Whispering Darkness

[bleyd]

((jajajajaja ok ok next time we can see this ))

[The Wandering Magus]

"Who are you?"

"Who am I? One name you might have for me is the World, or you might call me the Universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. I am All, and I am One. So, of course, this also means that I am you."

"Will you accept this price?"

"Your price is small.  Then again, your request is small, little thinker."

"I have no desire to shortcut anything besides this at the moment."

"Very wise, little thinker."

The black doors open, and a great, terrifying Eye appears, and hands and claws and hooves reach for Feather, who calmly watches the Truth without flinching or struggling.

"Will we meet again?"

"That is not for you to know, little thinker.  Not for the price you gave me."

[ArtVeigar]

Arty wasn't alarmed by the ponies, as he couldn't be. His curiotisty towards the red crystals were bigger than his will to leave the place, but he also knew that ignoring the ponies would be a mistake. He saw the previous cars starting to get on fire, so he swiftly turned back and jumped through the window right before the fire got at the conductor's cabin. Luckly, he was at the most distant point from where the fire strated.

looking at the ponies, he started asking in his usual emotionless voice - What was that?

[The Stars]

The crystals in the first car seemed to have been swapped; no longer Flame elemental crystals, but rather crystals loaded with a pure concentration of Dark magic. Noticibly, some of Magus's natural mana flow begins to return.  As the flame approaches, it sadly cannot reach too far past the 2nd car, due to the fact the transmutation was now inert, leaving the crystals behind. If the corruption continues as it is now, Magus should have at least 4 days before his magic will noticeably fail once more. Range looked up to the first car. "I don't believe he actually..." She looked back at Art. "It was a trap... Whoever or whatever's screwing with us rigged the entire train with Flame crystals... Apparently it was planing to burn us alive." Crimson tries to rush back to the first car from the outside and closes up on everypony and sighs.
"Good, everypony's ok... Close, that was too close for comfort! How's the main car and the engine? Still good?"
"No damages done beyond this point Mr. Crimson. The Doctor made sure of that, apparently." Price said.
"Doctor Scroll? He stopped that mess from spreading?" Crimson said, peaking into the 1st car.

[bleyd]

bleyd go near Crimson all is ok?

[The Wandering Magus]

He was in a sea of blackness, absolute pitch blackness, which Feather endured for a moment, hoping the Truth had listened to him when he said he had no intention of making shortcuts in terms of knowledge in any case.  Slowly, sounds and voices and sensations came to him; he felt the cold floor of the car, the breeze on his face....

He opened his eyes, blinking slightly, quickly checking mentally that nothing was out of place or missing.  Fortunately, he had calculated the price correctly, and the Truth kept its word.

He looked thoughtfully at the Pony Transmutation circle, and at the black crystals, and was slightly surprised at being able to feel the flow of mana in him again.  He would try storing as much of it as possible later.  For now, he needed to get his bearings, and then to speak with his friends.

[The Stars]

Range and her friends all walk in to check on Feather scroll and any damage done. The 1st car seemed ok, just some scorch marks on the passage to the 2nd car. From the 2nd car and down, the entire train was utterly scorched to oblivion, being melted together into one gigantic hunk of metal, the fires still blazing. Crimson comes over to pick up Feather Scroll. "Hey, Doctor. you did one heck of a job. Feeling alright?"

"That... Circle..." Range says, staring down at the transmutation circle, then the Crystals on the ground. She looks up to Feather Scroll, utterly impressed. "That's... I never thought I'd actually see the day where somepony would succeed in doing a pony transmutation... How are you feeling? Has your magic started to return?"

[The Wandering Magus]

The pony felt himself.  "Well... I am intact, in any case.  I offered the right price.  Equivalent Exchange.  And... yes... it does seem that my mana is slowly coming back for some reason."

He tries a bit of levitation on a piece of dust, and it actually glows and shifts for a millimeter before stopping.

"I'm... I have no idea what to say.  That SEEMS quite a lot, for that.  But... I can tell that there is much that I did not know about the price of what was given."

He thought back, and try as he might, could not visualize the last equation, the Ultimate Truth.  Then again, he was actually rather glad for that; he had a feeling that such knowledge might have cost him his leg, and not just metaphorically.

[The Stars]

"I see... Well, seems like you're going to be the only pony able to use their magic" Range Said, then Price purposely cleared his throat, almost as if to remind her of something. "Oh yeah, and Price. Speaking of which, Would you happen to have any spare mana batteries for the rest of us? Or, better yet, if possible, do some research with me and Crimson on those crystals while  the others get this locomotive running?"

"I agree... I feel quite anxious standing where I am right now, given we almost lost the transport, let alone our lives." Price reminded.

[ArtVeigar]

Arty saw Dr. Scroll being able to use his magic again. - How can you do that? Alchemy again? - Arty asked, starting to notice that everything happening since the curse began had something to do with this unique type of magic.

[The Stars]

Range pulled out of her pocket again the phillosopher's stone and hummed. "Hmm... If I can use magic once more, we might not need to go to the Crystal Empire to find a cure... We might not even need to travel the land to make the circle... But, first thing's first... Anypony's noticed ever since this all started, That black magic started spewing out from the Everfree forest? Also, noticed that creepy "Mountain" that, when you look at it closely, not always in the same place as last time?"

Crimson looks over at Range after her comment about the mountain. "W...What? How do you even know the mountain was moving - If that's the case, it's not even a mountain! How do you even know that stationary... THING was moving?"

"Well, when you have a lot of extra time on your hooves and nothing to occupy it, your mind tends to avert it's attention to the scenery around you... And in severe cases, causes you to also roll around Ponyville with your boyfriend like you're a couple of rolling pins."

"Right..." Crimson and Price said in unison.

[ArtVeigar]

Now that you mentioned that, I was also thinking that mountain was suspicious. But I haven't looked towards Everfree yet to have noticed about this black magic. - Arty said, glancing again toward the mountain. - What do you think about that? And how are you planning on curing Equestria without going to the Empire? I has something to do with the way Dr. Scroll got his magic back?

[The Wandering Magus]

"Pale and black with false citrine, imperfect white and red,
The Peacock's feathers in gay colours, the rainbow which shall go over,
The spotted panther, the lion green, the Crows bill blue as lead.
These shall appear before you perfect white, and many more others.
And after the perfect white, grey, false citrine also,
And after these, there shall appear the red body invariable,
Then you have a medicine of the third order of his own kind multipliable..."

The researcher muttered to himself, trying to understand the parts of the transmutation he had somehow performed.  His thoughts were interrupted as the others began asking some practical questions.

"Ah, yes, of course!  I'd be glad to research with you now.  Unfortunately, I only created one seven-day mana battery, but I think I might be able to transfer a bit of it to another few stones to share."

He turned to Arty.  "It is... difficult to explain.  It IS alchemy, but far, far beyond what is normally representative of the art.  This particular transmutation is... questionable at best, and I do not believe it has ever been successfully done to public knowledge.  What few records I found in the Forbidden Archives allowed me to learn a bit about the multiple layers of rules underlying the process, and I did my best to ensure that I asked only for as much as I could afford to give.  But it seems that if you come with more than you thought you had, more is given, and if you come with less, more is taken."

He looked at the alchemists.  "A moving mountain?  There are records of transmutations that may match the description in the Forbidden Chambers.  I simply hope that what I read was untrue, but now I see more and more that what I dismissed as fantasy is rapidly being proved real before my eyes."

He turned back to Arty.  "You are familiar with sigils and the idea of empathetic magic?"

[ArtVeigar]

As i already told you when we first met, i've never even finished elementary school, and spent the last five years in a cave, so i'm not familiar with much concepts. I'm just familiar with basic magic knowledge, and with some basic alchemy right now. - Arty said, answering the doctor's question. - What is it?

[The Wandering Magus]

Feather nodded, recalling the pony's words.  "Empathetic magic essentially works off the principle of similar objects behaving similarly.  For example, in Ibexianese Acupuncture, a griffon's toothache can be helped with needles in the claw because of how it's shaped.  Buffalo and Zebracin War-Medicine can cause great harm over long distances simply by doing damage intended for the target on a cloth or straw doll that is shaped vaguely like the target.  Pony magic is a bit more precise and, as we like to say, 'scientific', but the idea is the same."

He pointed at the Pony Transmutation Circle.  "These sorts of sigils are similar, even though visually it doesn't look like much of anything.  The Universe recognizes the symbols, and with the right amount of will and the right ingredients, sigils like these can be used to conjure fire, shape earth, bend metal, and pressurize air, among other things, simply by drawing signs that are, magically speaking, 'similar' to the ideas being utilized."

He drew his hoof across the dust and grime on the floor of the car to make a rough sketch of a map of Equestria.

"Now, obviously, Equestria is not exactly a perfect circle, but the idea is the same, and if you notice many of the roads run directly to the largest cities.  The closest approximation to Nurturing and Protecting is a circle.  Then, there are symbols that signify cleansing, light, and purity.  With the right materials, and the correct procedure, it would be theoretically possible to cure all of Equestria directly from the comfort of one's own bedroom, not that it's recommended."

[The Stars]

"And that principle you spoke of earlier Mr. Scroll Is what's known as a rebound. If you cannot pay the price needed to complete a transmutation, effects called rebounds can occur. Giving too much or Giving too little... Usually ends in catastrophic ways. Say If I tried right now, I would cause a rebound because I cannot obtain what I can not give in exchange for. I can go as far as kick starting the transmutation, but when I try to obtain my value, what mana I try to give to cause the reaction singles it as an impossible task, thus causing it to forcefully waist mana. The more severe the cause you try to accomplish, the more severe the results could turn out, such as, like you suggested about pony transmutation, you can loose your leg, heck, even your entire body.  Now, Although it's not recommended, Not that a pony could normally hold off long enough to finish a transmutation on that large of a scale, We do have one method to bypass this all." Range says, throwing the philosophers stone in the air and catching it.

[ArtVeigar]

Now I understand it... And this stone... You were calling it the Philosopher's Stone, and saying that it has great power. Is it so valible that we could trade it for Equestria's cure? But even if so, would it be a smart thing to do? As if we don't end of the source, the evil alchemist, he may still keep on trying to conquer the world

[The Wandering Magus]

Feather smiled grimly at Range.  "But are you brave enough to use it, that is the question.  I think, however, that they would have wanted to do what they can to save Equestria.  I wish I could ask them directly, but I'm not about to try it."

He turned to Arty.  "What is the price for the cure of Equestria?  What sacrifice do you think would be Equivalent?  Yet there is something each one of us holds within us that is more valuable than anything else in the whole world."

He sighed.  "It would be very desirable to find and end the source of the Curse, but I fear it might be a long while before we can come even close to accomplishing that goal, time that Equestria cannot afford.  My Internal Combustion Engine and Repeating Cannon will help slightly for a while, but creating a transmutation would be a good backup plan, relatively simple and quick compared to other methods."

[The Stars]

Range looks down at the bright red stone before her, and her eyebrows furrowed. "In this stone is an abundance of souls, each one forced away from it's previous owner. In theory, their lives have been made for naught, but their souls... They still have purpose. I hope the those poor souls trapped inside this rock can hear me through their wild screams of terror... I'll make sure that their lives were for no personal gain; that their lives will have some sort of importance for the good of our kind."

Before Range's Speach, you could faintly hear the hollowed screams of what seems like generations of deceased souls... Though now, the screaming seems to have silenced. Range looks down at the stone once more and grips onto it tightly.

[Lusterless Nova]

((I feel kinda left out. You all continue when i am asleep. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just saying))

Nova still hears whispering from the souls but hides it. He walks over to Range.
I know that you need some time to rest but let's get to some safe place first. We are out in the open here.