Lessons of Darkness
Twilight made her way through Ponyville toward the house of Grimoire Maleficarum. She decided to drop in and check his progress with the lessons and his experiments. She had to make sure his experiments remained safe, after all. As she approached, she heard the sound of Grimoire singing. This was nothing new, he tended to sing to himself when he was alone.
Will you, won’t you? Won’t you join the dance?
Twilight raised an eyebrow. This was a new song she didn’t recognize from him. Sure, she didn’t know most of the songs anyway, but he sang them enough that she could recognize them. This one was new.
The shivers come again…
Twilight had reached the door. “Shivers?” She thought out loud, “Is this a Hearth’s Warming Song?”
The Spider Dance shall now begin!
Twilight paused. “Spider… Dance?”
It’s really nice to play this game. My victims never are the same. Looking deep inside your eyes, I get to see your greatest fears. Now that I am satisfied, instead of tea, I’LL DRINK YOUR TEARS!
Twilight knocked on the door. Now she was a little concerned about what was going on. One thing she had noticed about each of his songs was that they all meant something in the moment.
“Hang on!” Grimoire took a moment before he opened the door and stepped out. “Hello, Twilight. How can I help you today?”
“You can start by explaining your little song.”
“You heard that?”
“You weren’t exactly whispering.”
“True… Well…”
The door began to open behind him and a set of four glowing eyes stared at them from inside. The door opened further to reveal a large spider, just under twice the size of Spike.
Twilight jumped back in a panic. She had never seen a spider that large and patterns on its back proved it was venomous. She didn’t want to take chances.
Grimoire looked back sternly. “Horatio! We’ve been over this! Go home!”
The spider began to dissipate and vanished in seconds.
Twilight couldn’t believe what she had seen. “What… was that?”
“He has a name.” Grimoire feigned being insulted, “Horatio was visiting and he didn’t want to leave. To be fair, I did learn a new song in the process… but it’s the principle. I can’t let him stay or he’ll never leave. Not to mention there would be webs everywhere… What’s worse, he hides constantly and scares the ever living criminy out of you half the time.”
“How did… Horatio… teleport? You didn’t do that, so…”
“What? Did you think only unicorns could use magic? Kind of close minded, don’t you think?”
“I…” Twilight took a deep breath. “I don’t like it when you do that.”
“Clearly. So, as I said, how can I help you today?”
“I was coming in to check on your work and get a progress report.”
“Ah,” He thought for a moment, “Is it report day already?” Before Twilight could reply, he floated a scroll toward her, “Here’s everything. Though, this works out for me. I’ve been meaning to go to Sugar Cube Corner and pick up some treats.”
As he started to walk away, Twilight’s mind was racing, going through several thoughts at once trying to figure out what she had just seen. Of course, this was par for the course around Grimoire. His Dark magic made figuring him out difficult and he always seemed five steps ahead of her. She had to know how he does it. “Grimoire!”
The stallion stopped and turned toward Twilight, “Yes?”
“I want you to teach me about Dark magic.”
This caught him off guard, “You… want to learn Dark magic?”
“No. I want to understand how it works.”
“That’s… kind of the same thing, isn’t it?”
“I want to learn why and how it works. I don’t want to learn the spells.”
Grimoire smiled. “Alright then. We can meet up tomorrow morning for a lesson.” He turned back and trotted off to get his treats.
“Sounds good.” Twilight started the trek back to the castle. If she could understand how he used his magic, she would have a leg up on not only him, but anypony that used Dark magic. If someone like King Sombra showed up again, she would be ready to break down their spells.
\/
As the sun began to rise in the sky, Grimoire led Twilight to a hill overlooking Ponyville. He sat down and took a deep breath. “Sit.” He motioned for Twilight to take a seat next to him.
When she sat, she turned to him, “Now what?”
“Now… we sit.”
“Um… what?” Twilight didn’t get an answer. She watched as he just stared off into space. What is he up to? She followed his gaze and looked over Ponyville. She could see everything going on in the streets, but she could see that from the top floor of her castle if she wanted to. There was a method to this… there had to be!
After an hour and a half of silence, Twilight was growing impatient. She could sit through a lot, but she came here for a lesson. She was here to learn and that didn’t seem to be happening.
She finally had to speak up, “Is there a point to all this?”
Grimoire took a deep breath before replying, “It was a test.”
“A test?”
“Yep. And you just barely passed.”
“What?! How was I supposed to know this was a test? I couldn’t prepare!”
“That’s the point. I was testing your patience, literally. You can’t prepare for that or it defeats the purpose.”
“My patience? Why would you need to test that?”
“Because there are three foundations of Dark magic. Patience, Creativity, and Preparedness. It’s clear you’re creative and can prepare things well in advance, but your Patience is lacking.”
“We’ve been sitting here for an hour and a half ding nothing. How is that not patient?”
“A master of Dark magic can sit in place for days on end. A novice has to be capable of at least three hours. You were lucky to make half that; but you’re not versed in Dark magic at all, so you’re afforded a small amount of leeway.”
“How can anypony just sit still for days?”
“How did one stay frozen for a thousand years and come back swinging out of the gate?”
Twilight didn’t have an answer for that one. A thousand years frozen in ice would have at least slowed down any other villain she knew. So why did Sombra come back without issue? It was one of the questions she wanted answered.
“It’s because he was patient. As much as Sombra infuriates me, I cannot deny his ability as a practitioner of Dark magic.”
“Just a practitioner? Seems a little weak, don’t you think?”
“You better hope not. If he was any better, he would capable of cheating his death and returning to this realm.”
“He… could do that?” This thought scared Twilight. They were able to get away without meeting him in person, but his spells made it clear he was dangerous and powerful.
“Thankfully, no. He wasn’t powerful enough to do so, especially with the Crystal Heart nearby.”
Twilight gave a sigh of relief as her fears subsided. “That’s good. So, what now?”
“Now… I teach you the laws of Dark magic.”
“The ‘laws’ of Dark magic?”
“They’re not really laws, but I guess they didn’t have a word for it when they were written down the first time. After the foundations are established, a wielder of Dark magic then lives by a set of principles. There are five in total and I expect you to remember them.”
“Right!”
First law: Power is derived from the mind.
Second law: Understand your subject, and you will have your answers.
Third law: Truth is an illusion. You can make the illusion truth.
Fourth law: Nothing is indestructible, but that which is broken can be fixed.
Fifth law: You are a shadow. You are weaker than the Light that forms you.
As Grimoire finished the list, he smiled to Twilight, “Did you get all that?”
“I think so, but some of them didn’t really make sense.”
“Because you were raised by Light. What confused you?”
“Laws 1, 4, and 5 are perfectly sound, law 2 seems redundant, and law 3 just sound odd to me.”
“Alright! First off, the second law; it might seem redundant, but there is a method. If one needs answers or must solve a problem, one must do so by truly understanding all the angles. As for law 3, there isn’t really much more to them.”
“That’s just it. How can the truth be an illusion?”
“Simple.” He gestured toward Ponyville. “What do you see?”
“Ponyville.”
“And what does Ponyvill mean to you?”
“It’s where I met my friends. Where I found my true purpose in life. It’s… It’s home.”
“Now, how do you suppose I feel about this town?”
“How would I know that?”
“Good point. Well, to me, this place is an interesting little hamlet. It’s where I finally made a residence, it’s where I met you and your friends, and it’s the little village where I’ve found acceptance despite my Dark magic. That last one is a little touchy, true… but still valid.”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile. Ponyville truly was an amazing place that brings so many ponies together.
“Now, of our answers, which is true?”
“What?”
“Which one is true?”
“They both are. They’re the way we feel.”
“Are you sure? Perhaps I was lying.”
“I…” She couldn’t be sure. Grimoire has always seemed to be ten steps ahead of her. Who’s to say he wasn’t lying to make a point or deceive her?
“Truth is inherently flexible. It can be bent or twisted for anypony’s purposes. It’s an illusion. So, Dark magic helps one make the illusion the truth.”
“Okay… I guess that makes sense.”
“That’s all I can teach you without requiring you to actually use Dark magic. So, I guess we’re done for now.” He stood up and stretched. “Anyway, I’ll catch you later. I need to see a pony about a new suit. I’m thinking with a bowtie. Bowties are still cool, right? I’d ask Time Turner, but I feel he might be bias…”
“Uh… yeah. I guess they’re kind of cool.”
“Awesome! Then to the bowties! Maybe they’ll have one in purple.”
As he walked away, Twilight could hear another song.
In every dream, there is a chance we grabbed at it at our first glance. Life plays the song, we make the dance. It’s been like this forever! Following our hopes and dreams when nothing is quite what it seems. But life keeps flowing like a stream, so let us stay together...
Twilight sighed with a smile. Every song had a reason for when and where he sang. This one just made her feel… happy and, oddly enough, determined. She’d taken the first steps to understanding Grimoire. If nothing else, it was the first steps to calling him a friend. Perhaps one day they really could be friends… Only time will tell. With that thought in her mind, she trotted back to the castle. She had notes to write down and studying to do.