> Dark Fire
>  by hielispace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Dark Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Entry 1:
        This is my journal detailing everything I can about the origin of Changling magic. This is the first documented case of the study of Changling magic, so I will detail anything I find out while looking for the answer, whether it directly relates to this or not. So some of the Entries might get way off topic. I don’t know why I wrote that, I’m the only pony who is going to read this, with Spike in Canterlot with my parents for the month and all. So I really didn’t have to do that. Oh well, I guess old habits die hard.
        - Princess Twilight Sparkle
Entry 2:
        Today I started my search by trying to find out what the magic actually did. That way I can start to rule things out. From my own experience, changeling magic can: Control pony’s minds, change someones’ appearance and feed off love. The last one is a little bit iffy as that might be changeling biology. Actually, that can’t be, they harvest love as an energy source much like we do with food, but if it was only physical, than love would have alot less magic as to not make it toxic to life (The Magic Overload is fixed for all life). So Changelings use magic as a fuel source. Which means Changelings are magic based creatures, unlike ponies, who are a physical based with a little magic though in due to, actual, nopony knows that. Dam, a dead end, I was planning on comparing the two species, but I can’t do that without knowing how they both formed. That is too big a question for me to do alone. I’ll have to look for a different angle.
Entry 3:
        The only other way I can think to try is to note differences in changling magic and unicorn magic. Lets see, one thing is color, unicorn magic is multiple different, while Changeling magic is always green. Witch, now that I think about it, will make it very easy to find Changelings posing as Unicorns. Changeling magic is much more powerful than regular magic. Why is that? Maybe because it uses love as a fuel source. That’s part of it, but love magic is recorded as always being pink. Changeling magic green. Hold on a moment, I need to look something up.
        According to my research, (I’ll cite my sources at the end,) there is nothing in Changeling biology that will do this. Which means it is the way they cast it. I haven’t encountered anything that makes your magic consistently change color if done in a certain way. Wait no, scratch that. There is something. It’s dark magic! My hypothesis is that Changeling’s can only cast dark magic, as they have no survival use for any other kind. But how did this come about, I’ll save that for tomorrow.
        Entry 4:
I have all but confirmed my hypothesis. A few facts, along with some logic, support my hypothesis. First, the other kind of dark magic is green, even if it also has some purple things. Second, for a species like this to be a parasite, what other magic will they use? They are a parasite, making it ideal. The only question left is how. How did they get it? How did they evolve with dark magic. Ponies evolved with normal magic as a way of compensating for our lack of physical power. Was it similar with changelings? I don’t know. Maybe looking into dark magic will tell me. The earliest recorded instance of dark magic is King Sombra, so I guess I have to take a trip to the Crystal Empire.
Entry 5:
After a long day of research, I have learned quite a bit about dark magic. First, it is called that simply because it usually is casted with a darker arua. It can use any emotion as fuel, but negative are much easier to make so they are more commonly used. Which begs the question of how did changelings come to use love. Another thing I learned about dark magic is that there are never any magical spikes. Dark magic has the uncanny ability to only act when its’ user wants it to. Not only that, but grows in strength at an alarming rate every time it is used. So if I used dark magic again. Then it would be much more potent than when I first used it.
This wouldn’t help me much, but it does reveal a thing or two. One, Changelings use love and dark magic together because love is a very strong emotion and they use dark magic to obtain it and use it as, for lack of a better term, food. I think that is all the information I can gather, so this is the end of my journal.
Entry 6:
I lied. That last entry wasn’t the end. I may be done with Changelings, but not with dark magic. So the rest of this journal is dedicated to the origin of dark magic. 
First off, I know that it must around the same age as normal magic. As Changeling fossils have been found that old. Second, it is defined by the species, Changeling dark magic and pony dark magic are different, but one pony’s dark magic is the same ‘type’ as another pony’s.That is all I can discern from the current information. Maybe if I look into Sombra, I’ll find out more. I have to be careful, unless I want to end up as a puppet of darkness.
Entry 7:
After some more research at the Crystal Empire. I’ve concluded, nothing. It is really aggravating! An entire day, wasted! The only thing I got out of it was the knowledge that there is no information on dark magic. Okay, I think I need to calm down. So, for tomorrow, I’m going to go explore my brother’s castle. After saying hi to him of course. Either way, I have now confirmed that it doesn’t matter how productive you are, you will still get tired based on the effort put in. I’m not sure who opposed this idea, but I’m too tired to care.
Entry 8:
I had a great day. First, I realized who said you get tired based on how productive you were. It was Spike. Second, I had some great food with Shining. We had a conversation about a bunch of different things. Before I slipped away and went back to the area where Sombra hid the Crystal heart. 
Using dark magic again was, odd. My magic output nearly tripled! When I used normal magic the increase was not displayed, but when I was using dark magic, my magic was better than it has ever been. This confirms some of my previous findings.
I was back at the door that leads to your worst fear, and I took note of how it had chanced. The magic on the door was still there, no doubt about it, but the rest of the room was different. On the opposite side of the door there are some purple and green rocks the size of my head. When I tried magic on them, nothing happened. I’ll try again tomorrow.
Entry 9:
Well, there is not much to say about today. Except that fact that I am now in Sombra’s collection of books in dark magic! All you had to do was use dark magic on the rocks. Anyway, I spent the rest of the day, and night, and some of the the next morning, reading. I now know so much. I have a different notebook for all of the rest of it. This one is focused on one particular ritual. It was called ‘The Rite of Ash and Shadow,’ It was a spell used to infuse the user with dark magic. Witch, if I’m right, is exactly what Chrysalis and Sombra did.
The weird part is, there is a reverse spell. Why would Sombra, who I think wrote the book, include that? Either way, I’m going to try the spell on myself. I have very good reasoning for this. 1) Who else? 2) I have a reverse, so I can control it before it goes too far. And 3) For science! That is for tomorrow. I have some packing to do.
        - Princess Twilight Sparkle
        Entry 10:
        Okay, I have a spell set to record my every word, so I can give the most accurate description possible. I invented this spell just last month and already it is useful. Okay, the rune that needs to be drawn is a circle drawn in red chalk. An octagon within it. Along with some advanced magic runes. I’m standing in the center, in this smaller circle. I have to say a few words to get it to activate. 
“From dust I start, from dust I will end. From Light I come, from dark I shall end. The power of dark will boil within me. To make all the oppose me fall before me. The Darkness shall take me, and with this I say, I will watch the day die away.” I said as dark magic rotated off of the runes. A whirlwind of black and green fire spins in a spiral around the Rite, blocking me in. The runes are glowing a sick green. I feel something grabbing. It seems to have claws. I can’t see it. But I do feel extreme pain in legs. So that is a good bases for this. The fire is closing in. I can feel my fur burning off my skin. I can see somethin-
Entry 11: 
Ow my head, huh, what, oh, I guess it worked. Otherwize, that was one hell of a misfire. There are no physical differences than before. And my magic has not been altered, as evidenced by the spell that is writing this stuff down. I guess I’ll wait to see if anything happened. I’ll activate the spell again if I see something. I have to edit the previous entries of all of the “ow”s in it.
- Princess Twilight Sparkle
Entry 12:
Something, odd has happened. My eye as a mark in it, I’ve looked it up and can’t find it anywhere. By the looks of it, I’d say it definitely has origins in dark magic. The outer edge of it (it’s in the shape of circle) is a level B Holding seal and the mark in the innermost point is the emblem of dark magic. There are four more symbols in the mark, each pointing in a cardinal direction. 
My sight is perfectly fine. Registering 19/20, slightly worse than the 19.21376/20,  the average of my sight, but it is within the plus or minus .5 range that the test has. The mark is only in my left eye. These seem to point to the mark being demonic. Which would make sense given the spell I casted. I Really Really Really Hope that is not the case. I would like not to be possessed thank you very much.
Entry 13:
Just doing a little test of the writing spell I put in place. Seeing what it captured what it didn’t, that sort of thing. I am currently dictating these words and so far they have been written flawlessly. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? I’m sure I messed up in there, but the spell recorded it even though I messed up. This is probably because
 HOLY! My...my eye is on fire. How...Wha...Why...I don’t even GAH! Keeping talking Twilight so you can analyze this later. The fire is...normal and…is not do...ing anything. It is starting to die- HOLY SHIT THAT HURTS! 
Entry 14:
Well, now that whatever that thing was is over. Let’s assess the damage. The mark is now in both eyes, the pink strand in my mane is now crimson red and the symbol pointing downward is now red rather than black like rest of the mark. Based on the fact that my eye was on fire! I can then guess that each of the symbols represent one of the basic elements. Fire, water, earth and air. I’m really hoping that the next few aren’t as painful as the this one. Oh, before I forget I’m going to go check to see if the magic rune did anything. Be right back.



        Twilight closed her journal with a heavy sigh. This got out of hand very quickly and there was nothing she could do about it. She wanted to contact Celestia, but the dark magic in her would most likely react to the energy of the sun by either burning her alive or attacking the Princess neither of which she would allow. So the only option was to solve this by herself. It won’t be easy. Hect, this is probably what lead Sombra to his crazed mind, but she was going to try anyway.
        She took a stroll to the basement probably a little too slowly. ‘Please be nothing please be nothing please be nothing,’ Twilight chanted in her head repeatedly. Twilight closed her eyes right before she looked to brace herself. As she opened her eyes slowly she almost thought there was nothing there. Almost. What she found was not only against her prayers however, as the three items sitting in the centre of the magic circle was exactly what she needed.
        “A book?” Twilight asked the air. There was three books just laying there. One black, one red and one purple. Twilight approached with caution, remembering what happened to her with a grimace. Once she finally got to the centre without anything happening. She grabbed the books and made a run for the stairs, nearly tripping in the processes. 
        After a few moments frozen in fear of a possible explosion from downstairs. She read the titles of each of the mysterious new titles that popped into her basement. Advance Dark Magic, Dark Magic Origins and Guide of Dark Magic (1st edition). Twilight was eager to start reading, but she went and got her journal to record her findings first. 



        Entry 15:
        After retrieving these titles for myself. I’ve been able to gain this extremely relevant information: “After the ritual is performed. Four trials will occur, there theme, intensity and length very (for more info go to p. 34). Once all trials are complete, either more physical changes occur within 1-5 days, the pony dies, or the mark the rural leaves on the body leaves and the effects of the ritual are undone.” (Advance Dark Magic p. 23) Here is an excerpt from page 34: “The intensity of the trials is increased if each trial if the pony has high amounts of dark magic and decreases if the subject has low amounts of dark magic. The period between each trial can vary from instant to 16 hours. The longer between each trial the harder each trial is. The time between each trial is not constant.”
        With this information, I will spend the next 7 hours (by rough estimate) preparing for the next trail. So this is most likely the last entry in this journal until all the trials are over. I need to focus, not write stuff down.



        Twilight shut her journal and put it back on the “Science stuff I wrote” self. She had a lot of studying to do, and even more preparing.
        “First things first Twi, read.” She muttered to herself as she cracked open Advanced Dark Magic. ‘This book gives me the creeps. I guess thats to be expected. But still. Creepy.’ Twilight thought as she flipped through the pages. She was searching for information about the ritual itself. And because the book didn’t have a Table of Contents or Index. She resorted to simply scanning the chapter titles.
        ‘Found it,’ Twilight thought as she began reading. ‘Wow, this is pretty deep. I’m going to need to know all I can. Here goes sleep for the next night. I say that to often.’ As Twilight thought the last part, she couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. It’s true that she pulled one to many all-nighters. 
        She was stopped dead in the middle of a sentence by a sudden sensation of being wet at the tip of her wings suddenly appeared. She turned her head in an instant seeing that water was moving uphill toward her head from her wings. She backed up in a panic, but by the time she tried any magic, her entire body was thoroughly soaked. First she panicked, then she shivered, then she froze. Not in fear, but from the ice now encasing her. It seeped into her. Ice was replacing flesh bit by bit. Twilight felt this. Her flesh freezing and being turned in to ice. The feeling was so painful that Twilight swore she would die.
        Fate had different plans. Instead, her horn lit up and casted a spell. An explosion spell. Fire burst from the magic epicenter, burning books, wood, and anything else that had the ability to burn. The worst part is what it did to Twilight. Her mane and tail had holes and was solid black. Her eyes, protected by the mark, merely turned crimzon. Her wings, that used be pure ice. Were now burned into dust. The final change was to the mark, The one about fire moved to the center, while a triangle formed the rest with the other symbols, the top one glowing blue, being the corners.
        When Twilight finally awoke she barely had time access the damage before the third symbol activated. Large chunks of a black metal materialize from thin air and were drawn toward her she was a super magnet. They attached to her  before she could even move. Even before she could feel the pain of metal being fused with skin the metal started to drag her toward the magic circle. Her thoughts devolved into a single statement: Resist.
        As she was slowly dragged to what could only be her death. The metal started to shift on her. They became like metal scales. Coating her from head to hoof just like a dragon. This, combined with the dragging, caused Twilight to go unconscious from seer pain.
        As her unconscious body was hauled off into the now glowing circle of magic. The mark of Earth lit up brown as the scales completely encased her and her body continued to change. Her iris became circles of flame as the rest of her eyes became black. Her cutie mark faded entirely as the Earth trial finally concluded.
        “Hello miss” A male voice that was about as british as it could be.
        “Huh,” A stunned Twilight replied. “Where am I?”
        “Your dreams, miss,” The male voice replied, as calm as can be.
        “Who are you,” Twilight asked. “Are you something to do with trails?”
        “Good deduction miss. I’m indeed the final trail of air,” The voice said. This statement caused Twilight two things. One, take a few steps back, and two, get on her guard. “I am going to ask you some questions. Depending on your answer, one of the results that you read about will occur.”
        “Got it,” Twilight replied.
        “Good. Now then, lets begin. Why did you cast the ritual?” The voice asked. Still refusing to show itself.
        “Curiosity,” Twilight said back.
        “What will you do if you survive this unchanged,”
        “Burn Sombra’s library. No one should ever go through this,” 
        “What will do when you wake up,”
        “Try and survive,”
        “I do believe that is all the questions. Good day miss,” and with that. Twilight was forced awake



        During this exchange in the waking world. Transformations were still occurring within Twilight. Scales made out of fire and bone made of darkness formed six wings that each sprouted from an opening in her scales. Her fur became a dark red. An aura of purple fire surrounded her as the scales moved to create what looked like Sombra’s armor. 
        “Huh, did I pass?” Twilight asked as she snapped awake. In response, the glowing circle she was standing in turned solid black. Green flame erupting from it’s out wall. “Not good.” Twilight said as magic chains bound her in place. The things she saw the first time she casted the ritual came out of the wall of fire and started to circle her.
        “Their...Their look like 3d shadows,” Twilight wished as the circle they made was closing in on her. “Celestia have-” She was cut off by the beings jumping on top of her. They seemed to slide right through her and back into the rune, as if they didn’t do anything, but the effects they had on Twilight were drastic. 
        She was, in every sense of the word, corrupted. Her very soul was filled with hate and desire she actually had, but were buried under her friendships. Her memory and feelings toward the ponies she loved remained, but now were warped. Twilights cutie mark faded away along with her horn. Replaced with the arcane symbol for fire being branded on her scale armor. She was still Twilight Sparkle, just with the want of control. By any means necessary.
        “Welcome to the darkness, miss,” The voice from before said with mild joy. 
        “I should probably pick a new name,” Twilights voice said.
        “Yes, that is the custom,” The voice, now revealing himself as another shadow said.
        “I guess I’ll be Flare Gloom,” The master of shadow said with a grin, revealing her fangs.
        “I am simply here to serve you. My advice is to start your empire, if you take it or not is up to you. Miss,” The shadow said floating toward the empress.
        “It’s good advice. I’ll think I’ll take it,” Flare said right before setting of an explosion of dark fire.