Brothers' Pastby Prince MonochromeChaptersPrologue: Legend of Pitch BlackPart 1: Legend of Pitch BlackPart 2: Father Pleads Siblings BleedPart 3: Rise of CreationPart 4: Redemption and RevengeBrotherhood RanksPrologue: Legend of Pitch BlackSeveral thousand years before the regal sisters took rule over Equestria, there lived a stallion with a heart darker the night sky, a stallion named ‘Pitch Black’. This stallion hated everything and every pony, and to show his hatred towards them he forced them all to build a palace for him, mad completely out of black crystals. As the building started, a group of ponies came to rescue all his slaves and set them free, but it was pointless, when they attempted to free them, they refused to leave for they have began to worship the stallion, thinking that he was their true king, when he heard, he decided not to have them build the place, but instead, become his children, his children of shadows. He started a guild called ‘The Brotherhood of the Black Hoof’, within it, everyone hade hearts of black. As an initiation, the stallion would put his ‘children’ through pain, pain that would break them, and once they were broken, he’d rebuild them in his image, and he’d cover them with shadows and remove the fear that lives within them all. On a fateful day, the stallion’s father appeared in front of him and demanded he ended the guild, but the stallion refused and slain his father, and upon doing that, he awakened the anger that lived within the souls of his sister and his brother causing them to attack, but he was prepared, he summoned his second sister and the four fought for many years. When the fight ended, it left the sister and brother of good weak and sent them into hiding. The sister hid within her sanctuary, a colossal library made of stone, a house of knowledge and peace, and within this library she remained for the rest of her days. The brother hid within the soul of a mortal colt, the young child had learned forgiveness and as a reward for him, he granted him the gift of eternal life and the power of an Alicorn. As the two hid, the evil sister and brother continued their reign of terror and hatred upon the peaceful land, cursing the ponies who lived there with shadows, forcing them to become his kin. After many years have passed, a group of powerful alicorns known as ‘The Principles of Creation’ stood up to his power and fought him in his own domain, and for many years the power of the Principles and the Brotherhood fought each other, until the faithful day. During a battle between the forces, the Principles of Creation pushed through the Brotherhood’s forces and made it to the sanctuary housing them all, the entered his domain, and banished him to the deepest pits of Tartarus. As he arrived in the realm his body was scorched black and covered with searing red scars, and when he awoke in his new prison, his was met by its king and ruler who told him, that he is now a slave in his world, but he didn’t listen. Pitch Black rose up against him; he slain him and took his realm as his own, and with his new power, his new army, and the world beneath his own, he swore revenge against the Principles of Creation, he swore to make them suffer even if it took the rest of his mortal life, and as his hatred started to consume him, his form began to change, the hatred stained his eyes red, causing fear into anything or any pony who saw them. He grew wings on his back, but unlike Pegasi, these wigs were not of birds, but of demons, and his horn was broken, to teach him pain, to prevent him from breaking. Many years later, as the Principles of creation celebrated the anniversary of their victory, Pitch Black Rose back up from Tartarus, but he was now different, from a normal stallion to a dark black beast, and now, to a corrupt black scaled dragon. They saw him, they saw the monster he has become, and at this time, they could do nothing to stop him. He fled from them and went back to his home, to the cavern he has tainted with his hate, and waiting there for him was his children, the Brotherhood. He told them of the new world he has found, of the new home he was reborn in, and upon hearing of this ‘New world’ they praised him, they worshiped him more than they used to. He set off around the world; he went to find new children to follow him into the underworld, to worship him, to fight with and for him, and upon doing so, he met thousands that offered to fight against purity and harmony, he met the thousands of souls he would sacrifice for his own gain, he met the true Brotherhood. After several days have passed and he had returned to the place of his banishment in his pony form to meet with the Principles of Creation, he offered them an ultimatum, if they gave him their powers he would order his army to stand down and to not attack, but they refused to give up their powers and so he told them, that at midnight at the year’s end, he would send his army to attack them, and kill every pony in the surrounding towns, and he didn’t lie, at the end of the year at midnight, his army attacked them and outnumbered them, from the original 100 that joined him, the army grew, from the small number it went into the thousands. The war went on for many years until almost the entire Brotherhood was slaughtered, Pitch Black stepped forward and along with him were 15 other ponies, thinking that it would be easy, the Principles readied themselves for a fight, but he did nothing, they grew confused, and as they prepared to attack, a column of black flames shot from the ground, the 15 ponies inside were burnt to ash, but Pitch Black was left unharmed as his body began to morph, when the flames died, his true form was revealed, he was a Hydra, with heads that reach past the clouds. They tried their best to defeat him, but they were no match for him, until she appeared. A being of purity and the leader if the Principles of Creation, Mother Faust used her magic to destroy Pitch Black once and for all, and once he fell, she used her magic to lift the curse placed on all those who followed him, it worked, but only one remained, a young filly at least 7, she was the only surviving member of the Brotherhood, but since she was the youngest of those who fought, she was set free, and once their backs were turned, she resurrected her family, she became the leader, and the shadows were reborn but different, the Brotherhood used to fight, but now, they are outcasts of their own kind, thieves, murders, liars, they went from the war hungry, to the criminals, they have been reborn. Part 1: Legend of Pitch Black“Out of my way peasant child!” a stallion yelled out as he smacked a young filly, knocking her to the ground. Her parents ran over to her to make sure she was alright. As they took care of her, the stallion continued walking out of the town and into the wilderness. He walked into a clearing in the dense forest and when he was sure he was alone he took a scroll out of his saddle bags; opening it and placing it on the ground. When it was flat he stepped back a few feet and sat on the ground, remaining motionless. Hours had passed since he placed the scroll, and when he was about to stand up and reclaim it, a rabbit jumped out of a bush and he sat back down. The rabbit started moving closer and closer to it, eventually right next to the parchment. It started sniffing the scroll and when the fluffy creature touched it, an electric burst of energy shot out. The fluffy fur of the creature turned completely black and its eyes disappeared along with the picture and words on the scroll. The stallion began to smile, he stood up and approached the wild animal and as he got close it disappeared, somehow it fell into its own shadow. He walked up to its shadow and used his magic to pull it out of it. “Well, looks like my spell worked.” He held the rabbit up higher and using a swift motion he snapped it’s neck and threw it to the ground. He stood next to it for a moment and at random, the black fur of the dead thing started turning blue. The entire body started blowing away in the wind as dust. He looked back over to the scroll and the blue dust started rebuilding its self until it turned back into the rabbit. “Excellent, the spell is perfect.” he smiled. He picked up the scroll and placed it on top of the rabbit. He removed the paper and the rabbit's fur returned to a normal tan color and the brown eyes returned. As the rabbit tried hopping away he picked it up again. “Where are you going little one? Don’t you want to see the downfall of pony kind?” The rabbit began struggling to loosen his magic grip. “I’ll take that as a 'No'.” The stallion snapped it’s neck and threw it to the ground again. This time however, it did not turn to dust, but lay there waiting for decay to remove it's body from the cold ground as it's soul had just been. He smiled at himself then started heading back to the town. Upon his arrival, he was immediately met with several of the royal guards. “Good evening gentle-colts, how can I help you-?” he asked sarcastically as he stood at the edge of the forest. “Nexus Black, you are under arrest for practice of black magic!” one of the guards yelled at him. “Just black magic? I believe you are mistaken, good sir. Last time I check I also performed a bit of necromancy and murder, and just this morning child abuse-" “None of this is helping your case-" “It’s not supposed to.” He smiled at them cynically. One of the guards started to run at him, sword drawn. When he was close enough Nexus pulled the spell scroll out of his bag, throwing it at the guard's face. It stuck to him and he began screaming in agony as he struggled to get the scroll off him. During the guard's useless struggle, Nexus merely stood at the forest edge, watching him with a dark smile creeping on his face. As he stood there contemplating his evildoing, the screams from the guard started to die down until he was completely silent. His coat started fading black. As his armor began to rust, his horn cracked, turning into blue dust. “Perfect, the spell is now completed-“ “What did you do to him!?”One of the guards yelled at him. He smiled and approached the infected guard. “Not much just...altered him. Nothin' special.” He removed the scroll and just like the rabbit his eyes were gone. However this time, the scroll still had the pattern and words on it. He looked at the scroll as though he were a professor intrigued by a student. “Fascinating-“ “Change him back!” the guard demanded. Nexus ignored him and looked at the infected guard who in turn smiled in darkly sinister way at him. “Did you hear me!? I said change him back-“ “I’m sorry I don’t take orders from peasants” Nexus smiled and began to walk away, and as he did the guard charged at him. Just like before Nexus threw the scroll at the guard's face. When the scroll was attached to him the effects started appearing faster, the stallion didn't have time to scream; the magic of the scroll started changing him immediately and in less than a second, he became just like the other guard. “You should have known better than to attack me while my back was turned, foolish mortal.” He removed the scroll from it's target, and both guards growled at each other like animals. Nexus stepped away from them thinking they were going to fight, but instead they just growled at each other. “Silence!” Nexus yelled at them and they both stopped; he began smiling. “Speak.” After that the two guards began laughing hysterically. “Fight” One of the guards tackled the other and they began fighting. “Stop!” They stopped dead in their tracks, remaining motionless. Nexus smiled and looked up at the other guards; whispering to himself. “Kill.” Out of nowhere the other two guards began screeching and moving towards the still sane guards, forcing them to move back. “Nexus Black this is your last warning! Change them back or else!” “Or else what? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the most powerful Unicorn there is. Now, Kill them my spawn!” Just then, one of the infected guards leaped onto him, biting down on his spine and tearing it right out of his body. “Polish!” another guard yelled right before he was head-rammed by the other infected guard. The infected guard leaped at him and disappeared into his shadow leaving nothing but his rusty armor behind. The guard began to panic, and before he could fully react, he started coughing up blood. A moment later his body exploded in a bloody mess that sprayed everywhere. After that, the two infected guards turned around and faced the one that was left, as they began to attack him Nexus yelled. They froze in place at his command. Nexus walked past them and over to the guard that was attempting to scurry away from him. “Don’t be afraid child, I promise I won’t hurt you-“ “Liar!” he yelled at him. “I do not lie for I am a stallion of my word. Therefore, when I say I will not harm you, it is the truth.” “Really?” “Of course.” He took the scroll and swiped it right in front of his face. The spell still worked without contact due to it's strength. His coat started turning black and his armor began to rust just like those before him. “See, now that didn't hurt at all did it?” he smirked. The guard stood up and began laughing along with the others. “Silence.” Nexus turned around and noticed every pony standing around him. “What do you all think you’re doing? You have work to do.” “What do you mean?” a stallion asked as he stepped forward. “From this day forward, this land is under my rule. For my first order as your king, I demand you build me a castle worthy enough to be deemed my home.” “Why should we have to do anything for you!?” Another stallion yelled out from the crowed. Nexus stomped his hoof on the ground and the stallion was shot into the air, landing on the ground in front of him. When he tried to stand an infected guard came from his place behind Nexus and shoved his head into his lord's shadow, which then shrank decapitating the foolish stallion. “Any other questions? Objections?” Nexus looked around, everypony else was too terrified to speak up, leaving silence hanging in the air broken by his speech. “That is what I thought.” He stood up on his hind legs and slammed his front hooves on the ground, causing all of the buildings and trees surrounding them to collapse. From their ashes the ground turned into a pitch-black transparent glass-like surface. "The ground you are all now standing on is called ‘Black Crystal’. You are to use it to forge my new castle." After that Nexus smiled and began to walk back into the forest, leaving the villagers with the infected guards who began hissing and growling at them in an attempt to scare them into doing work. Years had passed since that day; during the construction of Nexus' new castle a stallion approached him as he sat in his throne. The stallion bowed in front of him and then spoke in a frightened, feeble voice. “Uh…my Lord we uh…have a slight problem with the construction of your new castle-“ “What is it?” “The structural design of it is…unstable, if we continue building it, it could collapse and possibly kill us-“ “Yes, continue building.” Nexus interrupted him. “But Sire, didn't you hear me-“ “I did, and I do not care. If you or any other dies while constructing my castle, I shall resurrect you from your state of death and force you to continue building.” “Can you at least call off the guards-“ “Are you giving me a command, you insufferable-!?” “Sir please! With those guards constantly attacking us when slow down... we might wind up dying during construction-“ “Living Shadows.” “…I-I’m sorry?” “They are known as Living Shadows, if you address them any other way I shall have you executed.” Nexus waved his hoof and the two smiling mares sitting next to him began fanning him off. The stallion grew angry at him but since he was unable to attack without being killed or worse, he merely got up and walked back to the construction site. Several months later the same stallion appeared with nine others that were dressed in the gear of explorers. As they approached him the lead stallion slapped a chalice out of his magic grip. It spilled on the ground beside him, staining the floor with the drink. “What is the meaning of this?” Nexus asked in a calm tone of voice. “Nexus Black, I am here to end your reign of terror-“ “Is that so? Well then, too bad that my reign is not of ’terror’, for you see, these ponies choose to be my slaves. Isn’t that right?” Nexus asked the mare sitting to the left of him, using his magic to pull her head back by her mane. “Yes my lord, it is an honor to be by your side!” the mare replied with a smile on her face. “…Is there something wrong with you?” Nexus asked as he stood up. “Nothing is wrong my lord. I am so very honored to be one of the only to mares be your side.” Nexus looked away from her and towards the construction site. “Is something wrong my king-“ “Come with me, all of you.” Nexus began walking off, followed by the ten ponies that had come to dethrone him and the two mares that he always had by him. When they arrived at the site everypony started cheering for Nexus. “What’s going on here-!?” “Praise our true king!” a stallion shouted above all the cheering. As everypony cheered for him the ten that had risen up against him grew irritated. “Enough, what is wrong with all of you!?” one of the rebellious stallions yelled, causing the cheering to die down. “This beast has enslaved all of you, why would you praise him!?” “Because this supposed ‘beast’ has taught us power!” a mare yelled as she stepped forward, eager to defend her king. “He showed us the power within the shade!” a stallion added. “We praise him because he is the true king of this land!” and just then all the cheering started up again. “It looks as though I was right. They really do wish to serve me.” Nexus smiled to himself; out of nowhere the stallion from before turned around and tackled him. “You fiend! Look what you've done to them! You corrupted their minds-!” “I did nothing but show them the true world.” As he stood up the stallion lifted his hoof to harm him, but out of nowhere a mare ran up to him, using her horn she pierced his throat. She pulled her horn out, and he rapidly bled to death. “Don’t you dare attack my king!” she yelled, afterwards she faced the others and glared at them angrily. They began to back up but were stopped by Nexus' new followers. The rebels attempted to run but were tackled to the ground by four different ponies, who picked them up and tore their limbs off leaving them ragged bloody heaps of flesh, bleeding to death. “Incredible…I honestly did not think you would all worship me like this-“ “Of course we’d worship you my lord. Your are our deity, our god, our savior, you are...our King.” And just then everypony that was forced to obey him bowed down to him, treating him as though he was truly their king. The mare looked up at him from her kneeling position, “I speak for everypony when I say this; from this day on, we are yours to command.” Nexus smiled. “You shall all really do as I say unconditionally? Well…in that case, I feel just in showing some mercy.” “How so my lord?” “You may all stop building the castle, and in it's stead, you shall be my warriors of the Shade.” At his speech everypony started cheering again. “My lord, since we are joining as a new order, what should we be named?” Nexus pondered his thoughts for a moment, then finally spoke. “We shall be known as the Children of The Shade.” Part 2: Father Pleads Siblings BleedSeveral days after the birth of the Children of the Shade, Nexus began leading his new family through the thick forest to find a new shelter; unfortunately, they were forced to hide with in a cave to prevent being caught by the light of the rising sun. As they hid within the cavern, Nexus ordered them the start mining to make room for all the others who were forced to stand outside. “My lord!” a stallion called out from behind. Nexus turned around to see him bowing. “I have some news from the lower tunnels.” “What is it?” Nexus asked in an irritated tone. “There was a cave-in and some of the workers were badly injured.” “Bring them up here; I’ll see what I can do.” “Yes my lord.” The stallion got up and walked hurriedly back down into the lightless tunnel. “What is it June?” Nexus asked as he immediately turned around; the mare behind him remained silent from shock from the fact that he knew she was there without even looking. “June!” “Sorry my lord!” she bowed down to him in fear. “I just wanted to let you know that, this cave might be a good home for our-uh…your, family-“ “What makes you think I want to live here?” Nexus growled at her. “Well, to be honest, the cave is completely dark and cold as ice in the lower levels, and due to its subtle nature, I doubt any pony would even notice that we have formed it into our own sanctuary.” As she looked up she noticed that Nexus was staring at her with complete rage, and without hesitation she began moving away from him. “I suppose you may have a point.” “I’m sorry sir I’ll never suggest something like that again-….wait-“ she quickly stood up and stared at him; when she saw his face she noticed it went from anger to annoyance. “You…you aren’t considering having us live here are you-“ “Twas your idea June, if you did not want it to happen then you should not have suggested it.” Nexus walked away into the lower tunnel leaving June with the others. As she was about to walk away she heard Nexus call for her and she immediately raced into the lower area. “Yes my lord- What in Tartarus!?” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she saw the bloody mess covering every inch of the cave. “What happened!?” “I do not know, that is why I called you down here-“ “ME-!?” “You used to work in a cemetery correct?” “…Well…Yes I suppose I did.” “And while you worked there did you not perform autopsies?” "I did, thank you for-wait…you want me to figure out what killed them?” June asked as she slowly backed away from him. “That is correct.” “But why me?” “Because you’re the only one smart enough out of all the imbeciles to decipher this mystery.” “Well, I suppose I could try...you think I’m...smart?” she asked at complete random as she looked up at him with a smile on her face. “Compared to all of them you are... a genius.” June looked away at his words and continued to smiled. “Well, I suppose I could try to figure out what kill them, it will take some time, but I should be done by tomorrow.” “Very well, I shall wait until then, and as for the rest of you, you are all to continue working!” Nexus shouted as he turned around; when the echoes of his voice finally died down the sounds of pickaxes clanging on stone started filling the cave. “June, I shall be in my chambers for the rest of the day, if you figure out what caused this, find me there and report to me.” Nexus said, his back to her. “Yes my lord.” June bowed to him and he walked off. During the early hours of the next day; June approached the door to his room and as she was about to knock on it she heard him from inside telling her to enter. As she entered she saw what the room looked like. It was well fabricated and lit, it had a large bed against the wall opposite from the door, a desk to the right of it and a fire place to the left which Nexus was sitting down in front of in a large comfortable chair. “My Lord-?” “This better be about the three deaths June.” Nexus scolded her. “It is my Lord.” She entered the room and closed the door behind her. “My lord, as I was preforming the autopsy I noticed that there were small amounts of magic dust hidden within the blood.” “So the deaths were caused by magic.” “Yes, but not just any type of magic, the spell used on them was a forbidden one-“ “A forbidden spell!?” In his outrage and confusion he stood up, the fire next to him growing larger and hotter with his every breath. ”Impossible, me and my sister are the only two capable of using such magic!” “So, your sister was the cause of their deaths?” “It could not have been. We are fighting together in this war. Therefore it had to have been someone else.” “Can you think of any pony else that can use this type of magic?” Nexus sighed loudly with sorrow and annoyance. “Did you think of anything?” “Yes, and disappointingly the user is someone very close to me. In relation of course, nothing more.” “Who is it?” “…My father.” "Why would your father kill innocent ponies?” “This I might have an idea about, but what puzzles me more is why he would only kill those three…unless…” Without a word Nexus moved towards the door; June moved out of the way and he walked out of the room, nervous about his attitude, she followed him. When they reach the tunnel where the three stallions died he stopped; he lowered his horn and, using a powerful amount of magic, he blew down the wall that the three had been mining. When it collapsed, a gust of cold air filled the entire cave sending chills down every pony’s spines. “My lord what was that?” June asked in a state of panic. “It was the souls of a thousand dead soldiers.” Nexus smiled sinisterly as he walked into the newly opened tunnel. When he entered the room his horn lit up and blue flames appeared forming a circle. As they burned, pain and anguish filled screams and groans resonated throughout the room. As he walked deeper into the chamber, his family of soldiers began to enter and follow him. As all the other ponies started roaming around the chamber Nexus continued moving towards the center. “My lord wait!” June called out as she rushed over to him. “My lord, what is all this? Why didn’t we die like the other three?” “We didn’t die because my father is weak from using black magic, as for what this is.” Nexus paused and opened a large stone sarcophagus in the dead center of the chamber; as it opened another gust of cold air filled the caves. “This is the crypt of my sweet late mother.” Nexus smiled sinisterly as he stared at the rotting flesh and the decaying bones in the sarcophagus. “My lord, what are you thinking?” “I’m thinking that it was about time that I paid my respects.” Without hesitation or mercy Nexus raised his horn and using his black magic, set his mother's remains on fire. As they burned he headed to the entry way. “You there.” He called out to the pony keeping guard. “When these fools are done sightseeing, order them to tear this place down and turn it into the main hall.” “Yes my lord.” The stallion replied as he bowed. When he stood back up Nexus moved past him and went back to his room. “My lord wait!” June called right as he left and she began to chase after him. “My lord.” She called one more time as she finally caught up with him. “What is it June?” “Your father, didn’t you say that he was the one who killed the others?” “Yes, why?” “Well, if he killed them for just mining near your mother’s crypt, won’t he do something even worse to you for burning her remains and ordering the rest of it to be torn down?” “I hope so, or else I would have wasted my magic for no reason.” “Wait, what?” “I wanted to summon my father, after everything he has done to me in my life, I want revenge against him, even if it’s the last thing I ever do. “But my lord, seeing what he did to those three, what if he’s too powerful for you to defeat-“ “Don’t you ever say that!” Nexus snapped at her as he pinned her to a wall. “My father is weak and spineless; he shall never be stronger than me.” June nodded her head in understanding, then afterwards was released. This time as he was about to enter his room he was approached again this time by a stallion he immediately bowed. “My lord, something is happening outside!” “What is it now?” “The skies, something is happening to them.” “Well…I will admit, I didn’t expect the old stallion to arrive this early.” As he started heading out of the cave he heard whispers coming from the other members, attempting to ignore them he kept walking and eventually arrived at the surface; he then started to approach a mare dressed in a black robe. “Elegy, what’s happening?” “My lord. I can’t really explain, but the weather is starting to change, it used to be sunny but now the clouds are rolling in, the wind is picking up and-“ “Take the others and enter the caves, I’ll take care of this.” The mare bowed and started guiding the other members into the cave. Once he was alone it started to rain and thunder. “You like to take your time don’t you?” Nexus asked himself; then out of nowhere a bolt of lightning hit the ground. Rising from the flames was a colossal stallion with a coat of gold, mane and tale of pure light, wings that formed a bridge between the light of his tail and the darkness of Nexus' heart. His horn was sharp enough to pierce the heavens. “Hello father.” “Nexus Black, you arrogant swine.” “It’s nice to see you as well father.” Nexus replied with a sarcastic smile and a bite in his voice. “How dare you defile your mother like this, you have gone too far, Child.” “So you think? I don’t believe I have gone far enough-“ “Silence! Because of your arrogance you are here by stripped of your rights, your powers, and your immortality!” “Is that so? Very well, but before you may, you must bow to me-“ “I shall do nothing of the sorts-!” “Well, if you want what is rightfully mine, you will.” Nexus’s father began growing irritated with his arrogance. “I’m waiting father.” “I shall not bow to you, and because of your arrogance I shall slay thee!” “Very well, do your worst.” After that his father cloaked himself in a harsh red light and started charging towards him. With little effort Nexus teleported out of his way, stopping to reappear by his father’s side. “You should have known by now father; you cannot defeat me, you never stood a chance and you never will.” “Face me like a stallion you swine!” Nexus’ father yelled at him as he turned to face him, but by the time he turned, Nexus was already gone. “What’s wrong father, too scared to face me?” Nexus taunted him from behind, his father turned around again and Nexus disappeared once more. “Stop running and face me!” “Why would I do that?” Nexus asked as he reappeared in front of him. “It’s more fun to hide than it is to fight.” He continued, his father turned around and saw a second him, and during his confusion, Nexus continue making clones of himself that taunted him, telling him that he’ll never beat him. “Father.” One of the many clones said, his father turned around and saw a single clone step forward. “You spineless coward! Where is the real you-!” “Oh, I’m as real as they come-“ “Then stand and fight me-!” “And why would I do that? If I run, I can survive longer-“ “It does nothing but waste your breath-!” “Actually father, it wastes yours, for you see, your time has come.” Then out of nowhere one of his many clones rushed up to him and using its magic slashed his side causing him to fall to the ground. As he attempted to get back up another clone jumped onto his back and slashed at his spine. “What kind of pony would send an imposter to attack!?” his father yelled at him as he struggled to get up. “The kind of pony who shows no mercy.” He stomped his hoof on the ground signaling all his clones to turn into a black smoke and fad into his father’s shadow, and as his father stood up, Nexus did the same. His father looked around thinking he fled again, but a moment later his chest started expanding and Nexus jumped out of it holding on to several of his ribs; and from all the pain, his father collapsed onto the ground once more. “I must admit father, I did not expect you to survive that-“ “You…arrogant swine, what kind of stallion are you? You don’t even...attack with your own might-” His father wheezed as he started coughing up blood. “Silence swine, I have had enough of your arrogance, and because of that I shall slay thee on the spot.” “You wouldn’t dare-“ “I would. Father, you are here by stripped of all you own, your pride.” Nexus paused as he used his magic to cut off his horn. “Your Alicorn powers.” He stomped his hoof and two of his clones appeared one either side of him, forcibly ripping his wings off. “Your immortality!” he reached his head into his father’s chest and grabbed his heart with his teeth and ripped it out of him, he used his magic to levitate his father’s heart and took a signal bite out of it before throwing it into the dense brush of the forest. “And you are hereby stripped of your life!” he raised his horn; he swung it creating a slash in the air, when it disappeared his father’s neck began bleeding, and as he toppled downward his head fell off and laid on the cold wet forest ground. Nexus stood there admiring the body of his late father. It began glowing with a light bright enough to cut through any shadow; the light began fading away after a minute and when it was gone, his father’s body had vanished, leaving nothing but a glowing yellow orb, no bigger than an acorn, behind in its place. As he looked at the orb he began laughing loudly. “At last, I won! I have defeated you father!” as he laughed he took the orb. Using a spell he placed it on a chain and started wearing it as if it was some sort of jewelry. As he placed the chain around his neck his laughter slowly died down. “From this day forward father, you serve me.” He turned around and started heading back into the cave, but before he could enter he heard a voice calling to him from the behind. “Brother, how could you do something this cruel?” a female voice asked him. He turned around and saw a mare and a stallion standing side by side with each other. “Brother, sister, I was wondering when I’d see you again.” He smiled arrogantly at them. “Brother, why would you do this?” his sister asked him with slight sorrow in her voice. “Why? Because I grew tired of that stallion, he has been getting on my nerves for too long and I thought now would be the best time to put him out of his misery-“ “Return his soul to us brother!” Nexus’ brother yelled at him. Nexus growled at him. “Hasn’t any pony told you it’s impolite to interrupt?” “We are not playing games with you Nexus, return his soul to us and we shall allow you to live-“ “And why would I do that, Purity!” Nexus snapped at him. “Why would I give up something I worked so hard to obtain, why would I sacrifice everything just to please you?” “Because you have no right to his soul, now return it to us-“ “Forgive me brother but I grow sick of hearing you command me.” He raised his horn and a ball of flame started growing over his head, he shot it into the air and it exploded sending down thousands of smaller fireballs that rained over his siblings. The two teleported out of harm’s way and remained concealed until the rain of fire had ceased. As they hid Nexus started to laugh loudly. “Do you fools think you can really hide from me?” Nexus turned his head and his eyes flashed with a dim black light causing a ring of black aura to appear in front of him. As it began to raise, his sister Widow started to become apparent and the aura began to hold her in the air by her neck. “Widow, my dearest sister, did you really think you could hide from me in plain sight?” “Brother…please!” she wheezed as she was raised higher into the air. “Beg all you want my sister, in the end it shall only prove futile.” Nexus smiled as his magic began tightening around her throat preventing her from brining more air into her lungs “Release her!” Purity yelled, Nexus turned around and there was a flash of intense light that blinded Nexus long enough for Purity to free his sister. “Do not think this will stop me brother!” Nexus yelled as he started looking around in every direction waiting for his vision to come back. “I did not expect that to stop you brother, I just expected it to slow you down!” Purity approached him; he held his horn high and it started glowing with a green light that he placed over him, as he backed away the light began fading into Nexus and restoring his sight. “There you are!” Nexus smiled sinisterly at them; he slashed his horn expected to send out a wave of magic attempting to attack them, but nothing happened. “What have you done to me…?” Nexus growled at him. “I placed an anti-magic spell on you, you are now forbidden to use magic of any type.” Purity told him, he started walking towards him to reclaim his father’s soul, but as he got close he started hearing singing coming from all around him. As Nexus’ siblings looked around trying to find the source of the singing he slowly turned around and walked to the edge of the forest, he sat there and began talking to himself. “Sister, I was wondering when you’d finally show yourself.” “Forgive me brother, I was busy.” A mare replied as she appeared out of nowhere behind him. “With what exactly?” Nexus asked as he stood up and at random the mare placed her hoof on his horn and his body flash with a black light allowing him to use his magic once more. “I was learning how to cure you of your curse.” She smiled at him and then continued singing. Nexus turned around and saw that his other two siblings were still trying to find the source of the sound. “You two are incompetent.” Nexus growled at them; and as they turned around they saw Nexus standing with their sister. “Siren, what are you doing here, you were banished!” Purity yelled at her. “Forgive me brother, but I just wanted to play with you.” Siren smiled at him as she started snuggling up against Nexus. “Return to your chambers sister, this fight does not concern you!” “As a matter of fact it does, Nexus summoned me here.” “Nexus! You know she was banished, why would you awaken her!?” Purity yelled as he turned to his brother. “Because I desired to make the playing fields more stable; I wanted the fight to be fair.” Just then, Siren turned into dust and coated Nexus. As Purity charged at them Nexus leaped out of the dust cloud and stabbed him in his heart using his horn, Purity fell to the ground in pain and Nexus walked over to him and stared down at him. “I will admit brother, that was pathetic, I was hoping you’d put up more of a fight.” He turned around and faced the cloud of dust that began turning back into his sister. “Siren, deal with the other one for me will you?” “Of course my big brother.” She smiled, then teleported behind Widow. Before she could react Siren began to sing. Her voice began to manipulate the plants around her causing them to grow faster and trap Widow in a cage made of the roots of trees. “Don’t try to escape Sis, I enchanted the plants to pull you back in if you tried to.” Siren then laughed at her as she walked back over to Nexus who walked over to her. “Well done sister.” Nexus congratulated her. “Aww, thanks brother, it was nothing.” she replied. Nexus then walked over to Widow who cowered in fear of him. “Widow, you have disgraced me, you challenged me and you refused to put up a fight-“ “What are you going to do to me!?” Widow yelled at him out of fear. “I’m going to do the one thing I should have done at your birth.” He waved his horn and a wave of magic went over her almost knocking her off her hooves, when she regained her balance her body started turning in to ash. “Widow!” Purity screamed as he attempted to attack but was unable to use his magic. “Don’t think I forgot about you brother.” Nexus smiled at him, he turned around and walked over to him. “I remembered the spell you used on me, so I did the same thing to you-“ “You monster-!” “Is that any way to talk to your king?” Nexus asked. He placed his hoof at his brother’s shadow and it started growing until his brother fell into it. He began thrashing in an attempt to get out but was constantly dragged down. “Enjoy the darkness brother, for you shall be spending the rest of eternity in that pit.” Nexus smiled sinisterly at him, he stomped his hoof on the ground and the shadow began closing, and when it did, it trapped his brother within it for the rest of eternity. “Well done brother.” Siren congratulated him as she started to head back into the forest. “Sister, before you leave, there is something I want you to have.” “What is it?” she asked as she stopped and turned around to face him. He raised his horn and using his magic he casted as spell that broke that shackles she was wearing. “I wanted to give you... your freedom.” Nexus smiled at her. She looked down at her hooves and grinned before she bowed to him. “Thank you brother, I am forever in your debt.” She stood back up and raced back into the forest, singing before she disappeared into the foliage. Part 3: Rise of CreationLater, as night fell, Nexus returned to his chambers and as he entered he was immediately met with a strange stallion that was jumping up and down on his bed. “You there, who are you and why are you in my chambers?!” Nexus yelled at him, voice thick with complete rage. “Oh hush, be nice, I’m a guest.” The stallion smiled. Nexus rushed over to him but he teleported away. “Do not run from me, you cowardly peasant.” Nexus growled at the stallion as he turned around. “Why not? It’s easier to run.” The stallion taunted him. “State your name and reason as to why you are here.” The stallion teleported again and this time reappeared next to him; he stood on his hind legs and leaned on Nexus to annoy him. “If you’re going to give me an order, you could at least do it politely-“ Cutting off the stallion's arrogant speech, Nexus’ entire body lit up with a black flame that threw the stallion off of him. “State your name before I kill you!” Nexus yelled at him. “Very well, my name is Discord, I was sent here by the Principles of Creation.” “For what reason?” Nexus growled at him. “When we heard that you killed one of the strongest magic users we began feeling a bit…uneasy. So, they sent me here to make a negotiation.” “And that would be?” “Stand down if you know what’s good for you.” He then disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a scroll reading ‘give up’ on it in black text. Nexus growled to himself then used his magic to light the scroll with a black flame. As the scroll burned he went to his bed and climbed under the covers and began to sleep. The next day as he awoke he saw June standing at the entrance of his room; she had a nervous look on her face as if something went wrong and she didn’t want to tell him. “Good morning my lord-“ “What happened?” Nexus growled at her as he stood up. “We…we have company.” She told him. He sighed loudly then got out of his bed, as he opened the door he was greeted by a familiar face. “Hello old friend!” Discord popped up out of nowhere and startled him, sly grin on his face. “You!” Nexus roared, he charged at him but missed and stabbed his horn into the wall. “Well, some pony woke up on the wrong side of the bed today-“ “I’ll skin you alive and eat your lungs!” he yelled. He ripped his horn out of the cave wall and began chasing Discord all the way to the surface. When they got there, he saw a group of alicorns waiting for him. “What is the meaning of this-?” “See, I told you he was scary! Why didn’t you listen!?” “That’s enough Discord.” A mare told him. “Nexus Black, do you know who we are?” “I couldn’t care less.” “We are the Principles of Creation, and do you know why are here?” “To taunt me by not allowing me to skin the obnoxious beast hiding behind you?” “Keep talking pal-“ "Discord." She said sternly. "No, we are here for your decision.” “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nexus turned around and started walking back to the den. “Will you stand down or will you defile our orders?” Nexus began laughing. “Defile of course, why would I listen to you? I do not fear you or your pets.” He said with a look at Discord, taunting them; he continued walking into the den. “Do what you wish, just leave me be.” “Very well, we hereby declare war on you and your brotherhood of ‘darkness’” the mare replied; Nexus stopped dead in his tracks. “You wish to go to war against beings who can move through the shadows? Are you putting a wish of death upon your soldiers?” “No soldiers, just us and your brotherhood.” Nexus laughed at her. “Very well, but be warned, we are savage fighters, we will show no mercy, and once the dust has cleared from the battle grounds, your corpses shall be gone, there will be nothing of you left. That which remains will wish it never had.” Nexus chuckled quietly as he entered the caves. “My lord-“ “June, gather all our members in the chamber of my later mother.” “…Yes my lord.” After that she ran off into the network of tunnels. As night fell June reappeared in the colossal chamber. “My lord, I have gathered every pony just as you requested.” She bowed to him. As she stood up, the living shadows started appearing in the top area of the chamber, laughing as they crawled out of the shadows. Once the living shadows were situated in above everyone, the other members started gathering. “Listen up! Earlier today we were challenged to war against the Principles of Creation, a group of alicorns who desires to separate our family.” Nexus announced. The crowd all began to boo and hiss at the sheer, impossible thought of their family broken. “They spoke to me as if they had already won! But when war comes we shall defeat them and we shall scrape every last piece of flesh from their bones!” With his simple words, cheers erupted from the booing. “We shall win this war and we shall coat the world in the darkest of shadows, that way we may forever roam the land whenever we please! So my children, now is the time to get ready! Forge your weapons and armor, and prepare for the War of Dawn!” When he finished speaking, every pony in the room started cheering and moving out to prepare for battle. Unicorns began teleporting out of the room with clever grins. They were followed by the Pegusi who flew out in a joyous burst of cheering, and lastly the earth ponies and the living shadows who group together and disappeared. “Shall I go get ready my lord?” “June, you are to stay in the den until the war has ended.” “What!?” June complained as Nexus began walking off. “But my lord! I want to fight for you-!” “You shall do no such thing!” He interrupted, growling. “But why my lord!?” “Because! Since all this began you have remained by my side, and I refuse to lose you.” “My lord.” June stopped in her tracks, blushing, and watched him walk off. As she approached him he lifted his head and slammed it on the edge of the stone seats next to him. “My lord!” “Impure thoughts of kindness leave my head. They sicken me with their truth.” He whispered to himself. As June approached him, he started losing his balance and fell into her side. She caught him, hearing his voice, muffled but sad. “Take me to my chambers, June.” “Yes my lord.” She started guiding him through the cavern network and as they moved they heard the sound of clanging metal; the members prepared their armors throughout the caves. They turned down corners and approached his room. June opened the door with her magic and helped Nexus through it. The room was luxurious. It was very large and fitting for its occupant. A rug was laid across the floor, bones appearing to line the vivid edges due to the intricate artwork and skulls were shown on the corners against the crimson background. A fireplace with black wrought iron covering the barely flickering coals was to the left of the rug, cut into the cave wall by Nexus' magic. On the opposite side of the room was a dark red desk, maps placed haphazardly over the wooden surface. To the side of the desk, touching the door frame, were black bookshelves, books set neatly on each shelf. A large cherry wood bed was facing the door, plush deep red blankets with black sheets atop it. Two black silk pillows sat at the head of the bed, fluffed and positioned by June in an attempt to please her lord. It was this bed that Nexus collapsed onto now, at war with himself, no enemies truly present, only inner demons. He curled into a ball and shut his eyes. June stood by the bed, curious, but unsure how to proceed. She opted for the direct route. "My lord? Why must I stay here instead of fighting for you? Why are you so ill all of a sudden?" "You foolish peasant." He growled. "I'm not about to lose you. Protecting me is not worth losing you. It's not your battle." June flushed, embarrassed, before glaring at him. "It is where you are concerned. My lord I have been with this Order for as long as you have. I've been by your side since you took it over. You're... all I have. I'd give anything to protect you." Nexus sat up on his haunches, his teeth clenched together, in obvious pain. "You... absolute... fool. I forbid you from battle. If I lose you June..." He shut his eyes. "N-never mind." "My lord, are you alright?" June questioned. "You are out of sorts because of this talk. N-nexus?" He looked up at her. "Do not use my name." "Yes, my lord. I merely required your true attention." She hesitantly lifted his muzzle with her hoof and looked into his eyes. They seemed cold with hate but there was something...something there, something unfamiliar to her. She leaned closer to him as their muzzles met. Before he could react she had stepped back, towards the fire. "I have been with this Order and by your side for most of my life. I have always been cheering for you, whether you've realized it or not. I do not want to see you harmed in battle. I'm sorry for my rash actions but if you don't return after the battle... I hope to have done that at least once. I... love… to have done that... at least once." She blushed. Nexus stared up at her. She had closed her eyes and her head was down towards the rug. He stared at her, his legs still feeling weak beneath him as he stretched out along the bed. "June. Do not... mistake my cold attitude for anger." "What do you mean?" "I am not keeping you home as a punishment. I cannot lose you. You'd better know that. You are the sole exception to the stupidity and imbeciles surrounding me on a day to day basis." June stepped toward him, her muzzle red. "My lord... I do not know what to say. I think you should know something too..." She stepped closer, at the edge of the bed. The scent of her shallow, nervous breaths was sweet as candy upon his senses. "Silence, for I already know it." "Y-you do?" "Yes. I know it because I feel it as well." "You do?!" "...yes..." He turned from her and laid with his back to her, curled into a ball again as his eyes shut tight. He opened them only when he felt the bed be disturbed. June sat at the edge of it, her head tilted slightly. She took a deep breath and laid down, her muzzle inches from his. "I… love you." She whispered, barely audible. "And I you. You are the single flicker of true shadow that keeps me going when the light threatens to expose me." He said, running a hoof from her ear through her mane. He kissed her, nervously at first, but content as he felt her push back into him, both content to have a weight lifted from them at the truth revealed. The next morning, as the sun rose and the flames roared in his room, Nexus was surprisingly tolerable of the mare curled up next to him, her muzzle against his chest. He climbed out of his bed and using his magic he pulled the covers back over June. “Sleep well my love.” He whispered to her as he ran a hoof through her mane; he turned around and left his chamber, quietly closing the door behind him. “My lord-!” “What is it Spire.” Nexus asked angrily; he faced the stallion and he backed up nervously. “My lord, the war has started; the Principles have declared the first attack.” “How so?” “Well…Y-you should probably see for yourself my lord.” The stallion guided him through the tunnels and up to the surface. Once they arrived the two saw a crowd of members gathered in front of something. Nexus approached the group, his status forcing the ponies to step back, causing a path through the crowd. When he made it to the center of the crowd he saw what they were all looking at. The body of a stallion, completely black except for the blood that dripped from the cuts along it. “This…is one of my Living Shadow guards." “We found him like this a few hours ago-“ “Why did you not tell me!?” Nexus roared at him. “I would have but... you were asleep in your chamber and you had a mare with you. I thought it would be impolite to interfere up on the two of you-“ “Silence!” Nexus roared causing Spire, along with everypony else, to bow in submission and fear. Nexus looked back at the body one last time. “All of you, prepare your selves for war. Today marks the day that our family kills those who stand against it. Those that oppose us will find too late that prudent silence is wise.” Every pony that was gathered there stomped their hooves a single time then started heading back into the caves. As Nexus entered the caves he saw June fighting past everyone to get to him. “My lord!” “June, I thought you were asleep.” “I was, I... just woke up. What’s going on?” “War has started my love; the Principles have declared the first attack.” Nexus continued walking into the tunnels and June followed him. “My lord wait.” June called out to him but he ignored her and continued walking at a faster pace; when she finally caught up to him she saw he was already dressed in his armor. A sheath hung loosely at his side as he placed his sword inside it. “My lord please don’t do this, you can’t go.” “My love, I promise you I shall return.” Nexus told her as she held her head up. “My lord-“ “Do not address my as ‘my lord’ anymore. It is too plain for your lips. I request that you call me by my true name.” June smiled at him faintly. “Very well... Nexus.” She murmured, kissing him a final time. He walked off and joined the members he had told to get ready. Before they left he told the other members that he would escort thirty soldiers to aid him in the fight against the Principles. "My brothers, my sisters, I and a small, dedicated group, leave this day to restore peace and balance to our order; to seek revenge on the loss of our brother. A moment for him." As his speech ended the soldiers around him bowed their heads in remembrance. When they opened their eyes a few moments later, the warriors had left them, their leader in front, his anger tangible. Months have passed since that day. During dusk of the end of the fourth month Nexus finally returned, but something appeared wrong. “Nexus!” June shouted as she ran over to him. “June?” Nexus looked up and dropped his blade as she approached him, when she was close to him she placed her hoof on his shoulder and kissed him. “Nexus I’m glad you have returned safely.” “It is... a relief to see you once more love.” “Is something wrong?” June asked, seeing his body was covered with large scars. “Nexus... you're hurt.” “I know. I’m sorry June, but I have failed, I was defeated in war.” Nexus sighed as he walked past her and back into the caves. “Nexus wait, you have not failed yet.” “What do you mean, June?” “Nexus, while you were away other ponies came by wanting to join us, to serve you.’ “Is that so?” “Indeed, a few of them were special; one was an expert on explosives, another is a great miner, and a mare offered to allow the use of her forbidden spell books.” “You think a few black magic spells can aid us in a fight against alicorns!?” “Nexus, wait no, I’m sorry I didn’t mean-“ “No. No I’m sorry, I failed and because of that I’m just furious with myself. I never truly meant to take it out on you. Forgive me.” “I will always forgive you, but Nexus there’s something you need to know.” “What is it?” “While you were away some of the members insisted on leaving to aid you, I tried to stop them but they ignored me saying that I had no power over them.” “Hmm, in that case, June I hereby put you in the position of Den Leader.” “Excuse me?” “While I am away, you are in charge of the caves, if any pony is to rise against you, you have the right to execute them.” “Oh, Nexus, it’s an honor. Thank you.” “And June.” “Yes?” “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Have you gained weight?” June blushed and turned away from him, a hoof over her considerably larger stomach. “Well, I suppose so-“ “Your are refusing to tell me something June, what is it.” “Forgive me my love. I have been hiding this but, Nexus, I’m pregnant.” Nexus sighed with anger and sorrow. “Nexus, what’s wrong?” “I have burdened my family along with you, I’m sorry.” “Nexus don't say that, it’s ok, I don’t feel burdened.” “Really?” “No, I’m proud to the mother of our child, it’s an honor.” June smiled as she nuzzled up to him, and feeling joy in him he did the same. “My lord!” a stallion shouted from the forest. Nexus immediately turned around and saw him approach them, his pace slowing. “My lord, I have grave news.” “What is it Decay?” “The Principles said that they feel insulted because of how weak our forces were and now…now they are coming here to deal with you-“ “What!?” “Forgive me…my…lord.” The stallion wheezed as he collapsed to the ground and died, wounds upon his back. In a panic, Nexus rushed inside. “Nexus wait!” June shouted, when she caught up to him he stopped and faced her. “June listen to me my love, you are to enter my chambers and extinguish the flames!” “What-“ “Listen, extinguish the flames and enter the fire place, do not leave until I return-“ “But why-?” “Just do it, for the sake of your life you must do this.” June stood there frozen but eventually nodded at him and ran down the tunnels to his room. Once she was gone he ran to the main chamber and sat atop the stone sarcophagus placed in the center, waiting patiently. Hours passed and he heard screams coming from the tunnels, trying his best not to aid the fighters he remained where he was and waited as opposed to joining in the fray and getting them hurt more. “There you are! I was wondering where you ran off to!” a familiar voice shouted at him from behind. “You again. I was hoping one of the others would find me first.” “Yeah? Well too bad.” Discord replied, he stepped backwards to join the other alicorns entering the chamber. “I hope you all do not think I shall go down without a fight.” Nexus growled at them as he stood up. “We gave you a chance but you refused. For that you must suffer the consequence.” “Fine, but as I said, I shall not go down without a fight.” Nexus charged at them. Before he could reach the first row of seats a wall of flame appeared in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks; the wall quickly went around his protection spell and grew into dome trapping him within it. “Nexus Black, for your crimes against your kind, you are hereby banished to Tartarus where you shall spend the rest of your days.” They all stomped their hooves and the dome began shrinking until it vanished taking Nexus along with it. His vision soon turned dark. “Hey, wake up.” “Who dares command me?” Nexus growled as he opened his eyes, when his sight became clear he saw a strange beast standing in front of him with twisted horns on both sides of his head. “Who are you?” “I go by a few names, but they don’t matter, since you ain’t gonna be using any of them. But right now, all you need to know is that I rule this place.” “I s that so? Why are you wasting time greeting me then?” “Well it’s not every day you get to meet the son of the twin bridges. But anyway listen up…what was your name again?” the stallion laughed. “It was something Black…'Pitch Black'? Yeah that seems about right considering how you look.” “How dare you.” Nexus growled at him, he looked down at his hooves and saw that his coat was stained black and all the scars on his body were searing red. “Growl at me all you want, I really couldn’t care less. Anyway, listen up, you serve me now, you do as I say, I promise, that stuff here won’t be as bad as they are now-“ “Pitch Black-“ “What?” “The same color as my heart and soul-‘ “What are you talking about? You know what, forget it. Get up kid-“ “You do not command me.” Nexus laughed at him with a voice that started growing deeper as he stood, overcoming the beast's height. “You do not command me, for I command you.” “Again, what?” “Bow before me-“ "You want to make me-" and just then Nexus slammed his hoof down on his head forcing him to kneel. “What do you think you’re doing-?” “I’m taking your kingdom from you…Is there anything you wish to do about it?” "How about I kill you where you stand-" he attempted to get up and Nexus used his magic to rip the bones from his flesh. "Do not challenge me…You know I shall win-" “What are you doing!? You’re supposed to serve me!” “I shall do no such thing…for you see, you serve me now.” Nexus stared at him with complete hatred in his eyes. As the beast looked back, he saw that his eyes turned from the deep blue of the ocean to redder than the scars on his coat. “From this day on…you shall remain at my side.” Nexus pulled several more bones out of his body and melted them down into a hard material with his magic; sharpening it against the stone ground. The beast's spine was morphed into wood. “Get…get off me..” the beast struggled, he attempted to get up but Nexus tore the skin off his body and turned into in to a black leather. He then took the leather and wrapped it around the wooden stick that was once held up the beast. He took the bone blade and attached it to the handle. “What…what are you?” “I am your king.” He replied as he tore out his skull and placed it behind the blade; he then took what was left of his body and used it. The flesh was used as leather guard and the bones were added to the handle and blade for gruesome decorum. "You shall forever serve me." Nexus whispered to the skull; its eyes began to light up. He raised his new scythe and in a single swing cut off his horn. His horn fell to the ground and began disappearing into a black mist that would forever surround his new weapon as an enchantment. He raised it above his head and turned into a black cloud that disappeared shortly after. “Dawn shall fall beneath me and my new powers.” Nexus told himself, his back began to arch and his bones began cracking until wings grew, but his wings were unlike any Pegasus one would find, for they were the wings of bat. “I shall rise…and they shall forever fall…” Part 4: Redemption and Revenge"Naalnish, it's nice to see you again." A stallion greeted a mare as she entered the room. "Likewise." She replied as she took her seat. "Good evening Temporis-" a mare greeted him as she entered the room. "Discord, if you wish to fool me you'll have to think of a better disguise." "How'd you know it was me?!" The mare shouted with a deep, male voice. "Your wings. You see, one of them belongs to a bat." The mare looked back and noticed her wings didn't match. "Huh…look at that." Discord stomped his hoof and changed back to his normal form, he then approached the table and sat down next to Naalnish. Shortly after, the remaining Principles of Creation entered the room and sat down around the table. "Good evening to you all, it’s nice to see you all made it to this year’s gathering-" the stallion paused as he saw Discord raise his cloven hoof. "What is it Discord?" "When can I leave?" "Not for another hour, now sit down." Temporis growled at him, he sighed loudly and sat back down. "What a cruel land you live in…what kind of place would not allow a stallion to act as himself?" a deep, gravelly voice echoed through the room. As soon as it faded a black flame appeared on the table and floated around, leaving a trail of ash in its wake that formed a pentagram, following the light's path. The shape burst into flames and from it rose a colossal serpent; eyes red as blood and horns that curved to the corners of his mouth its mouth. The claws resembled jagged glass. "Ah, I know. You. All of you. You are all pathetic. Look what you have done to your 'sacred' land. You forbid a stallion from being who he truly is, morphing him to a being unlike him due to your own selfish wants." The creature growled. The echoes died along with the flames shrouding the beast. "Nexus Black, how dare you show your face in our land-!" "Silence…I have returned to see the family I have raised…" "What is the true reason of this interruption, beast!?" Temporis yelled at him. Pitch Black looked at him, staring down with his glowing red eyes. "…Redemption…and revenge." He wheezed before fading into black smoke and disappearing. Later as the day began to wind down, he arrived back at the cave where he was banished. As he entered the worn caverns he used to call home, he began to hear sounds of suffering. "Move faster wench!" a stallion yelled followed by a whipping sound. "You shall suffer for this you wretched swine-" a mare yelled back before her voice was cut off by her strangled scream of pain. "Silence! Keep digging you worthless wench!" The stallion yelled at her again, before whipping her. Pitch Black continued into the cavern, approaching the two ponies. When he was close enough he saw that the mare was indeed the one he had once loved. June. She fell to the ground in exhaustion. "What did I just say wench!?" The stallion yelled at her, he raised his whip to hit again, but before he could strike her again it was removed from his magical grip, he turned around to scold the unicorn he took it from him but instead of seeing one, he saw a stallion that stood several sizes above him. He attempted to run but Pitch Black took the whip and tied it around his neck; he then begin lifting him up by it. "Nexus? Is that you?" June asked as she stood up. "My love…it has been too long since I last saw the darkness in your eyes." Pitch Black calmly answered her. She began to smile weakly, tears dripping down her muzzle. "You, release the stallion!" one of other guards yelled as he and several others drew their swords. "Or what?" Pitch Black taunted them, a sly smile crossing his lips. He quickly jerked the whip downwards, cracking the stallions spine in two before then slammed the corpse on the ground leaving a bloody smear. "You are all to stand down…or you shall face the darkness." "Do your worst fiend!" the stallion called out. "Very well." Pitch Black opened his wings as a wave of shadows flew out of them coating the guards; their armor to rusting and becoming stained with blood. The shadows turned their horns to dust and stained them black. When their screams died down, deep laughter started. "You mortals are pathetic… you are unable to live through the slightest of pain…nor are you able to inflict any." Pitch Black walked over to one of his newly created Living Shadows, it looked up at him and laughed sinisterly. "At least now…you can serve a true purpose." He looked back at the other guard who’s body laid lifeless on the ground and approached it; he moved his wing over it and the body started twitching as if life was returning to it. As the guard stood up he turned and saw Pitch Black behind him, he attempted to run but Pitch Black used his magic to coat him with shadows. "My lord?" June asked as she approached him, he turned around and looked at her with, his eyes full of scolding anger. "Nexus, did you bring that stallion back to life?" "It appears so… please finish off what is left of the guards and gather the others." "Yes Nexus." Later as the day ended the brotherhood members gathered in the large chamber and waited for Pitch Black, hours passed until he finally arrived. He entered the room wearing a black cloak that covered his entire body, making him look like an oversized shadow as the cloak gently billowed with his every step. He stood tall above them. "My children…the gods have forsaken us…look at what they have done to your king." Pitch Black announced as he threw his cloak to the ground, revealing his blackened and scarred body. Cries of outrage and despair rung throughout the cavern. "We must have our revenge against them for their cruelty…and I know what to do…" He took a deep breath and began to speak. "Two years ago they banished me to a land where fire covered the earth… Upon arriving there I met it’s leader…and I slayed him." His children began to cheer. "He demanded I bowed to him but I refused… Because of his insolence, I ended his reign and used his flesh and bone to forge a blade… Using that blade forged from my enemies mere being, I shall bring down the gods that threaten to extinguish us. My children, our shadows will continue to flourish and grow. With every minute, and every second; we grow." He paused for a moment and turned around to open the sarcophagus. He removed the scythe from it, and swung the magical instrument downwards opening a rift in the cavern floor. The rift opened wider allowing the screams of pain and agony to flood the room, and as the screams echoed, something started crawling out allowing with them. The beast stuck it’s claw through the large tear and as it crawled through all the members of the group started moving back towards the wall to avoid being near it. "My children…say hello to the being that crawled within the pits of Tartarus…at least, until I released it." When the beast made it through the rift it looked up at everypony and revealed to them it’s face; eyeless and earless. "My lord, what is that thing?" June asked in fear as she inched closer to him. "It is the stalker... One of the many types of demons that crept within the flames I was sentenced to. It is also one of the new soldiers that will aid us in war." "Does that mean there are more?" "Of course there are but why bother with them when all I need is the one." Pitch Black replied to her, he approached the beast and using his magic he summoned a black chain and wrapped it around its neck. "My lord, are you sure it’s safe to treat that thing as a common animal?" "I own it now, which means if it dares attack me…I skin it alive." When he finished speaking the beast started thrashing about, attempting to free itself from the chain. When Pitch Black let go, it ran off into the tunnels roaring and screeching; trying to make it's way to the entrance. "…My lord-" "Wait here." Pitch Black demanded as he slowly followed the beast. When he made it to the cave’s exit, he heard the beast snarling and roaring. A familiar voice, pleading for help, was barely distingushable among the broken and harsh sounds the animal made. He put his cloak back on and stepped into the sunlight, coming across Discord being attacked by the demon that was now his pet. "You again?" "Oh, hey buddy, long time no see-Ah!" Discord tried to speak sarcastically before pained screaming erupted from his throat as the beast lunged, trying to rip off his head. "I was hoping I'd finally seen the last of you." "Well funny story, you see, the Principles sent me here to give you a message-Yike!" "What is it?" "Well, after the Principles saw you return, and as that thing, they decided that they didn’t want to take any chances this time. So, they decided it would be best if we finished this once and for all." Pitch Black took the chain that was on the beast and used it to pull it back away from the Alicorn. "What did you and the other 'Gods' have in mind?" Discord stood up and wiped the dirt off of himself. "War, one last battle between us and what is left of that organization of yours. If we win, you will forever be banished to the abyss-" "And if I succeed in this battle…you and the others must forfeit your souls to me." "Pfft, yeah like that’ll ever happen." Discord taunted. With that one quick line Pitch Black grew enraged. He released the demon and it leaped into the air to pounce on Discord who screamed, teleporting away just before the beast could slashed at him. When it got up it sniffed the ground to try and pick up Discord’s magic scent, when it failed it merely lay down and began to whine. "Do not feel sad my pet…you will have a second chance to claim his head." Pitch Black patted its head and walked back into the caves which were filled with the sound of clanging metal. He stopped at a small passageway leading down to the dungeons where he released the demon. It rushed down to the cells where it waited patiently for his next command, eternally grateful to be freed from it's fiery prison. Once he was sure that it was there he continued heading towards his chamber. Before he could enter the room he was stopped by June. "My lord-" "What is it June?" "Well, we never had a chance to talk since you got back-" "Out with it before I grow impatient!" Pitch Black growled at her. "What happened to you? Ever since you arrived, you have not been yourself... and your skin, why is it charred like that?" "I act this way because I have been cursed by the 'gods' that we fight against. As for the flesh that has charred, as you so eloquently put it, they banished me with cursed flames. They destroyed my body... inside and out." He entered his room and locked the door behind him, refusing to leave till the dawn of the next day. He did not answer to the knocks from his lost love, merely threw a knife at the door in an attempt to silence her. As the sun rose the members started putting on their armor and sharpening their blades. "Obelisk, where’s your brother? Why isn’t he fighting with us?" "I don’t know, he wasn’t in the barracks when I woke up." The stallion replied as he put his helm on. June sighed loudly at this news. "Great, we’re missing our best sniper, our iron supply is low, we don’t have a chance in He-" Just then, as she turned to walk away she bumped into someone. She looked up to see Pitch Black towering above her, dressed in dark armor. "Sir, lord, Nexus, what, why…uh…" June stuttered as she look up at the colossal stallion that towered above her. "June…I am leaving the sanctuary to find new soldiers that will aid us in this war…stay here with the other soldiers and aid them." "Yes my lord…wait, you want me to fight with the others?" "Is that a problem?" "No sir, I was just thinking that you’d want me to stay here out of harm’s way-?" "Why would I have you do that? It is a waste of a soldier-" "But my lord-" "Do not question me whelp! You shall do as I say... regardless of anything in the past." Pitch Black scolded her. As he walked away June looked to the ground as she tightened her armor. She ignored the tears dripping onto the metal of her weapon and looked forward, putting her loyalty before her heart. "All of you, head towards the spire and wait there until my command. If anyone is to disobey me…there shall be consequences." With that, Pitch Black faded away into the darkness of the cave amidst everypony continued getting ready. He walked unseen by anypony for hours until he reappeared, although instead of the small life-filled forest he was accustomed to, he appeared in a large, dead desert. As he walked deeper into the lifeless land the ground beneath him started burning; turning into hot glass as he placed his hooves, each section hardening with his touch and melting again as he moved forward. As he was walking toward a town he saw vaguely in the distance, he was approached by two ponies. They began to yell towards him in a foreign language. Instead of stopping, he used his magic to toss them aside, as though they were dolls. He continued toward the town, pleased to find it was not a mirage. When he arrived he was met by a stallion dressed in strange, exotic garb. A sword hung at his side and a feathery plume stuck from his hat. "You." Pitch Black growled at him. The stallion turned and looked at him, unfazed. "I demand your army…I require them to fight for me in a war against 'gods'. You wil give me them." As soon as the words left his lips, the stallion began to yell at him in anger, but because he couldn’t understand him, Pitch Black stomped his hoof and his eyes flashed green as he set a spell upon the words of the foolish stallion who defied him. "I shall ask thee once more…give to me your army-" "Never! My army shall remain here to serve me until death!" The stallion drew his sword and the guards around him followed suit. "What a shame, I was hoping you’d give them willingly. Pity." Pitch Black opened his wings and a black cloud of dust came released from the leathery muscles. It coated the guards as they screamed in pain. The cloud of dust blocked out the sun as it set upon the army. When the sky cleared, the stallion saw that the heavens above were now completely black; no longer the beautiful blue it had once been. "You forced me to do this…so goodbye to all you care about, for they now serve me." He looked around and saw everypony around him, everypony he had loved, everypony in his care was now faceless, bloody beast. "What have you done to them?!" "I showed them the power in the shadows." Pitch Black growled to him. The empty faces of the Living Shadows stared the stallion down until his world grew dark with pain and loss. He fell to the ground and Pitch Black began to herd his new minions towards him, smiling with his own efforts. Months later, Pitch Black returned to the members of the Brotherhood. They greeted him with joy and honor. "My lord, it is an honor to see you again." "Have we lost anyone during our defense?" Pitch Black demanded to know as he walked passed him towards the sanctuary. "Uh, no sir, everyone is still here-" "What are you hiding from your lord?" "…We…do not know where June is." Pitch Black turned around, and as he stared at the soldier, the stallion saw the red eyes hidden in the deep shadows of his black hood. "Please, forgive me my lord, I swear she was with us when we left." Pitch Black sighed. "My lord, may I ask where you’ve been?" "I’ve been across the world." "Doing what?" "…Building an army." Pitch Black smiled. When Obelisk turned around he immediately noticed he was face to face with one of the new Living Shadows Pitch Black 'recruited'. But there was not just one; Thousands-upon-thousands of other Living Shadows started appearing from the darkness of the night. "Advance to the Spire…and do not fail me." Pitch Black commanded. Later that night, as he arrived back at the Sanctuary, he entered the caves and heard the familiar sound of crying echoing off the stone walls. "June, you are to show yourself at once." A moment later June stepped out into the main tunnel, but her appearance was different. Her eyes looked like Pitch Blacks’, her mane was black and her coat was grey. "June…what have you done to yourself?" "I desired to be like you, but unfortunately…the spell failed and I turned into this." "Is that why you are not out at war?" "I’m afraid so…I’m sorry my lord." Pitch Black began growling at her, causing her to back away in fear. "My lord, please, I’m so sorry." "I know you are." Pitch Black growled, he opened his wings and everything went black. "Ugh, this is so boring!" Discord groaned as he slumped off the side of the sarcophagus. "Focus Discord, we’re here for a reason-" "And what might that reason be?" Pitch Black asked as he entered the chamber. "Nexus Black we order you to call off your army." Temporis demanded. "And why would I do such a thing? ...I plan on winning this war." "This is the only chance you’ll get Nexus-" "Good, I was thinking you’d waste your breath more… But if you truly wish for this war to end…I shall give thee an ultimatum. Either give me your souls…or perish in battle." "Ha! Like we’d lose to you-" "Discord hush!" "Very well…have it your way…the war begins at night fall…I shall be waiting at your spire, so do not be late." After that, he teleported away leaving them there contemplating their next move. "…Well, I hope you're all happy, thanks to you I have to fight That thing-" "Shut up Discord"” Temporis sighed as he headed out of the cave. As night fell, Pitch Black returned to the camp site to regroup with all the other members. "Obelisk, ready the soldiers, this wretched war is about to begin." "Yes my lord." Obelisk saluted. He pulled a canister out of his vest. He pulled the pin off of it and threw it into the air. As it's height peaked, it exploded into an awesome mass of blue flame, signaling the other members. "All of you, spread out and cover the area, if you locate the false gods use your flares, do not attack them on your own. You shall not succeed and our ranks are too thin to lose any of you and still hope for a victory." All the soldiers saluted to him; pairing up with several Living Shadows, they entered the dark forest. "My lord, I was wondering, did you find June?" "I did…but….not in the condition I was expecting.” "What do you mean?" "When I arrived at the caverns I found her body in a poor condition…the flesh was torn from her bone and her skull was removed." "Yikes, I didn't know that they were such monsters." "They are more brutal things on this earth than that…which is why we must kill them." Pitch Black glared at him. He ran off into the forest and met up with his team. "Obelisk, what took you so long we were starting to think he killed you?" "For a second I thought he would." As they stumbled around in the dark canopy of the forest they reached a path that went down a hill, and in a split decision Obelisk took two of the living shadows with him as he ventured down the path. "You take the route, I’ll check down here." "Ok just try not to get killed by anything." "I'll try." Obelisk laughed as he continued onward. A while later the mare in his group approached the end of the path, as she gazed through the trees she saw one of the Alicorns. She didn't attempt to attack him, but pulled a canister from her vest and threw it into the air. "Hey!" The Alicorn yelled at her, but before he could even get close the flare exploded and the air went silent. Moments later there were screeching sounds coming from all around as the Living Shadows approached. "You might want to run." The mare smiled at him, then out of nowhere the beasts jumped out of the shadows of the tree, as they got closer to him he teleported away. "Oh that ain't good." The mare told herself. "Why did you allow him to get away?" Pitch Black asked, the mare turned around as soon as he heard his voice. "My lord, I swear I didn’t mean to-" "Move." "…What?" "Move…now?" "Why-?" Just then a colossal ball of fire crashed down atop the Living Shadows, killing them instantly. "Nexus Black I know you’re here, show yourself!" the stallion demanded. "Stay here." "Yes my lord." Pitch Black opened his wings and flew up past the trees. "Nexus Black it’s time we ended this silly feud." "I couldn’t agree more." Pitch Black teleported and reappeared above him, the stallion flew downward; Pitch Black grabbed the stallion and slammed him into the ground. "It shall take more effort than that to defeat me." "I know." The stallion replied. Pitch Black turned and saw him standing there in perfect condition. "You appear more skilled then I thought." "I must be, otherwise I would fall to someone like you." "I take it that your challenging me." Pitch Black growled. "Stand down Nexus!" a mare announced, he looked up and saw her along with the rest of The Principles of Creation. "You cannot defeat all of us Nexus." "I’m afraid that is where you are wrong." Pitch Black stomped his hoof summoning the Living Shadows. They crept along the ground and rose up as they grew nearer to him, slinking like foxes. "Pray to your god, while you still have a chance." He stomped the ground again, his magic turning the living shadows into normal ponies who then burst into black flames shooting into the air; black rockets full of hatred. The principles stepped away from the pillar as they heard their screams of pain and suffering. As the pillar burned, the plant life surrounding it died off and the air grew a chill to it. When the flames died down they saw Pitch Black had transformed into a dragon whose heads stretched past the clouds and whose body went on for miles. "What is that thing?" Temporis asked himself. The heads of the beast loomed from the skies and sneered upon them standing there, transfixed. It let loose a mighty roar, heard for miles around, striking fear into their hearts. It lifted it's clawed foot and slammed it down. It's power shook the very earth it stood upon. It began moving from the forest, toward the ocean. "Temporis where is it going?!" "I don’t know but we need to stop it!" Temporis called back as he flew upwards. As he approached the beast he heard voices radiating from it as they whispered to one another, he was even able to make out a few of the voices considering they were that of guards who used to serve him. He readied his horn and jetted downwards striking the beast's back. It let loose another roar causing him to think that it was hurt, but when he turned around he saw one of the heads ready to bite him in two. He rushed out of the way as it bit at him. "Temporis what happened?" "I don’t know, my attack didn’t do anything." Temporis replied as he joined the others. Naalnish separated from the group and flew in front of the beast, she charged her magic and shot at it using a powerful beam. But as the magic struck it, annoyance was the only effect. As a retaliation one of the heads opened its mouth, showing a spark of crackling electricity. It began to grow with every second. When it bit down the electricity shot at her, she flew out of harm's way and it struck the earth shocking the ground. "Naalnish get back!" Temporis yelled, she flew back to them as the beast stepped into the water of the ocean. "Temporis, we can’t stop it, it’s too powerful." "It has to have some sort of weakness." The beast roared as it dunked one of it's heads into the sea. A growl resonated, reaching The Principles who were watching helplessly. A moment later the water was alight with electric sparks. The bodies of dead sea creatures floated to the surface, their golden souls rising from the depths of the water to fuse with the dragon. "Temporis what do we do!?" One of the Principles screamed, but Temporis did not answer. Seconds later the beast made it to land and headed towards a village that rested upon the horizon. "Temporis!?" The mare yelled again. "Pitch Black!" A mare's voice rang out as suddenly the skies were filled with a golden light that glinted off the ruined world. When the lights began to fade a mare revealed herself, an alicorn with a white coat and a flaming red mane. "This ends now Pitch Black." "Faust…it is has been a long time since we last saw one another." "Yes. I was hoping that time would have changed you for the better, but it clearly didn’t." "Why is it that you are here?" "You have thrown off the balance of this world Pitch Black." "Is that so? I did not think I would succeed this early." "This is your last chance, stop what you are doing or suffer the consequences." "Why should I do as you say? I am the more powerful one…so you should be doing as I say." "Do not patronize me." "Very well… I shall kill you then!" The center head loomed downward to bite her, but before it even got close, Faust lifted her horn and shot a powerful beam of light at him. It tore the flesh from his blones like a starving child would rip a turkey; quickly and messily. "You had your chance Pitch Black, now you must suffer." "I shall not go down without a fight!" Pitch Black yelled as he charged at her, and as got close she readied her magic and shot at him using a more powerful beam of light that began to turn his flesh to ash and his bones to glass. "Pitch Black I hereby banish your soul to the depths of Tartarus where it shall rot till the end of time!" Faust yelled, and as her words echoed his body started fading to ash. "Be warned Faust, I shall return and I shall take the souls of all those you care about!" Pitch Black yelled before the ashy pile of his body fell to the earth in a ragged pile. "Mother Faust!" Temporis yelled out as he and the others landed and bowed to her. "Temporis, is there a reason that you couldn’t defeat him?" "I’m sorry, he was too powerful, our... our magic did nothing to him." Faust smiled and rolled her eyes. She walked over to the ashes that remained on the ground, she shifted them and as she did, souls flew from them. "No!" A young filly yelled out. They all looked up and saw her running towards the remains of what used to be the mighty creature known as Pitch Black. "What did you do to him!? What did you do to my love!?" She cried out as she hugged the black glass bones. "Little filly, what are you doing here?" Temporis asked as he approached her. "You killed my king! You monster!" She yelled, she ran towards him and started hitting him. "What are you talking about, he was the monster-!" "You're the monster! He was my king! He wanted to show the world power but you killed him! You wanted him silent!” She yelled at him, as he tried to pick her up she beat him. "You little-" "Temporis leave her alone; she’s just a little girl." Faust told him. "This little brat bit me!" "Temporis stand down." Temporis sighed as he walked back towards the others. "My king will reborn! And when he is he'll be welcomed back with love and honor! He'll be welcomed back by-by the Brotherhood-" She paused as she looked down and noticed she was stepping in his ashes. "He'll be welcomed back by the Brotherhood of the Black Hoof!" She continued yelling as she lifted her hoof and pointed it at them. "And when he’s back he’ll have an army to serve him! A loyal army! One that will obey him and only him, and never obey you false gods!" After that she ran off crying into the forest. "And since that day, that little filly has been going around the world, recruiting every pony for the new Brotherhood. She told them about the true king, the one that would return and give them the gift of power and courage." "Aunt Summer? Whatever happened to that pony?" A young filly asked as she raised her hoof. "Well, last I heard, she was looking over one of the many Brotherhood dens." "Is it true that the false gods died?" Another young pony asked as he raised his hoof. "Sadly no, only some are gone, the others live on." She answered. She stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. "Alright, that's it for story time." She told them and them all sighed. As they got up and headed out the door a stallion with a black coat, bat like wings, and red eyes walked in. "Nepheus!" A young filly called at as she ran over to him and hugged his leg. "Get off me." He grunted as he started shaking his leg. The filly clung tighter and began to cheer at what seemed like a game. He placed his hoof on her head and pushed her off him. "See you later Nephy!" She laughed as she ran off. "Looks like someone has an admirer." The old mare chuckled. "Mother I wish you would stop telling them these stories." "Why? They like it-" "Yes but every time you tell one I get another brat clinging to my leg." "Oh cheer up, in the future you might get married to one of them." "That shall never happen-" "Nepheus what happened to your horn?" "I had it removed, after hearing of my father I refused to be anything like him-" "Yet you still carry the same dark black coat and scars as him." The stallion growled quietly. "And don’t growl at me, I might be old but my magic still works." The mare snapped at him as she used her magic to pull on his ear. "Fine, just release me." The stallion snapped back at her. "Commander June, we’re waiting for you so we may start the conference." A stallion told her as he looked in through the doorway. "Alright. I’ll be there in a minute.” The guard nodded his head and walked off. "Will you be joining me this time or will you lock yourself in your room again?” "I suppose I’ll join this once, but the second it is over I shall be going back to my research." "Alright, at least I got you out of your room." The mare smiled as he walked out of the room. When he was gone she picked up a picture she had next to her bed. A stallion smirked from the frame, his spiky dark blue main sticking out from his pale turquoise muzzle. He smiled next to a beautiful pale blue mare next to him, her eyes widened in adoration at the site of him as her purple mane draped over one eye. "Mother!" "Alright I’m coming.” She called back. June put down the picture and left the room, trying to focus on her future instead of her past. Brotherhood RanksBrotherhood of the Black Hoof Rank List Scout: Abilities: None Weaknesses: MUST obey all orders given from higher ranked members Job: Go out and gather supplies Assassin: Abilities: Can faze in and out of shadows Weaknesses: Cannot step into direct sunlight Job: Kidnap young fillies /or/ assassinate Brotherhood threats Split Branches Pegasus: Bomber: Strengths: access to tactical equipment Weaknesses: not allowed to show faces Job: use equipment to distract civilians (Smoke canisters/ Flash bangs/ concussion grenades/ ect) Cometier: Strengths: Access to Iron Bombs, Physical strength Weaknesses: must not hit civilians without command from superior, must not hit allies Job: throw bombs into crowed to scare them into different directions, allowing allies to capture them Earth Pony Jailer: Strength: Most trusted of members, access to den prisons, physical strength Weaknesses: disobedience will result in death NO EXCEPTIONS, aid/communicating with prisoners will result in death NO EXCEPTIONS, cannot step into direct sunlight Job: watch over prisoners, prevent their escape, if escape is attempted, prisoners must be killed by jailer NO EXCEPTIONS Miner: Strength: enhanced vision, night vision, Weaknesses: will go blind in direct sunlight, cannot step into direct sunlight Job: mine underground to capture and bind civilians fleeing from cometier’s bombardment Unicorn: Brotherhood Researcher: Strength: Access to brotherhood potion/poison stashes, funding from brotherhood for research and other experiments Weaknesses: not allowed to aid outsiders in anyway, must stop research to aid if needed Job: make potions and poisons to be used by brotherhood members Brotherhood Saints: Strength: Enhanced magic, access to ‘Shade bound spell books’ Weaknesses: cannot step into direct sunlight Job: create, test, and perfect magic spells to be used by brotherhood members Upper Ranks: Living Shadow: Strengths: Can faze in and out of shadows with ease, access to the Shadow Plains, can use magic in Shadow Plains, enhanced senses Weaknesses: Direct contact with sunlight will result in agonizing pain and eventually death, deprived of verbal communication, decrease in sight, Job: find the enemy, stalk them, spy on them, kill them Chameleon: Strengths: can mimic a copy any pony in anyway perfectly Weaknesses: if on a job, cannot brake character, braking character while on a job will result in execution. Job: disguise self as an outsider and infiltrate enemy/outsider areas to gain Intel and trust to use against them. Den Leader: Strengths: Control over Brotherhood den, all commands are final, Weaknesses: can be executed be followers if attempting to sabotage den, cannot abuse money privileges, cannot step into direct sunlight Job: Make sure den members don’t kill each other…that’s about it, you can kill them if you want, but just make sure they don’t kill each other Master Ranks: Contracts (Elements of Corruption) Strengths: varies on element Weaknesses: none Job: find and kill rival/opposite element of harmony Optional Ranks: Split path Mare: Banshee: Strengths: Can summon army of Shadow Walkers at will by using screech ability, screech reaches 10,000 decibels Weaknesses: You’re not scary, must remain secret, cannot step into direct sunlight Job: Free Range Stallion: Beacon: Strengths: Army of Brotherhood members at your disposal, all Living Shadow abilities, screech can be heard by all Brotherhood members within 10 mi. radius, screech reaches 500 decibels Weaknesses: same as Living Shadow Job: locate enemies and use screech to summon other members to your position
Prologue: Legend of Pitch BlackSeveral thousand years before the regal sisters took rule over Equestria, there lived a stallion with a heart darker the night sky, a stallion named ‘Pitch Black’. This stallion hated everything and every pony, and to show his hatred towards them he forced them all to build a palace for him, mad completely out of black crystals. As the building started, a group of ponies came to rescue all his slaves and set them free, but it was pointless, when they attempted to free them, they refused to leave for they have began to worship the stallion, thinking that he was their true king, when he heard, he decided not to have them build the place, but instead, become his children, his children of shadows. He started a guild called ‘The Brotherhood of the Black Hoof’, within it, everyone hade hearts of black. As an initiation, the stallion would put his ‘children’ through pain, pain that would break them, and once they were broken, he’d rebuild them in his image, and he’d cover them with shadows and remove the fear that lives within them all. On a fateful day, the stallion’s father appeared in front of him and demanded he ended the guild, but the stallion refused and slain his father, and upon doing that, he awakened the anger that lived within the souls of his sister and his brother causing them to attack, but he was prepared, he summoned his second sister and the four fought for many years. When the fight ended, it left the sister and brother of good weak and sent them into hiding. The sister hid within her sanctuary, a colossal library made of stone, a house of knowledge and peace, and within this library she remained for the rest of her days. The brother hid within the soul of a mortal colt, the young child had learned forgiveness and as a reward for him, he granted him the gift of eternal life and the power of an Alicorn. As the two hid, the evil sister and brother continued their reign of terror and hatred upon the peaceful land, cursing the ponies who lived there with shadows, forcing them to become his kin. After many years have passed, a group of powerful alicorns known as ‘The Principles of Creation’ stood up to his power and fought him in his own domain, and for many years the power of the Principles and the Brotherhood fought each other, until the faithful day. During a battle between the forces, the Principles of Creation pushed through the Brotherhood’s forces and made it to the sanctuary housing them all, the entered his domain, and banished him to the deepest pits of Tartarus. As he arrived in the realm his body was scorched black and covered with searing red scars, and when he awoke in his new prison, his was met by its king and ruler who told him, that he is now a slave in his world, but he didn’t listen. Pitch Black rose up against him; he slain him and took his realm as his own, and with his new power, his new army, and the world beneath his own, he swore revenge against the Principles of Creation, he swore to make them suffer even if it took the rest of his mortal life, and as his hatred started to consume him, his form began to change, the hatred stained his eyes red, causing fear into anything or any pony who saw them. He grew wings on his back, but unlike Pegasi, these wigs were not of birds, but of demons, and his horn was broken, to teach him pain, to prevent him from breaking. Many years later, as the Principles of creation celebrated the anniversary of their victory, Pitch Black Rose back up from Tartarus, but he was now different, from a normal stallion to a dark black beast, and now, to a corrupt black scaled dragon. They saw him, they saw the monster he has become, and at this time, they could do nothing to stop him. He fled from them and went back to his home, to the cavern he has tainted with his hate, and waiting there for him was his children, the Brotherhood. He told them of the new world he has found, of the new home he was reborn in, and upon hearing of this ‘New world’ they praised him, they worshiped him more than they used to. He set off around the world; he went to find new children to follow him into the underworld, to worship him, to fight with and for him, and upon doing so, he met thousands that offered to fight against purity and harmony, he met the thousands of souls he would sacrifice for his own gain, he met the true Brotherhood. After several days have passed and he had returned to the place of his banishment in his pony form to meet with the Principles of Creation, he offered them an ultimatum, if they gave him their powers he would order his army to stand down and to not attack, but they refused to give up their powers and so he told them, that at midnight at the year’s end, he would send his army to attack them, and kill every pony in the surrounding towns, and he didn’t lie, at the end of the year at midnight, his army attacked them and outnumbered them, from the original 100 that joined him, the army grew, from the small number it went into the thousands. The war went on for many years until almost the entire Brotherhood was slaughtered, Pitch Black stepped forward and along with him were 15 other ponies, thinking that it would be easy, the Principles readied themselves for a fight, but he did nothing, they grew confused, and as they prepared to attack, a column of black flames shot from the ground, the 15 ponies inside were burnt to ash, but Pitch Black was left unharmed as his body began to morph, when the flames died, his true form was revealed, he was a Hydra, with heads that reach past the clouds. They tried their best to defeat him, but they were no match for him, until she appeared. A being of purity and the leader if the Principles of Creation, Mother Faust used her magic to destroy Pitch Black once and for all, and once he fell, she used her magic to lift the curse placed on all those who followed him, it worked, but only one remained, a young filly at least 7, she was the only surviving member of the Brotherhood, but since she was the youngest of those who fought, she was set free, and once their backs were turned, she resurrected her family, she became the leader, and the shadows were reborn but different, the Brotherhood used to fight, but now, they are outcasts of their own kind, thieves, murders, liars, they went from the war hungry, to the criminals, they have been reborn.
Part 1: Legend of Pitch Black“Out of my way peasant child!” a stallion yelled out as he smacked a young filly, knocking her to the ground. Her parents ran over to her to make sure she was alright. As they took care of her, the stallion continued walking out of the town and into the wilderness. He walked into a clearing in the dense forest and when he was sure he was alone he took a scroll out of his saddle bags; opening it and placing it on the ground. When it was flat he stepped back a few feet and sat on the ground, remaining motionless. Hours had passed since he placed the scroll, and when he was about to stand up and reclaim it, a rabbit jumped out of a bush and he sat back down. The rabbit started moving closer and closer to it, eventually right next to the parchment. It started sniffing the scroll and when the fluffy creature touched it, an electric burst of energy shot out. The fluffy fur of the creature turned completely black and its eyes disappeared along with the picture and words on the scroll. The stallion began to smile, he stood up and approached the wild animal and as he got close it disappeared, somehow it fell into its own shadow. He walked up to its shadow and used his magic to pull it out of it. “Well, looks like my spell worked.” He held the rabbit up higher and using a swift motion he snapped it’s neck and threw it to the ground. He stood next to it for a moment and at random, the black fur of the dead thing started turning blue. The entire body started blowing away in the wind as dust. He looked back over to the scroll and the blue dust started rebuilding its self until it turned back into the rabbit. “Excellent, the spell is perfect.” he smiled. He picked up the scroll and placed it on top of the rabbit. He removed the paper and the rabbit's fur returned to a normal tan color and the brown eyes returned. As the rabbit tried hopping away he picked it up again. “Where are you going little one? Don’t you want to see the downfall of pony kind?” The rabbit began struggling to loosen his magic grip. “I’ll take that as a 'No'.” The stallion snapped it’s neck and threw it to the ground again. This time however, it did not turn to dust, but lay there waiting for decay to remove it's body from the cold ground as it's soul had just been. He smiled at himself then started heading back to the town. Upon his arrival, he was immediately met with several of the royal guards. “Good evening gentle-colts, how can I help you-?” he asked sarcastically as he stood at the edge of the forest. “Nexus Black, you are under arrest for practice of black magic!” one of the guards yelled at him. “Just black magic? I believe you are mistaken, good sir. Last time I check I also performed a bit of necromancy and murder, and just this morning child abuse-" “None of this is helping your case-" “It’s not supposed to.” He smiled at them cynically. One of the guards started to run at him, sword drawn. When he was close enough Nexus pulled the spell scroll out of his bag, throwing it at the guard's face. It stuck to him and he began screaming in agony as he struggled to get the scroll off him. During the guard's useless struggle, Nexus merely stood at the forest edge, watching him with a dark smile creeping on his face. As he stood there contemplating his evildoing, the screams from the guard started to die down until he was completely silent. His coat started fading black. As his armor began to rust, his horn cracked, turning into blue dust. “Perfect, the spell is now completed-“ “What did you do to him!?”One of the guards yelled at him. He smiled and approached the infected guard. “Not much just...altered him. Nothin' special.” He removed the scroll and just like the rabbit his eyes were gone. However this time, the scroll still had the pattern and words on it. He looked at the scroll as though he were a professor intrigued by a student. “Fascinating-“ “Change him back!” the guard demanded. Nexus ignored him and looked at the infected guard who in turn smiled in darkly sinister way at him. “Did you hear me!? I said change him back-“ “I’m sorry I don’t take orders from peasants” Nexus smiled and began to walk away, and as he did the guard charged at him. Just like before Nexus threw the scroll at the guard's face. When the scroll was attached to him the effects started appearing faster, the stallion didn't have time to scream; the magic of the scroll started changing him immediately and in less than a second, he became just like the other guard. “You should have known better than to attack me while my back was turned, foolish mortal.” He removed the scroll from it's target, and both guards growled at each other like animals. Nexus stepped away from them thinking they were going to fight, but instead they just growled at each other. “Silence!” Nexus yelled at them and they both stopped; he began smiling. “Speak.” After that the two guards began laughing hysterically. “Fight” One of the guards tackled the other and they began fighting. “Stop!” They stopped dead in their tracks, remaining motionless. Nexus smiled and looked up at the other guards; whispering to himself. “Kill.” Out of nowhere the other two guards began screeching and moving towards the still sane guards, forcing them to move back. “Nexus Black this is your last warning! Change them back or else!” “Or else what? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the most powerful Unicorn there is. Now, Kill them my spawn!” Just then, one of the infected guards leaped onto him, biting down on his spine and tearing it right out of his body. “Polish!” another guard yelled right before he was head-rammed by the other infected guard. The infected guard leaped at him and disappeared into his shadow leaving nothing but his rusty armor behind. The guard began to panic, and before he could fully react, he started coughing up blood. A moment later his body exploded in a bloody mess that sprayed everywhere. After that, the two infected guards turned around and faced the one that was left, as they began to attack him Nexus yelled. They froze in place at his command. Nexus walked past them and over to the guard that was attempting to scurry away from him. “Don’t be afraid child, I promise I won’t hurt you-“ “Liar!” he yelled at him. “I do not lie for I am a stallion of my word. Therefore, when I say I will not harm you, it is the truth.” “Really?” “Of course.” He took the scroll and swiped it right in front of his face. The spell still worked without contact due to it's strength. His coat started turning black and his armor began to rust just like those before him. “See, now that didn't hurt at all did it?” he smirked. The guard stood up and began laughing along with the others. “Silence.” Nexus turned around and noticed every pony standing around him. “What do you all think you’re doing? You have work to do.” “What do you mean?” a stallion asked as he stepped forward. “From this day forward, this land is under my rule. For my first order as your king, I demand you build me a castle worthy enough to be deemed my home.” “Why should we have to do anything for you!?” Another stallion yelled out from the crowed. Nexus stomped his hoof on the ground and the stallion was shot into the air, landing on the ground in front of him. When he tried to stand an infected guard came from his place behind Nexus and shoved his head into his lord's shadow, which then shrank decapitating the foolish stallion. “Any other questions? Objections?” Nexus looked around, everypony else was too terrified to speak up, leaving silence hanging in the air broken by his speech. “That is what I thought.” He stood up on his hind legs and slammed his front hooves on the ground, causing all of the buildings and trees surrounding them to collapse. From their ashes the ground turned into a pitch-black transparent glass-like surface. "The ground you are all now standing on is called ‘Black Crystal’. You are to use it to forge my new castle." After that Nexus smiled and began to walk back into the forest, leaving the villagers with the infected guards who began hissing and growling at them in an attempt to scare them into doing work. Years had passed since that day; during the construction of Nexus' new castle a stallion approached him as he sat in his throne. The stallion bowed in front of him and then spoke in a frightened, feeble voice. “Uh…my Lord we uh…have a slight problem with the construction of your new castle-“ “What is it?” “The structural design of it is…unstable, if we continue building it, it could collapse and possibly kill us-“ “Yes, continue building.” Nexus interrupted him. “But Sire, didn't you hear me-“ “I did, and I do not care. If you or any other dies while constructing my castle, I shall resurrect you from your state of death and force you to continue building.” “Can you at least call off the guards-“ “Are you giving me a command, you insufferable-!?” “Sir please! With those guards constantly attacking us when slow down... we might wind up dying during construction-“ “Living Shadows.” “…I-I’m sorry?” “They are known as Living Shadows, if you address them any other way I shall have you executed.” Nexus waved his hoof and the two smiling mares sitting next to him began fanning him off. The stallion grew angry at him but since he was unable to attack without being killed or worse, he merely got up and walked back to the construction site. Several months later the same stallion appeared with nine others that were dressed in the gear of explorers. As they approached him the lead stallion slapped a chalice out of his magic grip. It spilled on the ground beside him, staining the floor with the drink. “What is the meaning of this?” Nexus asked in a calm tone of voice. “Nexus Black, I am here to end your reign of terror-“ “Is that so? Well then, too bad that my reign is not of ’terror’, for you see, these ponies choose to be my slaves. Isn’t that right?” Nexus asked the mare sitting to the left of him, using his magic to pull her head back by her mane. “Yes my lord, it is an honor to be by your side!” the mare replied with a smile on her face. “…Is there something wrong with you?” Nexus asked as he stood up. “Nothing is wrong my lord. I am so very honored to be one of the only to mares be your side.” Nexus looked away from her and towards the construction site. “Is something wrong my king-“ “Come with me, all of you.” Nexus began walking off, followed by the ten ponies that had come to dethrone him and the two mares that he always had by him. When they arrived at the site everypony started cheering for Nexus. “What’s going on here-!?” “Praise our true king!” a stallion shouted above all the cheering. As everypony cheered for him the ten that had risen up against him grew irritated. “Enough, what is wrong with all of you!?” one of the rebellious stallions yelled, causing the cheering to die down. “This beast has enslaved all of you, why would you praise him!?” “Because this supposed ‘beast’ has taught us power!” a mare yelled as she stepped forward, eager to defend her king. “He showed us the power within the shade!” a stallion added. “We praise him because he is the true king of this land!” and just then all the cheering started up again. “It looks as though I was right. They really do wish to serve me.” Nexus smiled to himself; out of nowhere the stallion from before turned around and tackled him. “You fiend! Look what you've done to them! You corrupted their minds-!” “I did nothing but show them the true world.” As he stood up the stallion lifted his hoof to harm him, but out of nowhere a mare ran up to him, using her horn she pierced his throat. She pulled her horn out, and he rapidly bled to death. “Don’t you dare attack my king!” she yelled, afterwards she faced the others and glared at them angrily. They began to back up but were stopped by Nexus' new followers. The rebels attempted to run but were tackled to the ground by four different ponies, who picked them up and tore their limbs off leaving them ragged bloody heaps of flesh, bleeding to death. “Incredible…I honestly did not think you would all worship me like this-“ “Of course we’d worship you my lord. Your are our deity, our god, our savior, you are...our King.” And just then everypony that was forced to obey him bowed down to him, treating him as though he was truly their king. The mare looked up at him from her kneeling position, “I speak for everypony when I say this; from this day on, we are yours to command.” Nexus smiled. “You shall all really do as I say unconditionally? Well…in that case, I feel just in showing some mercy.” “How so my lord?” “You may all stop building the castle, and in it's stead, you shall be my warriors of the Shade.” At his speech everypony started cheering again. “My lord, since we are joining as a new order, what should we be named?” Nexus pondered his thoughts for a moment, then finally spoke. “We shall be known as the Children of The Shade.”
Part 2: Father Pleads Siblings BleedSeveral days after the birth of the Children of the Shade, Nexus began leading his new family through the thick forest to find a new shelter; unfortunately, they were forced to hide with in a cave to prevent being caught by the light of the rising sun. As they hid within the cavern, Nexus ordered them the start mining to make room for all the others who were forced to stand outside. “My lord!” a stallion called out from behind. Nexus turned around to see him bowing. “I have some news from the lower tunnels.” “What is it?” Nexus asked in an irritated tone. “There was a cave-in and some of the workers were badly injured.” “Bring them up here; I’ll see what I can do.” “Yes my lord.” The stallion got up and walked hurriedly back down into the lightless tunnel. “What is it June?” Nexus asked as he immediately turned around; the mare behind him remained silent from shock from the fact that he knew she was there without even looking. “June!” “Sorry my lord!” she bowed down to him in fear. “I just wanted to let you know that, this cave might be a good home for our-uh…your, family-“ “What makes you think I want to live here?” Nexus growled at her. “Well, to be honest, the cave is completely dark and cold as ice in the lower levels, and due to its subtle nature, I doubt any pony would even notice that we have formed it into our own sanctuary.” As she looked up she noticed that Nexus was staring at her with complete rage, and without hesitation she began moving away from him. “I suppose you may have a point.” “I’m sorry sir I’ll never suggest something like that again-….wait-“ she quickly stood up and stared at him; when she saw his face she noticed it went from anger to annoyance. “You…you aren’t considering having us live here are you-“ “Twas your idea June, if you did not want it to happen then you should not have suggested it.” Nexus walked away into the lower tunnel leaving June with the others. As she was about to walk away she heard Nexus call for her and she immediately raced into the lower area. “Yes my lord- What in Tartarus!?” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she saw the bloody mess covering every inch of the cave. “What happened!?” “I do not know, that is why I called you down here-“ “ME-!?” “You used to work in a cemetery correct?” “…Well…Yes I suppose I did.” “And while you worked there did you not perform autopsies?” "I did, thank you for-wait…you want me to figure out what killed them?” June asked as she slowly backed away from him. “That is correct.” “But why me?” “Because you’re the only one smart enough out of all the imbeciles to decipher this mystery.” “Well, I suppose I could try...you think I’m...smart?” she asked at complete random as she looked up at him with a smile on her face. “Compared to all of them you are... a genius.” June looked away at his words and continued to smiled. “Well, I suppose I could try to figure out what kill them, it will take some time, but I should be done by tomorrow.” “Very well, I shall wait until then, and as for the rest of you, you are all to continue working!” Nexus shouted as he turned around; when the echoes of his voice finally died down the sounds of pickaxes clanging on stone started filling the cave. “June, I shall be in my chambers for the rest of the day, if you figure out what caused this, find me there and report to me.” Nexus said, his back to her. “Yes my lord.” June bowed to him and he walked off. During the early hours of the next day; June approached the door to his room and as she was about to knock on it she heard him from inside telling her to enter. As she entered she saw what the room looked like. It was well fabricated and lit, it had a large bed against the wall opposite from the door, a desk to the right of it and a fire place to the left which Nexus was sitting down in front of in a large comfortable chair. “My Lord-?” “This better be about the three deaths June.” Nexus scolded her. “It is my Lord.” She entered the room and closed the door behind her. “My lord, as I was preforming the autopsy I noticed that there were small amounts of magic dust hidden within the blood.” “So the deaths were caused by magic.” “Yes, but not just any type of magic, the spell used on them was a forbidden one-“ “A forbidden spell!?” In his outrage and confusion he stood up, the fire next to him growing larger and hotter with his every breath. ”Impossible, me and my sister are the only two capable of using such magic!” “So, your sister was the cause of their deaths?” “It could not have been. We are fighting together in this war. Therefore it had to have been someone else.” “Can you think of any pony else that can use this type of magic?” Nexus sighed loudly with sorrow and annoyance. “Did you think of anything?” “Yes, and disappointingly the user is someone very close to me. In relation of course, nothing more.” “Who is it?” “…My father.” "Why would your father kill innocent ponies?” “This I might have an idea about, but what puzzles me more is why he would only kill those three…unless…” Without a word Nexus moved towards the door; June moved out of the way and he walked out of the room, nervous about his attitude, she followed him. When they reach the tunnel where the three stallions died he stopped; he lowered his horn and, using a powerful amount of magic, he blew down the wall that the three had been mining. When it collapsed, a gust of cold air filled the entire cave sending chills down every pony’s spines. “My lord what was that?” June asked in a state of panic. “It was the souls of a thousand dead soldiers.” Nexus smiled sinisterly as he walked into the newly opened tunnel. When he entered the room his horn lit up and blue flames appeared forming a circle. As they burned, pain and anguish filled screams and groans resonated throughout the room. As he walked deeper into the chamber, his family of soldiers began to enter and follow him. As all the other ponies started roaming around the chamber Nexus continued moving towards the center. “My lord wait!” June called out as she rushed over to him. “My lord, what is all this? Why didn’t we die like the other three?” “We didn’t die because my father is weak from using black magic, as for what this is.” Nexus paused and opened a large stone sarcophagus in the dead center of the chamber; as it opened another gust of cold air filled the caves. “This is the crypt of my sweet late mother.” Nexus smiled sinisterly as he stared at the rotting flesh and the decaying bones in the sarcophagus. “My lord, what are you thinking?” “I’m thinking that it was about time that I paid my respects.” Without hesitation or mercy Nexus raised his horn and using his black magic, set his mother's remains on fire. As they burned he headed to the entry way. “You there.” He called out to the pony keeping guard. “When these fools are done sightseeing, order them to tear this place down and turn it into the main hall.” “Yes my lord.” The stallion replied as he bowed. When he stood back up Nexus moved past him and went back to his room. “My lord wait!” June called right as he left and she began to chase after him. “My lord.” She called one more time as she finally caught up with him. “What is it June?” “Your father, didn’t you say that he was the one who killed the others?” “Yes, why?” “Well, if he killed them for just mining near your mother’s crypt, won’t he do something even worse to you for burning her remains and ordering the rest of it to be torn down?” “I hope so, or else I would have wasted my magic for no reason.” “Wait, what?” “I wanted to summon my father, after everything he has done to me in my life, I want revenge against him, even if it’s the last thing I ever do. “But my lord, seeing what he did to those three, what if he’s too powerful for you to defeat-“ “Don’t you ever say that!” Nexus snapped at her as he pinned her to a wall. “My father is weak and spineless; he shall never be stronger than me.” June nodded her head in understanding, then afterwards was released. This time as he was about to enter his room he was approached again this time by a stallion he immediately bowed. “My lord, something is happening outside!” “What is it now?” “The skies, something is happening to them.” “Well…I will admit, I didn’t expect the old stallion to arrive this early.” As he started heading out of the cave he heard whispers coming from the other members, attempting to ignore them he kept walking and eventually arrived at the surface; he then started to approach a mare dressed in a black robe. “Elegy, what’s happening?” “My lord. I can’t really explain, but the weather is starting to change, it used to be sunny but now the clouds are rolling in, the wind is picking up and-“ “Take the others and enter the caves, I’ll take care of this.” The mare bowed and started guiding the other members into the cave. Once he was alone it started to rain and thunder. “You like to take your time don’t you?” Nexus asked himself; then out of nowhere a bolt of lightning hit the ground. Rising from the flames was a colossal stallion with a coat of gold, mane and tale of pure light, wings that formed a bridge between the light of his tail and the darkness of Nexus' heart. His horn was sharp enough to pierce the heavens. “Hello father.” “Nexus Black, you arrogant swine.” “It’s nice to see you as well father.” Nexus replied with a sarcastic smile and a bite in his voice. “How dare you defile your mother like this, you have gone too far, Child.” “So you think? I don’t believe I have gone far enough-“ “Silence! Because of your arrogance you are here by stripped of your rights, your powers, and your immortality!” “Is that so? Very well, but before you may, you must bow to me-“ “I shall do nothing of the sorts-!” “Well, if you want what is rightfully mine, you will.” Nexus’s father began growing irritated with his arrogance. “I’m waiting father.” “I shall not bow to you, and because of your arrogance I shall slay thee!” “Very well, do your worst.” After that his father cloaked himself in a harsh red light and started charging towards him. With little effort Nexus teleported out of his way, stopping to reappear by his father’s side. “You should have known by now father; you cannot defeat me, you never stood a chance and you never will.” “Face me like a stallion you swine!” Nexus’ father yelled at him as he turned to face him, but by the time he turned, Nexus was already gone. “What’s wrong father, too scared to face me?” Nexus taunted him from behind, his father turned around again and Nexus disappeared once more. “Stop running and face me!” “Why would I do that?” Nexus asked as he reappeared in front of him. “It’s more fun to hide than it is to fight.” He continued, his father turned around and saw a second him, and during his confusion, Nexus continue making clones of himself that taunted him, telling him that he’ll never beat him. “Father.” One of the many clones said, his father turned around and saw a single clone step forward. “You spineless coward! Where is the real you-!” “Oh, I’m as real as they come-“ “Then stand and fight me-!” “And why would I do that? If I run, I can survive longer-“ “It does nothing but waste your breath-!” “Actually father, it wastes yours, for you see, your time has come.” Then out of nowhere one of his many clones rushed up to him and using its magic slashed his side causing him to fall to the ground. As he attempted to get back up another clone jumped onto his back and slashed at his spine. “What kind of pony would send an imposter to attack!?” his father yelled at him as he struggled to get up. “The kind of pony who shows no mercy.” He stomped his hoof on the ground signaling all his clones to turn into a black smoke and fad into his father’s shadow, and as his father stood up, Nexus did the same. His father looked around thinking he fled again, but a moment later his chest started expanding and Nexus jumped out of it holding on to several of his ribs; and from all the pain, his father collapsed onto the ground once more. “I must admit father, I did not expect you to survive that-“ “You…arrogant swine, what kind of stallion are you? You don’t even...attack with your own might-” His father wheezed as he started coughing up blood. “Silence swine, I have had enough of your arrogance, and because of that I shall slay thee on the spot.” “You wouldn’t dare-“ “I would. Father, you are here by stripped of all you own, your pride.” Nexus paused as he used his magic to cut off his horn. “Your Alicorn powers.” He stomped his hoof and two of his clones appeared one either side of him, forcibly ripping his wings off. “Your immortality!” he reached his head into his father’s chest and grabbed his heart with his teeth and ripped it out of him, he used his magic to levitate his father’s heart and took a signal bite out of it before throwing it into the dense brush of the forest. “And you are hereby stripped of your life!” he raised his horn; he swung it creating a slash in the air, when it disappeared his father’s neck began bleeding, and as he toppled downward his head fell off and laid on the cold wet forest ground. Nexus stood there admiring the body of his late father. It began glowing with a light bright enough to cut through any shadow; the light began fading away after a minute and when it was gone, his father’s body had vanished, leaving nothing but a glowing yellow orb, no bigger than an acorn, behind in its place. As he looked at the orb he began laughing loudly. “At last, I won! I have defeated you father!” as he laughed he took the orb. Using a spell he placed it on a chain and started wearing it as if it was some sort of jewelry. As he placed the chain around his neck his laughter slowly died down. “From this day forward father, you serve me.” He turned around and started heading back into the cave, but before he could enter he heard a voice calling to him from the behind. “Brother, how could you do something this cruel?” a female voice asked him. He turned around and saw a mare and a stallion standing side by side with each other. “Brother, sister, I was wondering when I’d see you again.” He smiled arrogantly at them. “Brother, why would you do this?” his sister asked him with slight sorrow in her voice. “Why? Because I grew tired of that stallion, he has been getting on my nerves for too long and I thought now would be the best time to put him out of his misery-“ “Return his soul to us brother!” Nexus’ brother yelled at him. Nexus growled at him. “Hasn’t any pony told you it’s impolite to interrupt?” “We are not playing games with you Nexus, return his soul to us and we shall allow you to live-“ “And why would I do that, Purity!” Nexus snapped at him. “Why would I give up something I worked so hard to obtain, why would I sacrifice everything just to please you?” “Because you have no right to his soul, now return it to us-“ “Forgive me brother but I grow sick of hearing you command me.” He raised his horn and a ball of flame started growing over his head, he shot it into the air and it exploded sending down thousands of smaller fireballs that rained over his siblings. The two teleported out of harm’s way and remained concealed until the rain of fire had ceased. As they hid Nexus started to laugh loudly. “Do you fools think you can really hide from me?” Nexus turned his head and his eyes flashed with a dim black light causing a ring of black aura to appear in front of him. As it began to raise, his sister Widow started to become apparent and the aura began to hold her in the air by her neck. “Widow, my dearest sister, did you really think you could hide from me in plain sight?” “Brother…please!” she wheezed as she was raised higher into the air. “Beg all you want my sister, in the end it shall only prove futile.” Nexus smiled as his magic began tightening around her throat preventing her from brining more air into her lungs “Release her!” Purity yelled, Nexus turned around and there was a flash of intense light that blinded Nexus long enough for Purity to free his sister. “Do not think this will stop me brother!” Nexus yelled as he started looking around in every direction waiting for his vision to come back. “I did not expect that to stop you brother, I just expected it to slow you down!” Purity approached him; he held his horn high and it started glowing with a green light that he placed over him, as he backed away the light began fading into Nexus and restoring his sight. “There you are!” Nexus smiled sinisterly at them; he slashed his horn expected to send out a wave of magic attempting to attack them, but nothing happened. “What have you done to me…?” Nexus growled at him. “I placed an anti-magic spell on you, you are now forbidden to use magic of any type.” Purity told him, he started walking towards him to reclaim his father’s soul, but as he got close he started hearing singing coming from all around him. As Nexus’ siblings looked around trying to find the source of the singing he slowly turned around and walked to the edge of the forest, he sat there and began talking to himself. “Sister, I was wondering when you’d finally show yourself.” “Forgive me brother, I was busy.” A mare replied as she appeared out of nowhere behind him. “With what exactly?” Nexus asked as he stood up and at random the mare placed her hoof on his horn and his body flash with a black light allowing him to use his magic once more. “I was learning how to cure you of your curse.” She smiled at him and then continued singing. Nexus turned around and saw that his other two siblings were still trying to find the source of the sound. “You two are incompetent.” Nexus growled at them; and as they turned around they saw Nexus standing with their sister. “Siren, what are you doing here, you were banished!” Purity yelled at her. “Forgive me brother, but I just wanted to play with you.” Siren smiled at him as she started snuggling up against Nexus. “Return to your chambers sister, this fight does not concern you!” “As a matter of fact it does, Nexus summoned me here.” “Nexus! You know she was banished, why would you awaken her!?” Purity yelled as he turned to his brother. “Because I desired to make the playing fields more stable; I wanted the fight to be fair.” Just then, Siren turned into dust and coated Nexus. As Purity charged at them Nexus leaped out of the dust cloud and stabbed him in his heart using his horn, Purity fell to the ground in pain and Nexus walked over to him and stared down at him. “I will admit brother, that was pathetic, I was hoping you’d put up more of a fight.” He turned around and faced the cloud of dust that began turning back into his sister. “Siren, deal with the other one for me will you?” “Of course my big brother.” She smiled, then teleported behind Widow. Before she could react Siren began to sing. Her voice began to manipulate the plants around her causing them to grow faster and trap Widow in a cage made of the roots of trees. “Don’t try to escape Sis, I enchanted the plants to pull you back in if you tried to.” Siren then laughed at her as she walked back over to Nexus who walked over to her. “Well done sister.” Nexus congratulated her. “Aww, thanks brother, it was nothing.” she replied. Nexus then walked over to Widow who cowered in fear of him. “Widow, you have disgraced me, you challenged me and you refused to put up a fight-“ “What are you going to do to me!?” Widow yelled at him out of fear. “I’m going to do the one thing I should have done at your birth.” He waved his horn and a wave of magic went over her almost knocking her off her hooves, when she regained her balance her body started turning in to ash. “Widow!” Purity screamed as he attempted to attack but was unable to use his magic. “Don’t think I forgot about you brother.” Nexus smiled at him, he turned around and walked over to him. “I remembered the spell you used on me, so I did the same thing to you-“ “You monster-!” “Is that any way to talk to your king?” Nexus asked. He placed his hoof at his brother’s shadow and it started growing until his brother fell into it. He began thrashing in an attempt to get out but was constantly dragged down. “Enjoy the darkness brother, for you shall be spending the rest of eternity in that pit.” Nexus smiled sinisterly at him, he stomped his hoof on the ground and the shadow began closing, and when it did, it trapped his brother within it for the rest of eternity. “Well done brother.” Siren congratulated him as she started to head back into the forest. “Sister, before you leave, there is something I want you to have.” “What is it?” she asked as she stopped and turned around to face him. He raised his horn and using his magic he casted as spell that broke that shackles she was wearing. “I wanted to give you... your freedom.” Nexus smiled at her. She looked down at her hooves and grinned before she bowed to him. “Thank you brother, I am forever in your debt.” She stood back up and raced back into the forest, singing before she disappeared into the foliage.
Part 3: Rise of CreationLater, as night fell, Nexus returned to his chambers and as he entered he was immediately met with a strange stallion that was jumping up and down on his bed. “You there, who are you and why are you in my chambers?!” Nexus yelled at him, voice thick with complete rage. “Oh hush, be nice, I’m a guest.” The stallion smiled. Nexus rushed over to him but he teleported away. “Do not run from me, you cowardly peasant.” Nexus growled at the stallion as he turned around. “Why not? It’s easier to run.” The stallion taunted him. “State your name and reason as to why you are here.” The stallion teleported again and this time reappeared next to him; he stood on his hind legs and leaned on Nexus to annoy him. “If you’re going to give me an order, you could at least do it politely-“ Cutting off the stallion's arrogant speech, Nexus’ entire body lit up with a black flame that threw the stallion off of him. “State your name before I kill you!” Nexus yelled at him. “Very well, my name is Discord, I was sent here by the Principles of Creation.” “For what reason?” Nexus growled at him. “When we heard that you killed one of the strongest magic users we began feeling a bit…uneasy. So, they sent me here to make a negotiation.” “And that would be?” “Stand down if you know what’s good for you.” He then disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a scroll reading ‘give up’ on it in black text. Nexus growled to himself then used his magic to light the scroll with a black flame. As the scroll burned he went to his bed and climbed under the covers and began to sleep. The next day as he awoke he saw June standing at the entrance of his room; she had a nervous look on her face as if something went wrong and she didn’t want to tell him. “Good morning my lord-“ “What happened?” Nexus growled at her as he stood up. “We…we have company.” She told him. He sighed loudly then got out of his bed, as he opened the door he was greeted by a familiar face. “Hello old friend!” Discord popped up out of nowhere and startled him, sly grin on his face. “You!” Nexus roared, he charged at him but missed and stabbed his horn into the wall. “Well, some pony woke up on the wrong side of the bed today-“ “I’ll skin you alive and eat your lungs!” he yelled. He ripped his horn out of the cave wall and began chasing Discord all the way to the surface. When they got there, he saw a group of alicorns waiting for him. “What is the meaning of this-?” “See, I told you he was scary! Why didn’t you listen!?” “That’s enough Discord.” A mare told him. “Nexus Black, do you know who we are?” “I couldn’t care less.” “We are the Principles of Creation, and do you know why are here?” “To taunt me by not allowing me to skin the obnoxious beast hiding behind you?” “Keep talking pal-“ "Discord." She said sternly. "No, we are here for your decision.” “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nexus turned around and started walking back to the den. “Will you stand down or will you defile our orders?” Nexus began laughing. “Defile of course, why would I listen to you? I do not fear you or your pets.” He said with a look at Discord, taunting them; he continued walking into the den. “Do what you wish, just leave me be.” “Very well, we hereby declare war on you and your brotherhood of ‘darkness’” the mare replied; Nexus stopped dead in his tracks. “You wish to go to war against beings who can move through the shadows? Are you putting a wish of death upon your soldiers?” “No soldiers, just us and your brotherhood.” Nexus laughed at her. “Very well, but be warned, we are savage fighters, we will show no mercy, and once the dust has cleared from the battle grounds, your corpses shall be gone, there will be nothing of you left. That which remains will wish it never had.” Nexus chuckled quietly as he entered the caves. “My lord-“ “June, gather all our members in the chamber of my later mother.” “…Yes my lord.” After that she ran off into the network of tunnels. As night fell June reappeared in the colossal chamber. “My lord, I have gathered every pony just as you requested.” She bowed to him. As she stood up, the living shadows started appearing in the top area of the chamber, laughing as they crawled out of the shadows. Once the living shadows were situated in above everyone, the other members started gathering. “Listen up! Earlier today we were challenged to war against the Principles of Creation, a group of alicorns who desires to separate our family.” Nexus announced. The crowd all began to boo and hiss at the sheer, impossible thought of their family broken. “They spoke to me as if they had already won! But when war comes we shall defeat them and we shall scrape every last piece of flesh from their bones!” With his simple words, cheers erupted from the booing. “We shall win this war and we shall coat the world in the darkest of shadows, that way we may forever roam the land whenever we please! So my children, now is the time to get ready! Forge your weapons and armor, and prepare for the War of Dawn!” When he finished speaking, every pony in the room started cheering and moving out to prepare for battle. Unicorns began teleporting out of the room with clever grins. They were followed by the Pegusi who flew out in a joyous burst of cheering, and lastly the earth ponies and the living shadows who group together and disappeared. “Shall I go get ready my lord?” “June, you are to stay in the den until the war has ended.” “What!?” June complained as Nexus began walking off. “But my lord! I want to fight for you-!” “You shall do no such thing!” He interrupted, growling. “But why my lord!?” “Because! Since all this began you have remained by my side, and I refuse to lose you.” “My lord.” June stopped in her tracks, blushing, and watched him walk off. As she approached him he lifted his head and slammed it on the edge of the stone seats next to him. “My lord!” “Impure thoughts of kindness leave my head. They sicken me with their truth.” He whispered to himself. As June approached him, he started losing his balance and fell into her side. She caught him, hearing his voice, muffled but sad. “Take me to my chambers, June.” “Yes my lord.” She started guiding him through the cavern network and as they moved they heard the sound of clanging metal; the members prepared their armors throughout the caves. They turned down corners and approached his room. June opened the door with her magic and helped Nexus through it. The room was luxurious. It was very large and fitting for its occupant. A rug was laid across the floor, bones appearing to line the vivid edges due to the intricate artwork and skulls were shown on the corners against the crimson background. A fireplace with black wrought iron covering the barely flickering coals was to the left of the rug, cut into the cave wall by Nexus' magic. On the opposite side of the room was a dark red desk, maps placed haphazardly over the wooden surface. To the side of the desk, touching the door frame, were black bookshelves, books set neatly on each shelf. A large cherry wood bed was facing the door, plush deep red blankets with black sheets atop it. Two black silk pillows sat at the head of the bed, fluffed and positioned by June in an attempt to please her lord. It was this bed that Nexus collapsed onto now, at war with himself, no enemies truly present, only inner demons. He curled into a ball and shut his eyes. June stood by the bed, curious, but unsure how to proceed. She opted for the direct route. "My lord? Why must I stay here instead of fighting for you? Why are you so ill all of a sudden?" "You foolish peasant." He growled. "I'm not about to lose you. Protecting me is not worth losing you. It's not your battle." June flushed, embarrassed, before glaring at him. "It is where you are concerned. My lord I have been with this Order for as long as you have. I've been by your side since you took it over. You're... all I have. I'd give anything to protect you." Nexus sat up on his haunches, his teeth clenched together, in obvious pain. "You... absolute... fool. I forbid you from battle. If I lose you June..." He shut his eyes. "N-never mind." "My lord, are you alright?" June questioned. "You are out of sorts because of this talk. N-nexus?" He looked up at her. "Do not use my name." "Yes, my lord. I merely required your true attention." She hesitantly lifted his muzzle with her hoof and looked into his eyes. They seemed cold with hate but there was something...something there, something unfamiliar to her. She leaned closer to him as their muzzles met. Before he could react she had stepped back, towards the fire. "I have been with this Order and by your side for most of my life. I have always been cheering for you, whether you've realized it or not. I do not want to see you harmed in battle. I'm sorry for my rash actions but if you don't return after the battle... I hope to have done that at least once. I... love… to have done that... at least once." She blushed. Nexus stared up at her. She had closed her eyes and her head was down towards the rug. He stared at her, his legs still feeling weak beneath him as he stretched out along the bed. "June. Do not... mistake my cold attitude for anger." "What do you mean?" "I am not keeping you home as a punishment. I cannot lose you. You'd better know that. You are the sole exception to the stupidity and imbeciles surrounding me on a day to day basis." June stepped toward him, her muzzle red. "My lord... I do not know what to say. I think you should know something too..." She stepped closer, at the edge of the bed. The scent of her shallow, nervous breaths was sweet as candy upon his senses. "Silence, for I already know it." "Y-you do?" "Yes. I know it because I feel it as well." "You do?!" "...yes..." He turned from her and laid with his back to her, curled into a ball again as his eyes shut tight. He opened them only when he felt the bed be disturbed. June sat at the edge of it, her head tilted slightly. She took a deep breath and laid down, her muzzle inches from his. "I… love you." She whispered, barely audible. "And I you. You are the single flicker of true shadow that keeps me going when the light threatens to expose me." He said, running a hoof from her ear through her mane. He kissed her, nervously at first, but content as he felt her push back into him, both content to have a weight lifted from them at the truth revealed. The next morning, as the sun rose and the flames roared in his room, Nexus was surprisingly tolerable of the mare curled up next to him, her muzzle against his chest. He climbed out of his bed and using his magic he pulled the covers back over June. “Sleep well my love.” He whispered to her as he ran a hoof through her mane; he turned around and left his chamber, quietly closing the door behind him. “My lord-!” “What is it Spire.” Nexus asked angrily; he faced the stallion and he backed up nervously. “My lord, the war has started; the Principles have declared the first attack.” “How so?” “Well…Y-you should probably see for yourself my lord.” The stallion guided him through the tunnels and up to the surface. Once they arrived the two saw a crowd of members gathered in front of something. Nexus approached the group, his status forcing the ponies to step back, causing a path through the crowd. When he made it to the center of the crowd he saw what they were all looking at. The body of a stallion, completely black except for the blood that dripped from the cuts along it. “This…is one of my Living Shadow guards." “We found him like this a few hours ago-“ “Why did you not tell me!?” Nexus roared at him. “I would have but... you were asleep in your chamber and you had a mare with you. I thought it would be impolite to interfere up on the two of you-“ “Silence!” Nexus roared causing Spire, along with everypony else, to bow in submission and fear. Nexus looked back at the body one last time. “All of you, prepare your selves for war. Today marks the day that our family kills those who stand against it. Those that oppose us will find too late that prudent silence is wise.” Every pony that was gathered there stomped their hooves a single time then started heading back into the caves. As Nexus entered the caves he saw June fighting past everyone to get to him. “My lord!” “June, I thought you were asleep.” “I was, I... just woke up. What’s going on?” “War has started my love; the Principles have declared the first attack.” Nexus continued walking into the tunnels and June followed him. “My lord wait.” June called out to him but he ignored her and continued walking at a faster pace; when she finally caught up to him she saw he was already dressed in his armor. A sheath hung loosely at his side as he placed his sword inside it. “My lord please don’t do this, you can’t go.” “My love, I promise you I shall return.” Nexus told her as she held her head up. “My lord-“ “Do not address my as ‘my lord’ anymore. It is too plain for your lips. I request that you call me by my true name.” June smiled at him faintly. “Very well... Nexus.” She murmured, kissing him a final time. He walked off and joined the members he had told to get ready. Before they left he told the other members that he would escort thirty soldiers to aid him in the fight against the Principles. "My brothers, my sisters, I and a small, dedicated group, leave this day to restore peace and balance to our order; to seek revenge on the loss of our brother. A moment for him." As his speech ended the soldiers around him bowed their heads in remembrance. When they opened their eyes a few moments later, the warriors had left them, their leader in front, his anger tangible. Months have passed since that day. During dusk of the end of the fourth month Nexus finally returned, but something appeared wrong. “Nexus!” June shouted as she ran over to him. “June?” Nexus looked up and dropped his blade as she approached him, when she was close to him she placed her hoof on his shoulder and kissed him. “Nexus I’m glad you have returned safely.” “It is... a relief to see you once more love.” “Is something wrong?” June asked, seeing his body was covered with large scars. “Nexus... you're hurt.” “I know. I’m sorry June, but I have failed, I was defeated in war.” Nexus sighed as he walked past her and back into the caves. “Nexus wait, you have not failed yet.” “What do you mean, June?” “Nexus, while you were away other ponies came by wanting to join us, to serve you.’ “Is that so?” “Indeed, a few of them were special; one was an expert on explosives, another is a great miner, and a mare offered to allow the use of her forbidden spell books.” “You think a few black magic spells can aid us in a fight against alicorns!?” “Nexus, wait no, I’m sorry I didn’t mean-“ “No. No I’m sorry, I failed and because of that I’m just furious with myself. I never truly meant to take it out on you. Forgive me.” “I will always forgive you, but Nexus there’s something you need to know.” “What is it?” “While you were away some of the members insisted on leaving to aid you, I tried to stop them but they ignored me saying that I had no power over them.” “Hmm, in that case, June I hereby put you in the position of Den Leader.” “Excuse me?” “While I am away, you are in charge of the caves, if any pony is to rise against you, you have the right to execute them.” “Oh, Nexus, it’s an honor. Thank you.” “And June.” “Yes?” “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Have you gained weight?” June blushed and turned away from him, a hoof over her considerably larger stomach. “Well, I suppose so-“ “Your are refusing to tell me something June, what is it.” “Forgive me my love. I have been hiding this but, Nexus, I’m pregnant.” Nexus sighed with anger and sorrow. “Nexus, what’s wrong?” “I have burdened my family along with you, I’m sorry.” “Nexus don't say that, it’s ok, I don’t feel burdened.” “Really?” “No, I’m proud to the mother of our child, it’s an honor.” June smiled as she nuzzled up to him, and feeling joy in him he did the same. “My lord!” a stallion shouted from the forest. Nexus immediately turned around and saw him approach them, his pace slowing. “My lord, I have grave news.” “What is it Decay?” “The Principles said that they feel insulted because of how weak our forces were and now…now they are coming here to deal with you-“ “What!?” “Forgive me…my…lord.” The stallion wheezed as he collapsed to the ground and died, wounds upon his back. In a panic, Nexus rushed inside. “Nexus wait!” June shouted, when she caught up to him he stopped and faced her. “June listen to me my love, you are to enter my chambers and extinguish the flames!” “What-“ “Listen, extinguish the flames and enter the fire place, do not leave until I return-“ “But why-?” “Just do it, for the sake of your life you must do this.” June stood there frozen but eventually nodded at him and ran down the tunnels to his room. Once she was gone he ran to the main chamber and sat atop the stone sarcophagus placed in the center, waiting patiently. Hours passed and he heard screams coming from the tunnels, trying his best not to aid the fighters he remained where he was and waited as opposed to joining in the fray and getting them hurt more. “There you are! I was wondering where you ran off to!” a familiar voice shouted at him from behind. “You again. I was hoping one of the others would find me first.” “Yeah? Well too bad.” Discord replied, he stepped backwards to join the other alicorns entering the chamber. “I hope you all do not think I shall go down without a fight.” Nexus growled at them as he stood up. “We gave you a chance but you refused. For that you must suffer the consequence.” “Fine, but as I said, I shall not go down without a fight.” Nexus charged at them. Before he could reach the first row of seats a wall of flame appeared in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks; the wall quickly went around his protection spell and grew into dome trapping him within it. “Nexus Black, for your crimes against your kind, you are hereby banished to Tartarus where you shall spend the rest of your days.” They all stomped their hooves and the dome began shrinking until it vanished taking Nexus along with it. His vision soon turned dark. “Hey, wake up.” “Who dares command me?” Nexus growled as he opened his eyes, when his sight became clear he saw a strange beast standing in front of him with twisted horns on both sides of his head. “Who are you?” “I go by a few names, but they don’t matter, since you ain’t gonna be using any of them. But right now, all you need to know is that I rule this place.” “I s that so? Why are you wasting time greeting me then?” “Well it’s not every day you get to meet the son of the twin bridges. But anyway listen up…what was your name again?” the stallion laughed. “It was something Black…'Pitch Black'? Yeah that seems about right considering how you look.” “How dare you.” Nexus growled at him, he looked down at his hooves and saw that his coat was stained black and all the scars on his body were searing red. “Growl at me all you want, I really couldn’t care less. Anyway, listen up, you serve me now, you do as I say, I promise, that stuff here won’t be as bad as they are now-“ “Pitch Black-“ “What?” “The same color as my heart and soul-‘ “What are you talking about? You know what, forget it. Get up kid-“ “You do not command me.” Nexus laughed at him with a voice that started growing deeper as he stood, overcoming the beast's height. “You do not command me, for I command you.” “Again, what?” “Bow before me-“ "You want to make me-" and just then Nexus slammed his hoof down on his head forcing him to kneel. “What do you think you’re doing-?” “I’m taking your kingdom from you…Is there anything you wish to do about it?” "How about I kill you where you stand-" he attempted to get up and Nexus used his magic to rip the bones from his flesh. "Do not challenge me…You know I shall win-" “What are you doing!? You’re supposed to serve me!” “I shall do no such thing…for you see, you serve me now.” Nexus stared at him with complete hatred in his eyes. As the beast looked back, he saw that his eyes turned from the deep blue of the ocean to redder than the scars on his coat. “From this day on…you shall remain at my side.” Nexus pulled several more bones out of his body and melted them down into a hard material with his magic; sharpening it against the stone ground. The beast's spine was morphed into wood. “Get…get off me..” the beast struggled, he attempted to get up but Nexus tore the skin off his body and turned into in to a black leather. He then took the leather and wrapped it around the wooden stick that was once held up the beast. He took the bone blade and attached it to the handle. “What…what are you?” “I am your king.” He replied as he tore out his skull and placed it behind the blade; he then took what was left of his body and used it. The flesh was used as leather guard and the bones were added to the handle and blade for gruesome decorum. "You shall forever serve me." Nexus whispered to the skull; its eyes began to light up. He raised his new scythe and in a single swing cut off his horn. His horn fell to the ground and began disappearing into a black mist that would forever surround his new weapon as an enchantment. He raised it above his head and turned into a black cloud that disappeared shortly after. “Dawn shall fall beneath me and my new powers.” Nexus told himself, his back began to arch and his bones began cracking until wings grew, but his wings were unlike any Pegasus one would find, for they were the wings of bat. “I shall rise…and they shall forever fall…”
Part 4: Redemption and Revenge"Naalnish, it's nice to see you again." A stallion greeted a mare as she entered the room. "Likewise." She replied as she took her seat. "Good evening Temporis-" a mare greeted him as she entered the room. "Discord, if you wish to fool me you'll have to think of a better disguise." "How'd you know it was me?!" The mare shouted with a deep, male voice. "Your wings. You see, one of them belongs to a bat." The mare looked back and noticed her wings didn't match. "Huh…look at that." Discord stomped his hoof and changed back to his normal form, he then approached the table and sat down next to Naalnish. Shortly after, the remaining Principles of Creation entered the room and sat down around the table. "Good evening to you all, it’s nice to see you all made it to this year’s gathering-" the stallion paused as he saw Discord raise his cloven hoof. "What is it Discord?" "When can I leave?" "Not for another hour, now sit down." Temporis growled at him, he sighed loudly and sat back down. "What a cruel land you live in…what kind of place would not allow a stallion to act as himself?" a deep, gravelly voice echoed through the room. As soon as it faded a black flame appeared on the table and floated around, leaving a trail of ash in its wake that formed a pentagram, following the light's path. The shape burst into flames and from it rose a colossal serpent; eyes red as blood and horns that curved to the corners of his mouth its mouth. The claws resembled jagged glass. "Ah, I know. You. All of you. You are all pathetic. Look what you have done to your 'sacred' land. You forbid a stallion from being who he truly is, morphing him to a being unlike him due to your own selfish wants." The creature growled. The echoes died along with the flames shrouding the beast. "Nexus Black, how dare you show your face in our land-!" "Silence…I have returned to see the family I have raised…" "What is the true reason of this interruption, beast!?" Temporis yelled at him. Pitch Black looked at him, staring down with his glowing red eyes. "…Redemption…and revenge." He wheezed before fading into black smoke and disappearing. Later as the day began to wind down, he arrived back at the cave where he was banished. As he entered the worn caverns he used to call home, he began to hear sounds of suffering. "Move faster wench!" a stallion yelled followed by a whipping sound. "You shall suffer for this you wretched swine-" a mare yelled back before her voice was cut off by her strangled scream of pain. "Silence! Keep digging you worthless wench!" The stallion yelled at her again, before whipping her. Pitch Black continued into the cavern, approaching the two ponies. When he was close enough he saw that the mare was indeed the one he had once loved. June. She fell to the ground in exhaustion. "What did I just say wench!?" The stallion yelled at her, he raised his whip to hit again, but before he could strike her again it was removed from his magical grip, he turned around to scold the unicorn he took it from him but instead of seeing one, he saw a stallion that stood several sizes above him. He attempted to run but Pitch Black took the whip and tied it around his neck; he then begin lifting him up by it. "Nexus? Is that you?" June asked as she stood up. "My love…it has been too long since I last saw the darkness in your eyes." Pitch Black calmly answered her. She began to smile weakly, tears dripping down her muzzle. "You, release the stallion!" one of other guards yelled as he and several others drew their swords. "Or what?" Pitch Black taunted them, a sly smile crossing his lips. He quickly jerked the whip downwards, cracking the stallions spine in two before then slammed the corpse on the ground leaving a bloody smear. "You are all to stand down…or you shall face the darkness." "Do your worst fiend!" the stallion called out. "Very well." Pitch Black opened his wings as a wave of shadows flew out of them coating the guards; their armor to rusting and becoming stained with blood. The shadows turned their horns to dust and stained them black. When their screams died down, deep laughter started. "You mortals are pathetic… you are unable to live through the slightest of pain…nor are you able to inflict any." Pitch Black walked over to one of his newly created Living Shadows, it looked up at him and laughed sinisterly. "At least now…you can serve a true purpose." He looked back at the other guard who’s body laid lifeless on the ground and approached it; he moved his wing over it and the body started twitching as if life was returning to it. As the guard stood up he turned and saw Pitch Black behind him, he attempted to run but Pitch Black used his magic to coat him with shadows. "My lord?" June asked as she approached him, he turned around and looked at her with, his eyes full of scolding anger. "Nexus, did you bring that stallion back to life?" "It appears so… please finish off what is left of the guards and gather the others." "Yes Nexus." Later as the day ended the brotherhood members gathered in the large chamber and waited for Pitch Black, hours passed until he finally arrived. He entered the room wearing a black cloak that covered his entire body, making him look like an oversized shadow as the cloak gently billowed with his every step. He stood tall above them. "My children…the gods have forsaken us…look at what they have done to your king." Pitch Black announced as he threw his cloak to the ground, revealing his blackened and scarred body. Cries of outrage and despair rung throughout the cavern. "We must have our revenge against them for their cruelty…and I know what to do…" He took a deep breath and began to speak. "Two years ago they banished me to a land where fire covered the earth… Upon arriving there I met it’s leader…and I slayed him." His children began to cheer. "He demanded I bowed to him but I refused… Because of his insolence, I ended his reign and used his flesh and bone to forge a blade… Using that blade forged from my enemies mere being, I shall bring down the gods that threaten to extinguish us. My children, our shadows will continue to flourish and grow. With every minute, and every second; we grow." He paused for a moment and turned around to open the sarcophagus. He removed the scythe from it, and swung the magical instrument downwards opening a rift in the cavern floor. The rift opened wider allowing the screams of pain and agony to flood the room, and as the screams echoed, something started crawling out allowing with them. The beast stuck it’s claw through the large tear and as it crawled through all the members of the group started moving back towards the wall to avoid being near it. "My children…say hello to the being that crawled within the pits of Tartarus…at least, until I released it." When the beast made it through the rift it looked up at everypony and revealed to them it’s face; eyeless and earless. "My lord, what is that thing?" June asked in fear as she inched closer to him. "It is the stalker... One of the many types of demons that crept within the flames I was sentenced to. It is also one of the new soldiers that will aid us in war." "Does that mean there are more?" "Of course there are but why bother with them when all I need is the one." Pitch Black replied to her, he approached the beast and using his magic he summoned a black chain and wrapped it around its neck. "My lord, are you sure it’s safe to treat that thing as a common animal?" "I own it now, which means if it dares attack me…I skin it alive." When he finished speaking the beast started thrashing about, attempting to free itself from the chain. When Pitch Black let go, it ran off into the tunnels roaring and screeching; trying to make it's way to the entrance. "…My lord-" "Wait here." Pitch Black demanded as he slowly followed the beast. When he made it to the cave’s exit, he heard the beast snarling and roaring. A familiar voice, pleading for help, was barely distingushable among the broken and harsh sounds the animal made. He put his cloak back on and stepped into the sunlight, coming across Discord being attacked by the demon that was now his pet. "You again?" "Oh, hey buddy, long time no see-Ah!" Discord tried to speak sarcastically before pained screaming erupted from his throat as the beast lunged, trying to rip off his head. "I was hoping I'd finally seen the last of you." "Well funny story, you see, the Principles sent me here to give you a message-Yike!" "What is it?" "Well, after the Principles saw you return, and as that thing, they decided that they didn’t want to take any chances this time. So, they decided it would be best if we finished this once and for all." Pitch Black took the chain that was on the beast and used it to pull it back away from the Alicorn. "What did you and the other 'Gods' have in mind?" Discord stood up and wiped the dirt off of himself. "War, one last battle between us and what is left of that organization of yours. If we win, you will forever be banished to the abyss-" "And if I succeed in this battle…you and the others must forfeit your souls to me." "Pfft, yeah like that’ll ever happen." Discord taunted. With that one quick line Pitch Black grew enraged. He released the demon and it leaped into the air to pounce on Discord who screamed, teleporting away just before the beast could slashed at him. When it got up it sniffed the ground to try and pick up Discord’s magic scent, when it failed it merely lay down and began to whine. "Do not feel sad my pet…you will have a second chance to claim his head." Pitch Black patted its head and walked back into the caves which were filled with the sound of clanging metal. He stopped at a small passageway leading down to the dungeons where he released the demon. It rushed down to the cells where it waited patiently for his next command, eternally grateful to be freed from it's fiery prison. Once he was sure that it was there he continued heading towards his chamber. Before he could enter the room he was stopped by June. "My lord-" "What is it June?" "Well, we never had a chance to talk since you got back-" "Out with it before I grow impatient!" Pitch Black growled at her. "What happened to you? Ever since you arrived, you have not been yourself... and your skin, why is it charred like that?" "I act this way because I have been cursed by the 'gods' that we fight against. As for the flesh that has charred, as you so eloquently put it, they banished me with cursed flames. They destroyed my body... inside and out." He entered his room and locked the door behind him, refusing to leave till the dawn of the next day. He did not answer to the knocks from his lost love, merely threw a knife at the door in an attempt to silence her. As the sun rose the members started putting on their armor and sharpening their blades. "Obelisk, where’s your brother? Why isn’t he fighting with us?" "I don’t know, he wasn’t in the barracks when I woke up." The stallion replied as he put his helm on. June sighed loudly at this news. "Great, we’re missing our best sniper, our iron supply is low, we don’t have a chance in He-" Just then, as she turned to walk away she bumped into someone. She looked up to see Pitch Black towering above her, dressed in dark armor. "Sir, lord, Nexus, what, why…uh…" June stuttered as she look up at the colossal stallion that towered above her. "June…I am leaving the sanctuary to find new soldiers that will aid us in this war…stay here with the other soldiers and aid them." "Yes my lord…wait, you want me to fight with the others?" "Is that a problem?" "No sir, I was just thinking that you’d want me to stay here out of harm’s way-?" "Why would I have you do that? It is a waste of a soldier-" "But my lord-" "Do not question me whelp! You shall do as I say... regardless of anything in the past." Pitch Black scolded her. As he walked away June looked to the ground as she tightened her armor. She ignored the tears dripping onto the metal of her weapon and looked forward, putting her loyalty before her heart. "All of you, head towards the spire and wait there until my command. If anyone is to disobey me…there shall be consequences." With that, Pitch Black faded away into the darkness of the cave amidst everypony continued getting ready. He walked unseen by anypony for hours until he reappeared, although instead of the small life-filled forest he was accustomed to, he appeared in a large, dead desert. As he walked deeper into the lifeless land the ground beneath him started burning; turning into hot glass as he placed his hooves, each section hardening with his touch and melting again as he moved forward. As he was walking toward a town he saw vaguely in the distance, he was approached by two ponies. They began to yell towards him in a foreign language. Instead of stopping, he used his magic to toss them aside, as though they were dolls. He continued toward the town, pleased to find it was not a mirage. When he arrived he was met by a stallion dressed in strange, exotic garb. A sword hung at his side and a feathery plume stuck from his hat. "You." Pitch Black growled at him. The stallion turned and looked at him, unfazed. "I demand your army…I require them to fight for me in a war against 'gods'. You wil give me them." As soon as the words left his lips, the stallion began to yell at him in anger, but because he couldn’t understand him, Pitch Black stomped his hoof and his eyes flashed green as he set a spell upon the words of the foolish stallion who defied him. "I shall ask thee once more…give to me your army-" "Never! My army shall remain here to serve me until death!" The stallion drew his sword and the guards around him followed suit. "What a shame, I was hoping you’d give them willingly. Pity." Pitch Black opened his wings and a black cloud of dust came released from the leathery muscles. It coated the guards as they screamed in pain. The cloud of dust blocked out the sun as it set upon the army. When the sky cleared, the stallion saw that the heavens above were now completely black; no longer the beautiful blue it had once been. "You forced me to do this…so goodbye to all you care about, for they now serve me." He looked around and saw everypony around him, everypony he had loved, everypony in his care was now faceless, bloody beast. "What have you done to them?!" "I showed them the power in the shadows." Pitch Black growled to him. The empty faces of the Living Shadows stared the stallion down until his world grew dark with pain and loss. He fell to the ground and Pitch Black began to herd his new minions towards him, smiling with his own efforts. Months later, Pitch Black returned to the members of the Brotherhood. They greeted him with joy and honor. "My lord, it is an honor to see you again." "Have we lost anyone during our defense?" Pitch Black demanded to know as he walked passed him towards the sanctuary. "Uh, no sir, everyone is still here-" "What are you hiding from your lord?" "…We…do not know where June is." Pitch Black turned around, and as he stared at the soldier, the stallion saw the red eyes hidden in the deep shadows of his black hood. "Please, forgive me my lord, I swear she was with us when we left." Pitch Black sighed. "My lord, may I ask where you’ve been?" "I’ve been across the world." "Doing what?" "…Building an army." Pitch Black smiled. When Obelisk turned around he immediately noticed he was face to face with one of the new Living Shadows Pitch Black 'recruited'. But there was not just one; Thousands-upon-thousands of other Living Shadows started appearing from the darkness of the night. "Advance to the Spire…and do not fail me." Pitch Black commanded. Later that night, as he arrived back at the Sanctuary, he entered the caves and heard the familiar sound of crying echoing off the stone walls. "June, you are to show yourself at once." A moment later June stepped out into the main tunnel, but her appearance was different. Her eyes looked like Pitch Blacks’, her mane was black and her coat was grey. "June…what have you done to yourself?" "I desired to be like you, but unfortunately…the spell failed and I turned into this." "Is that why you are not out at war?" "I’m afraid so…I’m sorry my lord." Pitch Black began growling at her, causing her to back away in fear. "My lord, please, I’m so sorry." "I know you are." Pitch Black growled, he opened his wings and everything went black. "Ugh, this is so boring!" Discord groaned as he slumped off the side of the sarcophagus. "Focus Discord, we’re here for a reason-" "And what might that reason be?" Pitch Black asked as he entered the chamber. "Nexus Black we order you to call off your army." Temporis demanded. "And why would I do such a thing? ...I plan on winning this war." "This is the only chance you’ll get Nexus-" "Good, I was thinking you’d waste your breath more… But if you truly wish for this war to end…I shall give thee an ultimatum. Either give me your souls…or perish in battle." "Ha! Like we’d lose to you-" "Discord hush!" "Very well…have it your way…the war begins at night fall…I shall be waiting at your spire, so do not be late." After that, he teleported away leaving them there contemplating their next move. "…Well, I hope you're all happy, thanks to you I have to fight That thing-" "Shut up Discord"” Temporis sighed as he headed out of the cave. As night fell, Pitch Black returned to the camp site to regroup with all the other members. "Obelisk, ready the soldiers, this wretched war is about to begin." "Yes my lord." Obelisk saluted. He pulled a canister out of his vest. He pulled the pin off of it and threw it into the air. As it's height peaked, it exploded into an awesome mass of blue flame, signaling the other members. "All of you, spread out and cover the area, if you locate the false gods use your flares, do not attack them on your own. You shall not succeed and our ranks are too thin to lose any of you and still hope for a victory." All the soldiers saluted to him; pairing up with several Living Shadows, they entered the dark forest. "My lord, I was wondering, did you find June?" "I did…but….not in the condition I was expecting.” "What do you mean?" "When I arrived at the caverns I found her body in a poor condition…the flesh was torn from her bone and her skull was removed." "Yikes, I didn't know that they were such monsters." "They are more brutal things on this earth than that…which is why we must kill them." Pitch Black glared at him. He ran off into the forest and met up with his team. "Obelisk, what took you so long we were starting to think he killed you?" "For a second I thought he would." As they stumbled around in the dark canopy of the forest they reached a path that went down a hill, and in a split decision Obelisk took two of the living shadows with him as he ventured down the path. "You take the route, I’ll check down here." "Ok just try not to get killed by anything." "I'll try." Obelisk laughed as he continued onward. A while later the mare in his group approached the end of the path, as she gazed through the trees she saw one of the Alicorns. She didn't attempt to attack him, but pulled a canister from her vest and threw it into the air. "Hey!" The Alicorn yelled at her, but before he could even get close the flare exploded and the air went silent. Moments later there were screeching sounds coming from all around as the Living Shadows approached. "You might want to run." The mare smiled at him, then out of nowhere the beasts jumped out of the shadows of the tree, as they got closer to him he teleported away. "Oh that ain't good." The mare told herself. "Why did you allow him to get away?" Pitch Black asked, the mare turned around as soon as he heard his voice. "My lord, I swear I didn’t mean to-" "Move." "…What?" "Move…now?" "Why-?" Just then a colossal ball of fire crashed down atop the Living Shadows, killing them instantly. "Nexus Black I know you’re here, show yourself!" the stallion demanded. "Stay here." "Yes my lord." Pitch Black opened his wings and flew up past the trees. "Nexus Black it’s time we ended this silly feud." "I couldn’t agree more." Pitch Black teleported and reappeared above him, the stallion flew downward; Pitch Black grabbed the stallion and slammed him into the ground. "It shall take more effort than that to defeat me." "I know." The stallion replied. Pitch Black turned and saw him standing there in perfect condition. "You appear more skilled then I thought." "I must be, otherwise I would fall to someone like you." "I take it that your challenging me." Pitch Black growled. "Stand down Nexus!" a mare announced, he looked up and saw her along with the rest of The Principles of Creation. "You cannot defeat all of us Nexus." "I’m afraid that is where you are wrong." Pitch Black stomped his hoof summoning the Living Shadows. They crept along the ground and rose up as they grew nearer to him, slinking like foxes. "Pray to your god, while you still have a chance." He stomped the ground again, his magic turning the living shadows into normal ponies who then burst into black flames shooting into the air; black rockets full of hatred. The principles stepped away from the pillar as they heard their screams of pain and suffering. As the pillar burned, the plant life surrounding it died off and the air grew a chill to it. When the flames died down they saw Pitch Black had transformed into a dragon whose heads stretched past the clouds and whose body went on for miles. "What is that thing?" Temporis asked himself. The heads of the beast loomed from the skies and sneered upon them standing there, transfixed. It let loose a mighty roar, heard for miles around, striking fear into their hearts. It lifted it's clawed foot and slammed it down. It's power shook the very earth it stood upon. It began moving from the forest, toward the ocean. "Temporis where is it going?!" "I don’t know but we need to stop it!" Temporis called back as he flew upwards. As he approached the beast he heard voices radiating from it as they whispered to one another, he was even able to make out a few of the voices considering they were that of guards who used to serve him. He readied his horn and jetted downwards striking the beast's back. It let loose another roar causing him to think that it was hurt, but when he turned around he saw one of the heads ready to bite him in two. He rushed out of the way as it bit at him. "Temporis what happened?" "I don’t know, my attack didn’t do anything." Temporis replied as he joined the others. Naalnish separated from the group and flew in front of the beast, she charged her magic and shot at it using a powerful beam. But as the magic struck it, annoyance was the only effect. As a retaliation one of the heads opened its mouth, showing a spark of crackling electricity. It began to grow with every second. When it bit down the electricity shot at her, she flew out of harm's way and it struck the earth shocking the ground. "Naalnish get back!" Temporis yelled, she flew back to them as the beast stepped into the water of the ocean. "Temporis, we can’t stop it, it’s too powerful." "It has to have some sort of weakness." The beast roared as it dunked one of it's heads into the sea. A growl resonated, reaching The Principles who were watching helplessly. A moment later the water was alight with electric sparks. The bodies of dead sea creatures floated to the surface, their golden souls rising from the depths of the water to fuse with the dragon. "Temporis what do we do!?" One of the Principles screamed, but Temporis did not answer. Seconds later the beast made it to land and headed towards a village that rested upon the horizon. "Temporis!?" The mare yelled again. "Pitch Black!" A mare's voice rang out as suddenly the skies were filled with a golden light that glinted off the ruined world. When the lights began to fade a mare revealed herself, an alicorn with a white coat and a flaming red mane. "This ends now Pitch Black." "Faust…it is has been a long time since we last saw one another." "Yes. I was hoping that time would have changed you for the better, but it clearly didn’t." "Why is it that you are here?" "You have thrown off the balance of this world Pitch Black." "Is that so? I did not think I would succeed this early." "This is your last chance, stop what you are doing or suffer the consequences." "Why should I do as you say? I am the more powerful one…so you should be doing as I say." "Do not patronize me." "Very well… I shall kill you then!" The center head loomed downward to bite her, but before it even got close, Faust lifted her horn and shot a powerful beam of light at him. It tore the flesh from his blones like a starving child would rip a turkey; quickly and messily. "You had your chance Pitch Black, now you must suffer." "I shall not go down without a fight!" Pitch Black yelled as he charged at her, and as got close she readied her magic and shot at him using a more powerful beam of light that began to turn his flesh to ash and his bones to glass. "Pitch Black I hereby banish your soul to the depths of Tartarus where it shall rot till the end of time!" Faust yelled, and as her words echoed his body started fading to ash. "Be warned Faust, I shall return and I shall take the souls of all those you care about!" Pitch Black yelled before the ashy pile of his body fell to the earth in a ragged pile. "Mother Faust!" Temporis yelled out as he and the others landed and bowed to her. "Temporis, is there a reason that you couldn’t defeat him?" "I’m sorry, he was too powerful, our... our magic did nothing to him." Faust smiled and rolled her eyes. She walked over to the ashes that remained on the ground, she shifted them and as she did, souls flew from them. "No!" A young filly yelled out. They all looked up and saw her running towards the remains of what used to be the mighty creature known as Pitch Black. "What did you do to him!? What did you do to my love!?" She cried out as she hugged the black glass bones. "Little filly, what are you doing here?" Temporis asked as he approached her. "You killed my king! You monster!" She yelled, she ran towards him and started hitting him. "What are you talking about, he was the monster-!" "You're the monster! He was my king! He wanted to show the world power but you killed him! You wanted him silent!” She yelled at him, as he tried to pick her up she beat him. "You little-" "Temporis leave her alone; she’s just a little girl." Faust told him. "This little brat bit me!" "Temporis stand down." Temporis sighed as he walked back towards the others. "My king will reborn! And when he is he'll be welcomed back with love and honor! He'll be welcomed back by-by the Brotherhood-" She paused as she looked down and noticed she was stepping in his ashes. "He'll be welcomed back by the Brotherhood of the Black Hoof!" She continued yelling as she lifted her hoof and pointed it at them. "And when he’s back he’ll have an army to serve him! A loyal army! One that will obey him and only him, and never obey you false gods!" After that she ran off crying into the forest. "And since that day, that little filly has been going around the world, recruiting every pony for the new Brotherhood. She told them about the true king, the one that would return and give them the gift of power and courage." "Aunt Summer? Whatever happened to that pony?" A young filly asked as she raised her hoof. "Well, last I heard, she was looking over one of the many Brotherhood dens." "Is it true that the false gods died?" Another young pony asked as he raised his hoof. "Sadly no, only some are gone, the others live on." She answered. She stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. "Alright, that's it for story time." She told them and them all sighed. As they got up and headed out the door a stallion with a black coat, bat like wings, and red eyes walked in. "Nepheus!" A young filly called at as she ran over to him and hugged his leg. "Get off me." He grunted as he started shaking his leg. The filly clung tighter and began to cheer at what seemed like a game. He placed his hoof on her head and pushed her off him. "See you later Nephy!" She laughed as she ran off. "Looks like someone has an admirer." The old mare chuckled. "Mother I wish you would stop telling them these stories." "Why? They like it-" "Yes but every time you tell one I get another brat clinging to my leg." "Oh cheer up, in the future you might get married to one of them." "That shall never happen-" "Nepheus what happened to your horn?" "I had it removed, after hearing of my father I refused to be anything like him-" "Yet you still carry the same dark black coat and scars as him." The stallion growled quietly. "And don’t growl at me, I might be old but my magic still works." The mare snapped at him as she used her magic to pull on his ear. "Fine, just release me." The stallion snapped back at her. "Commander June, we’re waiting for you so we may start the conference." A stallion told her as he looked in through the doorway. "Alright. I’ll be there in a minute.” The guard nodded his head and walked off. "Will you be joining me this time or will you lock yourself in your room again?” "I suppose I’ll join this once, but the second it is over I shall be going back to my research." "Alright, at least I got you out of your room." The mare smiled as he walked out of the room. When he was gone she picked up a picture she had next to her bed. A stallion smirked from the frame, his spiky dark blue main sticking out from his pale turquoise muzzle. He smiled next to a beautiful pale blue mare next to him, her eyes widened in adoration at the site of him as her purple mane draped over one eye. "Mother!" "Alright I’m coming.” She called back. June put down the picture and left the room, trying to focus on her future instead of her past.
Brotherhood RanksBrotherhood of the Black Hoof Rank List Scout: Abilities: None Weaknesses: MUST obey all orders given from higher ranked members Job: Go out and gather supplies Assassin: Abilities: Can faze in and out of shadows Weaknesses: Cannot step into direct sunlight Job: Kidnap young fillies /or/ assassinate Brotherhood threats Split Branches Pegasus: Bomber: Strengths: access to tactical equipment Weaknesses: not allowed to show faces Job: use equipment to distract civilians (Smoke canisters/ Flash bangs/ concussion grenades/ ect) Cometier: Strengths: Access to Iron Bombs, Physical strength Weaknesses: must not hit civilians without command from superior, must not hit allies Job: throw bombs into crowed to scare them into different directions, allowing allies to capture them Earth Pony Jailer: Strength: Most trusted of members, access to den prisons, physical strength Weaknesses: disobedience will result in death NO EXCEPTIONS, aid/communicating with prisoners will result in death NO EXCEPTIONS, cannot step into direct sunlight Job: watch over prisoners, prevent their escape, if escape is attempted, prisoners must be killed by jailer NO EXCEPTIONS Miner: Strength: enhanced vision, night vision, Weaknesses: will go blind in direct sunlight, cannot step into direct sunlight Job: mine underground to capture and bind civilians fleeing from cometier’s bombardment Unicorn: Brotherhood Researcher: Strength: Access to brotherhood potion/poison stashes, funding from brotherhood for research and other experiments Weaknesses: not allowed to aid outsiders in anyway, must stop research to aid if needed Job: make potions and poisons to be used by brotherhood members Brotherhood Saints: Strength: Enhanced magic, access to ‘Shade bound spell books’ Weaknesses: cannot step into direct sunlight Job: create, test, and perfect magic spells to be used by brotherhood members Upper Ranks: Living Shadow: Strengths: Can faze in and out of shadows with ease, access to the Shadow Plains, can use magic in Shadow Plains, enhanced senses Weaknesses: Direct contact with sunlight will result in agonizing pain and eventually death, deprived of verbal communication, decrease in sight, Job: find the enemy, stalk them, spy on them, kill them Chameleon: Strengths: can mimic a copy any pony in anyway perfectly Weaknesses: if on a job, cannot brake character, braking character while on a job will result in execution. Job: disguise self as an outsider and infiltrate enemy/outsider areas to gain Intel and trust to use against them. Den Leader: Strengths: Control over Brotherhood den, all commands are final, Weaknesses: can be executed be followers if attempting to sabotage den, cannot abuse money privileges, cannot step into direct sunlight Job: Make sure den members don’t kill each other…that’s about it, you can kill them if you want, but just make sure they don’t kill each other Master Ranks: Contracts (Elements of Corruption) Strengths: varies on element Weaknesses: none Job: find and kill rival/opposite element of harmony Optional Ranks: Split path Mare: Banshee: Strengths: Can summon army of Shadow Walkers at will by using screech ability, screech reaches 10,000 decibels Weaknesses: You’re not scary, must remain secret, cannot step into direct sunlight Job: Free Range Stallion: Beacon: Strengths: Army of Brotherhood members at your disposal, all Living Shadow abilities, screech can be heard by all Brotherhood members within 10 mi. radius, screech reaches 500 decibels Weaknesses: same as Living Shadow Job: locate enemies and use screech to summon other members to your position
