From Darkness

Prologue: Just a Normal Guy

My name is Shadows. That's right, Shadows, as in the plural form of the word shadow. Most people have a hard time understanding my name for some reason, just because my name is in a plural form doesn't mean I'm not a normal guy. So yeah, I'm just a normal guy. I take life one step at a time, play things safe, I try to keep my head down. As of late, those skills have proven to be very useful, with the war and whatnot. About ten years back, Equestria was taken over, yeah that's right. Not only was it taken over, but it was taken over by freaks. These guys, they're called Elites, they look a lot like us, but they all have brown fur, black manes, and no pupils. Then again, I guess I can't really call them freaks now, can I?

About thirty years back, some unicorn named Lyra cast some crazy spell to turn all of Equestria into, what we're they called? Humans? It was totally crazy, nobody ever thought it would be possible, but this lady did it. Although, there were some complications with the spell, which caused pegasi to keep their wings and unicorns to keep their horns, plus our fur was all but gone. Man, I remember when it first happened, it took a few years for people to stop saying 'everypony' and start saying 'everybody' instead. Last I heard, the crazy lady was locked up in some Canterlot jail. I can't tell you the amount of times my new thumbs got in the way, but the hands did come in 'handy' from time to time, like when I had to shoot a gun.

Finally, I decided to drift back to reality, as I didn't want my mind wandering towards the Equestrian takeover. Most people try to forget about that, because those who don't, don't normally lead a happy life. Then again, it was hard not to think about, as I looked out the side of the chopper, the Elite military base was looming in the distance. My black fur rippled in the wind, and my black mane would have been up in my face if I hadn't cut it off like my tail. I found the extensions of hair to be distracting, plus it wasn't exactly comfortable to have a cutout in my clothing specifically for my mane and tail.

I grabbed a parachute off the wall and clipped my SCAR-L with attached silencer to my vest. I already had my five seven modified with a built in silencer, so I grabbed the sidearm as well. Those half wits at BLACK didn't know how to do anything, with a little time and effort, I made my own arsenal and formed my own rogue crew. I was able to make it away with one of BLACK's modified tac-maps, a wrist mounted display system with low-light technology, and used it to contact their lead engineer often. Gear Head was the guy's name, he seemed pretty okay, for one of those tech types. He sent new recruits my way if they were operating in my vicinity, so I could show them the ropes.

BLACK, that was a stupid agency if I ever saw one. BLACK is this secret government agency that's been around since the Equestrian takeover. When everybody relocated to this new land, we renamed it the Equestrian Republic, naturally. To rub salt in our wounds, the Elites renamed Equestria in their own image, they named it Illesia. Tonight, Gear Head informed me that BLACK would be sending a team of Special Ops forces down to the main compound in former Canterlot. He said that if I wanted to gather intelligence or had something to accomplish there, that this was my chance, the BLACK operatives were on my side. I accepted his advice, and got on this chopper and headed here as fast as I could. Thanks to sound reduction technology, I would be air dropping in way closer than anybody from BLACK would be by swimming in. Then again, I have an entire team working on my gear.

BLACK was a great idea and all, but Celestia was a horrible person to run it. The agency's lead tech adviser was the same person who turned all of Equestria into half pony-half human freaks, Lyra Heartstrings. That's right, Lyra, the same idiot who turned the entire nation into bipedal monsters, was the lead technician for this agency, and that's just the icing on the cake. The agency wanted to issue gear that frequently broke down, it seemed like everything was rigged and poorly put together. You would think that they would have somebody smart enough to start making operable equipment, but it seemed that person was just out of their reach.

Here I am rambling to myself again in my head, and I'm already over the drop zone. The pilot looks over and gives me a nod, and I fast rope down onto the docks of the base. I signal the chopper and it flies off into the distance. I had no need for it now, as Gear Head told me he'd get me on a transport back to BLACK and I'd go back home from there. It would be the first time I'd be inside ever since I escaped the agency. According to him, the only reason they'd let me in is because Celestia needed a word with me, and she also needed something for me to do, something that only I could do.

She needed me to bring back the princess. Princess Twilight Sparkle.