Shades

by TheExhaustedBrony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 1031

The secrets of the shadow sprites is revealed.

Shadow sprites. They're known to exist in Equestria, it has been confirmed. However, they despise outsiders with such a passion that not much is known about them beyond that. Nopony knows how they work, why they're such social recluses, as well as what their purpose is.

Twilight Sparkle had made ground-breaking discoveries about these creatures, her notes were found in her journal on the floor of the lab beneath the Golden Oaks library.

Thank you, Flint Sparks, for pre-reading this creepy tale!

Written for the 31shotober challenge!

Published 2013-10-12 01:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-12 01:00:02 UTC

Pflakil

"What a fascinating creature." Twilight tilted her head, curiously observing the small dark creature that stood before her, "What are you doing all the way out here in Ponyville? Isn't your place in the Everfree forest?"

The creature stood unwavering on two legs. It was small, black, creature that seemed to constantly emit a dark fog from somewhere on its body. It's eyes were white as snow and had no pupils. Based on what she's read in books on creatures of Equestria, what she's looking at, the creature in her very home, was a shadow sprite. Elusive creatures that have been confirmed to exist in the Everfree forest, but that's all that is known, so far. The last confirmed shadow sprite sighting was over one thousand years ago. Nothing is known about them other than that they do exist.

"It's okay. I know that you must be confused beyond all belief," Twilight stepped away from the creature to show that she meant no threat. Twilight brought her hoof up to her chest, "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm a unicorn and a resident of Ponyville. Can you speak? I'd like you to answer some questions. I'd very much like to know about you."

The creature cocked it's head, squinting it's empty white, eyes, "Yesssssss... we can sssspeak..." The creature's voice was almost a ghost-like whisper.

Twilight was shocked to hear the voice in her head and not her ears. It was soft, but still audible.

"D-do you communicate telepathically? Is that your primary means of communication?"

"Yessssss..."

"This is incredible! I've got to get my journal!" Twilight reached for her journal and a pen with her magic and held it in front of her, ready to document this interaction.

"You... are... a pony..." The creature whispered.

"Yes I am. You are a shadow sprite, correct?"

"That isss... a name that... you have given to ussss..."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, puzzled by the piece of information she had just heard, "Are you not called shadow sprites then?"

"We... are... Pflakil..." The creature's words almost gave Twilight a headache. She had never heard those sounds in the form of a stand alone word.

Twilight adjusted her stance and leaned forward, "The what? I'm sorry, but I do not understand."

"In your... language... it means... the hidden..."

Twilight's eyes almost glittered with joy of this new found knowledge. Her mouth formed a smile that stretched across her face. She had successfully made contact with the infamously elusive shadow sprites, or, the Pflakil.

"So you have your own language?" Twilight inquired.

"Yessss..."

Twilight rolled her eyes, a little annoyed that her question wasn't as clear as she had hoped, "How do you know how to communicate with me then? A pony? How are you able to learn an entire language so quickly? Did you already know the language? Or did you read my mind and-"

"We do... know many things... we have... known many things..."

This was getting more and more interesting and Twilight was so excited, she could hardly sit still, "How long have you been in Equestria?" She asked, turning the page in her journal.

"We have existed... sssince the first shadow wassss... cast by... the newborn sssun..."

Twilight quickly began jotting down notes. She had to make sure she recorded every detail of this conversation. Every movement, every pause, every breath must be documented accurately. This was history in the making. Never before has anyone established contact with these creatures. Twilight imagined in her head, her very own section in the royal Canterlot archives, right next to the shelves containing works by Starswirl the Bearded. She felt a sudden chill that snapped her out of her fantasy and back to the present task at hand.

"What is your name?"

The black fog seemed to pour out of the creature endlessly. Creating swirling clouds of shadow as it spilled onto the floor, "we... do not have... an identity..."

Twilight took another note, her pen softly scratched the paper as she muttered the words to herself. She was just about to dot the period when she felt a sudden chill around her hooves and she looked down and noticed the fog slowly creeping up on her causing her to jump.

"We... exist to... collect... knowledge of... all thingsss..." The fog began to fill up the entire room, "we... serve the Hashinkataal..."

The fog chilled Twilight's body as it slowly began to envelope her, "what is that?"

"we... know... everything... the Hashinkataal knows everything..."

Twilight took a breath and the fog poured into her lungs. It painfully chilled her throat and made it difficult to breathe. Something about this fog was unnatural. this is not the same as the fog made of condensed moisture. It's something different.

"What is your purpose? *cough!* what is- *wheeze* -the Hashinkataal?" Twilight could hardly manage to pronounce the foreign word along with the fog filling up her lungs. It hurt to breathe. Every desperate gasp for air she made, sent the pain of thousands of needles into her throat.

"We... collect... we sssave... we hide... we protect... we destroy... the Hashinkataal..."

"What- *hack* -do you mean?" Twilight dropped her journal and formed a bubble around her with magic. She flushed the remaining fog out of her space and took a deep breath of fresh air. Twilight's eyes burned from the fog that she coughed out of her lungs. She could hardly see anything outside of the barrier because of the fog.

Twilight's eye noticed a figure moving in the fog. The vapor in the air swirled around it as it moved. It was approaching the barrier and soon came into view. It was the sprite, the Pflakil.

"The Hashinkataal... will... bring about... the end..."

Twilight suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head. It was as if a knife was making slashes all over her brain. She doubled over, wrapping her hooves around her head, slowly losing consciousness. The last thing Twilight heard before fading into the darkness was the ghostly voice of the Pflakil that she had met.

"Pflakil... syixtaer... Hashinkataal... Alkvaixel... Rlkekit... Phsmunti... Akd... Nhivetal..."

"The hidden... Provide... The Hashinkataal... For eternity... Darkness... Death... Silence..."