Magic Corrupted

by BookWyrm

The Fright

The Crystal Kingdom

The Fright

The Crystal Ponies were, in their own time, the very panicle of equestrian culture. They have largely kept to themselves since their re-emergence. I am greeted with a mixture of warmth and apprehension. Most many of the crystal buildings, especially the crystal library, are still undergoing repairs. I am to speak with non-other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the crystal alicorn of love. We speak over tea in the royal apartment. She asks me to call her Cadence.

When Twilight arrived I was overjoyed. We didn’t get to talk at length, but she used our secret hoofshake, so I thought everything was okay.

“Secret hoofshake?”

(She blushes)
Yes, when we were younger we would do this little dance and rhyme for fun. During the changeling attack at my wedding, the Changeling Queen didn’t know what it was while Twilight was talking to her. That’s how Twilight was able to discover the plot and save everyone. After all that, we started using the rhyme as a greeting.

“How did it go?”

Oh… well…

-The Princess stands from her seat and takes a few away from the furniture.

Sunshine, sunshine…

-She canters in place-

…Ladybugs awake…

-Does a peekaboo gesture-

…clap your hooves…

-Mimes paddy cake-

…and do a little shake.

-And then makes me feel very awkward by turning around and shaking her rear in my direction-

Well that’s –cough- interesting

-She blushes as she sits back down-

Umm… yeah, we made it up when we were fillies. Anyways, Twilight and I didn’t get to speak at length, but the point is she wasn’t acting strange from what I saw.

“What was the plan for the trade summit?”

It was supposed to be an official beginning to the reintegration of the Crystal Kingdom into the world economy.
Twilight was to do the commencement, I would come out and deliver a short speech outlining the plan, ad then everypony would get a turn to speak their opinions and ideas over the course of a week. At the end of it all we would compile a newly revised plan of action, responsibilities would be delegated, and so on.

A lot had changed since their disappearance, and a lot of the goods and services that the crystal ponies produced no longer had relevance in today’s trade market.

“But weren’t the crystal ponies living at the highest standard for their time?”

Oh yes, they were very advanced. You see, the crystal ponies are actually earth ponies, but the magic that they exude differs a bit from the normal steady stream magic that regular earth ponies use.

“Then what goods and services were outdated?”

A lot of it was in crops. Most of the cultivars of the plants were very low yield when compared to the seeds used today. So all of that had to be phased out and switched over.

But a greater was manufacturing. Most of the things that the crafts ponies where making simply had no use anymore. Remember that they had been working under Sombra, who had everypony producing massive quantities of weaponry with the purpose in mind of invading Equestria.

“What was the planned solution?”

Crystals, actually that still is the planned solution. The crystals made by the crystal ponies grow larger, faster, and better than any naturally occurring specimens.

“Interesting… so for magic? Or…”

Well, mostly for magic. Crystals are amazing for higher spells and artifacts. But also for the fashion world, which has been a huge boon for us here. Ponies are calling us a second Prance.

“Congratulations.”

Thank you.

-We chatter for a moment and then resume the interview; I take on a more somber tone-

“So how did a trade summit turn into the Fright?”

-Cadence frowns-

It all started with Twilight walking calmly up to the podium to give her speech. She was dressed in a neat and clean gala dress, levitating a large stack of note cards behind her as she went. I knew the look on her face well. It was confidence, the kind of confidence that comes from hours of preparation and practice. I knew that Twilight had worked very hard on this speech, taking into consideration every possible eventuality.

Twilight was sure to have produced one of the best speeches ever. It's a real shame that i never got to read it.

But she only got a few lines in. I don’t remember a lot of it, but I remember the line that set everypony off. She said…
‘Let us now gather together in the spirit of friendship and harmony. So that we might strengthen the bond between our nations and…’

And that did it, all of a sudden the Stallongrad ponies were up in their seats. One of them shouted that the entire summit was a sham and that the crystal empire was a puppet for Equestria. Shouting rhetoric and singing their national anthem.

“Wait what?”

I should give some background. You see, I already had a plan for where the empire was headed. I wanted to meld it into the Pinchy Penny Equestrian economic system to allow for free trade and greater growth. My goal for that gathering was for some of the top economists and trade experts to have an open forum to speak their ideas to help facilitate this goal.
But they weren’t the only ones to appear. There were other parties who wanted the crystal empire for their own motive.

“The Stalliongrad ponies?”

Yes… well they were the most vocal of them. Stalliongrad wanted the Crystal Empire to merge with them, as they are the closest to us geographically speaking. But I believe that their way left far too much to be desired. Still, they were there, they even had a well thought of professor form Canterlot University with them.

“Was there any chance of them getting their way back then?”

No, not really. The crystal ponies had high opinions of Equestria, especially since the Elements of Harmony liberated them form Sombra. But Stalliongrad was not the only group who appeared.

We had aristocrats form Canterlot, who wanted to polarize the social classes. Industrialists from Manehatten who wanted to turn the kingdom into a cheap labor, manufacturing hub. We had a group of jingoist who wanted us to isolate ourselves. We had a drove of historians who wanted everything preserved. There was even one pony who just wanted us to produce jams and jellies. Not sure what that was about.

“So what happened with the Stalliongrad ponies shouting?”

Ah. Well you see, the Stalliongrad ponies started making noise, so their rivals from Manehatten started shouting as well, trying to drown them out. The Canterlot Aristocrats started shouting at both of them, and the jingoists started telling everypony to leave. Soon everyone was shouting and arguing. I called for silence, and the guards ponies had to rush in to break up fights.

And right in the middle of all of that was Twilight, standing at the podium watching her perfectly planned speech fall to bits before her very eyes.

I can still see her face turn, first sadness, then fear, then disgust, and then anger.

Twilights eyes began to glow bright red. Her horn, no her entire body, was enveloped in a magical aura. Some ponies stopped arguing and looked on in fear, but most kept fighting. Twilight rose into the air, unaided by wings.

And then the fright hit.

I still remember the flash. It was brighter than anything I had ever seen before. Pure magical energy simultaneously pulsed outwards with the force of a hundred sonic rainbooms. Everypony was thrown to the ground or knocked out.
Then everything shattered.

The crystal hall we were in was said to have been strengthened over its existence due to its proximity to the ponies.

Experts who examined the wreckage said that they were almost as strong as diamonds. They shattered like glass. The air was filed with a million tiny pieces of flying death, cutting at the bodies of everypony and killing many.

(Death toll 96 ponies all 414 others injured seriously.)

There was so much noise, screams mostly, but the echoing of the blast and falling crystal, and a buzzing sound. Twilight was still floating at the very center of the room, her eyes ablaze with arcane power.

I was so scared. How could the little filly I used to babysit for have turned into this thing?

But what fear I felt before, was dwarfed by what happened next, the thing that earned that day the name, The Fright.
Twilight shouted out a single instruction. In a voice that makes the royal Canterlot voice sound like a whisper. Those words burrowed into our minds and nearly drove the entire world into the cusp of destruction.

“What did she say?”

Be afraid… she told us to be afraid.

You see, she invaded our minds with that word. I don’t know if it was magic, or just her way of saying it, but our minds where flooded with images of pain and death. Even I, a royal alicorn, felt something buried deep down inside of me on that day. Something that screamed into every corner of my thoughts to run away. Something that said I would never be safe again.

To this day I will never forget that feeling of dread.

“What happened to Twilight?”

She vanished, teleported away somewhere. Laughing hysterically as she did. I don’t really know what she did next, not until the Ponyville attack anyways.

I had an empire to run still, a castle that had just been half shattered, and a fair chunk of the most brilliant minds in the land, writhing or dead on my floor.

-Cadence looks both angry and sad.-

What Twilight did that day was horrible, but as far as I understand, it was nothing compared to what happened next down in Equestria.

“Did you alert the Princesses?”

Yes, I sent them five separate messengers. But the sisters already knew something was amiss.

“How so?”

The crystals. The Crystal Empire is a little like a magic amplifier, that’s how the crystal aurora is made. When Twilights spell radiated outwards, the crystals sent a blast of pure fear across the land. Nopony realized what had happened. But animals became wilder, ponies became more suspicious, and darkness befell the land.

“What became of those who survived the blast?”

That was probably the only good to come from the Fright, everypony who didn’t have a direct stake in the Empire up and left. It allowed us to get a lot done for ourselves. After everypony was healed up we held a much smaller summit. Twilight may have been wreaking havoc down south, but she was done with us.

We helped where we could, especially in the relief effort, but that’s all we could do.

I thank Cadence for her time and move along. Though not far, I head down to the crystal guards barracks for my next interview. On my way I stop off in the grand hall, the one where the Fright took place. The doorway is embossed with the names of all of those who died that day. Inside, much rebuilding has been done, although construction is still under way. I see a large cluster of barrels marked ‘Hazardous’. When I ask a worker about them, he says that it is read crystals left over from the Fright. They are known to cause panic attacks in anyone who holds them.

Author's Note:

okay, another one done. let me know what you think. I live for the comments.

Comments

[Rachel Rayne]

please continue

[Avenging-Hobbits]

Interestin.

I wonder what happened to Shining Armor...

[Scourge The DJ]

This is very good. Keep it up!

[Pleaseworkforonce]

I think you said scene instead of seen In the description but I didn't really look at it much

[Jacob Fairclough]

That amulet could make anyone go mad with power and corruption. Some might even think their the strongest being in the world, Like Deadpool for instance.

[Jacob Fairclough]

If Twilight is really that badly corrupted then everything would go insane.

[Jacob Fairclough]

Well, if I saw Twilight corrupted like that, my face would be like this:
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140208011137/inanimateinsanity/images/6/6e/MePhone4sAwkwardFaceInII2.PNG