The Unique Properties of Dark Magic

by Shadestyle

(Weiss Report) Changing Gears [Color of Arms]

Princess, I wanted to get your opinion on this. Have you ever seen Weiss Noir use anything like what he details in the following entries? If not, I'm concerned he may yet be hiding the lion's share of his power. Furthermore, this is yet another magic which I believe could serve to better ponykind.

I'll be sure to have a look at it as soon as I am able, Sunset. If it concerns you that much.

---

Entry Number Thirty-Five, Year Two

Well, it's not as good as real Armament Haki, but mixing graphene into my Shadow Clones was the smartest thing I ever started doing. Almost unnoticeable, no real counterplay or downsides, and it's incredibly effective. The only real flaw is that I can't use it both invisibly and rapidly. If I grow the Royal Cloth too quickly, it changes the color of my Shadow Clone to black as it briefly rejects and regenerates itself.

This technique only works on Shadow Clones, due to graphene of any kind being a potentially toxic substance, sadly, but I've been pondering the matter. The biggest point of pondering has been on two fronts. Making it safe, and making it cheap. Royal Crystal Growth is an expensive spell. There's no getting around that, however, I've been considering a few things about spellcasting's most basal forms.

I already know that Black Flames can destroy any crystal I create with contemptuous ease, as the crystals themselves react to my desires. Could I expand on this, and create a variant spell of Royal Crystal Growth that is temporary and fleeting, instead of permanent and sustained? Do I even need Black Flames to destroy crystals that I have created, or could I create the crystals in such a way that they naturally cease to be, shortly after I create them?

---

The answer to that question is yes. Through will and desire alone, I am able to cast the spell in such a fashion that it decays into nothing shortly after casting. The secret, I have discovered, is to appreciate the beauty of something that is fleeting, and to breed a mindset in which things that are not eternal can be coveted just as much as those that are. Gems, crystals, gold and stones, all things which last a long time. But aren't there other things that could inspire greed in me? Things which aren't as long lasting?

Things exist within this world which are all the more beautiful for their briefness and mortality. Flowers, paint and songs alike. Without that understanding, the Royal Crystal Growth spell will not allow you to include a self-destruct function in it, it rebels against the idea of something being taken away from it's caster. Born from Avarice, this is a part of it's nature which must be expanded upon in order to achieve Arcane Apoptosis.

It is once again that one must make whole dark feelings in order to master them, where rejecting them will serve no purpose. While I can't inflate my bones like balloons, I think harnessing this new Color of Arms will be a stepping stone to unlocking new gears of my own in combat. I may even be able to risk using the technique without a proxy, so long as I have a method to heal the damage caused by the Royal Cloth appearing in my hide. It might be worth looking into training to thicken my skin, maybe with some sort of method of abrasion. Thicker skin gives me more to work with, if I'm going to be infusing it with magically conjured armor in a fight.

---

Now that I've learned Arcane Apoptosis, my Bound Swords have officially become costless. The blend of Dragon Magic returning my strength when I destroy them, paired with the utterly low cost of manifesting them from temporary crystal instead of permanent crystal means that I can summon blades freely, and dismiss them freely. Something that I believe will serve me well in a fight, allowing me to mix and match true and false Bound Swords that I discard, confusing my enemies, and arranging any battlefield to my liking with my litter.

But what is far... far more important is. There is now nothing stopping me from utilizing the pressurizing effects of Royal Crystal Growth at my leisure. There's no longer danger in possibly leaving behind enough of my scraps for someone to reverse engineer. I need merely to produce a weapon, pressurize it with Royal Ice, and unleash it's fury, only for it and everything comprising it to decay as quickly as they erupt. It will be yet another spike in my power, to use the Wave Motion Gun freely.

By combining it with my Shadow Clone technique, and principles derived from my Eyerocs, I believe I can even create a combat-ready Shadow Clone, and by powering it's strength with hydraulic pressure, it should be as strong as the substances I use to create it can physically withstand. And, as my many years have taught me, there exist materials that can withstand a very great deal indeed. I think, since it involves using Royal Water to enhance the musculature of one of my Shadow Clones, I'll call the technique... "Kelpie Gear".

---

I have indeed seen some of what this entry describes. Weiss had never seen fit to explain the blackening of his limbs in combat, but I had my suspicions. What may interest you to know, however, is just how infrequently I have seen it. Either he is very clever with hiding the tell, or he uses his Shadow Clone very rarely, as I've only seen him use it in a few circumstances.

As for his "Wave Motion Gun", I've only seen it used once, personally. And I believe that it was before he gained the ability to dismiss what he created. The streets were flooded with purple water, and he frantically obliterated the construct with a Black Flame almost as destructive as the Wave Motion Gun itself. His paranoia knew no bounds in those days, when it came to his most secretive techniques.

And lastly, I have seen the strength of his Kelpie Gear once before, and it failed to match Luna's in an outright test. Despite his visible efforts. It would take far more muscles than he has to match an alicorn's strength. No matter how much water he bloats them with.

Do you think he's improved upon these techniques since then?

It's possible. Why do you ask?

I'm just... Curious. If he has, he hasn't written it down.

Well, I suppose there's nothing to be done about it. It's not as though you can simply ask him.

...

Comments

[nighters]

as a scientist sunset why not study it and do it? just reading and translating for Celestia only? hope she finds her hooves I kind of hope she asks a few questions about some of his work since he already knows she knows about his old work and theories in his dark arts maybe she can earn a footnote or two on some insight from the dark sage.
a part of me wonders if she wants to avenge her destroyed world find out who did it? like are they still alive but dormant? hiding? and I hope we see that world Weiss again I hope we see him again like if it really was glimmer who did the deed I see her as having a trick to live and still be awful
kind of glad he doesn't call himself a master sage way better since he always trying to get better less serious

[Fireeaters]

Nice

[Pogmin]

"Sunset, why did you write down, an ellipses after my note?"

[The Whiskey Spirit]

Well then, that was certainly a read.

I'll be honest, I was skeptical of the format. Switching between times and reports in this manner is less that favorable for a more casual science, but the sheer quality of your writing has made me stick to it despite that.

In the end, I find that, despite a couple complaints which others have already claimed in the comments, I have enjoyed this story thoroughly and anticipate more.

This story should certainly be more popular than it is.

[SOVA]

But what is far... far more important is. There is now nothing stopping me from utilizing the pressurizing effects of Royal Crystal Growth at my leisure. There's no longer danger in possibly leaving behind enough of my scraps for someone to reverse engineer. I need merely to produce a weapon, pressurize it with Royal Ice, and unleash it's fury, only for it and everything comprising it to decay as quickly as they erupt. It will be yet another spike in my power, to use the Wave Motion Gun freely.

Well ... that escalated quickly