Shadows of Sins Past

It had been several hours after the dragons had declared war on the land of Equestria. Westwood felt much of the blame seeing that the treaty set over a century ago was broken because he was suddenly thrown into this world. Luna had fallen asleep shortly after Westwood had, her mind slightly more at ease when she and Westwood had shared their first kisses with one another. Celestia had called the members of the Equestrian service to rally and train to fight their former allies. This was going to prove more difficult than many of their other battles, especially compared to enemies like the changelings where they were about the same size. This war was going to be fought against giant beasts that could breath fire, crush a pony by stepping on them and even use a pony as a source of food. There was going to be a large loss of life in this fight.

Westwood had long since moved from Luna to let her rest, his gaze looking out the window through the shaded glass. He watched the green world flow and clenched his fists. His existence in this world caused a war to break loose from a dragon tyrant, he felt that he was responsible to fight for this world and he would until he died. Westwood heard a knocking on the door and jumped up from his trance to look to the door. He then sighed softly and moved to the door, opening the heavy frame to see Celestia in front of him, "Sorry. I should have come out a while back." He said to the sun princess then looking back to Luna.

Celestia saw the scene and shook her head, "I won't ask what happened." She said to Westwood before moving her head in a way to say for the dragon to follow after her. She moved to the side letting Westwood leave the room.

Westwood sighed and rubbed his temple feeling something give him a headache, "Nothing happened. I can promise you that." He said to Celestia putting his claws behind his back as he walked, "I'm not that kind of dragon." He finished as he walked now following the princess.

Celestia felt some ease that the dragon had some morals outside of not attacking anything that moves, that alone was better than the others of his species had been, "I get it, but now we are in a troubling situation. Our warriors are not ready to fight a  group of dragons. Even the smaller ones." He said to Westwood with a solemn tone to her voice, "If the first attack comes here, we may not live to see the next day of the conflict." Celestia spoke to Westwood.

Westwood closed his eyes and stopped where he was in the middle of the hall, "And this is all my fault right? The fact I exist in this world is going to cause an extinction." He spoke gripping his wrists tightly to the point that they would have broken if he was still human.

Celestia stopped not long after Westwood had, her attention moving to the dragon and his attitude, "No. This is not your fault. You heard Alabaster. This would have happened a long time ago if that treaty was not in place. Their new king is a tyrant, and I knew this. I just was unable to do anything to control that." The sun princess spoke facing the black scaled dragon, "That is why I am asking you to do something for me and for my sister."

Westwood's eyes shot up and took the image in front of him in, "What do you mean?" He asked Celestia staring her down wanting to know her plan the instant it was running through her mind.

Celestia sighed softly, "It is dangerous, but if what Luna told me what happened in your dream is a true event." She stopped herself wanting to keep her emotions under control as she spoke, "Then I would like you to go to the dragon's kingdom and stop this before it can advance into a full scale war." Celestia spoke to Westwood.

Westwood froze, he knew exactly what she was thinking, "You want me to assassinate the dragon tyrant." He spoke in a flat and monotone voice. This would not be his first time having to conduct such a mission. He had done assassinations before. Maybe not to the degree of killing a ruler or a tyrant, but he had committed smaller scale assassinations in order to eliminate small segments of a government. This however was an all new level of his previous actions.

Celestia gave a small nod to Westwood's statement, "That would be correct. As I said, our ponies are not ready or able to fight off such a foe." She spoke then bowing her head in front of Westwood, "If you accept, it could save thousands upon thousands of lives." Celestia  added keeping her head down.

Westwood rubbed his temple seeing that this was going to be dangerous, but at the same time he would be the only one in danger if he accepted, "I understand. Maybe this was the reason why that dragon before gave us the warning for a week of preparation, he is probably wanting us to take action." The dragon spoke then nodded, "I will go on this mission. I just need to know the location." He said to Celestia in a respectful manner, "All I would request is some time to settle my affairs. Let the ponies I know that I will be gone and might not be coming back." He spoke to Celestia.

Celestia lifted her head in reply, "I understand. And I would not expect you to leave suddenly without saying your goodbyes." Celestia spoke to Westwood. Some remorse in her tone, like she had just sent the last of a species to die even if it was to fight, "If there was another option, I would present it to you. I just do not see another way to save our citizens." Celestia spoke.

Westwood stood to attention then he presented a salute to the princess in front of him and held that salute for a few seconds, "I understand your highness." He spoke slowly dropping the salute. With that motion he turned on his heel and began walking. His mind was clear, he was focused on the mission that would soon be conducted. He would clear his mind and guilt of leaving so soon after he arrived.

The black scaled dragon approached what appeared to be a balcony and stared into the distance to see the small town he had woken up in. His black wings spread wide ready to fly back to that town. He looked back to see if there was anyone attempting to stop him then he jumped off the ledge of the balcony to free fall downward. His wings caught the wind and picked himself from his fall. His speed quickly rising while he flew.

Nox once again came to annoy Westwood, "So. You're going back to becoming the warrior, Woody?" Nox spoke appearing in the corner of Westwood's vision, "I would have thought that you would stay away from being the warrior again." He spoke seeming to grin even if he was just the smokey image of his shadow.

Westwood sighed, "I am not just becoming the warrior. I am doing this to save lives, no other reason. If I have to be an assassin to save lives then I will have to." He spoke to Nox keeping his attention on flying and less on his conversation with his shadow.

Nox laughed at Westwood for a few seconds in a hysterical manner as the image flew beside Westwood, "You and I both know that is a complete and total lie. You want to kill again. We both know it. This is just an excuse to destroy those dragons. The lives saved by this are just a bonus to make you look like a hero. You want to become the killer again, there was no other feeling that gave you so much pleasure as letting blood flow on the ground." Nox spoke narrowing his glowing slits for  eyes at the dragon,

Westwood growled at Nox, "I am not becoming the killer again. I am doing this for the well being of a populous. And I will keep my control over my own body you smokey mess." He spoke to Nox with the image of Ponyville coming quickly into view, "Now for the next few hours, all I want to hear from you is silence. I am here to say my goodbyes to Twilight and Fluttershy. I might not return after this so they should know what if going on." He spoke shooting his wings to the side to dramatically decrease his speed before he approached the town.

He stayed outside of Ponyville a short time longer, he walked inside of the town's boundaries trying not to make a scene. He was sure that a pony outside of Fluttershy would have seen what he did and he did not have the time to deal with any pony running up and treating him like a hero. In his experience, he did not want to be recognized for his actions. Especially since the attack could have gone in an entirely different way if the beast came out instead of what had happened.

The bright colors of the town made hiding difficult, but regardless of the difficulty he had made his way around the town to arrive at the library. It was a wonder that he was able to make it inside without making a scene, but he still made it inside. The library was now brightly lit by the sunlight flooding into the large and open room, what made this different from his previous visit to await Princess Luna was that there was a large stack of books piled up. With curiosity, the dragon grabbed the top book that was nearest him and read the title 'History of Dragons', "War was barely called. Who had the time to bring all this out?" He asked before looking away from the cover and seeing a purple object under where he had just picked up the book.

In shock, Westwood grabbed the object and found it to be the baby dragon he had met the previous day, "What were you doing inside that massive pile?" He asked Spike after setting the much smaller dragon back on the ground where he could stand on his own.

Spike felt somewhat annoyed that the one to find him was the only other dragon in the entire kingdom that was more or less stationary, "Twilight was trying to find out what you were. After Celestia announced that the dragons had declared war against us only after YOU arrived, she went on a rampage trying to find a book that said what the buck you were." Spike spoke crossing his arms over his chest, "So, do you know what you are?" Spike asked staring daggers at the much larger drake.

Westwood felt a similar annoyance as Spike since the baby dragon was giving him such an attitude, "The only thing that I've got to go on is what the other dragons called me during the meeting between the princesses and the dragon ambassador. They called me a shade." He spoke to Spike now planting himself on the ground.

Not long after Westwood sat himself down, the door flung open. In the frame stood the lavender colored mare, "Westwood. Just the dragon I wanted to see!." Twilight Sparkle exclaimed in a combination of anger and excitement, "What did you do to make the dragon ambassador so mad? Neither Celestia or Luna could possibly have caused this to happen, so what did you do?!" Twilight added stamping a hoof to the ground under her.

Westwood's annoyance was nearly reaching its peak and was turning into pure frustration, "I didn't do jack shit!" He yelled to Twilight, "They told me that my existence caused this." He spoke calming himself down while he was face to face, "Which is why I am here. You gave me a place to stay a night before Luna had-" His words were broken by the lavender colored mare.

Twilight had interrupted Westwood, "That's Princess Luna to you." She spoke in a manner to give the princesses their respect and at least put their title before their name.

Westwood growled deeply at the unicorn, "Fine. Before Princess Luna had visited my nightmares. I just thought that I'd tell you that I'm not going to be here much longer. And I may never come back." He spoke keeping himself from making the situation worse.

Twilight was just about butting heads with the dragon, "So you're just going to leave us to deal with an army of dragons?" She spoke staring right into Westwood's glowing yellow hues.

Westwood kept himself from at least tapping the unicorn enough for her to back away, he needed little confrontation at this point in time, "No. To try and reduce how many lives will be lost I am going to the dragon kingdom and am going to attempt to assassinate the dragon king. He is the one that wanted this war, without him the war will not begin and someone with some sense will stop this from happening." He spoke grinding his claws into the wood under him and leaving long and deep gash marks in the wood under him.

Twilight stopped moving all together, "And by never come back. You mean." There was a pause as her eyes widened seeing that his departure was more of a selfless act than what she had first thought.

Westwood nodded in response, "Yes. I may not return, because I might die defending your country like I would my own when I was in the other world. Do not call me a coward before you hear me out. I could have decided to leave you out of this all together." He spoke in further annoyance that was present in his voice before he jumped back to his feet and stamped his way to the door, "Also, your pet dragon knows what the others called me. You can look up the term 'shade' in the dragon books you're looking at." He spoke before throwing the door open in anger and marching outside. Instead of walking, Westwood took to the skies once again.

Once at a high altitude to help him calm down, Nox once more appeared before the black scaled dragon, "Well look at that. Once declaration of war and they hate you. That little filly even accused you of running away from your issues and leave. What's to say the shy one won't do the same exact thing. Call you a monster for no reason. A traitor, or how about killer?" The sentient shadow spoke with what could be shown as a smug look on his smokey face.

Westwood growled at Nox and then he slashed at the cloudy figure with his claws only to pass through it completely and have the image reform from the sudden object slung through it, "You have no idea what will happen! I will be a hero. I won't be that thing any more. You no longer have a foothold in my body." He spoke clenching his fangs and fists tightly.

Nox chuckled at the statement, "Is that so? We will see all about that won't we?" Nox spoke with his laugh more present. The smoke around the figure's face separated enough to form a mouth in the jaw line of the creature's head, "One thing has to be said though. You are by far the most amusing host that I have ever taken. Such a strong will to do what you think is right." Nox continued then once more faded to obscurity.

Westwood huffed at the now vacant space in front of him. His gaze went back to searching for the cottage that he had dropped Fluttershy at the day before. His mind calmed down after his confrontation with Nox and his exchange with Twilight so he would not scare the already easily frightened pegasus he met before. His search was short lived as he then dived to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Once more he broke out of his dive and landed on his feet rather easily and gracefully. His wings opened and flapped to keep himself from falling over.

As though he had rang a gong sounding off to the pegasus, he felt something hit his stomach before he could think, "Westwood. I'm so glad you're alright." The emotion filled mare spoke keeping her cheek planted into Westwood's underbelly, "I was so afraid that those dragons had hurt you and when Princess Celestia announced we would be going to war-" Her words were interrupted by Westwood slowly pushing Fluttershy away.

"I'm sorry about all this. It really is my fault this is all happening. Which is why I am here? I wanted to let you know that I will be going soon, and I may not be coming back. This is a mission only I can do." Westwood spoke closing his eyes and speaking to the soft spoken pegasus as though he was telling her he was going to die from a terminal illness, "I might not come back from this fight. And if the worst happens, I want you to know that I am sorry. For scaring you like I had and letting you fall into danger. You are a good friend Fluttershy, and if I don't come back." He paused looking at Fluttershy seeing her eyes begin to water.

Fluttershy wouldn't let Westwood continue, "No!" Her now abnormally loud voice boomed to the dragon, "I won't let you go. You can't die, you just can't!" She continued again shoving her head into Westwood's underbelly.

Westwood could see all the sadness that was present in the pegasus, "I have to Fluttershy. If I don't then thousands, maybe even millions might perish. I can't just stand here and let that happen. I am doing this for everyone. For you, for Twilight, for Spike and even for the princesses. I am going so I can save you all." Westwood spoke wrapping his arms around the now crying mare that kept him from moving.

Fluttershy had advanced from sobbing to letting her eyes run like a faucet down her face and Westwood's hard scales, "You just can't!" She voice rang out. Westwood was sure that if Fluttershy had hands that she would be grabbing him and keeping him from going away as tightly as fingers could hold him, "I finally find a male that I care about and he has to leave. I don't want to see you leave!" She screamed in distress.

Westwood couldn't bare to see Fluttershy in such a state, but he could not doom an entire race for one selfish act, "I'm sorry." He said to her now kneeling down and hugging the pegasus, "I am going to do everything I can to stay alive even if it is just to see everyone's smiling faces one last time. I won't surrender. No matter what."

Slowly Fluttershy separated from Westwood and sniffed as tears continued dripping down her face, "You better come back. I'll never forgive you if you don't." Fluttershy spoke now looking to the ground, "Come back to us Westwood." She spoke with her voice quieting down from the yelling she had done as she cried.

Westwood stayed eye level with the pegasus and held out his hand with his pinkie claw exposed, he felt silly after doing it so instead he made a crossing motion over his heart with another finger, "Cross my heart and hope to die." He said to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy took this new promise as a sign that she could trust his words, "Alright. But I'll be waiting. I'll wait forever if I have to." She added in as she stood still looking to the black scaled dragon in front of her.

Westwood gave a soft smile, no fangs showing in his maw, "You won't have to wait forever. I promise I'll do everything I can."

With that, the dragon began to fly once again. This time Westwood was not visited by Nox, as though the shadow knew that he could not ruin his counterpart's mood after the event that had just happened. Westwood's business was done in the small town, he had no regrets now even if one of his visits became less than desirable.

Westwood flew forward towards the castle once more, what he saw was smoke piling from the castle windows. The shock of what he saw drove Westwood to fly to the highest of his capabilities, wind whipping at his face and body like thousands of lashes attacking him all at once in an attempt to reach the castle quickly and attempt to save what was possible.