss complains. A young colt stomps over cheerily "Wow, you really showed her!" Priss and Eclipse shared a look of confusion. Neither of them recognized the Earth Pony colt, or the mother who frantically came up and grabbed him. "I'm so sorry, he's very excitable," the mare said in an exasperated tone. "It's fine, who are you, ma'am?" Eclipse asked curiously, noting the other Earth Ponies filing off an airship nearby. "Oh, well, I'm Screwtap, and this young colt is Thread, we're here with Chapter Black, actually, my husband wanted to try and see if any of his ancestors were here," she explained. The two Longma looked confused. "Chapter Black?" Priss asked. Screwtap nods. "Oh yes, it's a very important historical society, they help ponies track down their ancestries, do bookkeeping, archeology, all sorts of things!" Priss and Eclipse both suddenly felt uncomfortable at this information. "And by history, you mean..?" Eclipse asked with a frown. "Oh, well, Chapter Black deals mostly with the Shadow Realm's history, more than a few Earth Ponies can trace their roots back there, so there's quite a few members!" Suddenly, a thousand years felt a lot longer to the two mares, and the reality of the situation seemed sharper and more real than before. "Wow, that's... That's really something," Priss muses. Screwtap nods. "Well, we'll be off now, sorry again if Thread was bothering you. Have a nice day you two!" the mare says, pulling away her complaining son who tries to explain how 'cool' it was for Priss to try and kick a unicorn off the island. "We better check this out," Eclipse says somewhat nervously. Priss just nods as the duo make their way to where the crowd of tourists are slowly dispersing, cameras flashing as they take photos and obtain memories of an older time. "Ahh, greetings. I am Chancellor Golden Apple, of the Gilded Half-Acre Shipping Company," the well-dressed Earth Pony said to Fair Cut, adjusting his vest as he did so. He took a brief glance around Fair Cut's working area, but dismissed it out of hand when he realized that the crystals and metal devices had practical uses, rather than being tasteful-yet-abstract decor. He ignored out of hand the ponies who walked by the open garage-like building, going about their business as if they were peasants. As his name suggested, Golden Apple was all yellows and oranges, from his mane to his hooves, complete with a shiny yellow apple with a filigree for his cutie mark. Along with that, the pony wore a dark green vest with a trim of an unnaturally green metal. All in all, it was an appearance carefully cultivated to demonstrate wealth and social status. Where many Unicorns thought themselves deserving of noble class due to their ability to cast overt magic, what few Earth Pony nobles there were had a different means of assuring themselves of their superiority, in the form of their ancestry and, like all nobles, their monetary holdings. Fair Cut, meanwhile, was a merchant of an entirely different class. Despite being one of Weiss Noir's most trusted mathematicians and a key individual in developing the crystal enchantments that powered the Shadow Realm's games and computers, he was far less impressive looking, for better or worse. He instead was a pale grey coated Longma, with steel-blue flames and scales. His own outfit was more practical, a simple coat and a belt with a few tools on it. His own cutie mark was a diamond carved into a '#' symbol. A representation of his talent for mathematics and crystal craft. "I'm Fair Cut. I'm assuming you're here with those other ponies?" He asked, noting the sudden influx of curious ponies to Star Road, all seemingly intent on indulging their curiosity, whether it be informally through simple wandering around talking to Longma, or in a more formal way, through actually writing down what they found upon finishing said wandering and talking. This one though... This one seemed to be different. His brief sneer and half-aborted scoff indicated that almost immediately. "No. Apologies," Golden Apple responded with a shake of his head. "I'm here on business. I was told you deal with the currency of this place, yes? GP? I operate one of the largest shipping companies in Equestria, and so it behooves me to meet with one here who can help establish ties with for our mutual profits. I hope that enlightens you as to the importance of us meeting as soon as is feasible," he explained, trailing off near the end with an implicit stare. Fair Cut paused. "Well, the first thing to note is, you may have better luck approaching Sir L.S. Capital. He runs the Open Market, where ponies go to sell things that aren't on the fixed prices list.. It's smaller than you might be expecting, but more than a few ponies use it to offload oddities." Golden Apple's ear twitched with disgust that he only barely managed to restrain at that last part. "Fixed prices?" he repeated slowly, as if Fair Cut had just brandished a knife at him, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of the imminent threat to his life. Fair Cut nodded. "Yes, Mr. Apple, we use fixed prices for trading among ourselves. It's part of why we use our own currency instead of bits. By distinguishing between Shadow Realm currency and outside currencies, we can use the Arcana Liber, that is to say, we can use voting systems to establish fixed prices for things like food and sundries." Golden Apple's eyes narrowed. That would make things... Complicated. "I see, so how would a trader turn a profit, in such a system?" he asked diplomatically. "If it's on the fixed price list, you should be able to sign up on the Arcana Liber and perform transactions through that, then convert your GP to bits based on the going rate. Normally, Lord Weiss handles imports and exports that don't fit within that system, but I suppose, with the current situation, Princess Luna would be the pony you would want to speak to on that matter?" Fair Cut answers hesitantly. Taking a deep breath, Golden Apple calms himself. In truth, there's no reason to get so bent out of shape on principle alone, even if these Longma are a bit hopelessly backwards, or at minimum, hopelessly lacking in ambition. There wouldn't be any particularly useful deals to be had here, but other than the sting of being denied a new source of profit, he hadn't exactly lost anything from the exchange. He certainly wouldn't be haggling with Princess Luna herself to try and get a good deal trading things to these Longma. If Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence were anything to go by, immortals were as worthless as can be when it came to their use as trading partners. They had simply put too much time in the game to settle for anything but the best result for themselves, when they bothered to actually move bits around. "Thank you. You've helped me understand a great deal about how to move forward with you and yours. I will have my ponies contact yours if things pan out favorably. Either way, if you require my company's services, or high quality apple products, you need only contact me," the Chancellor said, turning to leave. As he did, he heard a rather loud exclamation from some mare nearby, and, turning around, broke out into a cold sweat. If I was going to get information out of him, I had to stop him from escaping, and nothing short of a broken leg would keep an Earth Pony from doing whatever the hell they wanted, when it came to running. "Weiss, stop!" Eclipse Flash shouted, grabbing me mere moments before my claw would have clamped down on Golden Apple's leg with hydraulic pressure. He turned around and saw me right behind him, freezing with a terrified expression as my claw's new position put it dangerously near his throat after the turn. Good. This little conspiracy tried to stain the Shadow Realm's memory. I won't let them poison the real thing. I could tell just by looking at him that he fit the same profile as Gourmet. Noble, greedy, paying vast amounts to Chapter Black in the form of "Dues" and "Charitable Donations". I could sense the darkness in his heart as well, for lack of a less corny statement. Someone was drilling the idea of violence as a philosophy into his head, and it showed in his emotional pattern. If this so called Chapter Black thought I was incompetent, they had another thing coming. My senses are more than sharp enough to pick out a member of their inner circle when he's being this obvious about it, and I had done at least a bit of research into potential candidates for the ones pulling the strings behind it, at least enough to know who the rich members were. If I couldn't break his leg, I'd use a spell. Black Water Mist is temporary unless I pour crystal growth magic into it, but it would keep him there long enough for me to isolate and question him in an illusion. My horn glows, and I summon a small vial of black liquid. "What the hell do you think you're doing Weiss?!" she shouts in shock, pulling me away and breaking my eye contact with the stallion, the vial shattering on the ground with a fuming hiss as it began to decay. "Not right now, Eclipse, this one is bad news. Their whole little organization is, but this one especially" I explain, returning my attention to the pony in question. She didn't approve of harming or illusory effects. I'd have to rely on traditional questioning. A challenge, but one I welcome. "So, which one are you supposed to be? Doctor? Gamemaster? Oh, let me guess, Seaman, right? Or would it be Seapony? You can't be Black Angel. I already know who he is," I insist with a pulse of killing intent. He stammers fearfully. "I don't know what you're talking about," he blatantly lies to my face. Eclipse grabs me by the chin, forcing me to look at her again. "Weiss, what did he do, and what proof do you have that he did it?" I scowl. That doesn't matter, he's a part of that damn organization, I can literally pick apart this little freak's psyche from here! "We're a little bit beyond the point of evidence and judicial process, Eclipse. His organization is my enemy." She doesn't let me pull away. "Weiss, this isn't how we do things. It's not how you did things. I'm not going to let this be how you do things. You need to listen to me, please," she begs, probably sensing my boiling anger at Chapter Black poking and prodding at my ponies. Another consequence, come back to ruin everything. I hear the Chancellor back away, slowly at first, and then rapidly as he flees. Ponies are looking at me in confusion and fear. "If he's evil, Weiss, then we get proof, and then we make sure justice is served," she attempts, letting go and watching me carefully as I turn to stare at the fleeing pony. "Remember how I got my Cutie Mark, Weiss? I didn't let you get hurt without evidence and a trial, just because somepony else had a hunch that they were doing the right thing. You have to remember that," she insists, and I feel my anger dropping out from under me. This wasn't like that. Whoever Chancellor Golden Apple is, he's a member of Chapter Black's inner circle. My intuition doesn't lie. I'm not like she was. This isn't a case of me mistaking a dark magic user for an evil magic user... This was one of my mistakes, and I had to correct it. The look on Eclipse's face makes my chest clench, like she's both disappointed and pitying at the same time. I know I was doing the right thing. I was trying to do the right thing. If I can't even do something good when I'm trying... I glance around at the ponies who were almost a witness to my impromptu interrogation. I spot Priss, standing far back and watching me at a distance. She's in a position to intercept me, in case Eclipse's own part in this fails. I have to go. I have to think about this. Get away from her painful sympathy. I let my body collapse into embers and slip away before my student can call after me. Unfortunately, Twilight's plan to convince her friends to come up to meet all the new ponies had a minor hiccup. Pinkie Pie didn't want to go. "I know there's probably a lot of really nice ponies up there, Twilight but... I'm not ready to get back into all that stuff. I..." she trailed off. "I got scared pretty bad the last time we got tangled up in all this stuff," Pinkie said, looking unhappy with herself for admitting it. It shocked Twilight to her core to hear it, and judging from the expression on her friends' faces, they were just as shocked. Even Fluttershy hadn't felt that way, though she was incredibly nervous to meet new ponies in general. While Rainbow Dash was brave, and Applejack was stubborn to a fault, the mares had always known Pinkie Pie as the fearless one of the bunch, the one who always had a laugh and a smile, even when the going got rough. It made it all the worse to know that their encounter with Weiss, and the megalomaniacal behavior that followed had shaken the mare up so badly. Who would have thought seeing a robot double of your bestest friend get crushed would put some fear into your heart? It was that same friend who walked up and hugged Pinkie tightly. "You don't gotta go if you don't want to, Pinkie. Hay, we don't have to go if you don't want to," Rainbow Dash said, squeezing the pink pony until she let out a dog-toy-like squeak of escaping air. After that brief smoosh, the pegasus backed up and gave Pinkie a firm look. "That said, if you're scared, you don't have to be. We're all in this together, and that's the way it's gonna stay, got that?" she growled, making Pinkie perk up. "Got it!" she giggled, thinking hard. Finally, Pinkie Pie nods with determination. "Alright. I changed my mind. I'll come along to meet these new ponies. I can't let you all run off without me!" she says, receiving a group hug for her troubles. She was still afraid, but that was all the more reason to smile and laugh. Things could always be funny, as long as she had friends to laugh with her. As they make the return trip back to Star Road, Applejack is pushed aside rudely almost as soon as she hops off of the hot air balloon, only for the pony that did it to notice her and sneer in her direction. "Oh, good," Golden Apple barks sarcastically. "This saves me the trouble of paying you a personal visit," he says bitterly, pulling a piece of paper out of his vest and shoving it at the mare, who grabs it with confusion and annoyance, reading it slowly. "A subpoena? You're suing me?!" Applejack snarls at Golden Apple after getting the gist of the legal document. "You... You dirtbag!" she curses, making Pinkie gasp as she covers Rainbow Dash's ears. "Applejack! You can't just say that, there are precious innocent little filly ears listening!" she says, making Rainbow Dash glare at the implication, pushing the pink party pony off of her. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?!" Rainbow Dash complains, ruining the tense atmosphere with her annoyed bluster. "Hmph. Far be it from me to tell you how to run your farm, but the Apple Family Charter specifically forbids the use of magic usage in the growing of crops. You made the claim that your farm is using it, so I hardly have a choice in the matter if we're to protect our reputation. If I hadn't brought it to court, then one of the other Apple Family members would surely have done so themselves," Golden Apple said in response, flush with insulted fury at what she had called him. He huffed angrily, stomping off to his private airship, but before boarding it, he turned and offered one last parting blow. "I'll see you in court, 'cousin'," he said with all the coldness he could muster. Pinkie whistled after he left. "Wow, I wonder what had his tail in a twist?!" she mused, scratching her chin. "...Guess we'll find out next time!" she finally shrugged. "...Huh?" Applejack asked, cutting a confused look at Pinkie Pie.