Shadow Equestria: The Poisoned Curse

About ten minutes passed as I found myself in the thick of the everfree forest, I had no idea where I was anymore... I only was focused on the pulse of my spell that guided me like a game of hot and cold. I'd spend a few minutes travelling in the general direction I believed Hikaru was, let my spell pulse again, and redirect my course... Whether it was the amount of time we had been knocked out or how fast he was... He was a very far distance from my home, which was only my guess to get farther as I felt the forest close in around me.

I spotted a clearing that looked very different than the one I usually sat in, one major difference being the look of a giant battle had been fought here. I walked over to a nearby tree and felt one of the deep gashes in it, the bark was smoothed over with such precision... I had never seen such a cut in my life, even though some of the wood looked like it had been burnt. I kept my head searching the entire area as I began to notice more and more little things, each of the trees had smaller cuts than the first one that resembled some sort of bladed weapon cutting across them, each strike seemed to have been made out of targetless anger.

My thoughts immediately drifted to Hikaru, how even despite what had happened to him... he had still left us alive, even though it seemed like he could've done far worse if the markings on the trees were because of him. I sat down in the center of the clearing and let my thoughts continue to drift to my few days that I had spent with him, how happy I had been, how much he made me feel like somepony cared to talk to me other than Bon-Bon...

Twilight Sparkle

I made a frantic dash for the library, hoping against hope that Spike was still there. I had to send a letter to the princess, we now had a very dangerous creature running around equestria unchecked... I don't know if any of the others had felt it, but I knew that there was some sort of evil taint to him, I felt it when those flames were covering his body. I couldn't let him run free when he posed so much of a threat.

In hindsight it would've probably been faster to blink to the library... But I also had to think of what to write in the letter, or have Spike put down, It didn't matter! As I saw the door of the library I used my magic to open it quickly and called out for Spike.

"Spike! Spike! I need you to send a letter to the princess!"

Needless to say, my request was met with the grumble of my assistant as he walked out of the kitchen, I also wasn't happy to hear his reply.

"Oh c'mon Twi... What new threat to equestrian national security is it this week? IS it parasprites again? Or maybe the Timberwolves?" He rolled his eyes at me, as much as I wanted to lecture him about respect I had far more important things to say as he got out the quill and paper.

"Dear Princess Celestia, I believe that a demon is loose in equestria. It seems to take the form most prominently of the humans of the ancient times, although when it had revealed itself it used some sort of strange magic to subdue us and a pony named Lyra who all happened to be in the room. I have reason to believe that he has either found a way to control Lyra or make her subservient to him. The last we had seen of Lyra was her galloping toward the Everfree in search of the aforementioned demon. We, the elements of harmony, shall try to secure the town in case he comes back, but we will certainly need reinforcements."

I had to actually nudge Spike back to his senses as I finished before he sent the letter, now I just had to help with coordinating the defense of the town. "C'mon Spike, we have a town to keep safe." I called to him as I bolted out the door.

Lyra

I have no idea how long I've been sitting here, letting the tears fall at my hooves, but I do know that despite the fact that he's only been here for two days Hikaru isn't the monster that Twilight and them think he is. I actually hadn't noticed the large pool of water that was gently streaming into the clearing until I heard the snapping of a twig, I looked up and around to try and see what the sound had been. I immediately regretted thinking the forest wasn't as dangerous as everypony thought... Because what I saw across from me was a giant spider that seemed to just glow an eerie green color advancing toward me, which wasn't being hindered because of my scrambled attempts to get away from it. Sometimes...I really wish I was a human.. then I wouldn't have hooves that slip on the ground in fear...

Hikaru

My sight began to return as I surveyed the damage I had caused while using my cursemark, I could still feel the pain but it was a bit more dull now. I was in a small grove of trees, each one had some sort of mark that was either from my soul edge technique... or from my kunai... I even spotted a few marks where my hands had made contact with the trees.

Each second I spent scanning the clearing helped decipher what I had done during the curse's control. So far there wasn't any blood on me or my surroundings so that meant I hadn't killed anyone, so that was a plus, but I had no idea where I was and my Byakugan was no longer active. I truly hated moments like this because I knew that once the cursemark receded I'd be very vulnerable.

I did the most sensible thing possible, with my recovered bodily control I started walking in a random direction... preferrably the way that I must've come from as I followed the marks on the trees. I felt a little twinge of regret at the damage I had wrought... but tried to reassure myself that this was damage that avoided harming the ponies, that actually helped me smile a bit as I walked.

Without too much trouble I found a clearing along the path of the damage and heard a shrill scream before I could look around. The sight that met me stunned me for a second... I mean seriously! There's a GIANT GREEN SPIDER! How did I miss hitting that? My attention was dragged to the pony it was threatening, the mint...green...coat...uh oh, that's not good.

As the beast drew back a massive foreleg to try and impale Lyra I dashed out of my hiding place with renewed vigor, the cursemark pulsed in pain as I pushed myself harder to save her, I opened my arms as I got closer... and...

There was a loud crashing sound as the creature's foreleg crashed into the ground where Lyra had been earlier. I was breathing hard as I looked into Lyra's eyes that were wide with shock, she tried to speak to me for several seconds before I placed a hand to her mouth. "Don't talk, run, get help... I gotta stop this thing before it does too much damage." I explain as I place her on her hooves. She just stared at me with shock before I shouted at her, "LYRA! GO GET HELP!" She scrambled for a few seconds before bolting off in the opposite direction.

I turned back to the spider-creature and got into a fighting stance as I pulled out a kunai, "Well... I think I need to give you a lesson in manners..." I growled at the creature as I rushed forward at a nearly invisible speed, grunting a little as pain shot through my body. The creature lashed out with a foreleg and I dodged to the side, bringing my kunai into it. I got sprayed with sticky green blood as I drew my weapon down the length of it's foreleg. "That... was disgusting!" I growled as I shot forward, bringing my kunai to the chest of the creature. It howled in pain as the kunai got embedded in its carapace, and I only had a few second to think I had won before its uninjured foreleg swatted me away like a fly, with me landing at the edge of the pond. "Of course it wasn't going to be that easy... It never freakin' is for me..." I thought to myself as I pulled mysself up from the muddy bank. My vision blurred for a few seconds as I got into a half-standing position, I could just barely make out a large green blob that let me know the creature was stalking toward me... The damn thing KNEW I was weak, that made me a little sad before I turned and bolted... Right out to the middle of the pond. I skidded to a stop as I set one hand above me and placed the other in front of my face, both were in the shape of the tiger seal as I activated the jutsu.

There was an icy hiss that rang in my ears as the water of the pool began to turn into a mist, soon after the creature and I lost sight of each other... Giving me the advantage. I quickly activated my byakugan and was greeted by an even sharper pain that nearly brought tears to my eyes as I almost doubled-over, there was no doubt in my mind that this heavy of a use of my cursemark was going to make me a non-combatant for a while. I searched for the creature's chakra and was met with a very disturbing realization, the entire creature seemed to be made of some sort of shadow energy... I could still see my kunai in it's chest, but the creature itself didn't have a set of gates to it... like it was a physical manifestation of darkness. "Well... that makes this a little easier if that yellow pony happens to see me kill it... " I think with a small chuckle before quickly moving in for my assault.

This creature is a hell of a lot harder to take down than I thought, my initial attack had only left a few scrapes along its hide and I only got one more kunai embedded in its chest. My breaths came to me heavily and ragged, I could even feel the cursemark starting to recede as my movements began to slow down. Whatever this creature was... I new I couldn't beat it in my current state... and it had even managed to end my hidden mist jutsu, never a good thing.

I felt a sharp pain in my side as one of my slower dodges got caught on the tip of the creature's forelegs. I was thrown at least... Thirty feet... Until I slammed into a tree, the warm feeling seeping down my side began to let me know that I'd be playing a game of shogi with Death soon. I loud sound caught my attention and I turned my head to notice Lyra standing with several blobs of color, "Well... this just got a lot more complicated..." I thought to myself as I used the last of my cursemark power to prepare a restoration jutsu. "I just... need a little... more..." I thought as I brought the soft blue light to my gaping wound.

Third person

Twilight couldn't believe her eyes as she had approached the clearing, she actually had seen the human-looking-possible-demon fighting some sort of giant spider that had never been found in the Everfree before. The student-part of her brain wanted to examine and study it, but her self-preservation side kicked in as she had seen Hikaru fly away from the beast's foreleg with a small trail of blood following him. All of them had gasped in fright at the force he had struck the tree with but Lyra had actually shouted his name.

The first into action was Rainbow Dash, as much as she wanted to see Hikaru pay for what he had done to them... she wanted to deal with him herself, not let some overgrown spider do it for her. She braced herself just before her hooves caught the creature in the side, causing it to tip over and cough up a little bit of green-looking blood as it collided with the ground. She didn't let up for a second as her hooves began to pound into it's side, at least, she didn't let up until one of its legs slammed hard into her side and sent the airborne pegasus careening into a tree.

At this the orange cowpony slammed both of her rear hooves into the spider's abdomen, causing the creature to scramble in an attempt to get away from the pain. "Oh no ya don't!" Applejack shouted as she sent her rear hooves into one of its legs, the creature roared in pain as it was brought down halfway. She had felt a semi-familiar weightlessness as she was yanked from where she had been standing, the whoosh-ing sound of the beast's uninjured foreleg slamming into the ground had her giving a silent 'thank you' to Rarity as she was placed several meters from the creature.

Rarity and Twilight now stood on both sides of Applejack, Twilight was the first to speak, "This thing... It doesn't seem natural at all..." She said in an awed tone.

Rainbow dash clumsily flew over, keeping her eye on the beast that was using this reprieve from combat to recover some of its strength. She had sighed at what Twilight had said, "Twi! It's a GIANT. GREEN. BUG! What about that could possibly make it natural!?" she fumed. Pinkie seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere with her party cannon in tow, "Pinkie... You didn't... but... how...?" Rainbow started but quickly decided to dismiss the thought, "You know what... I don't care... as long as it helps us take out this bug!"

"Dashie..." Pinkie chided, "It's an arthropod... Not a bug... But this thing seems to be completely made of a special magic." She explained. Rarity was the only one still looking at the spider as everypony else stared at Pinkie in confusion.

"Pinkie... How could you possibly know that!?" Twilight exclaimed. Pinkie just waved a hoof dismissively.

"My Pinkie sense told me... A twitch in my right rearhoof with a *Sproing* in my tail means that a creature made of magic is gonna try to hurt a friend." She explained.

"But... Hikaru isn't our friend..." Twilight replied.

"He might not be yours... but he's mine, and Lyra's our friend... the spider-thing tried to hurt her." Pinkie replied with a smile.

"Girls... as interesting as this conversation is... can you please wait until we have dealt with the problem?" Rarity asked as she took a disgusted step back since the creature had gotten to a standing position. They all got into a ready position as each side waited for the other to strike first.

Hikaru

I barely registered Lyra trying to help me as I felt my wound close... mostly. I felt her grasp me in a cautious hug as she began to cry into my chest, "Oh... this just... really makes it hard for me to accept death right now... great..." I thought as I began to use her for support to raise myself off of the ground. I could actually feel a buildup of energy next to me and my hand went out reflexively, somewhere around the strength of a passive slap I had actually made contact with Lyra's horn and immediately felt the energy dissipate. My senses actually managed to register Lyra holding her head as if she was struck with a headache and I called once more upon the cursemark. I had to use every inch of my will not to fall unconscious as the pain shot through my body, I had actually taken a knee as the pain began to overwhelm me but I couldn't let Lyra get hurt. I struggled to get to my feet again as I took note of the battle around me, the creature had regained a bit of its strength and even though the mares in front of it were standing their ground, I could tell that they were no match for it... The thing had tried to kill me without remorse for the divine's sake.

My entire body once again seared with pain as I sped off to confront the creature, the marks on my body slowly receding and burning as they went, I didn't register anything other than the basic gist of a shout and what my byakugan could now see of the creature's chakra construction.

I didn't waste a second as I got into my jyuuken stance, "Gentle fist! One hundred twenty-eight palms of divination." I growled as I began my assault on the chakra connections that kept this creature together, starting around the center of its chest where my kunai were embedded. With each strike the creature seemed to fade as I severed each bond, every muscle in my body was screaming at me to stop... to rest... But I knew I couldn't, I had to keep Lyra safe. The creature roared as it tried to escape my attack but to no avail as I severed the last of the bonds, the final blow striking palm-out to the center of its chest and sending the creature soaring through the air. I could feel whatever traces of strength I had left leave my body entirely as my vision returned to normal, my hands swung limply down to my side as I watched the creature's corpse just seem to dissipate into shadows that vanished like smoke. Once I was absolutely sure I wouldn't have to worry about the beast coming back I let myself succumb to the punishment of overusing my chakra... and the cursemark.

Lyra

I rushed over to Hikaru as he collapsed, I checked his pulse to find out that he was just barely alive and I scooped him up onto my back, his wound was bleeding from his earlier excertion and I knew it would stain my coat... But I wanted to get him to a hospital quickly. My legs began to move on their own, only for me to be stopped after a few steps by Rainbow dash.

"What are you doing? Did you see what he just did? he killed that Spider thing using whatever evil magic that Twilight was talking about!" She shouted, I had to resist the urge to slam a forehoof in her face.

"What he just did...?" I replied with a growl, "...He just risked his life to save us! Yet here you are trying to keep me from returning the favor!" I shove past her as I make my way down the path we had used to get here, every mental function wanted me to get my friend to the hospital before he died... But Rainbow Dash seemed to want to put a stop to that.

"He attacked us in YOUR house! Don't you remember that?" She shouted in my face.

"He attacked because you all instigated it! And last I checked you were still breathing... He barely is!" I retort as I shove past her once again.

Applejack takes a pace alongside me, at least she's not trying to stop me. "Sugarcube... I can see that you want to help him... But what if he was just tryin' to fool ya..." She asked.

"He isn't fooling me... He was actually happy with me and I was happy with him around... And I want to keep it that way for a while, So I'm taking him to the hospital whether you like it or not." I reply as my steps increase in their confidence. I actually noticed Fluttershy walk up next to me.

"Well...I...uh..." She mumbled, "...I would... really hate to think that... I was the reason why he got hurt or worse... so... I agree with you... If that's okay..." She said shakily, quailing under a look I shot her. I knew that I didn't need to keep being angry at Fluttershy... but I knew it was also kinda her fault that this happened.

That was also when Twilight decided to catch up, "Yes, he does need to see a doctor... The research about humans I could get from him could-..." He cut herself short as I shot her a glare.

"...No, No studying him... He's been through enough as it is. I think he deserves some rest." I assert, she gives an embarassed look as she recoils away from me. "...Besides... I have no doubt that you decided to tell the princess he was some sort of evil monster..." I shot her another angry look... Why? Because why not? She had helped cause this... Actually... For being such great heroes they really did cause a lot of the problems around Ponyville. Rarity and Pinkie were strangely silent for the rest of the trip, Twilight kept trying to explain that if he was human he would need to be recorded and studied since so little was known about humans already. Strangely enough even Rainbow Dash kept silent on the way back to town.

After what seemed like forever we finally reached the edge of the forest...

...And were practically greeted by an entire garrisson of royal guards.