//------------------------------// // Ch11: Fear Not the Dark // Story: Roses for the Grave // by Mordy //------------------------------// MLP: Roses for the Grave By Mordy Ch11: Fear Not the Dark The greatest enemy of knowledge is ignorance, but the greatest threat to peace is knowledge. Twilight reread that first sentence several times, letting its meaning sink in. She was inclined to agree with statement. It was the very first thing written down right after the books title, “Fear Not the Dark”. It was a book filled with the fundamental basics for dark magic. This was a scary and thrilling thought for the young scholar. Inside this tome laid secrets that were kept hidden from the public eye. It was well feared, but the exact reasons were never quite clear. The simplest excuse was that it was dangerous. Which, was undoubtedly true, but if you were to ask why that was, none would be able to give you a precise answer. Sure, they could make educated guesses, but in the end that’s all they were, guesses. This made the opening sentence all the more important. To venture further into this forbidden wisdom was to cast aside one’s own peace of mind. It would mean giving up blissful ignorance in exchange for understanding. One can never regain that once it is lost. However, Twilight knew she would one day be able to recover from what shocking secrets this grimoire had. With that, she began to plunge into the book, reading only by the magic emanating from her horn, safely within her bedroom. She emitted only enough light for her to see without straining her eyes, but not enough to disturb Spike as he slept soundly within his bed basket. Twilight sat at the other corner of the room at her desk. The only other light source came from the moon and stars just outside her bedroom window. Her eyes carefully scanned each word, letting everything sink in… Greetings! If you are reading this then you are a very fortunate or unfortunate individual depending on your outlook. Within this book contains a collection of knowledge on dark magic (sometimes called black magic) from varies powerful sorcerers, but do not be alarmed! You do not need to be timid or afraid of this book. There isn’t anything evil or corrupting contained within its pages. All it is is paper and ink, nothing more, nothing less. You will find a rich history of dark magic along with a few simple spells. All these spells were carefully chosen to help those with magical talents better understand this foreign arcana and the history was provided so that any may make a fair and informed judgment about this magic. None of the magics provided are harmful and can safely be cast around others. With that in mind though, it is NOT recommended to cast these in a public setting merely for the fact that most tend to react negatively to such spells. This can net you in trouble with local authorities or possibly worse and we hold no responsibility for any punishment you might receive. “Right… no casting in public. I can see why Julius was freaking out so much,” Twilight muttered to herself as she continued her reading. We also suggest reading this book in a private place and while it isn’t illegal to own a copy of this book, it his heavily frowned upon and some countries will confiscate this tome should you be found with it. It’s also best not to take this on vacation either, as any book containing dark magic in it is considered a restricted trade good regardless of whether or not the book itself is not illegal in the country you’re entering. With all that in mind, we offer you this one last chance to close this book, set it down, and be done with it. While we would love for you to continue, we also understand the knowledge and responsibilities, not to mention the legal ramifications can be overwhelming for most. Should you wish to have nothing more to do with this, all we ask is for you not to be judgmental of these arts when you lack the understanding. Twilight scoffed, she wasn’t about to stop here just because of a few little warnings. Sure, it was a bit unnerving with the kind of trouble she could get in if she wasn’t careful, but Twilight wasn’t gonna let something like that ruin her pursuit for higher learning. Using her magic, she turned to the next page and read on. Early History There was a time when dark magic was more common. Almost as common as everyday unicorn magic. Of course there was a time when it didn’t exist, or more precisely, it had not been discovered yet. While the exact first appearance of these magics is unknown, the first known recording of its use was in the dark ages where war and fighting amongst all races was a part of everyday life. It is, by popular believe, theorized that a unicorn first made the discovery of dark magic completely by accident. An act of desperation and fear drove this pony to cast an extremely powerful magic that had never been seen before. This is only a theory and there are many discrepancies and tales as to what brought about this epiphany. Some stories it is said the power was discovered mid battle while other say it was brought about through tragedy. All distinct possibilities, but it is conjecture at best. Once unicorns realized how powerful dark magic was, they immediately began to use it to wage war and this was the first step to the unfair labeling of these magics. It is often believed that dark magic is destructive and that is an unfortunate truth. It is very capable of being dangerous in the wrong hooves. However, in its defense, we feel that even with its terrible applications in battle, it isn’t the most abused spell school to ever be applied to war. Another spell that isn’t even dark magic was used in such a horrifying application it is a surprise that this spell is still even accessible today. A terrible insult to dark magics that are harmless by comparison yet still seen as evil witchcraft. This gruesome magic we speak of is called the Want It Need It spell and… Twilight’s body froze up and she found herself unable to continue her reading for the moment. She was all too familiar with the Want It Need It spell after her little episode with being late for a friendship report. Frankly, she was dreading what this book was about to say next. How could that spell be used in war? …you might be familiar with this spell or at least heard of it. Might even recall hearing about it being cast on a doll and causing absolute chaos within a small town near Canterlot. “Is… it… is it talking about me?!” Twilight exclaimed and winced as she looked back at Spike to make sure he was still asleep. The little dragon was snoozing away and Twilight swallowed as she read on. The spell causes an object to become very desirable to everypony who gets close to it except the caster. The range and strength of desire depends upon how much power is placed into the spell. Before we discuss this further, we need to get into another spell. There was another commonly used spell in those days known as the Spark Bomb. This spell required a lot of power and multiple unicorns to cast. It created a giant ball of light that unleashed huge amount of energy that could destroy most small towns. However, it was ineffective in war as the power to just move the spell was tremendous and it was very slow even when you could move it. Because it was so sluggish, ponies could get far away before it even get within range of them. So, it’s only use was to just level towns, villages, buildings or clear roads. Twilight felt her stomach flip as she saw where this was going. This is where Want it Need It spell comes in. In a terrible act of cruelty this magic was cast on the Spark Bomb and all of a town’s ponies would find the bright ball irresistible and fight amongst each other to get near it. Once all the ponies gathered around it, boom. Twilight’s eyes dilated, her mind’s eye suddenly replacing Smarty Pants with the Spark Bomb. All of Ponyvilles citizens gathered around it and then… She shook her head, trying to erase that train of thought from her memory, but it was there to stay. She doubted she would ever be able to cast that spell again after reading that. Suddenly Celestia’s disappointment seemed far worse on that day. Twilight couldn’t help, but wonder if her mentor had known of this horrifying tactic. She took a deep breath and forced herself to read on… This spell was applied to more than just magic, it was used on traps, the sharp ends of weapons, and much more. The point of mentioning this is to iterate an important concept. Magic isn’t evil; it’s the ponies that abuse it that are. Thus you can take away that dark magic is merely a more easily abused school of magic for more destructive purposes. Continuing on, dark magic was often used as a tool of war and helped unicorns dominate over the other races and help form their own kingdoms while being the only rulers. At first this was fine, at least for the unicorns, not so much for the other races. Unfortunately, the ruling unicorns of other kingdoms became power hungry and started to wage war with other kingdoms for land. Those with the strongest dark magic would win. Eventually the kingdoms narrowed down to a few. War started to die down and there was relative peace. However, that didn’t last long. Nobles desiring power began to backstab each other and an internal power battle began for the throne. In order to alleviate the problem, kings and queens started to ban dark magic amongst their kingdoms, making it so only the royal could learn the arts. It was a fairly smart move that helped lesson the likelihood of war while also ensuring they remained as rulers. Unfortunately, this had an unforeseen side effect the rulers had not anticipated. (Such as the weakening of their magic. Explained in a later chapter.) During the time of the unicorns ruling, dark magic had been demonized and loathed by the pegasi and earth ponies. With the common unicorn unable to learn the banned magic, the strength of the unicorns began to wane amongst the races and cause even the rulers own race to look upon them with disdain; this began the stirring of rebellions. Thus the age old story began of noble knights fighting the corrupted kings and queens. This was the birth of the classic archetype of a dashing knight fighting off an evil sorcerer started. This image became ingrained into every pony and when the heroes took up the reign of the kingdoms and were far fairer than their predecessors many began to assume that their leaders had been terrible because dark magic was evil and corrupted its wielder. This, of course, is untrue as their rulers had simply been corrupt from the beginning and believed themselves untouchable while the new ones had learned from their mistakes. With the newly formed kingdoms, it was quickly decided that dark magic was an evil art and should be abolished. Thus it was made illegal to practice for all, but this is not where our history lesson ends even though some governments would wish you to believe so. Dark magic went underground and was practice in secret. Usually by societal outcasts, some who harbored ill will towards others and some who saw the value of these magics. When it was discovered that these societies were thriving, leaders started to hunt down practitioners and have them executed. Rewards and bounties were placed on the heads of these individuals and it started the infamous witch hunts. These caused many innocent ponies to be killed for simply suspicion or the belief that they harbored these magic users. Ironically when the crackdowns began most of the real sorcerers had already abandoned society and chose to live away from others. Thus the paranoia that ensued resulted in mostly only innocents being killed during those times. Twilight shook her head at this. If it was true then all of it was for naught. History makes fools of everypony and she was thankful the book wasn’t going into detail as to how these executions were carried out. Eventually, it was realized that the witch hunts were counterproductive. So, each kingdom announced that dark magic had been purged from the lands. Of course some took it a step further to convince the populous, some found a scape goat to publicly execute saying they were the source of their troubles. It worked and ponies began to calm down and no longer accuse each other. However, the leaders knew well that the dark magic was still thriving. In order to take care of this perceived problem without alerting their citizens, secret societies were formed to find and destroy any dark magic sects. Thus an underground war was fought away from the public eye. Unfortunately, with the distraction of dark magic gone, kingdoms began to war amongst each other again over land and resources. This also had an adverse effect that many kingdoms never expected; the resurgence of dark magic. While almost all history accounts have been lost during the Discordian Era or denied otherwise, the kingdom of Unicornia was formed thanks to dark magic… “Really?!” Twilight nearly shouted after her reading that last sentence. That seemed to be a bit of stretch, but she would suspend her belief in this case to see where it would take her. Still, that was quite the outrageous claim. In a moment of cleverness or possibly desperation, King Silver Tongue brought in dark sorcerers to help give him an edge in the war. He promised them full pardon and would allow them to reintegrate into society. They gladly agreed in hopes of finally being accepted and sought out to sabotage the kingdoms enemies. While according to history, victory in the war was believed to be the result of brilliant tactics and the aid of Starswirl the Bearded in making revolutionary advancements in the field of magic, this is only half correct. If you were to read closely about the war in any modern history book, many historians would point out that it was also a stroke of luck that won them the war. Opposing sides had some unfortunate things happen to them, such as rampant disease, faulty ballistics, and unfortunate accidents to important individuals. You can probably guess what we’ll claim next. The truth is none of these were the result of chance. All of it was done by dark magic. This gave a major edge to Unicornia and allowed them to claim every land to be under their banner. Though, later on the land would split between the three tribes it was still technically within their lands. After the war ended all of the sorcerers returned to the kingdom, but were met with a terrible surprise. King Silver Tongue double crossed them and banished them from his entire kingdom. He denied any dealings he had with them and the only reprieve he gave them was to allow them to leave peacefully as long as they never returned. Outnumbered and surrounded, they complied and were exiled, but not before swearing revenge for his transgressions and empty promises. In hindsight, they probably should’ve seen that coming as most noble high borne in that time tended to be, quite frankly, complete pricks. Twilight stopped reading to soak in what had just read. She couldn’t believe that unicorns could be so cold as to throw out the deal and then give them the cold shoulder. Would nobles really be so low? Twilight thought as she pondered the possibility. She didn’t have to think long after she remembered how stuck up high society in Canterlot was, along with the rude Prince Blueblood, and then finally the time where Rarity had to play the role of the spoiled Princess Platinum and she had to play her lowly assistant, Clover the Clever. Considering those things suddenly the claims of the book’s history seemed a lot more plausible. She sighed at the logic and continued on. Now before we continue, we’d like to take a moment to talk about Starswirl the Bearded… Twilight had to withhold a girlish squee at that very moment. Starswirl was one of her idols. She had read every available book that had transcribed his works. She was very curious as to what this particular tome had to say about one of her personal heroes. There was also a slight sense of dread that something bad might be said about him and she hesitantly continued. …and his opinions on dark magic. It is believed he did practice or at the very least researched into dark magic, but not very deeply. There have been no known books of dark magic written by Starswirl. If there had been, they were either lost, destroyed, or have been hidden away by those who believe such works would tarnish his name. Other research pieces on dark magic have often cited Starswirl and given credit to research that they claimed were done by him. Of course, without any original copies these credentials can’t be determined as true. Ultimately, of what little notes were left, Starswirl had been indifferent with dark magic. He never dismissed or condemned it, but he never quite approved of it either. We would like to provide you with one of the few recorded quotes he had on dark magic. “Truly these blackest of magics have immense potential. It could revolutionize the world and study of magic, yet I see that this power brings out the worst in us. I’ve had the displeasure of seeing the greatest of minds driven mad in the pursuit of impossibilities; great leaders who descended into cruel tyrants; friends abandoned by their loved ones! Only somepony who would step into the abyss and not submit to their darker selves should wield this magic, yet I have never to meet such a pony. None have been worthy, not even myself.” Twilight wondered if she would have been considered worthy, but decided to let that thought be put on the backburner for the time being. She’d like to think she would never succumb to such selfish desires, but she couldn’t help, but doubt herself as her eyes continued to scan the pages. It is our opinion Starswirl the Bearded gave himself too little credit, but perhaps he saw something within him that he feared he might succumb to or perhaps because he lived in such a selfish time he doubted himself? We might never know. Regardless he was well liked by those of the dark arts because he gave them respect. He didn’t demonize them nor did he condemn their practices. Starswirl saw that it was not the magic that was dangerous, but the ponies who wielded it. Power can corrupt even the most seemingly pure hearted individuals and there are some ponies that should never have such terrifying power. When the dark sorcerers were exiled from the kingdom they fled far to the north to form their own haven from Unicornia. However, they were the first to be hit by the windigos who were drawn to Unicornia by the hate and fighting amongst the three pony tribes. It was believed that they were nearly wiped out. From there most of the history has been lost due to the reign of Discord or because it had been covered up by selfish means… “Selfish means?” Twilight asked allowed, but much to her dismay the book didn’t elaborate. ...The last known officially recorded use of dark magic was used by King Sombra when he returned along with the Crystal Empire, but he was destroyed shortly after his return. “So, that was dark magic he was wielding!” Twilight exclaimed in a hushed tone so she wouldn’t disturb her sleeping assistant. Her thoughts began to turn back to Princess Celestia and the strange spell she cast just before she went off to help save the Crystal Empire. The very same spell she used to find the secret entrance to where King Sombra had hid the Crystal Heart. Twilight hadn’t been completely sure at the time, but had suspected it had been dark magic. Now she had no doubt. She then began to feel less guilty about reading the book and that she wasn’t doing anything wrong. If Celestia knew dark magic then surely it wasn’t that bad. Twilight had been a little afraid when her teacher had casted that spell to demonstrate Sombra’s power, but now she realized why she had never seen Celestia cast spells like that before. It was so others wouldn’t be afraid of her! She figured Celestia must have restrained herself from using such magic because it was so powerful and that there must have rarely been a need to resort to it. Twilight smiled to herself in thought. It makes sense, though I wonder why she never taught me any of that magic before. Maybe it is part of those advance lessons she mentioned? Well then, I guess this means I’ll be reading in ahead. I bet she will be so proud! Really glad I got this book, helped me confirm that Sombra was using dark magic and… Twilight suddenly stopped her train of thought. Something bothered her, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. She started to concentrate and think on what that nagging feeling in the back of her head was. “Years back I found this little book that teaches the basics and fundamentals of dark magic. Just a fun and fascinating little hobby I picked up.” Julius’s words echoed through her head and a realization hit her, “How... could he learn about dark magic from this book years ago when it covers events that only happened recently? He would have to have been lying to me or… hmm,” She wondered, but decided she would have to confront him about that later. Twilight was just too into her reading to think about anything else. What is Dark Magic and How does it Work? To the uninformed, dark magic is a very scary and odd entity. If asked to describe it, most would say it is a bunch of forbidden spells. Most high level mages would be quick to amend that statement and more accurately describe it as banned or illegal spells or schools of magic. (For our non-unicorn readers or beginner spell casters, forbidden spells are deemed either too dangerous or powerful that nopony should have access to them. Some of these spells are actually magically sealed to prevent them from even being cast.) It’s not surprising your average individual would know so little, but the magical scholar would only be half correct in this case. While it is true that there are certain magics and spell schools that fall under dark magic, there’s actually another side to it. Dark magic is also a technique, in other words a different way of casting magic. “An alternative way of casting magic, huh?” Twilight mumbled as she prepared her notes. This form of spellcraft can be applied to any spell. So, in essence all magic is dark magic or rather it’s capable of being cast like dark magic. Even the basic telekinesis spell can be used with it. Which brings up the question, what’s the difference between a normal spell and a dark one? At its core, dark magic is all about empowerment, increasing the potency or strength of a spell to new heights. If applied to a telekinesis, it would allow the user to lift far heavier objects… That would have been helpful with the Ursa Minor. Twilight thought. …Of course, it wouldn’t be a good idea to use it with telekinesis on a regular basis. Why, you may ask? The answer is best described with an analogy. Let’s say you wanted to kindle a candle. Normally you’d light it with a match and be done with it. That is what it’s like to lift something with normal magic. Dark magic though, would be like trying to light the candle with a torch or an explosion. This would be complete overkill and a waste of magic. On a side note, using dark empowered spells to do small, delicate tasks, like lifting a feather; is an excellent exercise for self-control and precision. We highly recommend such exercises even with normal magic. Twilight nodded and turned the page to find an inked picture. It was of two generic unicorns without any outstanding features, except for their eyes and the first ones horn. The aforementioned pony’s horn was bubbling black with sparks of electricity while the one right to it did not. Both of the unicorns’ sclera was inked green with red irises and purple smoke trailing out at the edges of their eyes. Twilight remembered Celestia looking exactly like that when she was casting dark magic and Spike having the same look in his eyes when he was under the effects of Sombra’s door that showed anypony their worst fear. Below you’ll see two ponies. The one on the left is in the middle of casting a dark magic spell while the one on the right is either under the influence of such a spell or prepared to draw on the energies needed to cast one. You can easily see why we don’t recommend casting in public as most would be easily frightened by such a drastic change. It’s completely understandable, as most cultures see black as a color of evil. Though, there are some who believe that black is good and white is evil. As you can see, casting dark magic has a noticeable effect on the eyes, changing the color while a magical, smoky mist escapes them. Also, the horn doesn’t emit a unique color aura like it does for normal castings and instead bubbles with darkness. This is what dark magic normally looks like. We say normally because there are exceptions. To get into detail, the eyes of a caster can take on many different colors based on how one chooses to fuel their dark magic. So, unicorn’s eyes can become green, blue, red, or even other colors based on their energy source. But, what is this energy we speak of? Well, first you need to understand how dark magic works. Dark magic isn’t cast like normal spells, which should already be obvious. Instead it is receives its power from the casters emotion or the emotions of those around them. Now, don’t jump to any conclusions. It’s not what your first assumption is going to be. You’re probably thinking that you need to be angry or something in order to cast more powerful spells and while being angry can help some cast more efficiently, that isn’t how it works. It isn’t what you’re feeling, but instead what you’re feeding the magic. In order to cast dark magic you need to fuel it with an emotion or two. Similar to burning firewood. Looking back at the picture of the two ponies, when one is using an emotion as energy for their spells they’re eyes began to change color to reflect the emotion being used. We can tell you right now, fear is being used by those two ponies which is one of the more common emotions that are sacrificed. The smoke escaping their eyes is the emotion being burnt away. We’ll get into more detail in just a bit. The more you can feed into it, the more powerful the spells you can cast. Often ponies that have lived hard, traumatizing lives have a much larger reserve to cast with. This is also why the kings of old became weak, they didn’t live stressful or sad lives and so their reserves of magic were far lower. Getting back to the visual changes, emotions used change the color of the eyes, but there are exceptions. Normally when using dark magic specific spells the previously mentioned effects happen. However, in some cases mages will not show any of those signs and will look like their casting a normal spell. This usually happens for those who have become so intimate with the spell that they’ve attuned to it and are able to cast it like a normal spell. Casting it this way is more taxing and less powerful than using dark magic, but it’s far less tiring than it would have been when they first learned it. It also has the benefit of not being noticeable to those unfamiliar with such magics. “Hmm, that explains why Julius didn’t look any different with those shadow puppets,” Twilight said, voicing her thoughts aloud while taking more notes. She loved every detail she could get and hungered for even more. There is one final exception; some unicorns will start displaying their own unique eye coloration similar to how most have their own colored aura around their horn for normal spells. These individuals are not to be trifled with and are among the elite. They have dived so deep into dark magic that it has become practically a part of their very identity. These are masters and should be both feared and respected. The only time they’re eyes will deviate to the normal color state is if the emotion that they’re feeding into the spell is very extreme. Take that as warning to stay out of their way if you do see them like that. However, it’s extremely unlikely you’ll ever run across such an individual and even if you do it doesn’t mean they’re a bad pony. Still, it’s a good idea not to upset somepony who can possibly make your head explode. “Noted,” Twilight deadpanned. Returning to details of feeding your magic with emotions, we mentioned that energy is burnt away. When this happens, the emotion you’re using is semi-literally being destroyed within you. You will actually feel less of that particular emotion the more you use it. This is why fear is often used in battle so one won’t be afraid of the enemy. As a bonus, you would even start to feel braver. Thinking back to Crystal Kingdom, when Twilight had cast dark magic for the first time she struggled and had felt off when casting. It had been a strange and scary thrill, but she hadn’t known that dark magic fed off of emotions and other feelings. She wondered when trying to mimic her mentor she had fed some positive emotions in the mix to cause that feeling. Getting back to what had been mentioned about how one could feel braver, a small smile started to spread on her face. She imagined how fearless an army of unicorns would be if they did that in the face of adversity. She also thought about how better Fluttershy would feel if she could cast dark magic like that and not be afraid of the world around her. Twilight was quickly brought out of that line of thought as she read the next part. Unfortunately, this can be a double edge sword. There are instinctive reasons why we have such emotions. Reasons such as self-survival or feeling empathetic towards others. Cutting off these feelings can be hazardous. Fear lets us make a flight or fight judgment call. While not showing fear in the face of adversity is good, the lack of it could prevent us from making a strategic retreat; have less motivation to run, or to fight with every fiber of our being. There’s a difference between being brave and being stupid. This brings us to an interesting case with the adverse effects of dark magic or rather unintended side effects. These usually affect the perception of those around the individual rather than the individual itself, usually. Because one begins feel less of one emotion, they feel more of another. Naturally, this leads to most casters to use negative emotions. Normally you wouldn’t want to be rid of joy or happiness and feel sad as that would be counterproductive to your performance. There have been exceptions, but that’s usually left up to the individual on case by case basis. What most casters don’t usually realize or even think about is how others start to perceive them. Imagine any villain from any story where they were a practitioner of some dark art. More often than not, they would be overjoyed with killing or casting their destructive spells. This cliché is a result of dark sorcerers. In battle they rid themselves of negative emotions allowing them to perform at their peak, but as a result everypony around them saw a pony laughing and smiling at the destruction and havoc they caused even if it was to protect others. Most of these ponies were very sane, but that wasn’t what it looked like to everypony else. Twilight hummed to herself, “That explains a lot of the traits every villain I’ve read about had.” A word of warning that we urge you to take heed of. There have been, while very few, cases of psychosis because of improper use of dark magic. This was because these poor souls never thought that their very perception of how they should feel could be affected. When unicorns use their dark magic to be rid of one or more emotions they feel more positive ones, like joy. However, overuse of the same emotions doing the exact same task began to condition them. Slowly, but surely, they wouldn’t feel the normal emotions and would feel the positive ones WITHOUT the use of dark magic. The most horrible cases this happened with were the ones that began to feel this way towards murder. This created some truly horrific psychopaths. Thankfully, if they could not be brought back to sanity they would be brought down by other dark mages if not by other individuals. We tell you this so that you or your friends and loved ones never go down this path. If you ever however unlikely as it may be, start to feel any effects similar to that, we suggest a few things: First, use different emotions when performing whatever spell or act. If that doesn’t help use the positive emotion you're feeling so you feel the negative one when performing the act. Finally, if all else fails seek psychiatric help and avoid using dark magic for the task if not all together. The spells in this book shouldn’t result in such extremes, but if you ever dive deeper into this banned art we want you to go with this caution. There have fortunately been very few recorded episodes of such extremes and you should not be too worried about it happening to you, but it’s always best to err on the side of caution. Twilight gulped, she hadn’t expected that and it made her more wary of what she was going into, but she believed as long as she was mindful about what she should feel than she should be strong enough not follow down that path. Twilight started to wonder if Julius had some tricks or ways to help prevent this or at least make her more aware if she was starting to have such odd shifts. The scientific part of Twilight was very curios though. She had done a few research papers on conditioning. One such paper was on Ponylov’s Dog which she got an A on (of course). She wondered if she could perform a few experimentations on this, seeing if she could condition herself to have a change in attitude when doing something. Maybe Julius could help? Twilight filed that in her mind for later and went onto the next section of the book: Dark Magic Schools and Spells. A small glossary was provided with a list of various different spell types and unique arts. She scanned through them, but scoffed when she read one that she found hard to believe was real at all: Curses. Twilight didn’t believe in curses, not that she believed in them to begin with. Especially after what happened to her and the rest of their friends when she first got to meet Zecora. That little episode helped her prove to her friends that curses weren’t real and it was all in their head. However, now here was a spell book in front of her, practically laughing at her ignorance and being contrary to her belief. I’d love to see them try and convince me of this. She scoffed with an arrogant smile spreading across her face as she flipped to listed index page. Curses A curse, as you might be aware, is essentially a spell that causes bad luck to happen to somepony. This is the simplest way to explain what a curse does, but it’s also a very inaccurate one. The precise magical definition of a curse is a spell that subtly manipulates the world around the intended target or targets either directly or indirectly resulting in pain or misfortune upon a specified individual or individuals. In other words, what is perceived as bad luck. To break down that long winded explanation, a curse is placed upon a pony or object. Their presence causes bad things to happen to those around them or just to themselves and can even only affect specific individuals. This all depends on how the spell was cast. Curses have long been regarded for showing a level of intelligence in how they can make the smallest things happen to cause a far more noticeable result. Little things like having a pony decide to go left instead of right, maybe resulting in a door to slam in their face. A small pebble is “accidently” kicked making a rockslide to happen. The possibilities are limitless! These spells are capable of affecting the world directly or indirectly. Indirectly is when they do something to the area around the target, while directly causes the target itself to make an almost involuntary action. This is usually similar to a knee jerk reaction and usually looks merely like a bout of clumsiness. One of the major uses curses had in battle was that it made proud and well trained knights into clumsy oafs who suddenly found themselves far less effective than they should be. It gave a huge advantage to unicorns that had to deal with more muscle-bound enemies. Outside of battle curses were used more often than not for petty revenge. In fact, the old belief that breaking a mirror would cause seven years bad luck was started because a fool accidently broke a witches mirror so she put a curse on him and the spell lasted for about seven years. Twilight actually chuckled a little at that last part. She felt bad for the poor pony, but it was funny how one little thing could be taken a whole another way. She also found it easier to believe in curses now that she had been given a more scientifically plausible explanation as to how somepony could be hexed. This brings up an interesting thing about curses, and that is how long the effect can last. This is determined by two factors, how much power is used and how direct the curse is. Of course, more power will increase the length and how strongly the spell can affect everything around the target. The other thing is that the more direct the curse is on a pony, the shorter the spell will last. This has a far greater determination than how much power is used. The less direct one is with the curse the longer it will last. A curse can last an extremely long time, but that time is cut drastically as you get more and more direct. The greatest masters of curses were always very careful with those last details and could easily fool ponies to believe they were only having bad luck without them ever suspecting a curse. If one is aware they have a curse on them, then they would seek to remove it. However, one of the ingenious uses was making it so that the so called bad luck for one pony turned into a stroke of good luck for the caster or somepony else. With that all said, it should be noted that no curse spells are provided in this book, due to how easy it is to abuse them and having such spells in this tome would result in our readers to face far harsher punishments should they be caught. Twilight huffed then sighed at the fact she wouldn’t get any curse spells to experiment with, but the reason was good enough that she would let it go. So, she turned back to index to look up more spell schools. The next one that caught her eye was one she had not heard of before. Demonology? Twilight rubbed her eyes to make sure she had read that correctly. She flipped to the page and began to read quizzically. Demonology Demonology is both a school of magic and a study. It is the research of demons and delving into their magics and these sorcerers are often referred to as warlocks. This field of magic isn’t for the faint of heart and has legitimately been found to cause shifts in personality and mood swings. In other words, turns ponies into angry mares on PMS that can throw giant fireballs at you because you didn’t notice their new haircut and forgot that it was their mother’s birthday because honestly you just don’t give a crap about your in-laws… I’m slightly offended by that statement and why does it now sound like I’m suddenly reading about married stallion’s thoughts? Ironically the section on Demonology was written by a married mare who was a fillyfooler with a mouth so crude she could make a sailor blush. She was known for dressing provocatively in public and getting in fights with random ponies at the local bar and this mare had the uncanny ability to look feminine, but act more tough and masculine than the most hardened royal guard. Due to her less than pleasant mouth, she had multiple editors. It didn’t help that every time they tried to censor her she would buck them right in the face. Thus they tried to keep editing to a minimal and some things slipped through in her writings because all the editors were K.O.ed by the end of the day. Thankfully this revision was able to get most of her foul language out. Mostly… Demons, for you idiots who don’t know, are unique creatures or inhabitants that hail from Tartarus. Despite common belief, these bastards aren’t evil, but are inclined to be real devious bastards. It’s a cultural and instinctive reason that they act like this. If you want to go learn more then get off your lazy pansy plot and find some demonology books cause I’m sure as hay not gonna waste my time explaining them to you. EDITORS NOTE: We’d like to apologize for the rudeness of our writer. The art of Demonology is to either summon badflank demons from Tartarus or whatever pit they're living in to wreak havoc on the pussies around you or to just to serve your every nonsensical whim. The other thing one can do is use the demonic magics to cast their spells and even become part demon yourself while looking like the baddest mother bucker… EDITORS NOTE: We have cut out most of this section due to the over use of foul language and insults to various religions, countries, races, and other special interests groups. We suffered many bloody noses because of these edits. YOU'RE WELCOME! Because the pansies that put this book together have no balls and think Demonology is way too dangerous to give to your average pony, they have excluded any spells from that school. Bunch of bloody wankers… Twilight just stared at the very short section on that school of magic with an appalled look. She could already tell some serious editing had gone into this and she didn’t want to imagine what had been written before. In fact, she prayed to Celestia she would never meet the pony who had written this book. Heck, she was hoping she’d never have to pick up a book written by that individual ever again. Meanwhile, far to the north… A group of ponies were trying to take down a powerful demon that had manifested itself. This black demon was known as the Shadowlord (because all the unique titles had been taken) and the fight wasn’t going in their favor. Currently one of their spellcasters was in a trance caused by the demonic figure; meanwhile a curvaceous unicorn was getting angrier by the second. This unicorn might have contributed to a certain book about Demonology with a less than pleasant tongue. She shouted out at the entranced pony, “Grim, you dumb plot! Start making sense, you rotten corpse, or you’re gonna be sorry! Maybe I’ll rip your bones out, one-by-one! Or maybe I’ll put you in the goddess damn furnace! How can somepony with such a big, smart brain get hypnotized like a little bitch? Huh? Oh, Shadowlord! I love you, Shadowlord! Come over here and give Grim a big sloppy kiss, Shadowlord! Now pull your head out of your goddess damn flank and START BUCKING HELPING US!” Meanwhile, back at the plot… As for Twilight’s thoughts on demonology, she didn’t have much information to go off of, but she was okay with staying away from such magics. Especially if they started having her act like that disturbed pony. Normally this would have deterred a normal pony from reading more, but Twilight wasn’t a normal pony. Flipping back to the index section, she scanned the pages until a new spell type caught her eye. One she had heard before, but was very curious as to what this book would have to say about it. Turning to the page number she quietly read to herself. Necromancy Necromancy is the art of raising the dead, creating creatures best known as undead. Undead come in many variations from physical to magical. This spell art also includes the manipulation of life force and reading this force. Essentially, Necromancers are the masters of life and death. This has always been one of the more morally questionable… MORALLY QUESTIONABLE?! Twilight thought, but nearly shouted out at what she believed to be such an outrageous claim. …schools that have existed within dark magic. It can be argued that these spells can, under certain circumstances, be seen as abomination against life. However, it was originally conceived with only the best of intentions. In the days of war when these spells were first created, soldiers would volunteer to be subjugated to necromancy so they could continue to protect their kingdom even in death. When they fell in battle those who agreed would be risen as undead by a nearby necromancer and then they would continue on fighting. Once the battle was over the fallen would be released and then given a proper burial. Slowly though, changes in policies began to shift. At first, they weren’t too drastic and were seen as necessary. Such as undead soldiers serving till the end of a war before being buried. Later on it became mandatory for all soldiers to be risen should they fall. This then escalated into enemy soldiers being raised to fight for the opposing kingdom. This was all intended as a means of self-defense, but it quickly escalated as a way of easily conquering other kingdoms and lead to some very vicious wars. This is what caused to necromancy to be seen as such an evil art which is far from the truth. Due to the stigma against necromancy, giving access to any spells raising the dead would be irresponsible and illegal to boot. Twilight rolled her eyes seeing as that was a no brainer. Still, she was getting peeved that so many spells were getting excluded from this book, really limiting what she could even learn or do. She was also getting the feeling that maybe dark magic really was too dangerous. That was until, she read what came next. However, we have included a minor necromancy spell to show that this school did other things besides being a moral dilemma. Twilight did a double take. They had actually provided a spell from one of the most loathed schools of magic in the whole world. Her sudden mood towards necromancy did a one-eighty. The opportunity was too great to ignore and she just had to see what spell they included within the grimoire. Eagerly flipping through the pages to where it kept its spells, she found the one labeled as necromancy. She read the description of the magic with great curiosity. Soul Sight Allows one to see the very life force of any creature, magical or otherwise.. Remember, blood is life. It was a very short description, but sounded very intriguing. Twilight hastily studied how to cast the spell. It seemed very simple for the most part, but the only trouble would be casting it with dark magic and casting it normally would be too taxing if not impossible with her current experience. Twilight decided to concentrate on the memory of fearing that she had failed Celestia’s test when she and her friends had travelled to the Crystal Empire. Her horn bubbled with black energy as her eyes turned red and green with the purple vapor escaping from them. It was a quick cast that caused and odd thrill in her, Twilight felt a bit more courageous and confident in that moment as her spell unleashed. At first, it seemed nothing had happened. She returned her gaze to the book to double check herself until she noticed a glowing pinkish purple smoke rise into her vision. For a moment Twilight thought she was on fire, but when she looked down she could see the vapor came from all over her. It was like an aura, but she could see it coming from within her body as if she was looking through an x-ray. A smile tethered onto her face, but then she noticed something else that bewildered her. Within her walls a very light green light flowed like water throughout her room. She had to think for a moment before she figured out what she was seeing. It was the life force of the very tree she lived in. Her jaw dropped as she gazed at the many streams that ran through her home like a ponies veins. It was one of the most amazing things she’d ever gotten to experience. Almost like looking at the heavenly bodies for the first time. Maybe not as grand, but it didn’t stop this experience from being any less surreal. She just continued to gaze in wonderment before she saw what looked like a darker green ball of fire lying near her bed. Twilight had to concentrate for a moment before she realized it was Spike, snoozing into the night. She quietly trotted over to him and just watched him with fascination. The fire just burned before her, calmly. Yet the wood was not set ablaze like fire normally would. Twilight didn’t have a clue what any of this meant exactly, but she couldn’t help that she had a new perspective in a very literal sense. So caught up in her thoughts she didn’t notice Spike start to stir and yawn. “Hey, Twi,” He stretched out and turned to her while rubbing one of his eyes, “What’cha doin?” “Oh Spike! Sorry, did I wake you?” “Nah, I just felt like I was being… watched… is there something up with your eyes?” He asked while still rubbing his own as his vision was still blurry. Twilight glanced at a mirror and noticed that the dark magic was still persistent within her sight. She quickly dispelled the spell and shook her head while blinking away the effects. The Soul Sight spell began to fade and her eyes returned to normal. Spike didn’t seem to catch this and Twilight didn’t want him to get worried. She smiled at him as her horn lit up and put away book on dark magic into the desk drawer. Spike noticed this, but he was too tired to really care at the moment. She patted his head and chuckled, “I think it’s time I get to bed too. Have a good night Spike.” The little dragon just yawned in response and snuggled up in his little basket bed while Twilight got under her covers. She would want to explore more of the book and that spell another time, but for now she needed her rest and didn’t want to draw anymore of the baby dragon’s suspicion. Canterlot Celestia popped a few joints as she stretched her wings. She sighed with relief as she got the knots out and let a satisfied half lidded smile trace her face. After finishing up with the dignitaries from Saddle Arabia she just needed to handle a few more small details before she could finally get some well-earned rest. It was just as she finished her last duty of the night that one of her royal guards approached to her in a hurry and saluted. “Princess!” He shouted in the normal stoic expressionless face that was drilled into them through their rigorous training. However, that emotionless state vanished in an instant as he looked around cautiously before leaning into whisper to her, “Our spies from…” He paused looking around once more to double check that they were alone before continuing, “…Darkmoon have returned.” As soon as she heard the word Darkmoon her eyes widened, “I wish to talk to them immediately!” It took almost an hour for a private room to be put together with all her most important guards and individuals who were involved with anything to do with Darkmoon. It was on a need to know bases, and a special section of the guard was devoted to dealing with anything that had to do with that foul Covenant. Along with the guard select ponies also got to know about the secret sect and help combat them in their own ways. Detective Detail was one of those few along with Giant Wall. The two had become pretty good friends over the past investigation, even if it had been pretty fruitless. Detail sat at a long square table while Celestia sat halfway between. Wall, was standing still with the other guards, but not too far from the detective. Detail sipped at some strong coffee, his eyes drooping from being woken up at such an indecent hour of the night. He wasn’t the only one; several other ponies were sitting too drinking their own cups of Joe. Everypony sat on the same side of the table as Celestia while her guards were scattered Standing at the other far side of the room were thirteen ponies dressed in very heavy clothing meant for keeping away the cold. It was understandable as they had to come far from the north past even the Crystal Empire where the world seemed to be in an endless winter. Some of the more superstitious ponies didn’t like the number that had returned. They knew there were more, a lot more. It was a bit unsettling so few had returned and even fewer still managed to maintain contact with them. One of the stallions within the group stepped forward. He had the natural colors of the guard, being white and blue, an envy to those who had to have enchantments to look the part. He seemed awfully timid as he approached the group. Most figured he was just nervous about giving his report before so many important ponies and guards. Celestia nodded to him. “Go ahead,” she said with an encouraging smile. He managed a small smile before he began, “I…” He coughed and cleared his throat while scratching the scarf that was wrapped tightly around it then continued, “I have a message from the Dark Lord.” There were a bunch of murmurs and whispers amongst everypony. The fact that he was caught, brought before the Dark Lord and spared was nothing to snuff at. One pony spoke up, “You saw him? What did he look like?!” The spy shuffled in place biting his lip while scratching his neck again. “I… don’t remember,” He admitted in defeat. Detail looked at him quizzically, “How can you not remember?” Before anypony could answer, Celestia filled everypony in, “The Dark Lord is an enigma with a most peculiar power. He, assuming he is even a he, can manipulate the memories of anypony that directly involve him or had his presence within the memory. So, he can choose what you can and cannot remember. Usually, he makes ponies forget what he looks like.” Detail let out a long whistle before voicing his thoughts, “So, I could have had tea with him today and not even remember? Scary…” “Yes,” Celestia replied, “He has been incredibly elusive and secretive. Previous reports say that not even the highest ranking members of Darkmoon know who he is. But we’re getting off subject,” She returned her attention to her spy, “What is his message?” Everypony got a little anxious as he began to deliver the message, “He wanted me to deliver a warning. Should you try to infiltrate the Covenant again, your spies will meet a terrible fate without hope of returning.” Celestia closed her eyes and nodded, “I’m surprised he even gave a warning and didn’t kill all of you right away,” She smiled at him even though he flinched slightly, “You’ve done well… are you alright?” She noticed his rising anxiety as he avoided her gaze. “I-I-I’m fine!” he quickly replied in a slightly higher voice, “I’m just eager to get back to my family,” He once again scratched the scarf around his neck, a habit that was becoming more noticeable. Celestia got up and walked around the long table to approach the timid pony. He winced as she approached him, a behavior she found most odd. She placed one of her golden laced hooves on his shoulder and he stopped shaking. Giving him her warmest smile she said, “I can’t thank you enough for the work you’ve done,” He started ease up at her words and relax, “You should go be with your family now.” He was very eager to obey her words, but then her smile fell and she placed the side of her hoof against his forehead. With a frown she asked, “Are you well? You feel cold.” A few coughs escaped him and he replied, “I might have caught a bug, but I’ll be fine. Just need lots of rest is all,” he gave her a sheepish smile and he scratched his neck again. Celestia kept her eyes on him and looked at the scarf around his neck. She just stared at it and waited and sure enough he scratched the area again and even tried to tighten the wool scarf. Her horn lit up and a golden glow surrounded the scarf that covered him. His eyes widened to the size of plates as the pupils shrunk while he became frozen in terror. Celestia carefully removed the cloth. The aura quickly dissipated when she finally saw what he was hiding and she backed up in horror with her wings extending defensively. Other ponies began to get a good view and they too were in shock. A large gaping cut had been sliced right through his neck, yet no blood flowed from it. A quick life detecting spell from one of the unicorn guards confirmed everypony’s suspicions as he announced the horrible truth, “He’s undead.” Weapons were drawn immediately from all of her guards as they surrounded the terrified unliving stallion. They were ready to strike him down at a moments noticed, but unexpectedly Celestia’s voice rang through the hall, “Sheathe your weapons!” All the guards looked at her with questioning confusion, but obeyed her orders when they saw the determined look on her face. They would not question her judgment and began to back away from the now former spy. Celestia slowly approached the trembling undead pony with a look of pity. She let out a deep sigh and asked, “What is your name?” “S-S-Silent B-B-Buckler,” He stammered out, his eyes still dilated in fear. The next thing Celestia did surprised everypony there. She hugged him, wrapping her wings around him with his back faced to her causing him a sense of warmth and safety. He was stunned by this action, but started to ease up and relax. Celestia then leaned down and whispered softly into his ear, “You mentioned you have a family. Please tell me about them.” Buckler complied and answered, “My wife and… my daughter. She’s been eager for me to return. And my little girl is turning three this month,” tears started to stroll down his eyes, a possibility only through the magic that kept him “alive”, he then went on, “She’s missed her daddy and I promised I’d be there for her birthday…” Celestia smiled warmly at this as her horn started to glow, “I want you to close your eyes and keep those thoughts about your family. Don’t let go of them, no matter what.” He nodded and did as she told, for a moment he was at peace. The thoughts of his family bringing him tranquility in this trying time. However, as quickly as that happiness came it was then snuffed out in an instant by a wave of pain that erupted through him. Buckler coughed up what blood he had left in him and he looked down as the pain quickly vanished along with his remaining life. A gold spear of light was now pierced through his heart. He managed to turn his head to look at Celestia whose horn was still glowing gold. Fresh tears strolled down her cheeks and her smile very forced. It was one of the rare few moments where her façade faltered. The spell was meant to finish him off quickly, but he had managed to linger on a little while longer after she unleashed it. The look of betrayal in his eyes broke the goddess’ heart as he whispered out with his last breath, “But… why?” His vision faded and the spell binding his soul to undeath finally relinquished and his corpse fell to the floor silently. The ponies that had seen this remained silent and dipped their heads offering respect to the poor soldier. All of them except Detail, who began to trot around the table and to Celestia. The distraught mare sighed as she wiped some tears from her eyes, “I was trying to make his last moments to be a happy one, but I couldn’t even grant him that. At least… it’s over now.” “I wouldn’t be too sure about that, princess,” Detail said as he trotted right up next to her. She looked at him and noticed that he wasn’t even looking at the corpse of Buckler. Celestia followed his gaze to see he was looking at the twelve other spies that had returned with him. It took her a moment to realize that instead of weeping like the rest of them, they were cowering in fear like a cornered animal. Some of them were crying, but it seemed to stem from the very terror they were experiencing. At first she didn’t understand why this was their reaction. That was until a terrible thought came to her. As she began to cast a spell, she quietly begged and pleaded to the universe for her to be wrong about this. Of course a certain necromancer would tell you, the universe isn’t kind to anypony. Not even a goddess. After her spell was cast, all Celestia could do was close her eyes in despair. “They’re… they’re all undead,” she said, pointing at her once living spies with her regal hoof. Once she uttered those words her guards surrounded the group in an instant. She watched as they closed in on the scared ponies before her eyes widened in realization, “Wait!” she began to point out specific ponies, “Him, her, and her! They’re still alive!” A bit of hope entered her breast that a few had been spared of any horrid inflictions. A few guards nodded to each other and started to pull the still living ones out. The stallion left quietly along with one of the mares, but the other cling desperately to one of the undead stallions. As she was forcibly separated from him, who Celestia assumed to be her lover, the stallion tried to go after her, but one guard pointed an enchanted silver tipped spear at him and he cringed back while boring sharp canines at the guard. He was a vampire or a vampony if you wanted to be specific. Just about any creature could be inflicted with the vampirism, also known as nosferatu. The word vampire was used to describe any being that had the disease. Due to ponies being the most common species of vampires, a slang term was developed to describe a pony who was a vampire which was vampony. It became very popular amongst Equestrian citizens. Thus most of them used the term vampony instead of vampire. The three living were put off to the side, two of them comforting the one that had been unwillingly removed from the group. The mare crying her heart out and Celestia could only look at her with pity. She turned her attention back to the group as they were forced into a tight circle as they were surrounded by guards. Of the undead, a few seemed to accept their fate and just laid down waiting for the blow to end their existence in the mortal coil. It didn’t stop them from recoiling or bare their fangs defensively when any enchanted silver weapon came close to them. That was an instinctive reaction. Unfortunately, much to Celestia’s dismay, some were choosing to stand and fight. Their will to live, so to speak, was far greater than to be freed from the abominations they had become. They stood in a fighting stance, even willing to protect their kin who seemed to accept their end. It was ultimately a folly, they were surrounded by royal guards with Celestia herself ready to trot in and do the deed herself should it be needed. Her knights were ready for anything, their weapons drawn and pointed threateningly at their former comrades. They wouldn’t be surprised, for they were trained for this and were familiar with how to combat these creatures. Nothing would get the drop on them… that is unless an attack came from outside the circle. It was when one of the guards pointed his magic infused silver spear at the vampony again that the growl was heard. It was a low and threatening and resembled that of a dog. The pony turned his head and the last thing he remembered seeing was the sharp canines that aimed right at his unprotected neck. The scream that followed shook the room to its core and all were thankful that a dampening spell had been cast to prevent outsiders from hearing. Standing defensively before vampony was what looked like a wolf, but not quite a wolf. While she had the features of one such as long fur, sharp teeth, paws, and a wet nose, the body shape was much more equine than any canine should be. It didn’t take long for Celestia and the others to realize that it was the same mare from before, but now as a werepony. The name werepony was a bit inaccurate as it suggested one who would turn into part pony. However, like vampony, it was just a slang that evolved within the equine society. Celestia felt her hope wane, she thought that Darkmoon had been merciful, but instead had given her the dirty work of finishing off her little ponies. She glanced at the other two ponies she thought had been spared where a few of her guards were already surrounding assuming the worst as well. She saw them look at each other before they quickly shifted into wolves’ right before her very eyes. Another low growl was heard from the werepony who was now protecting her lover, blood dripping from her teeth as her eyes darted to and fro at her former allies. The guard at her paws struggled to keep breathing, he was probably infected, but if he was treated soon he wouldn’t become a lycan. With a nod from Celestia, the bloodbath began. To sum up the fight, it was a one-sided slaughter. The guards were better equipped, outnumbered them, and had a goddess on their side. Some of them were wounded, but they were well trained while their spy’s were not meant to see such combat. Eventually only the one werepony was left. She was sitting and sobbing over the body of her now permanently dead lover. Her will to go on had disappeared. The guards were ready to deal the final blow, but were still cautious just in case her instincts decided to kick in. Before Celestia could give the final order though, the former pony spoke up with growl, “Why?” Celestia perked up and got just a bit closer to her as she continued to wail out her sorrow, “Why couldn’t we have just been left alone? Why couldn’t you have let us go? What did we ever do?” her tears stained her fur and fell onto her lovers’ coat. The princess sighed heavily as she gave an answer, “You know fully well that couldn’t happen. You both are monsters now, unable to completely control yourselves. You're just confused by your recent transformation,” Celestia approached hoping to end her with what little bit of pony she had left in her. However, the goddess was taken aback by what was replied to her, “Monsters? Confused? Recent transformation?! I’ve been like this for three years you fat flank cow!” She looked up and her cold yellows eyes bored into her with terrible malice as she bared her teeth. Three years?! Celestia thought as she flinched at the stare while subconsciously glancing back at her flank with a grimace. She’d been trying so hard to lay off the cake… The mare wolf went back to sobbing, “He still loved me after I changed all those years ago. He’s been like this for half that time and I still loved him when he became this. We never hurt anypony… we never hurt anypony…” Celestia carefully got closer, believing she was too far gone to be saved, “What about now though? You just attacked us.” “Self-defense,” She answered as an excuse, “I wasn’t going to let them hurt him…” “And how many more have you attacked or killed in so called self-defense? How many to keep the truth hidden?” Celestia said more adamantly. The mare was silent at the questions and that silence told Celestia all she needed to know. She was ready to end this, but then the mare spoke up again, “They were right….” “Hmm?” “The Darkmoon Covenant. They were right about you,” Celestia couldn’t see it, but she smiled devilishly at her fallen lover. The mare chuckled out, “You are a‒” suddenly, like lighting she lunged for Celestia’s throat. Thankfully for Celestia, the guards had been ready for such a thing and the wolf mare only managed to get herself impaled onto a spear. The princess just stared at her in horror as she wheezed out her last words, “–a monster…” The last of the life left her eyes and her body slumped. She was carefully set down as Celestia tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. Her façade slowly returning as the room went silent for their fallen brethren. “Captain,” Celestia ordered calmly, causing one of the soldiers to salute. She had hoped it wouldn’t have come to this, but now she saw no other choice. Desperate times called for desperate measures. “It seems Darkmoon is no longer going to ignore us. I never thought I’d need their help again, but…” She calmly inhaled and exhaled as she gave her next command. A command that caused the room to tense up, “Contact The Order…”