Rising Shadows

The dark chuckle was terrifying, it reminded Twilight of discord, only more... evil. The creature that stood before her was nothing like the human that had taken over Ponyville, Ice began to form around him as if all the warmth was sucked away. she had made a huge mistake.

Twilight quickly raised a a purple barrier as the shadow was mere seconds away from her. The impact pushed her back a few feet and the barrier began to flash.

The other ponies in the room took aim and threw their spears at the human only for them to be swatted away by the shadows. A second attack from the toothed shadow lunged at Twilight and collided with the shield again, it couldn't sustain another hit.

It came at her again, the shield failed and she closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable. After a few moments of silence she opened an eye and found the large shadow only inches from her neck, mouth open and teeth bared.

Her eyes went went wide at the sight, was it toying with her? She thought, she tried backing away from the shadow but was locked in place due to fear. She looked over at James, strain evident on his face.

“Hello! Anyone there?!” James shouted as he looked at the white world around him. There was no sky, ground, trees. There was only white.

“Anyone there?!” He calls out again as a confused look adorned his face.

“OK lets think last thing that happened was me getting zapped by that unicorn.” He looked around at the unending darkness and sighed. “Yep must be dead.” He sighed again as he shut his eyes.

A loud hissing noise sounded from behind him. James quickly turned and froze on the spot with what he saw. A large creature that seemed to be made entirely out of shadows that flowed like black water. The shadow creature stood at about ten foot tall, it had a massive jaw with white serrated teeth that jutted out from the gum, Dozens of shadowy limbs poked out from the body each with a long white talon.

He slowly backed away “Hello...em...nice thing” The creature growled and slithered forward. James reached for the gun in his pocket and found it empty.

'Where’s a gun when you need one' The moment he finished that thought an ak47 appeared in his hand with a bright flash. “That'll do.”

He squeezed the trigger and unloaded the gun into the creature. It screeched in pain as it turned and fled away from the gunman.

“Well that solves that problem.” James said rather cheerfully.

“Far from the contrary.” A small feminine sounding voice said.

James spun looking for the source of the voice only to find nothing, expect from the fleeing shadow in the distance.

“Do not be afraid little one I am here to help.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Luna, guardian of the night.”

“What do you want?” James called out, standing in a ready position with the gun at his shoulder.

“I am here to help. That creature you attacked was no mere bad dream, it is a creature of untold evil that has somehow made it into your dreams and the only way that you will get out of here is if you defeat it.”

“And how do I do that?” He asked not entirely convinced, after all when do you listen to some random voice that you cant see.

“This is YOUR dream after all, I think it should be quite obvious now with that weapon in your hands. We will meet each other soon human, and I wish you luck.”

“No wait!” The voice was gone. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?” He sighed as he watched the creature gain distance with every passing moment.

He stared down at the gun in his hands. 'lets think. All I did was THINK about wanting a gun, OK lets think of a... Bazooka?'

The gun in his hand disappeared in a bright flash only to be replaced with an old fashioned world war two bazooka.

“Fuck yes!” He shouted, just like a child opening a new present on Christmas day. “Now” He said looking towards the fleeing monster. “How do I catch up with you?”

The creature was running at full pelt. It slithered on the ground like a snake whilst using its talons and long arms to propel it forward at break neck speeds. It was gaining distance on James every second. It was gaining distance.

A large explosion went of meters away from the creature, it stopped dead in its tracks and turned to face the new threat.

A large black object could bee seen in the distance. There was a bright flash as the scorpion main battle tank came into view.

“Meet Sheila bitch!” James cried as he slammed down on the accelerator before firing another round at the creature. The round impacted its chest as it went sprawling to the ground, shrieking in pain.

James fired round after round at the creature before it stopped moving. He manoeuvred the scorpion within a few meters of it then hammered the gas. A satisfying squishing noise could be heard as the tracks crushed into the shadowy mass.

“Well that was easy.” He just had to say it.

A large white talon pierced the front of the tank just meter away from the cockpit. “I had to fucking say it!” James hammered at the cockpit waiting for it to open. The moment it did he jumped out of the tank and made as much distance between him and the tanks as possible.

“FUCK!” he screamed as the tank was ripped to pieces by the slicing talons. “OK what now?” he thought for a second as the the creature began to stand at its full height again. “Minigun!” There was a bright flash as a mini gun on a stand appeared out of no where.

“Fucking die!” He yelled as he pulled the trigger. A stream of lead smashed into the creature before it could make another move, it roared in pain as one of its arms was ripped of my the gun. Massive chunks of shadow were being cut away every second.

After a minute of sustained fire the only thing remaining was the head, and it was still fighting. The shadows were trying to use its jaw to pull itself forward. James sized up the head and opened fire again. The head was disintegrated buy the new assault leaving nothing but one white tooth laying on the ground.

“Now it has to be fucking dead.” He looked around at the white world “What now?”

Twilight get away from him

“What?” He asked as he looked around for the voice. The world began to melt away as he re entered the world of the living. Leaving behind just one little tooth, how bad could it be.

“Twilight I said get away from him!” Big Mac shouted as the fearful Twilight was frozen in place, the large shadowy mouth only a few inches from her face.

Much to the surprise of the ponies in the room the shadow slowly retreated back to James before disappearing entirely. His eyes lost the dark shadows and he fell to the ground gasping for air.

Two guards quickly moved up, their spears pointing directly at James' chest.

“Don't” Twilight called as she slowly regained her composure. “It might set him off again.”

James raised his head and jumped back at the sight of the headless pony in front of him. He began trying to rip his shirt of when he noticed it was caked in blood.

“Do you know of a human called Matt?” Twilight asked as James frantically tried to rip the t-shirt off, only to stop at the mention of his name.

“Fat?” he asked as he raised his head.

“Yes”

“Where is he?” James growled. His eyes slowly returning to their blacked state.

“He along with an old enemy of mine has taken over Ponyville. And we plan on taking it back.” She spoke quickly.

“I suppose a truce.” Twilight said, getting many gasps of shock from the other ponies in the room “You help us take back Ponyville and we will help you get Matt. What do you say”

James pondered this for a moment “So you want me to help you?”

“Yes”

James looked back at the dead pony in front if him. “I presume that was me?” He asked in a confused voice.

Twilight's look turned sour. “Yes. When he put the cuffs on your hands... you bit his head off.”

“I what!!”surprise washed over his face as he looked back at the dead body.

“When I threw you into the wall you were knocked unconscious. When he went to put cuffs on you a large shadowy... thing grabbed him.” She was confused, she had never seen a human look sad before, was it a trick? She thought, trying to make sense on the stunned human in front of her.

“Huh.” he said before passing out and smashing his face into the ground.

Twilight sighed “Take him to the dungeon.” She paused for a moment “ And let me know when he wakes.”

James let out a groan as he opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor of a large cell.

“Your finally awake.” A feminine voice said.

James turned his head only to find Twilight sitting outside the cell on a chair.

“lets talk.”

James grumbled a reply as he sat up and rested against the wall. E felt his gun move in his pocket, that was a big relief. “What do you wanna talk about?”

“Lets begin with the Pony who’s head you ripped off before attacking me.” She said coldly

James' voice caught in his throat, “I... I don’t really remember anything past the bit where you threw me into the wall, that really hurt by the way.”

Her gaze didn't falter. “Upon serious injury you managed to control... something, and I want to know how.”

“I hate to disappoint you but I don’t remember anything, other than some weird dream, and a princess or something.”

That caught her attention “Did you say princess? What was her name?”

“Her name was Luna, I think.”

“What did she want?”

“She helped me, she also said that we would ' meet soon'”

You could almost see the cogs turning in her head.

“Are you OK?” James asked as Twilight stared at him.

A purple aura surrounded the lock and it unclipped from the cell doors. “Come with me. Now!” she ordered as she walked down the corridor to a set of stairs, James quickly on her heels, er hooves.

They quickly made it back to the planning room, the body of the dead pony was gone and a small grey unicorn scrubbed the large blood stains. The ponies in the room snapped to attention at the entry of Twilight, there attention quickly shifted to James as he entered just behind her, still covered in blood.

“Corporal Steel Wing, get me paper and a quill.” She ordered. A small light blue pony with a white mane snapped a salute before leaving the room.

“There has been a new development, this human has said he has been in direct contact with princess Luna...”

“PRINCESS!?” James yelled before Twilight could continue.

“... And we need to verify this.”

“I have the paper and quill ma'am” The light blue pony says as he walks back into the room.

The Paper and quill are quickly surrounded in a purple aura as twilight get to work on a letter.  After a few moments she rolls up the paper and in a bright purple flash disappears.

After a few moments of silence and hateful gazes thrown at James a bright blue flash and a new letter appeared before Twilight, She unrolled the paper and read it out loud. “We are to help this human and take care of him until Ponyville has been recaptured.” Confused looks washed through the room as they tried to understand The Princesses decision.

Twilight turned to James. “Come with me. We need to have a good long chat.”

Twilight and James made there way down to the lower levels of the castle in complete silence and it was driving James mad.

“What’s this Ponyville I keep hearing you go on about?” James asked.

“Ponyville Is a small town not far from the Everfree forest, where we are now. Over a week ago a Human known as Matt showed up wounded and looking for help. He was taken to the hospital and quickly recovered.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath then continued. “Upon waking, he killed three hospital staff and half of the royal guard garrison. Me and a few others went to get help only to find a large shield surrounding the town and a large part of the forest. When we got back a second barrier was up encasing just town. Both barriers stop anypony from entering or leaving so we are stuck here alone.”

“You said the Humans name was Matt right?” James asked as he thought over what she had said.

“Yes”

“What else can you tell me about him?” He wanted to be sure that it was the same Matt that had betrayed him.

She thought for a moment. “He was about a foot shorter than you, had a brown mane, seemed to be very overweight, and he could control water.”

“He could what?!”

“He used a sword to control water.” Twilight turned to James and was surprised by his look of shock. “I take it that it isn't normal for humans to have that ability?”

“No of course not!”

“Well he does and it has been used to great effect. When he first woke up he used the water from a cup to skewer a pony to a wall.”

“Why can't the princesses help?” James was deeply worried about what he was hearing. Firstly the back stabbing bastard was alive and he could control water.

“Somehow their power is rendered useless when they are near the barrier, we don't know why but it's up to us to find out why and stop it.”

“So are you in the military?”

“No I'm Princess Celestia's personal student.”

'Oh fuck, I attacked a princess personal student!'

“So where are we going exactly?” James asked trying to change the subject.

“To the dungeon. The princess may say we need to help doesn’t mean I trust you. You will be staying here until I say otherwise.”

“How lovely.” he replied bitterly

“You killed one of the Guards!”

“That reminds me why did you attack me in the first place?”

“She paused for a moment “Matt mumbled your name a lot when he was unconscious. so when I heard your name believed that you were allies and I still do, so If you don't do what I say I will kill you. Is that understood?” James nodded as he lost interest in making conversation.

They soon arrived back to the cell that James had awoken in earlier. A strong smell of damp lingered in the air, and only now did James notice that another other cell was occupied. A tall humanoid figure was chained to the wall but his hands, dark blood splattered fur covered his body.

Twilight noticed James questioning look and answered before he could ask. “It's a diamond dog, there are about seven of them helping Matt control Ponyville. This one chased after us before the second barrier went up and he got caught.”

“What happened to him?” James asked as he looked at his bloodied face.

“He wouldn’t answer our questions.” Twilight responded coldly.

“lovely.”

“Get it.” She motioned to the cell that James had been in earlier, he reluctantly went in as the door clicked behind him. The cell bars glowed as Twilight cast some spell. “This will stop you from getting out, now I have important things to, I will come for you in a few hours and you will answer all my questions, understand?”

“Yeah I understand.” He replied coldly.

James sat down on a pile of hay, the only thing in the cell, as Twilight walked out. The steady clopping of her hooves vanishing into the dark hallways.

James rubbed his eyes, trying to think through everything that had happened in the last few hours. “Is this place a type of hell? Or am I just having a major mental breakdown?” James let out a yawn and covered himself with some hay, he set his head against the concrete wall as his eyes became heavy.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

James snapped open his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the cell door, it was completely destroyed. The corridor outside was covered in burn marks and blood. A golden clad Pony lay just outside the cell, he was covered in blood and missing both of his front hooves were gone, replaced with bloody stumps.

James slowly got to his feet and peered around the corridor, the destruction went all the way to the stairs. He looked into the other cell and found the one occupant to be very much dead, he had been impaled to the wall by a spear.

James Picked up a spear that was lying a few feet from the pony and started his trek down the corridor.

'This is not good, really not good. What the fuck happened'

He began his trek up the stairs and was met with similar images to what was below. Entire pieces of wall destroyed, pools of blood at every corner but that wasn’t what worried him, what worried him was that he hadn't seen another body.

James quickly made it to the top of the stairs and pressed his ear to the big wooden door that led into the main room. After a few moments of silence he opened to door and stepped in, spear at the ready.

The main hall was the same as the lower levels and just as vacant. He slowly walked over to the briefing room that Twilight and the other guards had been in earlier. James' heart thumped in his chest as he waited for something to jump out at him from some dark corner.

He pressed his ear up against the double doors to the briefing room and listened, satisfied that nothing was going to jump to at him when he entered the room he creaked open the doors, his breath got caught in his throat at the scene, he had found the missing bodies

The Bodies Lay in a large pile a few meters from the door, almost all of the guard ponies were decapitated, their heads impaled on spikes that stuck out from the mass of bodies.

James quickly turned away from the pile as a strong stench filled his nose. He retched at the scene. James had killed people before but he could never imagine something like that. He slammed the door shut and took a few steps back, not believing what he had just seen.

He needed to get out of there. James scrambled to the main gate, not caring about the noise he was making, he just wanted to get out of there.

Once out of the castle he breathed in the cold fresh air. Hoof and paw prints covered the ground in front of him before crossing the bridge and heading into the dark forest. James grinned, if the dogs worked for matt then they would be heading straight to him.

He patted his pocket with the pistol before heading across the bridge.

“I'm coming for you Matt.”