The Unique Properties of Dark Magic

by Shadestyle

(Weiss Report) Bootstrap Godhood [Materia]

Entry Number Six, Day One-Hundred and Ten

I think I may have fucked up. Or, I guess technically Eclipse fucked up, but I'm taking responsibility for this instance of up being fucked.

I released an announcement yesterday that all existing Materia which uses Earth Pony magic needs to be brought to R&D, so they can be fitted with detection units to prevent one tribe's Materia from being used by another. The reasoning I gave was that attempting to activate a Materia containing a spell that you cannot empathize with causes intense and debilitating confusion.

What I neglected to mention in that announcement was that the spells would still work.

So, you know how unicorns have spells that only unicorns can cast, and earth ponies have spells that only earth ponies can cast?

Materia hasn't gotten the memo on that, and I'm pretty sure that's the sort of thing that would irreversibly distort equestrian society.

Thankfully, the Shadow Realm only contains one unicorn and zero pegusi. And that one unicorn is me. So I'm going to keep my mouth shut on this exploit, and nobody's going to find out about it before the Materia get their limiter collars.

I let some of my closest friends and companions know, so we could work out how we're going to handle this, and they were mostly in agreement.

If this gets out... It gets out. But when it does, it's going to change a lot of things that won't be comfortable for society to bear.

So, we beat Sombra first. Then we reopen that particular Pandora's Box.

The rest of this report will contain my experiences casting off-tribe magic using Materia to bypass my limitations, as soon as I collate my thoughts on the matter.

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Oh my god

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Experiment Number One. Lucky Shot.

An F-Rank Spell, by Eclipse's standards, I'm left in a dazed stupor for roughly ten full seconds after casting it. Thankfully, my leg involuntarily kicked when the Materia was activated, allowing me to test out its functionality. The spell seems to sort an object by the user's preferred means of sorting. In this case, my casting the spell uses Eclipse Flash's preferred sorting system. I can't make heads or tails of it, but then, I don't really sort things myself.

The spell functioned, and after the relatively short period of stupefaction wore off, I noticed no lasting side effects. My mind wasn't able to comprehend the emotion that the Materia made me feel, and, looking back on the memory, nothing I think of can invoke that same feeling. It's simply a feeling that won't come. At least that means there's no danger of swarms of pseudo-alicorns emerging any time soon from practicing Materia Casting.

Experiment Number Two. Iron Glass's Green Hoof.

Another F-Rank Spell. This one leaves me stunned for thirty-two seconds. The feeling of cultivating stone as though it were plant life does not resonate with me, and the Earth Pony emotion is one I remain fundamentally unable to comprehend. I feel like Giygue, only instead of Love, it's this odd sensation of righteousness, or maybe it's some vague sense of "Good"? In any case, the spell performed correctly, turning a chip of emerald into a crystal seed, which sprouted on the spot, with a glassy green leaf.

The leaf was edible, as the spell's description explained it would be. The method by which Materia functions leaves little to the imagination, and almost no control over the spell's end result. It tasted fine, but repeating the spell resulted in the exact same sprout, so long as the exact same size and cut of emerald is used. It can be safely said that casting spells via Materia simply turns you into a vessel through which the magic is cast. It's unnoticeable when casting spells whose motives and emotions you can empathize with, but it is put into stark relief when casting spells like this, one for which my mind and spirit have no frame of reference.

Experiment Number Three. Strength Enhancement.

This spell honestly makes me wish that I didn't have to keep these off-tribe Materia a secret. The feeling of raw strength flooding my body is intoxicating, plain and simple. Five seconds of stunning, in return for roughly ten minutes of enhanced musculature. I suspect there exist ponies who cast this spell constantly, without even realizing it. I've learned my lesson this time, however, and did not stress test this new strength, out of fear of harming my bones. These poor bones have been rattled quite enough, thank you.

One thing I noticed, which I suspect is absolutely not an intended part of the spell, is the odd effect this spell has on my forehead. I talked the matter over with Dr. Real, and apparently, the muscles in a unicorn's face are different from an Earth Pony or Pegasus. In any case, I can't even afford to use this spell subtly, as it turns my forehead into an intricate web of tensed muscles surrounding my horn. It doesn't look bad, per-se, but it would be instantly recognizable.

Maybe I can cover it with my helmet?

No. The risk is too great.

Final Thoughts.

The one downside of off-tribe Materia is the confusion inflicted on the user. If this were overcome or planned around, there would be no real downside, aside from the strict inflexibility of Materia themselves. Allowing those with ill intent to obtain access to unrestricted Materia would be extremely unsuitable, and would cause problems that, at this stage, I would rather not suffer the consequences of. Therefore, for now, this secret remains buried in the Grimoire Weiss, and shared only among my closest confidants.

I'll only consider utilizing this secret if I feel I have no other choice. Even the allure of casting spells from all three tribes of pony is not enough to defeat the temper of my caution. Once everyone knows that I can do it, they will know that everyone can do it.

I wish so dearly that we could be done with this awful business. The idea of a world in which Materia were used to their full potential is one I can't help but enjoy. Until Sombra is no more, however, they will remain restricted, and their true nature hidden from the world. I hope a day comes soon where the world is ready for Eclipse Flash's wonderful creation.

Comments

[RP422]

Aaaaaand Celestia just gave Twilight a set of materia that includes Pegasus and Earth Pony spells.

[MosAnted]

pegusi

Pegasi

[Flaxseed]

9727402
Let's see how twilight breaks from having THREE different tribes roaming around in her magical circuits eh? I'm sure it'll be quite fun!

[Marker]

It's been lowkey hinted at that Weiss came from a world where FiM exists as a show. I wonder if he'll ever let that slip in one of his Weiss Reports, just a whole 'nother can of worms for Sunset to find...

[Shadestyle]

9727416

Edited every instance of the word in the story, I apologize for what is a pretty egregious spelling error. That was my bad, and it turns out there was a LOT of it.

[zoruatrainer66]

9727402
Let's not forget just how strong those spells she's casting with the materia are.
Weiss was stunned for a while with just the weakest spells.

[nighters]

I hope twilight doesn't gain a problem or worse an addiction to materia...

[HF Fury]

9727452
I didn't mind it in the reports since that's supposed to be him writing it. In cases like that spelling errors help it feel genuine, especially given the way we've seen Weiss stumble around some words.

[Crimson Twilight]

This, this is what I’ve wanted for so long. It’s so close to what I have imagined myself that I get Déjà vu, sometimes multiple times in a chapter, even though this is the first time I’ve read it. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

[nighters]

Congrats i saw this in featured!

[Shadestyle]

9727683

In what respect? I didn't parse that correctly, I'm afraid.

9727664

Reverted the changes in the Weiss Reports only, in that case.

[thefroggyninja]

9727402
My interpretation was that at least some of them are alicorn spells that are fueled by mixing the species specific emotions.

[Crimson Twilight]

9727739
The story in general. While I remember things slightly differently, some more than others, many things give me a Déjà vu feeling. I know this is the first time I’ve read it though.

[WanderingPony]

Oh. Dear. Twilight.

[Asolem2]

Oh my god

Yeah, this Sunset, this you and Celestia need to be really careful with