Shadows of Sins Past

Westwood touched down inside of the castle through the window that was crashed through a short time before his arrival close to the castle. Broken glass and singe marks were present inside, he could heard Celestia speak to a male voice. He then rushed out to see Celestia standing in front of the now ashen body of the white dragon that had detonated a short time before, "This happened after I left." He spoke clenching his hands into a tight fist, "What happened?" He asked looking around to see if Luna was present, "And where's Luna?"

The question about Luna made Celestia twitch, a pang of anger still remaining in her heart, "That dragon from before, the one that I called Alabaster, he sent three of his dragons to kill you or abduct Luna. Since you were not here, they took her." She spoke.

Westwood froze hearing that the dragons had kidnapped Luna. In his eyes, he could see Nox once more, "So. What are you going to do now Woody? Going to go on a rampage? Kill everything with scales? Rip the king's head off like you're opening a can?" Nox spoke. The dragon kept his eyes shut and his fangs clenched. He was in no mood to hear his sentient shadow speaking to him again.

Celestia looked back at Westwood and then came close, "You don't have anything to say?" She asked, the pang of anger still in her mind, "My sister adores you, I are even say she loves you after such a short time after meeting you and you have nothing to say after I tell you she has been abducted?" She asked the dragon.

The two voices speaking in Westwood's speak at the same time made him shout, "BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" He shouted gripping his head and dropping to his knees.

Celestia now had confusion in her face as well as the anger in her eyes, "What do you mean both? I'm the only one speaking." Celestia spoke watching the dragon seem to collapse under mental stress.

Westwood opened his eyes, one yellow with the other soulless black, "He keeps coming into my head. My shadow keeps talking to me, telling me to do things. I want him out of my head, but he won't go away." He spoke clenching his head tighter to the point that his claws began digging under his scales and causing small trickles of blood to run down the sides of his head.

Celestia had lost much of the anger now that she saw the dragon in such a fragile state, "Why didn't you tell me about this?" Celestia spoke, her anger no longer as prevalent in her voice.

Westwood's soulless black eye shifted back to yellow, Nox had left him alone after his outburst so his head was quieter, "Yes, because telling someone that I have a living shadow that only I can see telling me to do things is considered normal." He spoke now standing back onto his feet. He looked at his hands and sighed softly seeing that he had his blood on his claw tips.

Celestia shook her head, "No. It is not normal. But I do not know how a shade works, perhaps this is the reason why they had a war declared on their kind." She spoke seeing that the wounds in Westwood's head from his own claws not only stopped bleeding, but the holes made in his head had closed and healed over with a fresh set of scaling.

The idea that his species was extinct because of this thing that was stuck in his head made Westwood laugh. It started as a small chuckle then eventually grew and grew until his laughing reached a point of echoing through the halls, "So a big black cloud that's been stuck in my head is the cause for a war against a species? That's just priceless." He spoke turning his eyes to the much smaller looking sentient shadow that was in the corner of his eye even if Celestia couldn't see it, "It was a psychotic disorder that lead to all out war. It's just hilarious." He spoke continuing to laugh about the misfortune of his ancestors. Despite the lack of emotion Nox could display outside of his tone, Westwood could see that Nox had confusion in his face as if Westwood's mind being difficult for Nox to control was a matter that befuddled the sentient shadow.

Celestia looked like she had a similar look on her face when Westwood laughed, it didn't sound maniacal, it was a genuine sense of laughter over an unfortunate situation, "You are laughing about a condition that threatens your sanity. How can you be laughing about this?" Celestia asked standing firm in front of the dragon.

Westwood calmed his laughing when he heard the question, "It means that I have more self control than any of my ancestors. Even if I don't know any of them, I surpassed them. I am my own self." He spoke with a wide grin on his face, "I'm sure you would be laughing in my situation." He spoke before turning his back to the princess, "But if you remember, I have a mission to accomplish. Now that Luna has been abducted I have even more reason to get there." He spoke spreading his wings.

Celestia sprinted in front of Westwood before he could leave, "You are not going into a situation like that with no protection. You might be a dragon and have armor like scales, but the blades the white dragons wield are made from sun steel. If that makes contact with bare flesh then you would end up like that fire dragon from before. You are receiving armor and a weapon whether you want it or not." Celestia spoke standing in front of Westwood once again and keeping him from flying out of the same window that he had come in through.

Westwood just gave a much smaller chuckle than what he displayed before, "I don't need armor. Even when I was human and so much more unprotected, I never needed or used it. All armor does is slow me down." He spoke to the princess, "Besides, how can I be stealthy if there are clanking sounds coming off my body." He spoke with a grin showing a few of his fangs, "And weapons are never an issue." He spoke extending his arms and letting his shadow flow over his body and for a pair of knives in his hands, "I can make solid objects with my shadow. And Nox has no control over me." He spoke keeping his grin on his face.

Celestia watched the events unfold, it was amazing that he had so much control to go as far as making weapons from another world into a solid, metal state out of an intangible material, "I understand. Just." She paused trying to think of the proper words, "I'm sure if your mother and father could see you. They would be proud of the warrior that you became."

Westwood looked back to Celestia when he heard her mention his father and mother, "So you knew them?" He asked wondering why it was that she had brought them up.

Celestia was surprised that Westwood was questioning her instead of acting proud like ponies she had complimented, "Not personally. When I had met them, they were protecting you with their life. That eventually did happen. I was there personally, I had extinguished their life. But then I saw what they were protecting, it was you." She said to Westwood.

The dragon had not expressed the emotional reaction that Celestia had expected, if anything his emotional state was dead, "And that's when you sent me to another world right? Leave me out of the world and never worry about me again? I do not know what your reasoning was, but at this point it doesn't matter. That was over a century for you and three decades for me. That is the past and I held no attachments to this world. My family being proud of me is about at relevant as my last meal before turning into this." He spoke, his emotions no longer present. His eyes showed some anger and sorrow, but it was not something he was going to let himself express any way else.

Celestia moved closer to the dragon, "You do not have to hide that you are angry Westwood. I wished that things would have gone such a different way."

Westwood shook his head, "If things went a different way, then I would not be having this conversation with you. I would more than likely be in the bottom of an unmarked grave like I'm sure the rest of my kind are set. This mission is not about my kind, this mission is about restoring order and preventing war. If I succeed in my mission then I have no regrets." He spoke now moving around the princess.

As he walked through the now brightly lit room he had comforted Luna in a short time before, he clenched his fists tightly again, "I will be back. And they will be gone." He spoke before jumping out the window and flying out to the dragon kingdom.

The world was dark and dank, the only light being from a single torch on a wall. Luna had just barely woken up from the impact the female dragon had delivered to her the few hours before this had all happened. She was confused on where she was. She knew what it was like to be in the dark, but this was different. Instead of the dark nature of her time on the moon, this was frightening.

"So you're finally awake." A voice spoke from the darkness. Soon a white dragon with what seemed to be a high and mighty posture came into view. Upon his head was a macabre crown composed of bone and what seemed to be a single red stone that sat in the center of what seemed to be a smaller dragon's skull, "I was wondering when my little prize would finally wake." The dragon spoke setting himself against what appeared to be a set of bars, the flames behind him showing small stripes of golden scales that appeared from the spines on his back in a pattern looking like a set of ribs stretching from his back to the center of his chest.

Luna backed up seeing the dragon, the lighting made him seem like a monster even at the closer look to the white colored dragon, "What do you mean prize? Where am I, why am I here?" Luna asked trying to get a grasp on the situation that she was in. It seemed pointless to try and fight the creature in front of her with her being behind a set of bars, and more than likely there were others that would protect this creature.

The white dragon laughed lightly, "I must apologize dear princess. I was so excited that I forgot that you are not familiar with this place." He spoke to Luna taking a set back from the bars, "I am King Luz. Under a recommendation from my adviser, I had taken you to this place." He spoke giving a bow to the alicorn princess, "I did not intend on calling you a prize. It's just a reaction I have when something new comes into my borders." The look on Luna's face showed that she did not like the rewording that Luz had supplied her, "For the mean time you are in a cell under my dwelling. It is not a proper castle like I am sure you are used to, but my subjects made the best with what they had." Luz continued with a chuckle.

Luna was not impressed no matter what the case was, she was in a cell abducted from her home by invading dragons using brute force, "It matters not what this place is. You have no right to hold me here reptile." She spoke planting her front hooves firmly on the ground to show that she was not please with the predicament that she had been forced into.

Luz looked at Luna like she was speaking another language, "I don't have a right? I was the one that sent three units to infiltrate your castle. Only three units and they all managed to do their jobs perfectly." He spoke with a chuckle that seemed to send a chill down Luna's spine, "In this culture, one's strength and command gives them all the right that is possible." He spoke to Luna, his eyes glowing with an ominous green aura, "That is the dragon's way. You keep what you kill." The white and gold dragon spoke before pushing himself away from the bars, "That is why I have my right to hold you like this." He spoke turning his back to the princess, "Oh, and don't even try to escape with magic. The bars are forged with dragon scales. They will reflect any magic you cast at it right back at you. And I do not want to see such a pretty trophy get scuffed up." He spoke to Luna as he walked away.

Luna looked to the dragon as he walked away then to the bars. It might have been a bluff that they would bounce back any magic that she cast at it, but the idea that she might injure herself in the process. All she could do was just to wait in the darkness of the cell and pray that someone would come to save her.