Chapter One: I Didn't Want This

Monster

Chapter 1: I didn’t want this.

(1 Year in the future.)

Equestria. Land of Peace and Equality.

What a fucking joke.

I have an... ability, shall we say. Some humans would call it magic. To some, it’s science. Me? I called it Twilikinesis. For two reasons. The first? I could control  Twilight Matter. What is Twilight Matter? Light. Shadows. I can make them solid. Weapons. Silverware. Tools. Hell, I can make wings of Darkness. I can store them, brand them into my body like tattoos, for later use.

The second? I think you’ll understand that soon.

Twilight Matter. Ironic, since my greatest enemy controlled the Sun and Moon, Light and Dark, but didn’t have a fraction of the control I did.

This made me an enemy in her eyes. My family and I’s heads were put on the chopping block, because I had an ability I had no idea how to control, and never asked for.

I still hear my sister’s cries for help, as she was killed first. So I believed.

My real name is forgotten, dead. Slaughtered with my sister and father.

I am Umbra. In latin, ‘Shadow’.

I WILL bring Celestia to her knees. I will crush Equestria.

This is my story.

(Present) (14 Years Old)

“Dad, I’m home.” I called through our three-bedroom Canterlot house. As usual, I didn’t get an answer, because he had gone to pick up my sister from magic kindergarten. She seemed to be terrified of the place, but her magic was really picking up.

I think the reason that she’s terrified is because they actually make you do something there, instead of faking smiles and letting you run around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Magic makes me wish I was a Mage instead of a Terran. Hell, I’d even take Aviate. Sure, Terrans may be stronger and better at hand-to-hand combat then most, but Aviates as a rule were faster, and could fly. Aviates also had better eyesight due to their hawk eyes. Mages could just do some voodoo shit and make your guts explode through your mouth. Damn. Mages also had better hearing than the others because they had bigger ears, with pointed tips.

I shook my head to clear it, and grabbed a soda from the magic-powered fridge. I plopped down on the couch, popped open the can of soda, and grabbed the book I was reading.

It was a really interesting read, Diaries of a Madman, written by a real imaginative guy. He re-wrote the entire human species as ponies, gave them the same abilities we have, and then dropped a magic-less, futuristic human right in the middle. It was one of my favorite books. No-one knew who the author was though, the cover just said ‘Written by Anonymous’. Weird.

Anyway, I was interrupted from reading by a knock on the door. I looked at the clock. Dad and Twi shouldn’t be home for another 10 minutes. ‘Wonder who it is?’ I thought.

I opened the door to see a fully decked out royal guard Terran -who looked a few years older than me- standing on my front porch. “Nope.” I said, and closed the door. I stood there for a few seconds. The knocking started again. “Shit!” I whispered. I put on my best poker face, and opened the door.

“Yes?” I asked, in what I was hoping was a neutral tone.

To his credit, he didn’t miss a beat. “Shining Armor? He asked, already knowing the answer.

“That’s me.” Two words, that changed my life forever.

“Your presence has been requested at Canterlot palace.”

“...Can I ask why?” Dreading the answer.

“Princess Celestia has chosen your sister to be Her personal student.” He replied neutrally.

I blinked in surprise. I expected it to be something much more drastic. But I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. “...Okay. Let’s go.”

It was his turn to blink. “You don’t want to get ready?” He asked, with no small amount of shock.

I looked down at my outfit. “Why? Is something wrong with my outfit?” White T-shirt, with a darkish blue shield, surrounded by six pointed stars, with a big star in the middle, faded blue jeans, and black sports shoes. I felt my hair. “I mean, I could probably brush my hair...”

He was too busy gaping at me to say anything.

I chuckled. “I knew I was sexy, but you don’t need to stare.”

That snapped him out of it. “I don’t think you understand. You are going to meet the Princess.”

“Ugh, fine.” A few minutes later, I was downstairs. I was wearing a suit. A tux. Dammit, I hate this thing. My dark-blue/light-blue colored hair combination was streaming down my back, and I looked fancy. Like a Noble. I hate Nobles.

“Now you look ready to meet the Princess.” The Terran said with a nod.

“Hey, what’s your name? I’m sick of thinking of you as ‘Terran’ or ‘Guard’.” I said to him, annoyance clear in my tone.

“I’m Blade.” He said impatiently.

“Alright, now can we fucking go?” I sounded like a major asshole, and that wasn’t fair to Blade.

His face hardened. “Yeah. Let’s go.” Great. Now he’s pissed.

On the way there, I sighed. “I’m sorry I’m being such an ass, I just hate this gods-damn suit.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I hear ya. I hated them too when I was your age.”

“How old are you, anyway?”

“Pssh, I’m nineteen. I enrolled on my eighteenth birthday.”

“Really? That’s what I’m planning on doing!”

And so our conversation went.

We walked into Canterlot Castle laughing.

“You’re pretty cool, for a guard.” I said.

“You’re pretty cool, for a young punk.” He replied.

I chuckled again, before going serious face. “Oh. We’re here.” I stated, my voice lacking enthusiasm.

“Yeah. Your life gets better from here on out.” He told me, As he led me to a set of doors.

“If you say so...” I pushed the doors open, and walk into... the wrong room. More specifically, a broom closet. ‘Why the fuck would a broom closet have big double doors?’ I hear laughter coming from behind me. I turn around, and say, “Yeah yeah, asshole. Where’s the room I’m looking for?” He was laughing too hard to answer, and just points down the hall a bit. I see giant doors, probably leading to a giant room.

I push the doors open. ‘Yep, that’s a pretty big room.’ I think. It seems that I walked into a sparring match between Twilight and Celestia, because they are both throwing magic at each other. If I wasn’t trained to recognize harmless magic I might have lost it. I mean, a Goddess throwing magic blasts at a kindergartener? Come on now.

Even though they were going through the motions, the magic that was flying lacked a certain shine. Also, when each hit landed, they’d each just shrug it of and keep going. I wasn’t gonna step in. Hell, I don’t know how she picks her students. This may be normal.

In due time Twi lost, but she kept up far longer than most would have. I mean, Celestia was sweating. The Goddess was sweating. That’s how immensely powerful my six year old sister is. Huh.

Celestia turned her attention to me. I bowed, much as I hated her, I’m not suicidal. “Ah, you must be Shining Armor, so nice to meet you.” She said.

...How the hell are you supposed to answer royalty? “It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty.”

“I’m sure.” She answered with a smug grin.

I felt like fucking punching her. I looked around the room we were in. It could easily house a hundred homeless people, while her kitchens could probably feed a thousand. But no. People starve to death outside her gates, while she sits here on her somewhat fat ass, thinking about how great she is and of better ways to manipulate people. Just like she had over the past six thousand years.

She was a real bitch in my book.

“Well, now that you’re here, we can start the ceremony.” She told me, before she turned around and walked to her throne. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just stood there, before I noticed my dad and sis waving me over.

When I got to them, my dad looked at me, and said, “What took so long? Celestia was getting impatient.”

“Uhh, I don’t know what you mean. I put a tux on, and came to the castle.” He looked at me like I was an idiot, but before he could say anything, Celestia’s voice rang through the room.

“Would the family of Twilight Sparkle please step forward?” She asked, in a way that made it seem like a choice. We looked at each other, and started walking. We stopped about ten feet from the throne, and bowed. “Twilight Sparkle, please, step forward.” I grabbed my sister’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, before she stood and walked toward Celestia.

“Twilight,” She started, “you are special. You have a proficiency in magic that I haven’t seen since Starswirl the Bearded himself was alive. I would like to take you in as my personal student. You will learn magics that most people will likely never hear of. If you accept, it will change your life forever. Do you accept?”

Twilight was literally shaking in excitement. “Yes, yes, yes!” She says, loudly.

Celestia gives her a warm smile. “Congratulations, you are now my personal student.” She looks to me and my father. “Please, step forward you two. It is my tradition, after selecting a new student, to award a large sum of bits to the family that raised such a remarkable child. That being said, Twilight is the most remarkable I’ve come across in several hundred years. I am going to give you a quarter of a million bits. Objections? No?” Me and dad were just too stunned to speak. “I didn’t think so. Well, thanks to a mysterious benefactor, you now have enough money to join Canterlot’s elite. In other words, you are now nobles.”

Goddamn it! I don’t want to be a noble! She’s obviously doing this so she has an excuse to watch us. On the other hand, it’s suicide to turn down one of the Princess’s gifts.

My father hastily bowed. “Thank you Princess!” Looks like he found his voice. “We won’t betray your trust!” Yes I will.

“And you, Shining Armor? Do you have nothing to say?” Shit. Caught in a trap.

“...Thank you, Princess.” I force out, not bothering to hide the displeasure in my voice.

She studied me for a few seconds, probably trying to figure out what strings she’d need to pull to make this puppet jump. “...You know, I have an opening in my guard, if you need a job.” I really didn’t need the job, she made sure of that, but learning to fight would be a plus.

“Yes, thank you Princess. I would like that very much.” No I wouldn’t. It will make me more dependent on her than I already am. But again, when the Princess is handing out gifts, it’s take them, or face the consequences. I like life, thank you very much.

“Perfect! Be here at noon tomorrow, and I will have my Captain,  get you outfitted for the guard.”

“Of course, Princess.” I said, before bowing and walking out. I began the twenty minute walk home, thinking. ‘Where the fuck does she get off telling me how to live my life? The only reason I can think of is to keep a closer eye on me, but I’m nothing special. I know it’s said that the Princess can see the future... Maybe I’ll become something special? ...Nah. That’s ridiculous, I’m a city peasant. We’re a bit a dozen, especially Terrans. There must be some reason...’

I racked my brains, trying to think of her reasoning, before I realized I was standing in front of my house, and probably had been for the past few minutes.

I went to go inside, but was stopped by a, “Yo, Shiny!” Shit. I know that voice... Trixter. My Aviate best friend. I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation...

I turned around, with a fake smile plastered on my face. “What’s up, Trix?”

He hovered toward me, but faltered a little when he saw my smile. “Uh, Vinyl said she saw you leaving the Castle. Said you looked pissed. What’s wrong bro?”

“...What was Scratch doing in the Upper District?” I asked, kinda surprised that his DJ girlfriend was up where the nobles lived.

“Ah, you know her.” He said, waving the question away. “I’m worried bro. What were you doing in the Castle?”

I was afraid to answer him. We both hated Celestia, but now I was one of her guards... “I... Twilight is Celestia’s new student.” He looked like he was going to say something, but I held a hand up to stop him. It would be easier to tell him all at once. “We’re nobles now.” I saw a flicker of betrayal cross his face, but he kept his silence. “And... I’ve been drafted into the guard.” That’s more than a flicker. I winced, and said, “I’m so sorry Trix, I-”

“You what, Shiny? Betrayed almost everything that our friendship is based on? Sold your soul for a bit of money?”

“I still hate her Trix!” I cut him off. “She’s a manipulative b-”

“Obviously you don’t hate her enough to become one of her personal lapdogs! You know what, Shining Armor, you can go fuck yourself! Or better yet, why don’t you go fuck your precious Princess! I’m sure that cunt will take you in, because apparently she accepts anybody! Have fun being her bitch, you fucking groundie!” He yelled before speeding away, and leaving me in the street, stunned.

‘Did... did that just happen?’ I couldn’t even think straight. My best friend since childhood, just abandoned me in the street? All the emotions inside, going wild, condensed into one. Rage.

(FIGHT MUSIC!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLrxT8Vu978

“Well well, what do we have here, boys?” I heard the voice behind me.

“Not an easy target, Blaze. Not today.” I responded in a cold tone, turning around to study him and his lackeys. Blaze was standing in the middle, with his red hair down his back, in the same style as mine, and his buddies, two I didn’t recognize. They both looked like Terrans though, which would make it easier on me if it came down to a fight.

...Which with my mood, it would.

“Woah, what crawled up your ass and died? Did your boyfriend leave you?” He closed his eyes during that little rant.

Which made it that much easier to slug him in the face. I think his nose broke. I know he went down hard. I stepped back, to avoid getting blood on my shoes. I had just enough time to take my suit jacket off, before the other two were on me.

I ducked under their blows, before throwing one of my own. I smashed the one on the left in the gut, but the one on the right punched me straight across the face. I was to angry to even feel it. I mentally assessed the damage. ‘Split lip, blinding pain I can barely feel. Nothing debilitating. If he expected me to go down, he got a big surprise when he got a punch in return. To the face, of course. He went down.

And as a finisher, I clapped a hand on both of the last guy’s ears. He definitely went down.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a finisher, as more of Blaze’s friends came running down the street. “Aw, SHIT!” I started to back away.

At least, until I heard, “Yo, Shining: preemptive self-defense!” I looked behind me, just in time to see Blade throw a sword my way. Of course, that’s a fucking numbskull move, so instead of catching it, I jumped out of the way, and scooped it up when it stopped moving.

I looked at Blaze’s friends. “Seems a bit more even now, eh?” Needless to say, they backed the fuck down. They booked it.

Blade walked over. “You looked like you could use some help.”

“Dude, why in Tartarus did you think throwing a sword would be a good fucking idea?”

He looked at me in shock for a second, before saying, “I forgot you weren’t in the guard yet. Guards are trained to switch weapons and fighting styles frequently during a battle, so the opponents can’t form a strategy.”

I stared at him, before shaking my head and saying, “Fuckin’... Whatever. I’m sick of today. I’m going to bed.” I walk inside the house, leaving Blade and three unconscious bodies in the road. I grabbed a soda, downed that shit, walked into my room, and fell into bed. I had two thoughts before I drifted away.

‘One: ‘Fuckin... I hate Celestia.

Two: I didn’t want this...’