It was a beautiful day on the Apple Farm, courtesy of Rainbow Dash. Granny Smith was off to visit relatives at Appleloosa Acres, and Pinky Pie was taking full advantage of the Apple's huge barn to host Spike's tenth birthday party, complete with the most 'funerrific' games she could think of. Spike and Big Mac had already won the six-legged race. This was partially due to the fact that Spike rode on Big Mac's back when he thought no one was looking. Rainbow Dash tried to call them on it, but Apple Jack shoved a specially large apple in her mouth, and by the time she swallowed enough to be heard, the prize was already awarded.
But as everypony lined up for 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey,' it began to grow dark. It looked almost like night was falling outside, but that couldn't be. It was only just after midday.
"Rainbow!" Rarity complained.
"What? I didn't do anything!" the pegasus said, flattening her ears to the back of her head.
"I thought you said it was going to be clear all day," Twilight reminded her.
"Hey, yeah, it was supposed to be," Rainbow said, trotting over to the door. She peered outside, and an expression of surprise registered on her face. "Well, maybe you should talk to Princess Luna about that, Twilight. Pretty sure I'm not the one who ordered an eclipse!"
Dumbstruck, Twilight joined her at the door and gazed upward. Sure enough,the sun was almost completely shadowed. "What? But the next eclipse isn't due for another ten months!"
"Spike, darling," Rarity said, "would you be so kind as to light a fire? At least we can still tell stories and eat roasted apples."
Spike immediately grabbed a log and set it aflame with one breath.
"Wow!" Pinkie Pie marveled as the flame turned from emerald to yellow. "Your firebreath has gotten a lot stronger, Spike!"
"Thanks," he said proudly, "Dragons develop faster than ponies, you know. It's only to be expected I'll get stronger really fast."
"Then why are you so small?" Pinkie said, "Unless... it's because you're a dwarf!" The pink pony's mane stood practically on end as she took in a huge gasp of air. "That's it, isn't it?! Twilight, why didn't you ever tell us Spike's a dwarf dragon?!"
"Dragons never stop growing, kind of like our manes," Twilight said. "And Spike isn't a dwarf. He's just still really young. I mean, he's only just reaching adolescence now. It could be some time before he hits a growth spurt."
"Aww..." Pinkie Pie plopped in front of the fire, shooting Spike a look of pure disappointment.
The other ponies gathered around the fire too, and started telling stories. Rainbow Dash told a scary tale, but as Fluttershy and Scootaloo looked on the brink of tears before the end of it, everypony else decided that was enough ghost stories for one day. But as Rarity began her story, Scootaloo interrupted, her voice several octaves higher than usual.
"Is it just me, or did our shadows just move?"
"Oh, brother, Scoots, its just a trick of the flames." said Rainbow Dash, sounding bored. "There's nothing to be scared of. Besides, would I let anypony hurt my friends, even if that pony turned out to be a ghost?"
Scootaloo kept staring at the shadows, though, and a moment later, her eyes grew very round. She suddenly let out a yell, and dove underneath Big Mac. "Whoa!" Big Mac cried, jumping to his feet.
"That's enough scary pranks," Twilight said severely, "Scootaloo, can't you see you're scaring Fluttershy?"
"It's not a prank!" screamed Scootaloo.
They all turned to look where the little pony had been staring. Their shadows had indeed warped, jumping off the ground as though they'd become 3-dimensional images of their owners. Without hesitation, Big Mac pawed the ground and charged at the shadow creatures, plowing over the four small ones, destroying them instantly.
The remaining seven pounced on Big Mac, biting and kicking him. He bucked them all off in one move, and then fell to his back, bloody and bruised. Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all ran in, Rainbow plowing into her shadow head-on. It lightened slightly, but did not fade. Apple Jack leaped on her shadow too, and got a hoof in the face for it.
Spike went after the largest shadow, Big Mac's, diving underneath its torso and latching onto its stomach. His teeth and claws ripped through the shadow, slowly turning it lighter and lighter. The shadow thrashed, rolled, and bucked, but nothing could get the small dragon off. Soon the shadow faded to nothing, and Spike fell to the ground.
As he looked around, he saw the two Rainbows chasing one another in a deadly game of tag. The Apple Jacks faced one another as well, biting and kicking, neither trying to dodge the incoming strikes. Fluttershy and Twilight tended Big Mac while the Crusaders held him down.
Pinkie Pie still stood beside the wavering fire, staring at her destroyed party, the destruction reflected in her huge eyes. Suddenly, her pink mane turned a bloody red and her face darkened.
"NO PONY - BUT NO PONY - HURTS MY FRIENDS! AND ESPECIALLY NOT AT A PINKIE PARTY!" she shrieked. Out of what seemed like nowhere, she grabbed a medieval flail, and a moment later she was gone, leaving only a dust cloud behind. She reappeared next to Spike just seconds later, huffing and puffing. A moment later there was a heavy THUD, CRACK, DONG, POW, and nearly all the remaining shadows disappeared.
By this time, Rainbow had her shade face-down in the dirt. It was quickly fading, and when she stomped on its head, it finally disappeared. Apple Jack, on the other hoof, was not having the best of luck. Her shadow had her by the neck, quickly tightening its grip. Apple Jack tried to scream, but couldn't, and her face was turning blue.
Spike leaped onto the shadow's back, leaned forwards, and grasped its mouth. With anger fueling him, he ripped the shade's jaw off Apple Jack. The earth pony slumped to the floor unconscious, while Spike rode the shadow rodeo-style.
As he saw his sister faint, Big Mac lost it. He threw off the Cutie Mark Crusaders, dashed to the shadow, and grabbed its head. He tucked it against his body, and with a sickening ripping and creaking sound, he tore it clean off. It dwindled, and for a moment all was silent.
"Twilight!" Mac yelled, "What in tarnation is goin' on?"
"I... I've read a book before that mentioned a spell that can bring shadows to life," Twilight said breathlessly. "I don't know if the same magic was used for this, but... let me think." She paused, and everyone just watched her. Finally, she muttered, "'The skies grow dark, and a sight of a flame you'll see; shadows strike till all are dead'. . . and..." Twilight pawed the ground once in frustration. "And that's all I remember. I'm sorry. It's dark magic, not my area of study."
"Do you think there are more shadows out there?" squeaked Sweetie Belle.
"It's bound to have happened everywhere else in Ponyville too," Rainbow said darkly.
"Everypony inside the house!" demanded Mac, to which no one disobeyed. As everyone else galloped from the barn to the Apples' house, Mac cantered over to where Twilight tended Apple Jack.
"She's breathing okay, and the injuries aren't deep," Twilight said. "She'll be sore, but she'll be all right."
Big Mac scowled. "Your brother can cast a shield. Can you?"
"I can, but mine only lasts about twenty minutes. Less, when anyone tries to break it."
"Put it up. We'll barricade the house and stay on the second floor. Hopefully we can outlast this."
Twilight nodded. Big Mac threw Apple Jack's motionless form onto his back, and together he and Twilight headed into the Apple house. Twilight locked the door, and then carefully lit her horn. It shone for a moment with soft violet light, and then a beam shot directly upward from it, forming a violet dome spanning out thirty meters around the house.
For the next few minutes, the ponies scrambled to barricade the doors and secure the windows. Outside, the sky had grown so dark, no pony could see whether the shadows were harmless or hostile. After seven minutes, Big Mac paused in the living room. "Eyup. most of the house is secure. Now for the main door. We should have another ten or more minutes until the shield fails."
Just as he spoke, however, Twilight let out a cry, and the violet light faded from her horn. "They broke the shield!" she screamed.
"Big Mac said you could hold it for twenty minutes!" yelled Rainbow Dash.
"I said less if ponies tried to break it!" she snapped.
"Just keep working," Big Mac said. "I'll hold 'em off." And he whirled around, galloping for the door.
"But darling, you'll be killed!" Rarity cried as she tried to follow.
Big Mac didn't pause. "Eyup," he said grimly, and then swung the door backward, hitting Rarity right in the face. She fell backward onto the floor, clutching her face, staring at the door in horror.
Big Mac stood outside the door, gazing down the road, knowing that he had to buy time for the others to have a chance. He could hear hammers pounding away inside the house and felt a stab of fear. There was no going back now.
Then he saw them: a small army of darkness marching toward him. Their figures began to take shape, and he counted. There were thirty in all. And he had been unable to defend against ten. All he could really hope for was to gain enough time for the girls to survive the attack.
Mac charged the first shadow, slamming into it with the power of a truck. The shadow disappeared. As fast as he could, he rolled out of the way as two of them tried to get a quick hit in.
Mac turned and ran. As he galloped as fast as he could, he heard his father's words echoing in his memory: 'If a herd of ponies gangs up on you, son, don't stand and try and fight 'em all. Run. Some'll catch up faster'n others, and you can fight 'em one-on-one until none are left standing.'
Mac looked back to see only five chasing him. The other twenty-four had surged toward the house. Mac stopped just inches before the fastest shade and, bracing himself, he delivered a brutal buck to the face. The shade dropped and faded away. As he turned to face his four remaining pursuers, another jumped at him. This one was a filly, not much bigger than Apple Bloom. With a swift swat of his fore-hoof, the shadow disintegrated.
He heard a heavy BOOM, and realized the shadows were slamming the front door. It couldn't last long against them; it had been damaged in the last wind storm and he'd never quite gotten around to fixing it. Without another thought, Mac sprinted towards the large group, the last three shades following close at his hooves.
Inside the house, Apple Jack finally awoke in her own bed. "That was one doozy of a nightmare," she muttered.
"A.J.! About time you got up!" Rainbow yelled.
Apple Jack sat up quickly. All around her, ponies were running around, barricading exits, while Twilight stood in the middle of the room, eyes closed, mouth moving soundlessly.
"Holy smokes!" Apple Jack leapt off the bed, and groaned at the pain in the throat. "That was real?!"
"Real? 'Course it was real!" Rainbow said, not even looking her way. "Now hurry up and help barricade the door to the stairs!"
Spike and Pinkie Pie were at Apple Jack's bedroom window, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all piling furniture against the door to the lower floor. And Big Mac was . . . well, where was he?
"Where's Mac?" Apple Jack asked.
She didn't get an answer, but Spike nodded to the window, a grim expression on his face. As Apple Jack got close, she could see Spike shooting fireball after fireball out the window, as Pinkie grabbed whatever she could out of her mane to throw down. "We got three of them so far, Apple Jack!" Pinkie Pie cried.
"That's good. But where's my brother?"
"Umm..." She paused, her ears drooping slightly.
"Pinkie?" Apple Jack said.
"He's out there," she said finally, tilting her head toward the window.
Apple Jack gasped, and pushed Pinkie out of the way to look. Big Mac was out there, all right. He faced off against a huge mass of shadows, pawed the ground once, and then plunged head-first into the horde of darkness. Apple Jack screamed his name and moved to jump out of the window. Pinkie Pie and Spike stopped her, grabbing her tail. Rainbow flew over and grabbed on too, as Apple Jack nearly pulled them all down to their deaths. "Mac!" Apple Jack screamed as she watched Big Mac disappear in the swarm.
Mac had reached the group going full speed, and plowed into it so hard, three more shadows vanished before he tripped. The horde backed away from the intruder for just a moment, then attacked as a unit. Fighting with all his might, Big Mac got back to his hooves and bucked another shade before falling.
"Mac!"
With the last of his strength Big Mac looked up at the window, where Apple Jack stood, trying to get to him, held back by her friends. Big Mac felt a surge of regret that he hadn't killed more shadows. Had he made any difference? He could only hope it was enough.
Inside the house, a bright light bathed the room in purple once more, making everyone except Apple Jack turn on the spot. They saw Twilight's horn blazing with magic, but the glow quickly vanished.
Rainbow flew over to her. "What was that, Twilight?"
"I..." The unicorn's head bowed. "I had to try something, so I tried to summon some help. But it must have failed." Her face was pinched and exhausted, they could all see she needed rest. Their hope began to fail.
Suddenly, Spike shouted, "Look!" and pointed outside. Everyone stared, amazed, as a sphere of light hovered ten feet above the ground, yards from the horde of shadows. It stayed like that for only an instant, and then popped like one of Pinkie's balloons. A strange-looking unicorn fell from the orb, a stallion, about a head taller than Big Mac and strangely dressed.
His back was green, his underside sky blue, and his brown mane looked as though it had never been cut before. The pony had white eyes and the strangest metal rod "armor" any of them had ever seen. This "armor" did not cover much; a strip on both sides from shoulder to rump, and a strip down the outside of his legs. Just behind the shoulders, a long curved sword jutted out, and a strip ran from either side of his nose, over his head, connecting at his horn as a blade. He also had on a backpack, not a saddle bag like they were used to.
The unicorn landed hooves-first on the ground just outside the group of shadows. He did a fast scan of his surroundings, and then smirked at the monsters. The group of shadows took a second to size up the newcomer before five charged him, and the others returned to smashing the door open. The new stallion dodged to the left at the last second, and his sword on the right contorted itself to decapitate the closest shade.
The other four enemies gave the newcomer some space as they circled him. Clearly not wanting to give them the first move again, the stallion pounced on the creature in front. His swords moved, entering the surprised shadow as they came together.
The others quickly came at him, three on one. As he leapt, he rolled forward and spun back up, slicing two of the shadows in half. As he was about to lash out at the final monster, green flames engulfed it. The stallion looked up at the house, and saw a small, smiling dragon in the second story window, three mares flanking him.
CRASH! The door fell in as the shadows flooded the house looking for the entrance to the second floor.
Bringing his two swords straight in front of him, the stallion rushed forward, skewering any shadow that was unfortunate enough to be in his way. Upstairs, the ponies were busy holding the landing door shut. Every few seconds, a large force hit the door, winding them.
"We can't keep this up much longer!" cried Spike. The door creaked. It cracked. And abruptly, the door shattered.
A shade was at Fluttershy in an instant. It leaped forward to bite her neck, and she let out a soft cry, shielding her neck with her forelegs. Before the shadow could land, however, a blade shot through its head, stopping only a millimeter from Fluttershy's face. The shadow disappeared, leaving everyone to stare at the strange stallion.
It was the last shadow. The darkness outside lifted, and weak sunlight streamed through the window. No bodies remained as tribute to the ponies' fight. The newcomer looked around the room for a moment, and said something no one could understand.
Everypony looked at each other, confused. "Did anypony catch that?" Rainbow Dash said.
The stallion looked a bit frustrated, and spoke again. Once again, no one understood.
"Sounds like gibberish to me," Apple Jack told Rainbow. "Reckon he's foreign?"
"Well, it sure sounds like a different language," Twilight said finally, "but not one I've ever heard."
The mares began to breathe a sigh of relief as the sunlight strengthened, bathing them all in warmth. But then, the newcomer narrowed his eyes, and placed the blade of his sword at Fluttershy's throat.