The Unique Properties of Dark Magic

by Shadestyle

(Weiss Report) Material Components [Expired Aspira]

Entry Number Sixteen, Day Two-hundred and Twenty

I'm beginning to suspect that my hatred of diamonds has officially moved into the pathological. I decided to revisit the weird slime that I make whenever I'm trying to grow diamonds using Royal Crystal Growth, and it turns out, that stuff is incredibly flammable. Not normal flames, no, but Black Flames. It's like this stuff is concentrated jet fuel for hatred based magic. It's bonkers.

I've got my dudes set to start growing a ton of diamonds, and some enchantments to convert it into this new substance... Expired Aspira. That sounds cool enough. I can't help but see the irony in trying to obtain a ton of diamonds, now. At least they've got a use this time. You can't eat diamonds, and they aren't worth anything without a brand marketing them to be valuable. God... I would know.

Being surrounded by so many diamonds, it reminds me of a life I'm more than happy to leave behind. If I have to work with these damn gems once again, I will. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

The first thing I tested was the most obvious thing. If it is flammable, can it be made to explode very easily? Yes. Very much so yes. Which means this little invention goes right into the "big book of things I have no intention of sharing with the wider world" unfortunately. And god does it light up. A small canister filled with the stuff turned a Black Flame pilot light into a massive conflagration of hateful ripping fire.

By using Royal Crystals, I can direct this flame somewhat, though there's only so much I can do on that particular front, just due to it's rapid expansion. The intense and sudden heat is enough to warp or even fracture nearly all forms of crystal I can create, if I attempt to make the explosion large enough. This mandates that I shelve that particular use for now, at least until I find something able to withstand that kind of heat.

What I can absolutely do, however, is combine Expired Aspira with Foxfire to create a terrifyingly powerful bomb. It's ability to emit force is horrific when combined with the already rapid expansion of heat caused by Expired Aspira going off from Black Flames. To that end, I've made a few small grenades, just in case. You never know when you might need to make a Sherman tank fly off into the distance in twenty pieces like Team Rocket.

---

I've reached the limits of my era's technology in refining Expired Aspira further. I've discovered that it can be made more potent by melting down the diamonds in a liquid solution instead of relying on Black Flames to do the job alone, but the problem is, the less fond I am of the fluid, the less hatred can be safely contained inside of it. If only I had access to some kind of super-loved fluid, I could convert diamonds into a liquefied hatred so strong that... I don't even know what could be done with it. But it would be phenomenal.

Water can contain slightly more hatred than unrefined Expired Aspira, fruit juices can contain slightly more than that. But all of them rapidly become saturated, where any further diamonds put into it will either fail to be converted into distilled hatred, or, worse, will cause a premature ignition. Needless to say, when dealing with substances this magically potent, the words "Premature Ignition" should never enter into the equation.

I've done some experiments with solid-state hatred storage, but it's unsuitable for a number of reasons. Unlike liquid storage of hatred, storing it in solid form means that any damage, even a small amount, to the medium will cause it to rupture and explode. Violently. I can attest to this by the two days it took Doctor to pick out emerald splinters from my leg. It wasn't very fun, and I wouldn't recommend it.

A second reason that it isn't suitable is, when you start packing that much hatred into a solid object, it can become aligned. And when hatred becomes aligned, it's potency increases by orders of magnitude. The most common result is something I dislike going near a Hatred Crystal, only for the crystal to suddenly emit a magical laser that chases after it and destroys it.

Actually, now that I think about it, that isn't really a downside, huh?

---

I've gone through the list and tested some more materials. Black Iron can handle the heat, but it can't handle the pressure. Royal Vibranium is a bust, and Crystal Vibranium still fails when stress tested. Royal Cloth and Crystal Cloth can end up being shredded when the heat denatures them, and most ordinary materials didn't fare much better. Expired Aspira, distilled or otherwise, is simply too potent for what I've got right now. Maybe in the future I'll find some stuff that can handle it.

I also took the time to check out some more fluids, including a few that were brought up by my own R&D Dudes, like mineral water, steam, oil and, in one regrettable instance, Monster Blood. I don't know why they had me test the last one, but it took all day to wrangle the Hateblood monsters into cages, and it took a week to figure out that they are vulnerable to hugs. I swear, they weren't just being metaphorical when the poets say bloodstains don't wash out. They were very literal, and I've had to burn my favorite outfit accordingly.

For now, my research into Expired Aspira ends. It's a good bomb, but I've got better ways to do everything it does. Until I can find materials that, right now, I simply do not have, it's an unstable method of storing power for extremely narrow uses. My time would be better spent producing Vance, Enchanted Items, and Golems, instead of having my ponies grow diamonds just so I can melt them down into hatred.

Although... Maybe it could be used for some kind of potion? I could make a real version of Haterade.

---

It has come to my attention that you can in fact eat diamonds, so long as a crystal pony has cooked them first. That's my bad.

Comments

[nighters]

pfft, gourmet gems fancy snakes of royalty and dragons! trademark shadow realm brand diamonds with a use!
I hope Weiss does a few reports on his friend dragon kids study on their magic breakthroughs and his theory of wanting to try later when he gets the magic to try maybe an eclipse report on some of her work she wants to share

[Fireeaters]

Cool

[MosAnted]

Mmm, does the lack of Sunset/Celestia commentary on this mean she's stopped reading, or that they haven't reached this entry yet?

[Rakdar]

Pathological hatred indeed. Diamonds are useful, just not rare.

[Spc jacko]

you might need to make a Sherman tank fly off into the distance in twenty pieces like Team Rocket.

Reminds me of what we used to do in Halo.

[SPanDXltd]

It has come to my attention that you can in fact eat diamonds, so long as a crystal pony has cooked them first. That's my bad.

An important titbit.

[ScopeEva]

If I have to work with these damn gems once again, I will. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

Oh, on the contrary my friend! I would guess it rather requiers you to hate it.