OST

"SHADOW!!!" Nightmare Moon rammed into me, as I just barly stayed standing from the shear force of her charge, and hugged me with a vengance, her sobs heard in my uncovered ears, her mane brushing against my exposed face, and her tears running down my bear neck. A feeling that's indescribable couses through me, a feeling that can't be felt with a helmet in the way, even with it's external sensors. I then, reluctantly, break her embrace to face the ponies who dare to threaten her.

I face Celestia, glaring a challenge, daring her to try something, "So, you want to keep this this up, or are you ready to talk like civillized ponies and such.?" I expected to hear her shouting insults my way, or the very least, an answer as to why her greastest weapon didn't work.

What I didn't expect, however, was for her to bow her head in an apologetic way and speak in a calm voice. "No, it's obvious that if you truly want to hurt, or even kill, then you would have done so, instead of simply knocking them unconscious." She raises her head to look me in the eye with an apologetic gaze. "If you can forgive me and my little ponies, we can talk peace."

Luna doesn't seem to think along the same lines. "Sister, are you mad?! We aren't seriously going to talk peace with an ally of Nightmare Moon, are we?! She'll bring eternal night when she has the chance!!" Nightmare cringes at the accusation with a crestfallen look. 'Big mistake, bitch!!'

"Insult Nightmare again, and I'll break off your horn, shove it up your ass, tear off your wings, ram them through your eyes, rip out your spine, and beat your sister and everyone else here to death with it so the last thing they see is your skull." I say with all the hate and venom I have, without raising my voice. They all pale to a pure white, but Nightmare seem to have....are those hearts in her eyes? I see Celestia glaring at Luna with a fire I haven't seen yet.

"Luna, I'm disappointed in you. Can't you see he isn't evil? Only those that are pure of heart and soul can break out of their stone prison that fast. And Nightmare Moon has changed, I see that now, and you can to if you just look at her. And besides, if the Elements of Harmony can't stop him, do you really think we can?" Luna looks at the ground in shame. Good, any who insults my Nightmare will get no kindness from me.

I look over the other ponies. The rainbow maned pegasus mare is glaring daggers at me, but I shoot my own death glare to make her back down, which she does. The orange mare is glaring at me as well, but she remembers the pain, because when I meet her gaze, she pales slightly. The pink mare looks like someone just stepped on her pet frog, as she seems to be on the verge of tears. The other three, however, hold my gaze longer than most. The alabaster unicorn mare, who looks like a posh mare with too much makeup on, has fainted on a plush couch that I have no idea as to where it came from. The lavender unicorn mare looks at me with a mix of amazement, fear, and a look that, for some reason, unnerved me like I was a lab rat on a metal slab and she had a scalpel. The butter cream pegasus mare, on the other hand, is what nearly gave me a heart attack. She was cowering behind the other five mares, hiding behind her bright pink mane, with tears in her eyes. The sight was so aborable, I nearly lost it and hugged her and called her Fluffy, (Don't judge me!!) but I barely held on to my reason.

I then saw that the soldiers were coming to, so I better make this quick. "Do you have a place for us to talk, or do you wish to talk here?"

She nodded her head to show her choice. "Yes, it would be better if we talked here. I feel that, in your territory, you would feel more calm than in an unfamiliar room. And I promise, until we have come to an agreement, we will not attack you, your timberwolf pack, or Nightmare Moon." She tells me with a warm smile.

'So that's what they're called. Bad pun, if you ask me.' I keep those thoughts to myself, as to not start another fight, I doubt I would win a round 2. "Very well, what do you want to start with? Why I'm helping Nightmare? What I am? Where I came from? Take your pick, I got more." I can see on the, now awake, soldiers, that the way I'm talking to Celestia is not cool with them, or to the 6 mares.

Celestia clears her throat as she begins. "Well, for starters, why are you helping Nightmare Moon?" I can see a little glint of mistrust in her eyes towards Nightmare, so I tell her the truth as to not hit a hornet's nest.

"I found her surrounded by manticores and was hurt from one of their claws. I gave the first one a warning and when it ignored my threat and charged Nightmare, I had no choice, but to kill it." A corus of shocked and horrified gasps sounded off around me. "After killing it, I made my to the rest of the manticores and-"

"You killed them didn't you?" I turned to see that the scared yellow pegasus, was bearing a killing intent on her face.

"No I-"

"You did, you killed them!!"

"No, you're not-"

"You're nothing, but a monster!!! You kill for the fun of-"

"I DIDN'T KILL THEM!!! I MADE THEM LEAVE ON THE PROMISE OF DEATH!!!!"

There was a deathly silence after that, the now silenced mare backing away slowly from me. "You think I like killing?! I abhor it!! I only kill because that's what I was forced to do before I came here!! It was either kill or watch my loved ones BE killed!! I've already lost my village, I wasn't about to lost my daughter as well!!" Another round of gasps sounds. I can see tears in everyone's eyes.

The same yellow mare speaks again, tears falling freely. "I...I...I'm sorry, I didn't know." Damn it, that face.

'HHHHHHNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

From my outburst, the soldiers start to attack from behind me. But before they can, or before Celestia can stop them, I snap towards them, showing only one glaring eye,and with my face covered in shadows, my eye looks like it's glowing in the darkness. "Try it and I'll forget the peace talks and kill you all where you stand." I say in a cold and even voice, sending shivers up their spines. They know not to fuck with me now.

I turn back to Celestia. "Anyway, before I was interrupted, I scared off the other manticores and brought Nightmare here to heal her and help her regain her magic. Which reminds me."

I turn to Nightmare and picked her up, bridal style, and placed her down on the soft grass, her blushing the entire time. I then pull the herbs and medicine out. I open the vials that hold the liquid meds and crush the herbs and pour them into them, four vials in total, and swirl them around till they turn from green to violet. The first two I use on her wounds directly, first on the claw mark, then on the stab wound. and the second two I hold for Nightmare herself. "They're going to taste horrible, but I need you to drink this. They will kill any poison or bacteria that got in too deep for the first meds." I say in a calm and gentle voice. Nightmare takes the medicine and downs them both in one go, resulting in a very grossed out look. Yet, as I see that, I can only think about how she looks just like Saphira when she takes her medicine. I then began to dress the wounds with the bandages from one of the pouches on my suit.

"Good girl. Now Celestia, any more questions? Or do you want to get to want you really want to say?" She doesn't even flinch, guess she's been through talks like this before.

"Very well, what I really want to ask is, will you help defend Equestria?"

"WHAT?!?!" Everyone bellows in shock, while I'm speachless. Then I had an idea. If she knows to fear me, then let's get some insurance. "Hmmmmm. IF I do, and that's a fairly big 'if', what do I get out it?" The slack jaw looks I got from everyone tells me they don't like that I'm making a deal.

Celestia, however, seems unfazed and doesn't miss a beat. "A home, for one, and I'll do every thing in my power to find a way back to your world in the mean time. You will also be paid for your services, as well as protection for when you sleep." I politely wait till she's finished till I make my counter-offer.

"A few things wrong with your offers." A loud gasp sounded off AGAIN, I'm begining to think that this is a new trend. "First, all I need for a home is that castle in the forest, just needs a few tweaks here and there. Second, I don't have a world, the world I was on was the war planet, Ares, name self explanatory, so that's a bust. Third, the pay is fine, but I don't need protection, the last idiot that thought that I could be taken out in my sleep, well, he ended up as a VERY big stain on the wall and ceiling." At this point, a few stallions and nearly all of the mares have lost the past 3 days worth of their lunch. "However, a few conditions must be said. First, I must have access to the best medicines if I'm to do this, have to keep my self patched up if I slip up. Second, if anyone wishes to see me, they must inform me ahead of time, I will not be responsible for what happens to those that I don't know are coming. Third, only a group of ten or less may see my at my home at a time, even if that castle is large, I don't feel comfortable with too many....ponies around me. Fourth, I handle any and all threats how I see fit. Fifth, and this is the real important one, Nightmare Moon will help me defend your land and will live with me."

I could tell I caught them off guard with that last one, if their ground breaking jaws are anything to go by. I don't even need to turn around to tell that Nightmare is grinning like a mad mare and if the sorching heat I feel at the back of my neck means anything, then she also has a blush that could rival a volcano. Celestia, damn her, seems to have expected this, as she doesn't even flinch. "If that's what you desire, then it shall be so." She may have a good poker face, but I see that smug bitch look as clear as spring water. "Now I believe we should introduce you and your new partner to Ponyville."

Waaaiiiiiit foooor iiiiiiiittttt. "WHAT?!?!?!?!" Called it. "Sister, have you forgotten that one of the 'new protectors' you're bringing is NIGHTMARE MOON?!" Yeah, I can tell already, that smug bitch has a plan already in place.

"Luna, don't you notice anything different about her? Like what she's wearing?" Luna and I both look at Nightmare and I don't see anything she could be wearing. Luna, however, does seem to think otherwise. "You see now? Everypony remembers her because of her armor, but without it..."

"Then we could just past her off as a lost relative." Luna finishes, but with a grimace. Guess she really hates her. Oh well, as long as she doesn't start insulting her again we're good. "Fine, but even if we do pull this off, what about her name, everypony knows her name and won't just forget it."

"I might be able to help with that." All faces turn to me. "What about Night Angel? Back on my home world, Night Angel was a guardian of the forest and the night who kept the innocent safe while they slept and plundged those who would hurt them into a living nightmare for five days as punishment." I can see the gears turn in Celestia's head. She looks up at me with a warm smile.

"That's perfect, and what about you? Is 'Shadow' all there is to your name, or is there more?" I think about telling her, wondering if I should give what The Legion called me or what my pack called me. The answer is clear as night.

"My pack gave me the name, Shadow Wolf, I guess that will do. However, I believe it would be best if we waited till Night is back at full strength. She needs rest if those wounds are giong to heal without scars." Night paled greatly at that. Celestia nods in understanding.

"I understand, and I also understand if you don't trust us yet, so it's to be expected." She still gives off that warm smile. I decided to mess with her plans a little bit.

"For the record, I DO trust you, it everyone ELSE I don't trust. However, let me give you a warning, any who hurts Night in anyway, whether through physical or mental or emotional, I will mutilate them and then send you their corpse as an example." I say in a calm and collected manner, all while smiling the entire time.

'HA!! Finally!! I got that smug look off her face!!" Celestia's face paled from a clean white, to a sick gray. Didn't think that was possible. Huh, you learn something new everyday.

I turn and picked up Night again, and before anyone can stop me, I blast towards the castle, to my-...our new home. Well, new to me, but old to her maybe. I don't know, I'm just going with 'new'.

I can feel the wind on my face, through my hair, what little there is, being short and lightly spiky doesn't give much to work with. Not that I would want to mind you, but Saphira would always want to do my hair in some style whenever I had my hair out long enough. Daughters *SIGH*, what are you gonna do, huh?

OST

As we finally reach our home, Night breaks the silence with a weird look and a expected question, never thought I'd see that combo. "Shadow, do you have a special somepony?" Okay, I take that back, was not expecting that one.

I look at her in the eye and with a straight face I answer. "No." Now she looks confused, why?

"But you said you had a daughter, doesn't that mean that...." She trails off to let her unfinished question take hold. And I still have a puzzled fa-

"Oh. OH. OH!! Oooohhh. Well, no I've never had a 'special somepony', I adopted Saphira when her parents were murdered at the age of four. I wasn't in time to save them, but at least I saved her" Night looked horrified, tears threating to escape their ocean blue prison.

"I....I....I can't believe....what kind of monster does that?!" I can see the rage at Saphira's plight, making me fall for her even more. I walk through the halls before finding a door with a cresent moon on it. I push it open to find a bedroom decorated to look like the night, but a few places seem faded with time. I set Night on the bed before debating to tell her what happened.

Then I think how stupid that is. If I'm going to keep her close to me, then I can't lie. "Well, to answer that, I would have to tell you what happened to me. It's only fair, I mean, you told me your story, so I'll tell you mine. I warn you, however, that my tale isn't as cut and dry as yours. There's much more pain than you can possibly imagine."

She looks me in the eye, and with a beautiful smile, tells me all I need to know. "No matter how painful, I'm here for you, like you for me."

I smile and give her a warm hug. I take a deep breath, as to calm myself. This is going to take a while. "Ok, it all started in my village on the planet Ferrix."

OST

"Ferrix is a jungle planet, with trees that reach the clouds, fruit that could feed a man for days, and animals that couldn't be found on any other planet. My village was one of the more primitive warrior clans, living as one with the surrounding jungle. We also had a close bond with the wolves that lived near us. They were not like any wolves you could think of, they were large, reaching 4 1/2ft on all fours, able to sense electric currents in living things, and had horns that looked like bull horns, but smaller. We called them Gigawolves."

"I was one of the hunters of the village, hunting for food and protecting the village when I wasn't hunting. Ever since I was a child, I was shunned because of who my father was. He was a tyrant, and no one was more happy when he died than me. But it seems that the sins of the father are carried by the son. At least they were kind enough to not exile me, instead, they made me a hunter. If I didn't do my part, they would have sent me to my death. The only ones who didn't hate me were a family who were friends with my mother, so I lived with them, as to keep the elders happy."

"I stayed with them until I was 20, till the day everything was ripped from me. The villagers may have hated me, but that village was still my home. I was out in the forest with a Gigawolf, hunting a large lion that we've been stalking for the better part of the day, when I heard the screams. I tore through the jungle, my Gigawolf friend right behind me, but when I got there, the village was in flames."

"I charged for home, hoping that my friends were alive. When I got to the center of the village, I saw the ones who caused the destuction. Men in white armor, carrying weapons that burned all in their path. I knew what the intruders were."

"Humans."

"I killed the ones that I came across as I rushed to get home. When I got there though, I was too late. There they were, lying in a pool of their own blood, with a group of humans over their bodies. I was consumed by rage, killing any and all that I saw. I wanted them all dead. My body was riddled with holes from their weapons, but I would not stop till they were rotting under the sun. A few villagers were able to fight back, but it was a losing battle. The enemy was more advanced than us, and they had more numbers."

"Finally, I was the only one left of the survivors, and I was still fighting. Then the one in charge ordered for my live capture. I was struck with darts that seemed to drain my strength, but I kept fighting and killing, until I collapsed from my wounds. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was the leader saying that they got what they came for."

OST

"When I awoke next, I was suspended in the air by restrants that held my arms and legs as far apart from each other as they would allow, stripped of any cloth or weapons, and surrounded by more humans. I saw my Gigawolf friend on a metal table, cut open like a bag, letting me know there was no hope for him. The humans wanted the strongest Feral they could find, which made me their prize."

"I don't know how long I was tortured with the experiments, a few days? A few weeks? A few years? All I know is that time didn't matter, I wasn't going anywhere. They were doing a project called 'New Gods', and I was to be their prototype. They tore everything apart and put it back together, with a few new enhancements. I was injected with many different serums, making me stronger, faster, tougher, and all around deadlier. Eventually, I became so powerful, that they had to make this armor, weaking me to a sliver of my true might, to be able to keep me under control."

"I was no longer a Feral, I was an abomination. They gave me the name 'Anubis', after a Jackle God of Death the humans worshipped. One day, more humans came, but these humans killed the others and freed me. The leader asked me to come with them if I wanted revenge. I didn't even have to think about it. I was taken to their headquarters. The leader's superiors told him to keep a eye on me incase I went on a killing spree, but as long as I had my armor, my mind was my own."

OST

"The human that I was stuck with, who called himself Zero, was really good to be around. He reminded me of the village warriors, with his high respect of honor. We became close, trusting each other with our lives, as we went on many missions together, sometimes going on missions that needed 20 soldiers, alone."

"Then my past caught up with me. The humans that tortured me were taking others as to recover from there lose of me. We would often get tip offs of coming raids, but we were always too late. One day I heard from an enemy soldier that a raid was about to begin. I took Zero's ship and tore through space to get to the planet in question in time. However, when I got there, the attack was already well underway. I searched the city where the raid was centered on to find any sign of life. That's when I heard the screaming."

"I bolted down the road to find 12 humans killing two humans, one male and one female, and then saw them dragging a youngling female human by her neck, her kicking and screaming the whole time. I snapped, killed them before they know what hit them, and turned to the child. She couldn't be any older than 4 or 5, yet she held a knife at me, thinking I was one of them, and called me a monster."

"I told her I was a monster, but a good monster. It took some convincing, but I got her to calm down enough for her to start bawling into my chest. I took her from the grizzly scene, but not before burying her parents. I made my way to the ship, but was stopped by more enemy humans. I fought them off for what felt like days, which it very well might have been. I feed the girl as often as I could, ignoring my own needs to keep her alive. Then finally, after what felt like a life time, Zero and the humans under his comand arrived and pushed the enemy off the planet."

OST

"He was about yell my ear off before he saw the child in my arms, holding me for dear life. I told him what happened and to say he was upset would be an understatement. I've never seen him so angry before. He ordered a blockade to protect the planet, as least till we took care of the enemy. He was about to have her put in an orphanage, but I asked that she stay with me. He was shocked that I made any request, but to make one like that might of shocked him even more."

"Then he just smiled and said that even if the end of life came, I would have her in my care. I true to his word, in a few days I was the new father of a four year old girl. I decided to give her a new name. I looked at her eyes and the name Saphira came to me, so that's what I named her. We've been close ever since and to this day she calls me 'Daddy'."

I wipe away the few tears that crawled out from their cage, but one look at Night told a different struggle. Her eyes were nearly drowned in her tears, her body shivering, and her jaw not working right. Then, out of nowhere, she lunges at me, taking me down to the ground from the unexpected reaction, and hugs me while she cries into my neck. The only thing I could think of in that situation was to caress her neck while she cried, telling her it was okay. After what felt like hours, but in reality only a few minutes, she calms down and lifts her head till it's over my face, tears still flowing. "I'm so sorry. For your loss. For your pain. For everything. If I could take the pain and hurt away, I would make it so you'd only feel happiness."

My heart soars at her words. I've had many females of many different species coming after me for my love and attention, but none of them made me feel like this. I then say the only thing on my mind. "My love." I immediately slam my hand over my mouth, but the damage is done. Night has the most shocked look I've ever seen. I turn my head in shame, trying to advoid her gaze.

'HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?!?! SHE PROBABLY DOESN'T FEEL THE SAME WAY, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!!! NOW SHE'LL PROBABLY WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!!!! FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel a hoof on my cheek, forcing my head to look forward, but not my eyes. "Shadow." She speaks in her sweet voice, but I don't look, I'm too ashamed to look at her. I feel the same hoof move my hand from my mouth. "Shadow." She says with a bit more force in it. I still can't bring myself to look at her. I then feel Night shaking, from what I'm not to sure. "SHADOW!!"

That got my attention. I jerk my eye to so fast, I'm surprised they didn't fly out of their sockets. But when I look in her direction, I feel something slam into my face. It takes me six seconds to realise that Night is kissing me and already has her tongue around mine, which I find that she has a forked tongue. At first, I'm confused, but all too soon, I realise that, I DON'T CARE!!! I then return the kiss with fervor, as I force her tongue back into her mouth and start my adventure in her moist serpents cave. As I take in the feeling of bliss, I discover she tastes like freshly picked grapes, a taste I gladly drown in.

Soon I had enough of her taste and let her in my own dripping maw. She doesn't waste any time, running her tongue over every inch of my mouth, us both shivering in ecstasy. I feel her tongue reach down my throat, but strangely, I don't gag or recoil. Instead, I respond by grabbing her sides and flip her over so I'm on top, still not breaking the kiss. I have never felt this kind of happiness in all my life.

We finally break away from each other to catch our breath, staring into each others eyes. "I feel the same way, is what I was trying to tell you, but I think you figured that out by now. Nopony has ever treated me like you have, so kind, caring, protective, loving. And you're are quite the sexy stallion, if I may be so bold." If I wasn't red from what we just did, I certainly was after that!! I couldn't help, but smile the same dumbass grin Rex always has. I was in heaven, there could be no other way I could get a beautiful lover like this. But another kiss by Night killed that notion, reminding me that I was very much alive. "You know, if we're real careful, I bet we could have some more fun." DAMN YOU SPIRITS!! WHY DO HAVE TO TEASE ME LIKE THIS?!?!

"I want nothing more than to ravage you till you can't feel anything for hours." I see her shiver with delight and a gleam in eye. "But with those wounds, we'll have to wait till you're fully healed before we do anything too physical." She pouts in a way that nearly makes me go against what I just said. One things for certain, she knows how to play me. But with a smirk, I resume kissing her, neither of us wanting anything else.

Author's Note

Hey everypony, chap. three is out and now you have a bit of background on Shadow.

I know somepony won't like how fast I put them together, but there has been stories with quicker romances and I think I did a pretty bucking good job in that regard.

Now you see why he doesn't like humans romantically.