The Unique Properties of Dark Magic

by Shadestyle

(Present Chapter 39) Afterparty

"I will erase from this world everything that would threaten them."

---

"-Huh?" I said, blinking as somepony tried to get my attention.

"You alright? I hit you pretty hard there," Iron Diamond asked. I shook my head, focusing on some of the readouts I had been given by Cabal Counter, Fair Cut's kid. After the excitement faded a bit, longma and windego, both in and out of their pokemon forms were ranging somewhere between elation and panic, and getting a headcount of everyone here was important.

My eyes glazed a bit as I looked at the crystal screen that had been enchanted to show the list of 'Missing' ponies. I would have to check later to see if any of the Shadow Realm's systems were intact enough to distinguish which ponies and windigo were genuinely missing, and which ones had been left behind in the ancient past.

"Don't worry about it, man. I'm good," I responded, plastering a smile on my face at Iron's question.

"That's a bit scary, I won't lie. Last I checked, a buck to the head should have knocked you flat. I've never seen you fight like that before," he admitted with no small amount of respect.

I kept my smile. Our impromptu brawl had certainly given the Shadow Guard Captain pause, with all the practice I got in while they were gone, I proved to be more skilled than he had been expecting, and perhaps some of the disturbing ways I had found to maximize the amount of force I could exert with my body alone contributed to the uneasy caution he had been forced to take while we were sparring. It was a bit funny, watching his scowl turn into shock when I did a frontflip, only to kick him straight in the head right afterwards.

"Yeah. I learned a lot since we last spoke," I answered honestly.

He stood awkwardly by while I pretend to look over the data that several other Longma were also poring over.

After a moment, he continued "So, a thousand years, huh? How did you manage it?"

I swallowed involuntarily. I didn't want to think about that.

"It was bad, Iron. It was really bad," I eventually managed.

"But hey, now I can put it behind me! I've got a chance to change for the better now."

I awkwardly toss an arm over his shoulder. "I'll talk a bit more about it later, alright? It's... It's really hard for me to get it through my thick skull that you're all really here. I didn't..."

He nods understandingly. "Understood. I'll leave you to it. I'm looking forward to seeing how strong you really are, now," he says invitingly. It felt weird, how hard he had tried to pound effective close-quarters-combat into me over the years we knew each other, only for him to be genuinely impressed with me now.

As he walked away to order more troops or do whatever it is guard captains do to get out of an awkward conversation, I set aside the crystal, turning to Luna, er, Nightmare Moon. She had simply been observing from afar while I played up the crowd and kept things civil, trying to dig up old memories of actually being sociable.

"So, not that I'm complaining about how unfair it is that you're even taller than me now, but... There a reason you're keeping the Halloween getup?" I asked with no small amount of concern. I could sense the literal demonic parasite melded to her, or, I suppose would be more accurate, I could sense them both melded together. Equal parts in a cohesive whole.

'Oh, right, I gave the Nightmare a physical body to punish it for trying to get a physical body out of the Shadow Realm ruins... Man, I overthink shit when I'm angry.' I realized, after a moment of considering why their union seemed more equally balanced than it should have been.

Nightmare Moon pawed at the ground awkwardly. "Well, this is awkward to admit, but we're in a bit of a Mexican Standoff, whatever that means."

She shook her head. "We combined our physical and magical might, so if we pull apart now, either Nightmare returns to being a measly worthless filly as Moon unfairly reclaims her rightful form, or Moon has the lion's share of her power greedily stolen from her in the separation, merely to give Nightmare a more dignified height. You could say we're of two minds on the matter," she answered, wincing at her own joke.

I raised an eyebrow. Well, there's one easy way to solve that problem. "Right, I'm going to go get the elements," I said, whirling on the spot and wincing as I felt her grab my tail in her telekinesis to stop me.

"Do not!" she shouted fearfully.

After a moment, she collapsed into mist, and I watched as the mixture separated out. It wasn't perfectly clean, I could tell, and there was blending around the edges that intrigued and piqued my interest. Something about the way they had combined together seemed downright masterful, in terms of magic.

I smirked as the pair finally disjointed, and Luna, at her full majestic height, stood over the snarling little pseudo-synthetic filly.

"That was a cruel trick," Nightmare snarls impotently.

Luna is frowning slightly as well. "That was not based."

I shrug, shooting Luna a look, "Look, it worked, didn't it? It's just your basic convoluted scheme. Both of you are clearly scared of the elements. If you didn't unfuse, Elements, if you unfused, but Nightmare stole your power, Elements-"

"It was cringe, Weiss," she interrupts.

My eye twitches. "The only logical option-"

"cringe," Nightmare parrots, having noticed my reaction to Luna's words.

I grit my teeth as, for a moment, I could almost swear I feel steam hissing out of my nose as I let out an annoyed breath.

"Right. Killing you both," I announce, holding up a palm towards them as I crackle with electricity.

After a moment's stunned pause from everyone, both me and Luna burst into loud, boisterous laughter, Nightmare blinking out of her fearful paralysis as she realizes I wasn't serious.

Our banter doesn't go unnoticed, however, as Eclipse and Priss glance towards each other with concern. I wonder what set them off?

I frown slightly as they mutter something to each other, before walking towards me intently.

"It's really you, right?" Priss asks, looking me up and down. The question hurts, but I try to smile.

"Yeah."

Eclipse comes closer, and looks me in the eyes, clearly seeing something in me judging from her gaze.

"You've changed, haven't you?" Eclipse asks sympathetically.

My smile becomes a bit wistful. "Yeah... I'll have to show you some of what I learned while you guys were on ice!" I say.

I scratch my arm nervously. "I hope you guys can help me get back some of what I forgot. It's been a while, and the old memories are a bit fuzzy, you know?" I lie. Eidedic Memory via ritual magic ensured that all the memories were painfully clear, if perhaps a bit jumbled up and confused in their order.

I snap my fingers. "Oh! Perfect example. Hey, Iron Diamond! Come here for a second!" I shout over to the captain, who approaches dutifully.

"I can't believe I forgot about this! Ok, so, could you take off your cybernetic leg for a second?" I ask, grabbing my head and cracking my neck as I shake myself loose and start clearing my mind.

He frowns, and I notice Eclipse and Priss watching intently as he removes the mechanical foreleg. I remember how he lost it during our first battle against Sombra. He was piloting the Heavy Lobster, and when it was destroyed by a pillar of black crystal, he was pretty grievously injured.

Back then, my options for prosthetic limbs were limited, but now...

"Alright, watch this!" I say happily, excited to show off one of the few good things to come out of this mess.

My horn begins to ignite with the three spells I'll need. First, the desire to dominate life, completely and utterly, intermixed with the desire to breed fear, to make an eternal example, and the fear and uncertainty that comes when one considered taking a life.

Everyone except Luna gasps as they recognize the spell I appropriated for my own unique twist on the magic. Sombra's Crystal Curse.

Next, a spell of greed, of a lust for material wealth that rises up and demands the creation of beauty and treasure from nothing at all. The desire for all the greatest things in life, and to exact them from crystal. Royal Crystal Growth.

Finally, the third layer of my spell. A hatred that burns deep. A hatred of everything Sombra is, the desire to defile everything he holds dear, to destroy everything he would erect. The desire to erase from this world any monument to his fear. The Black Flame.

Priss looks like she's about to say something as smoke bleeds from my eyes, but Eclipse holds her back, watching me carefully as I aim my incandescently dark horn towards Iron Diamond.

He looks at me with trust in his eyes, and I nearly lose control of the spell as hope for the future tries to bubble up in response to his genuine trust.

Blinking away the feeling, I fire, and with a blast of magic, three things begin to happen to my guard captain.

Black crystal begins to spread over his body, and in moments, he's petrified into a statue of the same crystal.

Then, where his missing leg was, vivid purple crystals begin to grow, his petrified status allowing me to heal his body using crystal magic.

Finally, my black flames tear away at the curse, and through my hatred, twist and corrupt Sombra's ultimate magic into something of healing and goodness.

With a burst of ash, Iron Diamond stumbles forwards, all four legs intact.

He looks down in shock, noticing the odd leg out, where his lavender coat turns a rich royal purple at the seam between true flesh and healed flesh. Already, bright pink scales the same color as his cutting-torch-like pompadour begin to spread up the new limb.

"That's... Wow," he says, testing his weight on the hoof and finding it to his satisfaction. "I'll have to break it in, I can tell, but still, that's incredible!"

Eclipse's jaw is dropped. "You've... I've never seen you cast that spell on a pony before," she says slowly, and I can tell she's referring to Sombra's curse. What was the problem? I've turned countless dark spells to the side of good before. This one is practically my greatest example of it!

I give her a genuine, proud smile. "It was thanks to you, my student. When I thought I lost you, I felt so much hatred, I wanted to ruin everything for that fool. I wanted to taint his legacy forever, and when I realized that, I was able to break his curse."

I flush, embarrassed. "I even named it in your honor. A Dark Magic born from the desire to do good. I call it 'Merciful Flash'."

At her stunned expression, I smirk. "You've got some catching up to do, my least traitorous student. This old dog pulled ahead in the tricks department!"

It's hard to tell what she's feeling, but when Priss smacks me on the back with a beaming smile, I feel aches shoot through me as the hope burns in my chest. It's a good pain.

I look around. I can see them all. Queen Cold's cautious acceptance as her tiny Togepi form stands on top of Drop Kick, the barmare. Iron Diamond stretching his new leg, arguing with Helmsplitter that it's only going to increase his combat potential. I see the dragon trio, Ruby, Sapphire, and Padparadscha, my little 'nephews', reuniting, and spot Cadence flying in from the south, landing and trying to explain herself to the dragons who had been some of her closest friends, and the two ponies who had been her foster parents for the earliest years of her life,

I hear Priss cracking wise about how I've gone completely soft. Eclipse Flash smiling, really smiling at me for the first time since she came back, having apparently finally seen something worth smiling about.

I see Luna, watching from afar, holding a disgruntled Nightmare under her wing, and watch as she approaches me and stands by my side.

'Maybe I can still change. Maybe this is my second, and last chance. I've managed to pull myself back from the dark so many times when I had all of you with me. I have to give it my all, I have to pull myself back together one last time.'

'For all of your sakes.'

I take a deep breath, and pull away. There's still work to be done.

"Listen, everyone. I've got to take care of something. I'll be back shortly, but until then, behave, alright? Technically, the Shadow Realm is still ruled by Her Highness, Princess Luna, so we'll deal with that awkward mess when I get back," I say, backing away from them and leaving them with that little nugget to chew on.

Luna looks curious and a bit surprised at my proclamation, and as I wander off to take care of this, I note Cadence watching me, her crackling, lightning-like mane rumbling as she begins to follow after me.

When we're far enough away, she finally speaks. The first words I've heard from her in a thousand years.

"When are you going to tell them the truth?" she asks. Jeeze, at least wait for sentence number two before jabbing the knife in...

I swallow. "I'm not. They'll find out no matter what, you know that. Chances are, they'll probably abandon me after they figure out what I did way back when. Let me ride this out for a little bit longer. Just until they figure out on their own what a piece of shit I am."

I look at her with tension in my muscles, trying to figure out what she's thinking.

"You were imprisoned in the lamp for a good reason. They deserve to know why," she says hesitantly.

"If I've got some time, maybe I can make this work. Clean up my act. Please," I beg.

She looks at me and I can see how she pities me as much as I seem to disgust her in a vague, restrained way. It's bittersweet, what few negative emotions I can sense from the princess of love.

She sighs, conflicted. "You know it won't make this easier."

She looks away. "Fine. Don't tell them. Aunty Luna thinks you can pull through this. I think they need to know the truth. But I also know that it needs to come from you. Promise me you'll tell them the truth, when you're ready.

"Promise me, Lord Uncle."

I flinch at the name. At the undeserved trust, and the memories of a better time.

"I'll try. I promise," I say before teleporting away in a flash of lightning, leaving her to walk back to the rest of the Shadow Realm.

---

---

I arrive to Appleloosa, and make my way to a bar called "The Salt Block". It was time to close out my revenge once and for all, and come to the afterparty.

After we spent so much time around the Tree of Harmony, we both got the vibe that things were going to turn out a certain way. The tree always made sure that certain odd things were kept in line, so we agreed. Once I beat Sombra, we'd meet here, and share one last drink. We both knew the place would be built by the time he got back, and if it wasn't, there were a few other places we could have it.

As I walked into the saloon, I noted that everyone in it was asleep, aside from the Zebra at the bar, nursing a small block of salt and a glass of something strong smelling.

As I sat at the bar, she turned and smiled. "You finally did it, didn't you?! You licked that idiot but good!"

I laughed. "Yup. I did it, Malusi."

Her smile turns a bit sad. "So, now you're going to tap out, huh? You finished salt you had left to do."

With a sigh, I decide to give her the truth while I've still got the strength for it. Practice for the worse admission looming in the future. "Nope. The whole plan's a bust. A thousand years down the drain."

She looks confused, and afraid for me.

"What happened," she demands, dropping her usual habit of puns.

I look down, leaning my head on the bartop as I gently push the unconscious barkeep to the side.

"They came back. They're alive, every last one of them. The Shadow Realm. Now I don't know what to do."

I shrug heavily. "Guess now I'll have to live with my mistakes."

She blinks. What could she possibly say?

"Heh. It was a hell of a ride while it lasted, wasn't it?" I asked, throwing an arm over the mare and trying to lighten the mood.

Malusi manages to smile. "It was a trip, my lord."

She rummages around in her cloak.

"I had been saving this for you, sir. Something I know you wanted since the day you came to this blasted place," she explains, pulling a bottle from a hidden pocket.

I stared at the bubbling, neon-green liquid, and watched as she popped the metal cap off the bottle, letting fizz hiss out of the top.

"Go ahead. I wanted it to be a surprise. Guess there's no better time than now, is there, my lord?"

Scrutinizing the liquid, I picked up the brew and took a sip, then another.

My eyes widened. It was sweet. It was tart. It was disgustingly syrupy and as fizzy as can be, and had the distinct taste of citrus... lemon... lime? Some orange, definitely.

The green soda was exactly like I remembered it.

"Thank you, Malusi," I said, setting the half-empty bottle on the countertop, smacking my lips loudly.

"All is for my lord," she responds with a demure nod.

After a while, we finish our drinks, and she finishes her weird-ass salt block thing.

"I seriously don't know how you idiots get off on that," I chuckle.

"You're one to talk, caffine addict," she retorts, and I just chuckle a little bit more.

"It's a fair cop," I answer with a nod. As we stand up, the residents of the bar begin to stir, her sleeping potion starting to wear off on the crowd.

"Oh, Malusi, you should probably remove the curses you put on Ponyville," I suddenly realize.

She shakes her head. "I ended them the moment you were freed. There wasn't a point continuing to empower them after that."

I slump a bit as we make our way to the middle of town "Right. Good call. I should probably head back now. You want to come with, get in on that redemption-arc action?"

She smirks. "If I didn't have a du-tree to fulfil, I'd say yes in a heartbeat... But our paths branch here. I've got to leaf, go spread some Harmony, teach some lessons. Boring stuff, really."

I nod. "In that case, until we meet again. Sorry we couldn't close out our grim fable properly, but it looks like it's blue skies and sunshine for us unfortunately," I smile ruefully at her, and she has the decency to snicker at my joke.

I don't have any Vancian Spells, but out of habit, I throw my horn to the sky, and shout.

"Avidus!"

Another flash of lightning, and I'm gone.

---

Celestia smiles as the foals scramble around her, and the older teens watch the alicorn in awe. Many of them had never seen her before, and were all abuzz with questions, ones that seemed to range from how being a princess was, all the way to whether she or her sister would win at hoof-wrestling. (her, of course!)

When she inquired as to their emotional state, they all seemed to answer mostly positively, and when she began to ask the foals how they felt about living here, and how they had come to be here, the answers followed the same general theme.

A mysterious pony in the night, coming to the "unadoptable" foals and asking them if they wished to come live with a family. Those that answered yes, (All of them, considering those that hadn't weren't here in the first place), had woken up the next morning in this town, and had slowly been introduced to the idea of their new disguise-wearing, shapeshifting caretakers.

"Some ponies, upon reaching adulthood, chose to stay. Others chose to leave. We try to instill a respect for trust in them, and we haven't yet had a problem with a pony spoiling the secret," Chrysalis explained.

"We use our abilities to choose ponies that seem receptive to coming here. By using spells to banish short term memory, we can reveal ourselves to a child to see how poorly they respond to the sight of us. Ones deemed untrustworthy, fearful, or hateful towards us are simply made to not remember the brief encounter. Those that are receptive, and who accept our offer are brought here, and replaced with one of our own to double the net-love we can extract," she continues.

"I see. How are they fed? I see no farms or groves," Celestia asks, looking around the town in the badlands.

Chrysalis smiles. "Have you ever heard of Rock Soup? We have the older Earth Ponies manufacture the dish, while Pegusi and Unicorns who choose to stay with our hive acquire more delicate or pleasing snacks from nearby towns, for use in celebrations, rewards, or simply the occasional treat. It's disingenuous, perhaps, but Rock Soup, made with a bit of love and Earth Pony Magic, is at least agreeable, or so I'm told," she explains.

Celestia's eyebrow raises.

"I see," she responds blankly. If Chrysalis didn't know better, or didn't have the wit to carefully watch the princess as she scanned across the ponies for any signs of malnutrition, she would have assumed that the alicorn simply brushed it off.

"Very well. In that case, I see only one course of action that needs to be taken before we can move on. We shall inform the ponies of this town that if they wish to reintegrate with Equestrian Society immediately, or any any point hereafter, that they shall be given my full support to do so. You shall aid me in explaining this, and we shall make it absolutely clear that the choice is theirs, and what the full ramifications of that choice is. This choice shall be offered in perpetuity."

She uses her magic to summon a blank piece of parchment. "Secondly, though less critical, I will see to it that official channels are made for you to fill out paperwork for a new venture."

Chrysalis frowns, releasing a rather gummy bit of displeasure that had been floating around inside her for a while.

"What venture is this?"

The princess smiles. "You've been running an impromptu orphanage-slash-foster-home for millennia now, in the service of Equestria's own abandoned foals. It stands to reason that in the pursuit of truth and honesty for our truce, that this capacity of your hive be left un-official no longer."

Chrysalis sneers. "You really have lost it now. What ponies would dare leave orphans with us willingly."

The princess merely offers a disgustingly lovely expression of utter calm and serenity. "Please, think for a moment. You've been successfully running this shell-game for centuries, by, for lack of a better way to put this, coming into very young ponies rooms at night as a scary chitinous figure and asking them if they wish to be swept away to more scary and mysterious chitinous figures, and somehow you've managed to actually convince some of them. Not that I blame them, of course. This is actually quite a lovely place you've put together."

She furrows her brow, and lets out a distinctly unladylike snort. "That said, what on earth makes you think you can't do any better than that through official channels? Can you imagine the turnout if foals knew what they were getting into?" she asks rhetorically.

She waves her wing dismissively. "Besides, you don't have a choice, I've already written the letter and sent it," she lies, continuing to write the letter for several seconds longer before sending it off in a flash of light.

It took time for the two to explain the options that the adopted foals now had, and a few simply didn't understand the question. It would take time and likely more ponies to help them all understand where they could choose to go from here.

"Hmm, well, with that said and done... You still seem quite alive. On to the last execution, then! Princess Cadence is waiting for you at the site of the Shadow Realm's return, where I will be taking you for a formal apology, and a full explanation of your actions to them," Celestia explains.

"All jokes aside, you know I can't survive hatred as intense as what the Anathema and his cohorts can muster up. You've stripped me of the Crystal Heart, and now you plan to bring me there? To the eye of the storm?" Chrysalis demands, leaning forward precariously, only for Squiggles to gently push her back into her chair.

"Yes, your so called Anathema, on the day of the single happiest moment of his life, surrounded by a loving family of friends, and accompanied by the Princess of Love herself," Celestia says firmly.

"Prepare yourself, Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings. The last trial is at hand, and I promise, you will not die for your mistakes," she says, surrounding the queen, her cohort, and the chariot Celestia brought them here on in her golden glow as her magic power fully returns.

"We living are rarely so lucky," Celestia muses, before teleporting them away in a flash of golden sunlight.

Comments

[Fireeaters]

Nice. Seems Parsley Sage Rosemary And Thyme can cast some of his spells sans crutch, now.

[Fireeaters]

Maybe Malusi slipped The Grapist some immortality juice in that sprite, or whatever.

[drFraud]

I really like this version of Cadence. Confident, strong and, while obviously her stay in SR made her more... aggressive, she is still the loving and caring alicorn we know her as. Weiss needs to talk to her, like a real heart to heart, it's obvious she deeply cares for her uncle and wants best for him.

[MemerDreamer]

I must have a confrontation between the Least Traitorous Student and the Most Faithful Student
:)

[Maramanasa]

Nice to see weiss trying and that bug queen and sunbutt are quite reasonable. Good to see characters learn from thier mistakes and grow. Whether weiss goes and fulfills his goal or not is now up to the future.

Also i wonder what malusi will be up to with her trickster ways and her cryptic plans.

[Mezilsa]

I soooooooo want to know what Weiss did that he thinks that he is so far beyond redemption?
Heck he has to have messed up in some capacity as Luna and Cady know something. The suspense is killing me here!

[EnderHooves]

10864575
Pluck Night. We don't know what happened yet, but it must have been truly awful. He must have slipped a bit too far into his role as the constant villain to keep equestrian knights up to par to deal with the real threats.

[macnor]

Please tell me that the finale is going to be parallel chapters where we see Pluck Night in the past and Weiss' redemption, in whatever form that takes, in the present. Because that would be so cool.

[Frazzle2Dazzle]

"All jokes aside, you know I can't survive hatred as intense as what the Anathema and his cohorts can muster up. You've stripped me of the Crystal Heart, and now you plan to bring me there? To the eye of the storm?" Chrysalis demands, leaning forward precariously, only for Squiggles to gently push her back into her chair.

I imagine the only anger would have been from Sombra, had he been cognizant and present.