A shield's shadow

Chapter 2

An awakening

By: Shadowpainter

“DAMIAN!” I shot awake. Searching, I saw something that scared me. The walls were covered in withering shadows. Twilight was pinned to the wall. The shadows covered her from her lower body to her upper body, and were climbing higher. With a massive surge of will, I called the shadows back into me. Twilight fell to the floor panting. “I couldn’t get out... my magic was useless.” She mumbled.

“I should have known there would be a reaction to the dreams. Fuck me!” I yelled. I stood up and checked on Twilight, to see if she was fine. Reassured that she was, I slammed a fist into the wall, causing a small burst of shadow. “Gods damn me. Why can’t I control it?” I said in self-loathing.

“Why did that happen? I have heard of loss of control in sleep, but nothing like that.” Twilight questioned. I wanted to avoid the question, but knew that I would have to answer eventually. I sat in front of Twilight, bowing my head. Bringing the memory to the surface made a tear fall.

“I dreamed, Twilight. Well, more like I had a nightmare. You should know that I no longer have any family. I never knew my dad, he walked when I was born. My mom tried to provide for me and my older brother. We grew up rough, but we survived. When I finished high school I couldn’t leave my mom, so I stayed with her. I went to the local college and got a degree in history. My mom had been a teacher and I wanted to follow in her footsteps.” I started to explain.

“When I turned 24 my life hit the fan. My brother died in a car accident. The other driver was drunk. My mom grieved for months. Finally, she got back to work and we started to move on. A year passed like this, until They came. A group of home robbers kicked in our door. I tried to fight back, but was knocked unconscious. When I came to, I was in a hospital. A cop told me that my mother had been killed and the bastards got away, too. After that, I’ve been wandering and doing odd jobs to stay alive. Never wanting to face my past.” I finished, tears falling freely now. Looking up, I saw that Twilight was crying as well.

She rushed in for a hug. “I’m so sorry. Nobody should have to deal with that.” She whispered in my ear. Standing up she wiped her tears away. “I’m going to Applejack’s farm today to meet with my friends. Would you like to join us?”

!$!$!$!

“Why is it so far to this farm of hers?” I said stopping for another break. We had been walking for 15 minutes, and we still weren’t there.

“It’s just a little bit farther, see there’s the gate.” She called out already farther ahead. It was good to say I had a friend after so long without one. We had talked for a bit after my dream. She had told me of the world and her life. How her parents, Night Light and Velvet Sparkle, Pushed her to do her best. How she made it into Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns and became her prized pupil. Apparently she was the element of magic in the elements of harmony. She discovered them when she was fighting Nightmare Moon.

Don’t get me wrong, night time is awesome, but eternal night would fuck a planet up. I was a little eager to meet her friends. If Twilight and I could be friends, why couldn’t I be friends with her friends? We arrived shortly after her life story, much to my enjoyment. Her friends were seated around a red and white checkerboard blanket. A basket sat in the middle. Apple products were strewn around on various plates. Twilight announced our arrival, and as we sat down I was immediately bombarded with questions, none of which I was prepared for.

“What do you eat at your home?” This one from Applejack.

“Why do you wear clothes?” This from Rarity.

“It must suck not being able to fly.” That was more of a statement from Rainbow.

“Whatkindofpartiesdoyouhave?aretheycool?orfun?orridiculous?” I’m not even going to try to decipher that… that nonsense from Pinky Pie.

“Um… if you don’t mind. What animals are in your world?” Fluttershy asked me, her voice barely audible.

I started to answer their questions in order, one by one. “I eat all kinds of things, I wear clothing out of habit really, we actually can fly, but not without the aid of technology. I’m not even going to try to answer you Pinky Pie until I can tell what you are saying. And we have all sorts of animals on Earth.” I finished their questions, electing a satisfied expression from all of them except Pinky Pie, who was slightly disappointed, but not deterred.

“What kind of parties do you have? Are they cool? Or fun? Or ridiculous?”

“Much better, I can finally understand you. Although that is a very difficult question because the variety of parties on Earth. We have parties for literally everything, some of them are cool, and fun, and ridiculous, and others are none of them.” With this, Pinky also seemed satisfied.

Just as I finished answering the questions, something slammed into the ground behind us. Turning quickly, I found a lance point under my chin. Hooked to the lance, was a pony covered in golden armor. I immediately lashed out, knocked the lance away with a flick of my hand, stood, and jumped back. Calling to my sword, it rushed into my hand. More armored ponies started dropping from the sky and surrounded me.

“Oh, if it’s a fight you want, come and get me!” I yelled. Bringing my sword into a guard stance I waited for their attack.

“No stop, He’s a friend!” Twilight yelled but neither I, nor the other ponies acknowledged her. The soldiers rushed forward with their lances. I dodged most of them but took a nasty hit to the side. I sprinted towards the pony in front of me. He lunged, only for me to sidestep and cut his lance in half. I then, with a half spin, dove into his shadow. Appearing in the tree above them. The soldiers looked around in confusion.

Suddenly a new pony landed, she was much larger than normal, with a blinding white coat, and a rainbow like main and tail that floated in a nonexistent breeze. With a start, I realized she had both wings and a horn.

“Where did he go? Twilight are you alright?” She questioned. Twilight ran up and hugged her. This must be Celestia I realized with a start.

“Why did the gaurs attack him, he’s a friend.” Twilight asked almost in tears. “Now you’ve scared him away. He’s gone through so much he doesn’t need this!” She said in an almost yell. She must not want to yell at her mentor and princess.

“Twilight I’ve known two people who can control shadows. Those were Shade and Sombra. One did great good, and the other great evil. I cannot take a 50% chance with the safety of my country. With that I smiled and stepped back into the shadows.

Rising from her own shadow I put an arm over her back and said. “Then we now have problem. Shade allows me to control shadows.” She started visibly and I was once again surrounded by spears. “Oh, come on.” I sank down reappearing back in the tree. “Up here.” I called.

“Come down, we won’t hurt you. If what you say is true then you mean no harm to my little ponies.” Celestia said looking at me with her magenta eyes. I went to swing down only for pain to rush up my side. I toppled out of the tree, blood visible through the gash in my clothes.

“That may be a little late to promise, princess.” I grunted. Attempting to stand a wave of pain and dizziness hit me and I fell beck. Twilight rushed over supporting me with her back. Celestia shot a disapproving look to her guards.

“Let us get you to Pony Ville General. We’ll talk more there.” She lifted me with magic, carrying me towards the hospital. I allowed the darkness to take me, causing the pain to end for a time.