Crystal Symphony [CYOA]

With a gentle motion you release the unconscious teenager from your embrace; you take out a weighty and lukewarm cloth out of Red Sulfur’s back to wrap it around Nifty Ribbon. You ensure that she is warm and safe. Her tired grimace slowly and eerily lifts into a weak smile; she barely audibly mutters ‘It is so warm, thank you...’

“Don’t mention it,” you say with an invisible smile as you secure the ring over one of your bags, “Red Sulfur?”

“Yes, Aurora,” the stallion says with a weak, obviously painful, tone of voice. His shape emerges from the darkness holding your Crystal Note he somehow managed to get his hooves on before you. He has a broken lip from which he’s senselessly sucking his blood off. Red Sulfur spits the blood out. He looks over at you and Nifty Ribbon, “Damn, this mare can pack a punch – you’re lucky she didn’t get hit on you. Ouch,” he rubs his rend, “What a freaking pain.”

“Do you mind giving me the Note?” you say with a bit of a worry, “I’d rather have it stay with me now.”

“I don’t,” he shrugs his shoulders in a carefree attitude, “This is what all the hassle was about?” he narrows his eyes and soon after, he painfully blinks and moves them back on you, “...I feel like it’s going to be useless to you now.”

“What do you mean?” you stop in hesitation, “Fair Trade told me she was unable to drain all of its power anyway.”

“Well, I don’t know about powers,” he clears his throat, “But, look.” He stops to elevate the “Quartz Eye” that is placed on top of the Crystal Note to his necklace, only for you to see the difference between them. The “Quartz Eye” of the Crystal Note is blackened and burned from the inside, nothing but black smoke present. In comparison, Red Sulfur’s “Quartz Eye” has a burning, vivid and powerful energy in form of a glowing, red eyeball inside of it, “See?”

>What do you do now?

>>29506742
well all this work for the note and it is dead, this is not a good sign. Look like our only option is to head to the crystal empire now.

>>29506742
Alright, thank you for the information Red but can you please give me that damned peice of paper.

“Thanks for the information, Red Sulfur,” you pause, “But I would still like to have this damn piece of paper.”

“I mean, sure,” he shrugs once again, “But why do you need it if it’s practically useless – is what I’m saying?”

“It’s not. I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s useless – we can’t know for certain. If it’s dead, all out work was for nothing.”

“The original phantom, let’s call him-?”

“Yes, it was a stallion for sure; coltish voice and frame of his body too-”

“Him, then,” he waves his hoof away dispassionately, “Left his Quartz Eye habitant even though it was supposed to be unfeasible, somehow. If that’s the case then I can release my hood phantom too. Let me research it a bit.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” you mumble, “Let’s go to Trotland and think this entire over first, Red Sulfur.”

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” he pauses, “What do you plan to do with the ring, think you can give it to me too?”

>What do you do now?

>>29507030
Once we get to trotland get the Note and try to speak with it like previously.

>>29507030
I have no idea what I'll do with the ring, but if you think you can make use of it sure. We should keep an eye on him so he don't go crazy with it.

You quietly glare over the platinum-looking ring; you sigh and remove it from your possession to hang it over to Red, “If you think you can make use of it, Sulfur, I don’t see why not. Just, promise me to be careful with it. It’s cursed.”

The gilded-skinned stallion accepts the ring with a caution; you notice his eyes quickly shifting their color from scarlet red to azure blue as soon as he places it in his hoof. Despite this, he does not use it to change his Cutie Mark immediately – it wasn’t a trap, as much as you have feared. Still, you decide that it may for the better to keep an eye on him. “I’m more than contempt with my Cutie Mark, Aurora,” he sighs back, “It is useless right now anyway.”

“Don’t be like that,” you nudge his shoulder with your own as you place Nifty on your back, “Come on. Let’s leave this place, I don’t like it here.”

Red Sulfur strands his eyes from the ring and says, “My ‘Hood’ sees nothing of value in here anymore, too. Let’s go.”

*** *** ***

“So, who are you?” Nifty asks Red Sulfur as soon as she makes herself more comfortable near his campfire.

“That depends on your age,” he gives Nifty Ribbon a wink that certainly makes her uncomfortable. Red Sulfur rubs a wound on his chin as she huffs and, with a bit of a petty mode, adds, “It was a joke, a joke. I’m her friend.”

“I see,” Nifty greets him with a timid, disciplined nod. Then, the teenage mare turns to face you, “And you, are you really Aurora Flare?”

“I am,” you sigh with a putrid pause, “I’m your teacher, or, at least, I’m her mind trapped inside this body.”

“How cruel,” she mutters, “I’m… I’m sorry this has happened to you, teacher.” She takes a look around herself.

“Your friends got captured by the Vizier,” you explain Nifty her concerns straight forward, “Do you remember anything?”

“I-,” Nifty motions her eyes to the fire, “No, I did not leave the cave for… I don’t remember, was it a very long time? Last time… I was with Salt Monument; he was visiting me but… I do not remember much aside from that. Sorry.”

>What do you do now?

>>29507597
The last time Salt visited you, did he told you what he was doing next?

>>29507597
What plans did Salt have? Do you know? Maybe somewhere he would go?

“Last time Salt Sphere made a visit to you, do you know what his plans were? Have he said anything to you?”

She stumbles in her though only to response with a timid shake of her head, “No, I don’t remember that much, miss Aurora. He brought me food, made sure that I’m to the task – which is the only task I was somehow good with, but in the end, only barely. He tried to ask me to come down with him, I remember that much… I asked him to give me more time. He didn’t tell me any of his plans or, if he did, I do not remember it – my head hurts.”

“Was there any problem with the Rebellion or any news from the Crystal Empire he shared?”

She nudges her head forward, “…I don’t think so, and usually his plans consisted of attacking small groups.”

Red Sulfur looks at you with a joyless smirk, “They didn’t do much, is what she’s saying; I’m not even sure they know about the Tartarus incident now that Sombra is, apparently, free.”

“The King is free?” Nifty Ribbon asks with a sorrowful surprise, “No, I’ve heard he died, it was our only chance!”

>What do you do now?

Rip /mlp/ team. Sorry, was watching the match.

>>29508764
He did die, but sending him to Tartarus only made him stronger and gain a few Titans who where locked up in in Tartarus.

“He did die-” you begin before you notice Red Sulfur shaking his head at you, “What?”

“How do you know he died?” he asks, “All we know is that the Crystal Mines collapsed on him.”

“Y-yes,” Nifty Ribbon whispers through her teeth, “I remember it now; can I? Right, um. When he returned from the mine with all those poor ponies that were turned into crystal golems, we knew something was very-very wrong. Salt Monument realized that there was something inside the Dread Layer that could turn ponies into those monsters-”

“No offence,” you slowly nod your head at her to continue, “So was it the ‘Revolution Song’ to collapse the mines?”

“Half, but the other half was the King battling… something, certainly, there was a fight. He fought it, and destroyed everything around them. This made it easier for our explosions to trigger the collapse of the whole quarry complex.”

“Instead he found his way to Tartarus,” Red Sulfur adds half-facedly, “And he freed the titans inside. Good job.”

“But that was two years ago,” she whispers meekly, with a bit of rash, to Sulfur, “Not even Sombra could survive…”

“Not even Sombra, or so everypony though as well,” you gently sit yourself near your student, “I’m sorry, Nifty Ribbon, but he’s not dead, he’s not even injured. Instead, he got stronger, and is now wrecking chaos once again.”

“No,” she mutters, visible paleness quickly creeping across her face, “If it’s Sombra, there’s no hope now. At least with Vizier, we knew we had a chance, this is why Salt Monument and everypony else formed the rebellion…”

>What do you do now?

>>29509152
Well there nothing we can do about it, but try and find the crystal heart, but where ever the king hid it we still can't find it.
Look like we have to head to the crystal empire now.

>>29509354
That's suicide. We should go the the Equestrians.

>>29509940
That is also suicide. Their both suicide, but we need to choose one path or the other.

>>29509961
The Equestrians are less likely to kill us on sight.

>>29509970
>Equestrians
>2 year fighting sombre armies
>had to deal with mindless golams
Sure anon, let kill ourself at the arms of Equestrians.

You take a deep breath, mentally, “Nothing more we can do about it, then. Our only chance is to find the Crystal Heart but… nopony knows where the king hid it. He didn’t destroy it, if you think so – Nifty Ribbon.”

“I saw him destroy what closely resembled a Crystal Heart,” she adds with a meek attitude.

“I saw it too,” Red Sulfur interjects, “Certainly, it looked exactly like one.”

Nifty Ribbon nods at him with a slight discomfort, “It was at that time he placed the chains all around the Crystal Empire, the ‘Dread Chains” he called them-“

“I think it was the ‘Terror Chains’,” Red Sulfur adds with a bit of a vengeful smile.

“Right,” she jitters back, “They were supposed to be the replacement for the Crystal Heart, and he said that only our fear and sadness could power those chains to save us from the Wendigo and their freezing winter, which is why…”

“He did not destroy it,” you note, “Because there’s no way he could, Sombra is powerless against the Crystal Heart. His first, and only, task for me was to find a way to destroy it. It’s very uncertainly that he found a way to crack it.”

“There’s still a chance,” Red Sulfur, “If he did not destroy it, he’s hiding it somewhere. And if his chains are as powerful at holding down the winter as the Crystal Heart is, then he could hide it practically anywhere.”

You pause, “Well, are they?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugs, “If he could explore them further and closer, I could say for certain.”

“Um,” Nifty Ribbon raises her hoof timidly, “I-If Sombra is back then going to Empire is very-very dangerous.”

“It’s suicidal, yes,” You add with a bit of contempt, “And we have no idea where the Equestrians are at this point.”

“We don’t know what to prepare for, and when you are going to face Sombra and his forces, “Red Sulfur yawns as he throws an additional pile of branches onto the slowly diminishing campfire, “If you want to use your Crystal Note, you might as well do it right now. That said, you might give it to me try something,” He says.

“Try?” you ask, “What do you want to try with the Crystal Note?”

He rolls his eyes and shrugs, “Do you not trust me? I want to replace the original Quartz Eye with mine, and if it works, then the book will have a new phantom spirit. How much influence did the original phantom had over the Crystal Note? How did you interact with him? In any case, my hood should be able to be of help to you with that.”

>What do you do now?

>>29510097
>If you want to use your Crystal Note, you might as well do it right now
I was planning on it, thank you very much. Ass...

I don't know where this phantom spirit came from (or simply don't remember) but I'm guessing that it's who the Note was basically. Anywho, talk to the note.

>>29510097
I'll like to try and talk to that asshole phantom. We should cast the inner voice spell on it.

>>29510205
Asshole phantom is gone, his Quartz Eye is empty.

>>29510315
If he is gone, then who freed him and why do I have a feeling was Salt?

“I was planning on it, Sulfur,” you harrumph at him, “I just wish to decide what our plans are before I’ll have to be trapped inside the Crystal Note; I’m not sure how much time it is going it take, or if it’s going to be any useful.”

“It’ll probably will, if you take me on my offer,” he smirks and gently nudges his hoof, “My Quartz Eye will assist you, and if she learns anything about the Crystal Note, it can be of help to both our knowledge.” His hood painfully tightens over his muzzle with a surprising speed; he coughs for air, “What are you doing? Stop that - you’ll help her!”

You shake your head in a tired amusement as you then realize Nifty Ribbon is shyly knocking on your flank, “Yes, Nifty Ribbon, what is it?” You adjust your voice to one of care and cheerfulness once you turn to address her.

“Teacher Aurora,” she lowers her head at you, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to use this book again… It’s evil.”

“It might be our only chance to defeat Sombra, Nifty Ribbon. I’m already a golem… how bad can it get?”

“There, all done,” Red Sulfur smirks as he adjusts the Quartz Eye that he removed from his hood on the charcoal cover of the cursed artifact – the Crystal Note, “…It should be working. She says you can enter it now,” He hesitates, “I’m not sure how much of a help my phantom is going to be of you, Aurora Flare, but that’s all I can do to help.”

“Thanks, Red Sulfur,” you smile mentally, “That’s fine, you take care of Nifty for me while I’m away, alright?”

“No promises,” he says with a shrug only to notice her wide, practically crying eyes. “But fine, I’ll try my best…?”

You nod at him with moderate acrimony as you take a few steps away from the uncertain but highly curious duo to place yourself against the stone-cold wall. “Hello again, Note,” you think to yourself as you open the empty page in the very middle of the book. You fall into a silent rumination as the dark smoke of your soul creeps to cover over your vision and senses. You place your hoof on the crumbling paper only to whisper through, “Tell me your secrets.”

*** *** ***

You “open your eyes” only to find yourself in a completely dark setting. It is a place without any sign of light, or life, present. You are unable to see or feel your body, more so than ever before. Certainly, the book without its phantom, an artifact that was equally drained dry by both Sombra and Fair Trade, is nothing more than hollow worthlessness now. For a short while, this is all you are able to sit through – your visible agitation is quick to reach its peak as you scream with all the power of your crystallized lungs, “Is there anypony here? Sulfur’s Quartz Eye, are you here?!”

“I’m here,” a voice resembling a flutter and quiver of thousands of pages is quick to echo from within the darkness as a shape of a mare-like figure begins to materialize before you. The only things tangible about her are her burning, white eyes. Her entire body is made out of long stretches of papyrus-like scrolls shaped in a form of a grandiose dress. Her outfit ends with a massive peafowl tail; its ends endlessly twisting and flowing despite the absent wind.

Her face resembles one of a mummified corpse only, with an additional shape of a slightly raised hood.

“Why didn’t you appear before I’ve called for you?” you ask with an irritation.

“I do not really want to help you,” her voice, like the flipping of hundreds of pages, answers, “Or anypony else. I am only doing this because Sulfur asked me to help you, he asked me about this very, and very meticulously… you rag.”

“Huh?”

“Red Sulfur depends on me, he needs me. The more I help him with his tasks, the more dependant he is on me,” her voice hollow echoes a giggle as her long paper-like legs embrace herself in a hug, “Until he won’t be able to live without me, a life of true happiness and bliss always being near him – always being needed by him.” Her tone immediately chances to that of cold sarcasm, “So let’s get this over with. I’ll help you, fine, what do you want?”

>What do you do now?

>>29510996
Is there any more power to be gained here?

>>29510996
Is it possible to retrieve any old memory from the last phantom that left.

“Is there more power to be gained here?” you ask your new friend with a bit of a jest, “I’m here for it, after all.”

“I know,” she retorts with a drastic attitude as she looks around the place and gives you a pitiful, lazy shrug, “As you can see, I don’t think there’s anything left here. Too bad, but oh well. It looks like I’ll have to return back to Sulfur.”

“Well, maybe there’s at least a way to retrieve a memory of the previous phantom from here?”

“Damn, you are so annoying,” she whines as her burning eyes sparkle for a second notice only to shift and blur the limitless darkness around you only to reveal a hole; a strange, blacker than black hole inside the pocket dimension of the Crystal Note you two are currently in. Though it is hard to distinguish, you are able to see the dark magic, similar to your own, profusely leaking from the void. It is thanks to three outlandish, spectral figures and their strange, eldritch glow that you are able to spot the tear. All three of those spirits are protectively holding their hooves over it.

“... So, what is it exactly?” you ask your spirit guardian only to find her giving you an arrogant sigh.

“I don’t know much, I’ve barely been here too you know. Let’s call them figments; they are figments of the ponies who have tried to consume the dark magic from the outside world for themselves. This book is a medium to allow regular ponies to wield this dark magic, and it seems, in addition to you, three others have tried it too. All of them consumed as much as they could until the book refused to give them anymore of its energy. You understand?”

“I’m not stupid,” you sigh at your guide with a grimace, “So, what does it mean? Should I just approach the tear?”

“Damn, you are stupid,” she huffs at you with a tired attitude, “No, those figments are like seals! If you want to try draining the dark power for, you’ll have to break all of them, one by one.”

“…And how do I do that?”

“Just enter the figment you hate the less, although you probably hate everypony,” her hollow voice cringes, “And something will happen, I don’t know for sure what myself – but I don’t care either way. We’ll see what happens; if anything changes I will probably tell it to you. Does that sound good? Don’t answer, less time wasted. Just go.”

You sigh only to inspect the three figments closer – what a chore. From their simplistic luminous glow and their barely present, transparent forms it is incredible hard to distinguish who is who. Certainly, the only mare figure is Fair Trade – the cocky and trap-loving Vizier. The ebon gray figure of a stallion is no other than King Sombra – the tyrant and grand regent of the Crystal Empire. The last figment is a white stallion, however – one you don’t know…

>What do you do now?

>>29512268
Shit, his fucking cloak is really a cunt. Don't say if out loud thou, I don't want to annoy her more than necessary. First, go and check Fair Trade. Maybe our hatred towards her will be of use in breaking the thing, like using the Dark Side of the Force.

Also we'll need to have some serious talk with Sulphur after we're done here.

>>29512319
>going to Fair Trade and use our hatred to remove her power
as much as i hate this bitch, we are going to need her help with dealing with Sombre.
We can enter the third figure that we don't know about to find out how he is.

I'll pause here, thank you all for playing and sticking around. I'll continue tomorrow with this. Fell free to leave feedback or continue the discussion. Cheers.

>>29512509
Picture of the "Quart Eye" phantom when?

>>29512518
I'll draw her eventually for sure, it'll just take some time because of how complicated she looks.

>>29512509
Is the she-devil in some wicked form of love with Sulphur?

>>29512534
Can't say much because of spoilers, but just like the Crystal Note phantom, she's a dying scream of a pony trapped in a Quartz Crystal. Take it as you will.

>>29513442

>>29514157

>>29512578
So she's in love, that jealous bitch.

>>29516347
Ooooh, I bet she is so totally jelous of us. Afraid we'll steal her Sulfur away.

>>29515134

“I’ll have to break all three of them anyway, does it really matter which one I start with?” you silently wager as you approach the barely present and discernible figments. The phantom of Red Sulfur’s Quartz Eye is still, even more than that - standing in visible annoyance; she waiting for you to get on with it already. Fine and fine, so be it.

You knock your head towards Sombra’s vestige; you take a step away from him – it’s best to keep him for later.

Fair Trade is a mare you, probably, know the most about; using such reasoning, you come to a decision to leave her as well, for now. Following this, the only figment left is the white stature of an unknown stallion. You take an uncertain step and then, with a deep mental breath, you enter the faintly tangible spirit as if it was an iron maiden; the white dancing colors immediately surround your body like a second skin. As if an intoxication, the figment forces the world around you to slowly change and shift; when you open your eyes, you find yourself in another memory.

It is not real, for certain; it’s a memory through and through. You are reliving a memory of a white-skinned stallion with a beautiful, long skin and azure-blue mane. The stallion you find yourself in control of is barely above your size. The world around is a blur, it’s not corporeal or solid in the slightest; the memory chain is barely holding still. What you are able to see, however, is that you are standing in the middle of a powerful, cold blizzard and, that you are not alone – there are about a hundred unicorns standing behind you. In your hooves is an empty Quartz Eye, it is pretty recognizable gemstone to you, by now.

“Winter Solstice,” a voice of a pink unicorn mare calls for you, “Are you sure your plan is going to work?” she asks with a kind, but firm, attitude. You have a very strange, uncomfortable feeling that this is a memory you have to recreate exactly the way it was…

>What do you do now?

>>29517460
Well we got to tell to the mare that it will work, then prepare the casting of what ever spell we need to cast to the Quartz Eye. This stallion should have something on him to give us an idea what he is planning to do.

‘Think like the stallion you know nothing about would think’ – is what you tell yourself before you give her an affirmative nod. “It will work,” you say, “It’s going to work, I’m sure.” You place the Quartz Eye on the hill hedge before yourself as you then turn to face the crowd of unicorns before you. The snow winds grow in power as you adjust the woolen cloak you find Solstice wearing. You take a moment to look at your Cutie Mark – it is a swirl of magical energy with dozen of miniature stars appearing from the center of it. A clue, or so it looks; he is a wizard.

“I trust you, Winter Solstice,” the unicorn mare says with a hesitated pause, “This might be our only chance, right? The princess told me to gather the strongest mages in our kingdom, Winter Solstice, but we simply did not have the numbers. This is why I’ve brought some of the less capable citizens and foals. Does it matter?” she asks with a smile.

>What do you do now?

>>29518585
Matter? Of course it matters! Everybody matters in some way.

Man, playing with no fucking context is hard. Can we get a clue.

>>29519009
I feel like it would matter, but having a lot of pony coming to help out is better then a few powerful mages.

“Does it matter? Of course it matters, they are all important for what is to come,” you tell her this begrudgingly.

“Of course,” she nods at you with joy before she raises both of her hooves, “Very well, then, let’s begin your spell.”

You blink as the fog of uncertainty reveals every single unicorn raising their horn into the air, the magical glow of their tips silently creeping into the Quartz Crystal. You are unsure of what is going on but, as soon as the pink mare joins the powerful invocation, you also attempt to call upon the powers of arcane to guide their magical power. You are the archwizard in this ritual, if only you knew what exactly they were casting. Your snow white energy slowly creeps in to join and entail the weak magic of other ponies; you can feel the weakness – much weaker than yours.

This is not enough, certainly! Whichever spell you are attempting to cast, there is just not enough power… they are not giving it their all, even if it looks like they are trying their best.

>What do you do now?

>>29519148
We got to tell these unicorn that we need more magic.

>>29519378
This. Try to rally them.

You attempt to shout with everything you got, “Come on, and give me all you’ve got! We need more magi-“

The world around you breaks and shatters. You feel your spiritual presence leaving the body of the stallion named Winter Solstice. An irk passes by your skin as you wince in pain, a small shadow of your dark magic evaporating into thin empty air from you. You, a transparent phantom, creepily drift over what you though the stallion was going to do, but he doesn’t. What you see, instead, is him surrounding the magic of others in his magical net and draining it without any indication or sound, like a vampire he gobbles the energy of others ponies until they fall sick and fall.

“Solstice,” the pink unicorn wobbles and falls into the deep snow, “Th-this is not what you have promised us.”

With leisure, the stallion bows before the mare and speaks, “There’s no other way to defeat him; give it to me.”

Within a blink, you find yourself in the body of the stallion once again, entrapped and forced to live his memory.

The pink unicorn is looking at you with tears in her eyes, her horn is barely glowing; barely, but glowing. All this magic makes you feel stronger, much more powerful and stronger. But why does he need it, what is his plan?

>What do you do now?

>>29519575
Maybe he's trying to sacrifice himself or something? I don't know. You can just make this a big cutscene Vince, I'm fine with that.

>>29519575
Apologies, then take the last bit of magic from her.
>>29519720
He need all the magic to himself to save the kingdom, but failed. Vince want us to try and recreate the memory with what little we know, but we will lose some of our dark magic if we fuck up.

>>29519780
>Vince want us to try and recreate the memory with what little we know, but we will lose some of our dark magic if we fuck up.
Vince, I like you buddy, but that's kinda bullshit. Why would you punish us for not knowing something we wouldn't possibly know?

>>29519826
>>29519780
I've wanted to do something different with the three figments but, as I feared, it's not working out - and certainly I do not want to railroad despite the way the sequence was planned to happen. It is my bad. Wish I didn’t fuck up, but, do you mind reckoning this all the way to the >>29517460 and making it play out just a bit differently? If you agree, it'll be a long post but Solstice's flashback will still be included.

>>29519884
I feel like Aurora would fuck up with this flash back, thinking Solstice is a better pony then the other two. so no reckoning it.

>>29519884
I think that's an agreeable idea.

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>>29519911
>so no reckoning it.
>>29520033
>I think that's an agreeable idea.

And both are double dubs, nonetheless.
I don't know what to do now.

>>29520068
Just do it. reckon it

>>29520068
Reckon. I won't hold it against you.

>>29520068
I'd be against it, but I'm a minority I see, so time to reckon. This had potential, I must say, if you could only give us some more clues to work with. Really.

You approach the eerie glowing figments with a cautious attitude. You take an uncertain step and then, with a deep mental breath, you enter the faintly tangible spirit as if it was an iron maiden. Suddenly, all three of the figment phantoms turn to face you - you are able to see the reflection of your body in their slowly diminishing, ashen eyes. In dread and terror for your own preservation, you stumble back only to have the spirits, like some sort of vengeful banshees, jump on at you. You feel the dark rainbow of hues surrounds you in an eldritch, soul-sucking vortex.

You shake your head and grasp your hooves at the fabric of reality. The assault of the figments now vividly creeps from corner to corner of your mind, the vision before your eyes that of hundred insubstantial and unrecognizable reminiscences. You stump your hoof and cool down your sensationally burning magic to still the visions around you.

>You are able to see a white-skinned stallion with a beautiful, long and azure-blue mane. He is standing on top of a hill in the middle of a cold and powerful blizzard; about a hundred unicorn ponies are looking in his direction. In his hooves you are able to see an empty Quartz Crystal. As soon as he raises his horn everypony else follows his actions.

>You see Fair Trade passing through the dark halls of the Crystal Empire. By her right, following her, you see her little brother – Salt Sphere. The two of them are discussing something passionately. Fair Trade stops in her tracks and, with the help of the Crystal Note, she traps Sphere in one of the rooms with a shadow-dripping gateway. Despite his complains the Vizier-to-be gives him a encouraging and cocksure nod and then, she leaves towards the throne room.

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>You see King Sombra, suspiciously barren of his Dark Magic, arguing with a very sick looking Crystal Princess – Princess Amore. The ebon unicorn motions with his hooves towards the tall, crystal mountain on the far horizon. Princess Amore gives him a meek smile but that is not enough, for Sombra tarnishes and then leaves the throne room in a very agitated manner. Princess Amore painfully leans over her window to look at the empty pedestal.

>You find Winter Solstice, the powerful unicorn wizard, draining his companions dry. His powerful magic, a rarity even among the unicorn elites, it able to not only confiscate the last of their magic – it even disintegrates their horns. The moment his companion realize what he is capable of doing, they attempt to stop their spell but it is a moment too late. Solstice, strong enough to overwhelm his Quartz Eye with magical energy, is hollowly cackling.

>Fair Trade is lying on the ground before King Sombra, in her hooves is the Crystal Note. The Shadow King looks unimpressed, his eye barely burning with his eldritch taint. With an audible gasp, the King raises Fair Trade with his spell only to gag and toss her across the room. Half-dead and annoyed, the Royal Thief opens the Note before her…

>Unicorn Sombra is standing on top of the tallest spires of the Crystal Empire. This time you see him, his eyes are already tainted with the dark and powerful magic of the Crystal Note. Out of menacing, blizzard cloud in front of King Sombra emerges a trio of winter horse spirits – the Wendigo. Despite their predatory howl, King Sombra stands tall. He uses the dark fire of his magic to force the spirits back; he literally forces them to retreat from the Crystal Empire.

>Winter Solstice finds himself in the claws of the spirit of disharmony – Discord himself. The draconequus is toying with the unicorn in the most humiliating fashion, from twisting his body parts to changing his size. Then, the demon claps his claws to transform the unicorn into a book. Even his last, painful screams are trapped inside the Quartz Eye he was attempting to use. Satisfied, Discord turns to play with other unicorns only to find one of them to still have her horn. Pushed towards her in protection and love, her horn erupts into a blazing, blue fire that immediately blows Discord’s head away – it reappears immediately after, of course. Still, the fire of love and friendship is enough to bastion the unicorn tribe from the draconequus; he is forced to flee. Under the northern lights, the fire begins to crystallize and take form – the Crystal Heart. The filly approaches the heart only to have everypony else bow to her.

You push yourself forward. The reality crumbles and shatters and breaks. The lingering figments of Fair Trade’s, Sombra’s and Winter Solstice’s memory’s fall apart until you are completely eradicated from the Crystal Note. Your gemstone eyes clear out as you find yourself face to face with the black hole that is practically leaking dark magic.

“You know,” the Quartz Eye phantom mutters, “I don’t want you to die either, as long as I’m helping you here.”

“Sure,” you mutter to yourself dispassionately, “Sure…” you stop to stare the hole before you.

“You’re hesitating now, coward?” the phantom shakes her head, “I’m not telling you to do it, you know.”

“I’m just not sure what to expect,” you frown.

Perhaps it’s best to make sure and ask her, just to verify on what you are about to do. Should you?

>What do you do now?

>>29520631
Nah, just do it. Get this magic and use it for good, not like this Winter Solstice. It's not the first time we'd die if something goes awry. Also even if this was retconned to be a flashback, it was still pretty magical, Vince. Shame we couldn't relive this to learn more. Next time just, you know, give us a bit more info and all will be well.

>>29520631
So this is the last of the dark magic, after we went trough all those memories.

>>29520663
On the one hand I'm really sad that so much was skimmed over and we missed out on so much detail, but on the other hand there was the chance it could have been a long, frustrating slog to go through.

>>29520631
Yeah, ask her.

“I went through their memories,” you tell Red Sulfur’s phantom as you approach the surging leak, “I can only wager that all of them tried to do what I’m doing right now – consume as much magic as possible for themselves.”

“More or less,” the phantom replies lazily, “It’s not the last of the magic, I can tell you that much. As I said, the book is like a medium that was made to drain the dark magic – the worse you can do is drain as much as it physically allows you. Not sure if you are interested but, why do you think Sombra gave you this book? It was useless to him.”

“Only makes sense,” you sigh as you press your hoof against the hole and let your dark, magical energy to burst out of your body only to enter the gaping entrance, “Even if I die, it won’t be the first time for me…” You smirk.

Everything turns dark for a moment… only to expose an entire universe before you.

The sparkling star, the passing nebulas, the growing galaxies and creeping black voids – you are able to sense and feel it all. It feels weird to know and realize that, unlike the chaotic and twisting magic of dissonance and discord, and the uncontrollable and reckless, everfree magic of nature – the so-called dark magic is actually the magic of order and control. The magic of unicorns and ponies is nothing more than filtered and silenced magic of the absolute order. You take a step forward only to find the universe falling to crumble and forming a solid, if not floating, road on your trail. The dark magic is a form, a frame used by the alicorns to bring harmony and control to ponykind.

You stop and let yourself free. Your body, like an empty vessel, begins to quickly fill up with the dark magic all around you - graceful, controlling, demanding, powerful, potent, authoritative and harmonious. Now, it is your crystal body that feels weightless while your dark spirit is weighty and gratuitous. You pass your hoof and the blur unravels a sparkling, velvet dust. The Alicorn magic is a magic of creation, it is a magic of logic; the raison d'être.

>Body Changes:
28% [+22] Alicorn ‘Dark’ Magic [Magic]
00% [-2] Volatile Arcane [Magic]

Floating here, surrounded by the energy of creation you feel that you can wave it as you wish …

>Would you like to create a spell?

And I'm pausing here, thank you.

>>29521177
Let make a spell where we shoot dark magic at our target, injering them. Then we can try and create a "third eye" spell with our dark magic.

>>29521177
A spell to restore our physical body and free it from it's crystal prison.

Or a kickass dark magic lightning attack. Shooting sickly purple, green, and black lightning at our foes.

>>29521177
>>29521259
>Then we can try and create a "third eye" spell with our dark magic.
You're a genius! Then we use that spell to locate the Crystal Heart! It's a gamble to bet a a spell to locate the Crystal Heart when there might be the chance that it's gone.

>>29522182

>>29521391
A spell to return our body back to normal would be sweet, but will we be able to face Sombra like that?

>>29521391
So we Sheev Palpatine now?

>>29520627
So, what have we learned?

I'd like to if you guys discussed and came to a singular decision, as it's a hard and important decision as well. The lightning spell is sick and awesome though.

>>29521391
Starting off with a lighting spell would be more beneficial then getting our body back.

>>29525254
I think an offensive spell is really what we need right now.

You pass your hoof to leave a glittering trace of magic before you; with calmness, you gather the primordial essence and shape into a conglomerate incarnation. With a push, you create and give contour and form to your magical spell; you see it growing and evolving inside the spherical canvas of your originative witchcraft. Then, when you let it break free, all the magic around you ruptures out of your way - like a thick layer of dust pushed away a powerful wind. A prepotent lightning discharge leaves your body and showers the empty area before you in a way only a thundering fire of green and purple colors can. The magical formula of the spell everlastingly carves its way into your mind.

It is not hard to see how this will end up being useful. And for once, it’s an offensive magic! An offensive magic!

You shake your head with a chuckle as the magic of universal chaos begins to escape away from you. Regardless of this, it is weakened but not gone – there’s just enough energy to let you do something else. Instead of consuming the barely present essence of its dark, magical energy, you slowly draw the symbols you remember by hoof on the “Third Eye” arcane casting runes and ho and behold, inside this ethereal dimension the runes swiftly crumble into barely present fog. With a push of your hoof you force the runes to recollect into accurate runes of your Dark Magic.

[Righteous Lighting] [Cost: 1% Dark Magic]
Conjures a high-powered lightning that is able to spread around and electrocute the enemies of the user.

[Third Eye] [Cost: 1% Dark Magic]
Summons a clear as crystal eye that is able to be controlled by the user and pass through solid objects and walls for the duration of thirty minutes. The user is forced to use the vision of the eyeball for its duration.

And so they do, the weak spell of unicorns is rewritten into the primordial magical language of alicorns. Is it then that complete universe around you collapses on itself only to have you open your eyes and appear before the hollow, silent figments once again – only this time, there’s a fourth form present – a sweet-corn iridescent mare.

“You don’t look different,” the phantom’s ‘voice’ flutters, “I’m not surprised, though.” She shrugs, “In your gratitude, you can stay away from Red Sulfur when you can – he’s mine, I know a difference between a friend and lovemare.”

>What do you do now?

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Bump you silly thread.

>>29525884
We just experienced possibly the most powerful form of magic known to ponykind and here she is warning us to stay away from her stallion. How odd things can be.

Ask her if she's sure that she's not just jelous of us.

>>29525884
Well we got what we want for the book, but she should not worry about us taking Red Sulfur away from her.

A smile creeps across your ethereal face, “Are you sure you are just not jealous of me?” You ask.

“Maybe I am,” she admits to it honestly and coldly, “It is not a friendly chatter, it is a warning. The only one Red Sulfur needs is me, and the only one who he will be dependent on is me, as well.” Her entire dress, and body, suddenly tangles up like a sticky scroll and, with a sound of a hollow clap, her phantom, snowflake-like cadaver appears right in front of you. Her dress, then, catches up with her movements and mummifies her body.

“You are his friend and comrade - that is fine with me. But if you try to replace me, I’ll be ready and I’ll watch you.”

“Calm down,” you awkwardly rub your forehead, “I won’t be taking Red Sulfur from you, alright?”

The flutter of her papyrus body echoes the menacing giggle of her voice, “Let’s get out of here, already.”

*** *** ***

The shadow of your sleep slowly lifts off your eyes only to expose you to a charred and burnt over room. You stand up only to experience a strange, weightless feeling of your body and euphoric freedom of your inner, dark essence – what a difference consumption of so much magic can do to a body of a pony. Then, you jolt your head in realization that you are the reason the inside of this room is ravished and destroyed. You smash a chest out of the way only that both the walls and the roof of this stone house are literally falling apart. You can’t find Sulfur or Nifty anywhere…

“Aurora,” Red Sulfur is barely able to squeeze his hoof through a hole in the collapsed entrance, “Did…what happened? There was a sudden explosion from your body and we had to leave you alone; I couldn’t wake you up.”

‘Look above you, you brainless horse,” Phantom’s voice echoes in your mind – one of the stones is falling!

>What do you do now?

>>29527017
Get out of the way. Or smash the fuck out of it since we're pretty uber if I had to guess. Ask Red if Nifty is with him. Can we find another way out or maybe use TK to throw the rubble out of our way?

>>29527017
Get out of the way of the rock, then tell Sulfur you're fine.

Your hoof moves straight away, it covers your head and then, it cuts the massive stone block into two clean pieces. You nudge your body just a bit to avoid the halves rolling down your back. The moment you think of facing Red Sulfur, you are already standing near him.

With a swift, mental realization, you allow the boiling, relentless energy to burst out of your body like a corporeal wave and then, you allow it to surround the rubble of the falling apart structure. Your mighty telekinetic force surrounds the broken planks and stones of the entrance and, as soon as the roof begins to collapse, it surrounds the massive part of the roof as well. With a powerful push, you send about eighth of the building flying into the air.

“Is Nifty with you?!”

“Y-yes, she’s here with m-“

“Move out of the way!” your voice grows in a crescendo as you grab Sulfur and jump together with him away from the house. In a blink, the levitating pieces fall on the structure and, with a mighty tremble, they make it collapse.

“E-everything is fine,” you say once you stand up and clean yourself off the dust, “What about you and Nifty-“

You stumble on your words as soon as notice a massive, boiling green ball of fire – the Sun. Completely consumed by a powerful, dark energy the sun is now covered with a toxic green crust of fog and vile. Blistering and steaming - this jade nightmare before you is a grim and dark reminder of what is currently happening in the sick world around you.

You catch Nifty Ribbon’s eyes glued to the horrendous spectacle. She is scared, she’s barely holding down her tears.

“About that,” Red Sulfur awkwardly rubs his shoulder, “I think we might have a problem, Aurora…”

“I can see that…” you say with a hopeless tone of voice, “How long how I been out?”

“About two hours,” he says, “It… happened an hour ago, like the dark side of the sun consumed the light one, that is not even the worst part about it,” he says with a strange, painful cough, “We saw an alicorn, she fell from the sun.”

>What do you do now?

I'm taking a break here, thank you all for playing. Aurora just can't catch a break, can she? I'll be leaving on a short holiday to Scotland so see you on Thursday on Friday, hopefully.

>>29527494
Does Aurora's voice sound more natural now?

>>29527535
It does yes, it still has deep, echoing and grinding as well as unnatural notes to it though.

>>29527447
Oh shit. At least we're a bit more powerful now. And in time as well, the Shadow King is stepping up his game. Have a nice trip, Vince.