“Wait... you can 'become' an alicorn? Just like that?” I asked, rolling onto my back next to Luna, looking up at her.
She shifted slightly in the bed, stretching her wings, “It is... possible.” she answered after a moment, “It requires some things. You need to embody your special talent and have a true understanding of what it means, as well as a high level of magical energy. It is a rare, rare thing.”
...No, shit. There is only three of you. Four now.
I slowly nodded.
That made some amount of sense. It was ascension to become what was effectively a goddess. Makes sense it had some rather steep requirements.
Huh.
“You know, I just figured out why Celestia was pushing Twilight so hard, heaping so many challenges on her. She was preparing her for this.” I said with a frown at the ceiling, “...You knew about this, didn't you?”
Luna nodded and put her head against my chest, “I did. If she would succeed, I had no idea. I knew Twilight Sparkle had the potential for it, but neither of us knew if she would actually manage it.”
Putting my front legs around her neck, I nodded, “Must be nice for your sister. The pony she loves is now as long lived as she is.”
“If Twilight Sparkle returns those feelings.” Luna mumbled, “If not, then my sister is going to be unhappy for quite a while.”
I smirked at that, “Oh please. Everyone knows Twilight loves Celestia.” before I nuzzled at her ear, “The question is if it will turn into romantic love. But now they have time to take it slow.”
And something told me it might be encouraged by Cadance.
“Mhmm.”
Pulling her a bit closer I looked up at the ceiling.
They had thousands of years now. Might take years, but I didn't doubt they would get there in time, not like there was a hurry now.
A peice of night sky drifted past my eyes and I glanced down at the seemingly floating star filled mane.
...Luna...
She didn't have that time. I was going to die.
At some point, hopefully at a hundred and fifty in bed next to her, but most likely doing something stupid but badass. But at some point it was going to happen.
The thought of hurting her like that...
It felt like somepony stabbed me in the chest.
Hell, immortality would be nice on it's own, but the thought of hurting her by dying was even worse than the thought of dying itself.
If Twilight could do it...
...Okay, let's face it. I didn't have a chance in hell. She was the bearer of the Element of Fucking Magic itself.
If anypony could pull it of, it would have been her. Me? I might be above average, but that? No. I would never manage that.
“Luna?”
“Hmm?”
“Has there ever been a male alicorn?”
She lifted her head, opening her eyes with a thoughtful look before she shook her head, “Not to our knowledge. My sister and I think we were the first, but there is no way to know for sure. We are not unkillable, so it is possible there were others in the distant past before us. We did not invent the word Alicorn after all.”
I sighed and nodded, “I see.”
Tilting her head, she didn't need to ask out loud. I knew what she meant.
“I just don't want to leave you alone, I don't want to hurt you like that.” I explained quietly, “If it took growing wings, I would do it.”
Luna frowned slightly, “My Page... There have been ponies in the past that have been jealous of my sister's and mine longevity. They searched tirelessly for a way to prolong their lives. Some took evil paths, draining life from other ponies to prolong their own. Some simply neglected to live in their desperation to prolong their lives. None were very successful. I do not wish that on anypony, yet alone you.”
I smiled and gave her a quick nuzzle, “Relax, I'm not going to start drinking the blood of ponies or something. I just don't want to leave you alone.”
“...Thank you.”
Pulling her close into another cuddle, I gave her ear a quick nuzzle before I frowned, “Wait...”
“Hmm?”
“One unicorn did manage to significantly extend his life.”
Luna raised her head with a frown again, spreading her wings, “Huh? Who?”
“King Sombra.”
She didn't look happy at all at that, “King Sombra was making use of the darkest of dark magics. The kind of magic that twists and warps one's mind, spreading hate and suffering. No pony, not even myself can use it safely. It was turning to dark magic that created Nightmare Moon.”
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” I chuckled and relaxed against the bed, “Yeah, make sense.”
“Something like that.” Luna agreed and gave me a quick nuzzle before she relaxed again, closing her eyes, “Now sleep, Twilight's Coronation is in three days and we need to start early tomorrow.”
Stroking her mane, I looked up at the ceiling before I frowned in thought. Nopony could use dark magic. It changed them, twisted their minds.
...But I'm not really a pony, am I?
*Imperial march starts playing.*
The Dark Side is a pathway to many abilities, some considered... unnatural.
As long as he doesn't don a robe and say 'Ultimate Power!' he should be fine, right?
My god, if pulled off right that would be an epic and to my knowledge new twist for dark magic. I like it.
wohohoho...
6874394 thanks now i'm imagining page as emperor palpatine.
Hmmm, the razor's edge would be played there. Though admittedly his mental fatalities are unique, he has much potential in many fields as Twilight does with magic. In some ways he could be a 'Jack of All Trades', or applying himself and perhaps modifying or making new magic from studying Sombra's might lead to new possible settings for that field at least. For he did learn under Grogar, who learned under Tirek. XD
Also Sombra was a Shadow Pony.
...This way lies madness.
6874412 Sanity is overrated anyway.
If he managed to pull it off then it will be very...fascinating.
I am now envisioning a dragonball xenoverse-esque 'Villianous Mode' transformation. I do not see this going well.
Ask Discord. I'm sure he'd give Page a paw, talon, or claw just to watch the weird not-pony become immortal and a fellow deity of Equestria. Oh, the lulz he'd achieve from that. That or he's gonna be doing a lot of studying. Coffee binge!
NEW PLOT LINE INCOMING YEEEAAAAHHH
Luna: Dark magic corrupts the soul, driving a pony to madness, insanity, and death. It's like a little voice in the back of your head, telling you to do dangerous, evil things.
Page: Luna, I'm a human. We come with one of those as standard issue.
But seriously... I can't quite see this ending well, and I hope Page is genre savvy enough to realize that quickly.
Yes, that's the kind of thinking I like. Sure, he is threading a dangerous path right now, as well as challenging fate, but if he succeeds... The possibilities!
6874445
Maybe I'm unique but I never have voices in my head that saying that I need to kill, maim or rape someone. And I'm pretty sure that if you really do have voices like that it's kinda bad and require a professional attention :).
6874465
Yeah. It's "cool" way of thinking. "I really unique and all other just a losers who know nothing". It's not like it could lead to insanity and death, yeah.
Not sure if Page played the Kotor series, but the story of Darth Revan would be useful to keep in mind.
Oh crap... this is not going to be pretty....
6874471 Pretty much everyone in their life has had a moment when they where angry enough at someone to consider suverly hurting or killing them if only for a fleeting moment with no real commitment behind it. I'll admit I've seen a drunk friend and thought about taking advantage of them. I'd kill myself before doing it but that doesn't mean the thought wasn't there.
Humans have a pretty strong drives towards violence that even the best of us consider without following threw. Ponies however seem to seek harmony before harm. I doubt page could use dark magic regularly without becoming so tainted they had to do something about him but i could see him using it to extend his life and forever more fighting the temptations that the darker side of his humanity would bring forth.
Doesn't stop it from being a walk upon a swords edge though. I'm hoping he doesn't go for it and trys for it the honest way by exploring himself, his cutey mark, and discovering what his special talent really is.
this is not going to be good in any way.
6874500
There a big difference between "sometime" and "all the time" you know. One thing if you get angry enough to want to kill or maim someone and totally different thing when you hear this "voice" every single moment, that constantly force you to kill, rape and maim.
6874515 True and my response was based on the thoughts in general as your last post left it kinda open ended.
I'd imagine treading the path of Dark Magic wouldn't immediately bombard you with those thoughts but let them slip in more frequently growing more and more common the further you fell down it's path until you took those dark thoughts to be your own. Unable to tell the difference anymore as to whats 'normal' for you.
Of course as fun as everyone debating this is the one big question is how dark magic works in the Authors universe :P Is it absolute and/or immediate. Is it a branch of magic like all others that's forbidden because ponies can't resist it's temptations? Will Page distract Luna from questions about dark magic he might study by asking her if she would want to have foals one day?
I feel like i should add some old tv ending here as we wait for the next chapter. Same pony time, same pony channel!
6874533
I just going to be very disappointing if Hiver choose to play "Humans soooo speshul" card.
Oh, also in comics exist Radiant Hope, Sombra "marefriend" who able to live for more that thousand years without aging even a single bit. She also have healing as a special talent so maybe here a connection.
6872809 Thanks to Discord!
Careful there, Page. That's the sort of thinking that gets people hurt.
oh snap shit is getting real.
you've got no idea, how glad I am that the story took this turn.
there are a lot of possibilities that could come of this, like:
humans are by default more chaotic than ponies, so that makes him more resistance to the dark magic.
and a lot other stuff!
I'm really looking forward to this.
The kind of magic that twists and warps one's mind, spreading hate and suffering.
Basicly what we as humans are capable off, if we truly want to that is.
Talk about anything gore or dark related and you are considered insane/unstable in Equestria. I can't even think of one being who never had a thought about killing and the likes.
To see how this will go down, Please Reference 'To Love God - To Love Mortal'
Bit on the drama-y side but worth the read.
I can see this going 3 ways
1. he succeeds and gains immortality through dark magic (ascension or not)
2. he becomes the next Sombra
3. he fails to become immortal (with repercussions)
Duuuude! You just quoted freaking Yoda and this is your conclusion!
6874409 Emperor Pagepatine maybe?
I caught up!? Nooooooooooo! Why are the words always gone!?
...Well then, Luna is going to be understandably pissed at him if he actually follows through on this plan. Regardless if it is successful or not.
Just... Be careful, there are some lines than once you cross them, you can't go back.
If he really pulls this kind of thing of the consequences could... Twilight needs to be a part of this somehow.
I'm actually hoping he goes for it. Plus if I were 100% honest I'd want him to succeed. Though I feel that him succeeding shouldn't discount his use of dark magic and so the Royals would place him under house arrest for centuries or something of that nature. So long as he dosen't hurt anyone though, I'm pretty sure Luna would never forgive him and would make the effort pointless.
No Page. Don do it. Don pull a reverse Anakin. You've got so much to live for.
I mean do you want to be played Hayden Christensen in the movie?
Of course nice time for that human inability to say no or accept defeat to crop up.
actually, with the resources he has, he could do serious research into the various spectrums of emotion magic- friendship, love, hate, and so on. I sort of expect the changelings are Envy. he would only be at risk if he didnt watch where the magical radiation poisoning is.
aside from that.... vines steal luna next, thats gonna be a panic day.
This... is going to be good. Looks like a far more elegant build to the 'dark magic Page' from the original draft of the last story's ending. I look forward to seeing what happens.
hey i just wanted to say thank you for writing this story. i read each new chapter every morning while i am in my car trying to keep warm as i wait for school to start. it really brightens up my day so again thank you. keep up the good work.
At least Cadence and Shining Armor have a good shot at finding out the answer, as powerful as he is already. You just know he's going to think the same thing when he first got word of Twilight's Ascension.
If he applies himself for the same reason Page is, so he doesn't hurt the one he loves with his own death... who knows? It could even become a "friendly" race between him and Page on who gets immortality first.
Did he seriously just look at dark magic and think, "what could possibly go wrong?" ?
Heh. Page, meet Murphy.
*Walks up to page and glares at him before slapping the shit out of him* Don't even think about it you stupid little shit.
*Promptly get's blasted to hell by Princess Luna*
Oh, Page, you fool! A dragon or gryphon I could see potentially attempting dark magic and coming out okay, but according to this world's rules, you are a pony. This is not going to end well.
6875044
But that is the thing…he isn't a pony, he is human, he still craves meat, is prone to violence, and virtually hold firm on his human mind, he IS still human on the shape of a pony, and humans…can overcome anything with determination, patience and some planning
Curious how he didn't think in Discord, he could easily had gave him a clue into how to reach immortality, and I bet he would had like to help just because he could like the concept and chaos that came from became the first male alicorn in history
Sorry, but I'm with Page on this one. If you know magic and aren't bootstrapping your way to ascending the mortal coil you aren't doing it properly.
6874906 Imagine if that's what kicks him off to seriously go down that path? If he has success then imagine how toxic he would be to Tirek, if his magic is eaten it would be morbid and funny to see the centaur go 'batshit' crazy. Though he isn't a pony, but still isn't a former human which is worse.
How could you possibly think this is a good idea, Page??
Oooh. I'd like to see where this goes
6875068 That may be so. I guess it's really up to the author to decide how the rules of dark magic work, especially coming into contact with an alien being. Remember, Page's unicorn magic works normally. Maybe dark magic would have the same effect. It also depends on his personal determination and choices, which may not be quite on par with something a more talented or more intelligent individual could do. And when you say that "humans can overcome anything with determination, patience and some planning", is that to imply that other creatures can't?
6875179
Nope, only that humans had some…well minotaurs also…no in this case human have a bit of an advantage, remember we start as scavengers and end up as depredators, using our minds, I bet if other sentient being would be around, we would eventually had team up or fight against it. I just saying our earth record, had show that if we put our mind into it, and keep calm we can adapt to the situation…like Page did when he discover he was a unicorn now.
Also, dark magic is influence by the mind, a pony unlike us, haven't had it rough or difficult like us…well difficultier at times like us, (magic, help and friendship is bigger in there), here…sad truth is, outside your house is everyman for themselves in numerous occasions, so when darkness try to corrupt him, it is probably going to have a real hard time doing so, I mean a normal pony will had fled when seeing Nightmare Moon, Page didn't, a normal pony will had be paralysed in fear when Chrysalis almost defeat Celestia, Page didn't, what I'm saying is…the human factor make Page think a bit different so he might still had a chance.