Come and gather around, both young and old, and let a tale be told about a time long ago. A time where sun and moon rose without control, when Discord still ruled the land, a time of chaos and confusion, where none was safe. During this time there existed a small village in the center of a deadly forest, filled with monsters and secrets, things hidden away from sight. This village was filled with Pegasus and Unicorns, both races working in tandem to keep their home safe. The Pegasus would make the weather bearable, and the Unicorn's would keep the village safe with magic.
Despite living in a time of turmoil the village was happy, all except one resident that is.
For you see in this village of wings and horn there lived one Earth pony, found in the woods and brought into town rather than be left to the cruel will of nature. However, nopony truly accepted him, for he could not fly or use magic. Instead of being taught like the others he was forced to do the most basic and painful of chores, harvesting and cleaning. Not a friend in the village to ever pay him a kind word or teach him of things he should know.
One day a terrible illness came upon the town, leaving each and everypony sick and unable to move. The village elder was forced to turn to the only pony that was still standing, the Earth pony, kept safE by his birth from the disease. He was tasked with entering the forest to find a rare herb that would heal the ponies of town. With a chance to finally prove himself as something more than a beast of burden in his hooves the Earth pony made his way into the forest, seeking the herb needed to save his village.
He journeyed for a day and a half into the forest, avoiding monsters and plants that sought to bring his end, surviving against all odds. Eventually the stallion come to stop in front of a massive tree, the wood was pitch black and each branch held not a single leaf on them. By all rights the tree seemed dead, but the Earth pony felt something else, this tree was alive, and brimming with power he had never felt before. Before his eyes a door appeared on the front of the tree, and a voice spoke ever so sweetly into his mind.
Enter young one, we have need of you. The voice sounded like that of a mother's, calmly calling its young one in during a winter storm.
The pony knew that he should distrust the voice, after all some of the unicorns would trick him with spell like that when they were bored, but this voice felt different from the ones that had aimed to mock him. It felt warm and trustworthy, and he couldn't bring himself to not move forward at its command. The door opened and the Earth pony entered into the tree, finding himself in its massive trunk. Surrounding him were bookshelves that reached high into the air. Each book looked older than the last, through he couldn't read the words of the titles. One didn't need to know how to read when the only jobs they did involved dirty work.
He's here. The voice from before spoke once more in the sweet and motherly tone.
I told you he would come. A second voice replied, sounding like a proud father who had just seen his youngest child take a step.
You can always trust somepony like him to answer the call when they are needed. The third voice sounded like that of an old man, full of wisdom from a long life.
Welcome. The three voices spoke in tandem inside of the Earth pony's mind.
"W…who are you?" he asked into the darkness of the library. He didn't understand what was going on, and yet for some reason he was not afraid. This place felt welcoming, a place where he rightfully belonged. It was strange how he now felt more at home in a room full of dusty books then he did with a town full of ponies.
Darkness. The first voice cooed.
Chaos. The second voice rumbled.
Disharmony. The third voice rasped.
We are that which came before, we are the keepers of balance. For each light there must be a shadow, for every hope there must be a fear. We are the painful truth nopony wishes to accept. And we have need of you.
The voices in his mind rang forth in the Earth pony's brain, and for a moment he felt a pang of fear. The things they spoke of didn't sound quite right, with words such as shadows and fear. "What would you need with me?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper. He didn't understand why the voices would want him; after all he was nothing special. He could not fly or weave magic, the most he could do was clean and harvest.
You were born special. The first voice explained.
Born to be powerful, respected, feared. The second voice added.
But that was taken away. But your misfortune need not continue. The third voice explained with a sage tone to its voice.
The balance is soon to be disturbed, a great light will be cast over the land, and darkness will have no room to cast shadow. In this terrible light all creatures will be blind and destruction will soon follow. We need one to stand above as an example, a pony to rule the darkness and keep balance.
"And you want me to be that pony?" the Earth pony's voice shook as the task they wished for him to do became clear. They were asking him to become something that he had never dreamed of, some creature of darkness that others would fear. But at the same time if he didn't an even worse fate would befall the world, and he didn't like the idea of more ponys being hurt by his inaction.
Evil must be done to protect balance. The first voice sighed.
Without sacrifice things fall into ruin. The second voice spoke with a hint of sadness.
Oh but worry not, for we have plans for the future, and your work will not go without reward. The third voice spoke, authority in its tone.
Serve our needs and we will grant your greatest wishes. Friendship, love, power, respect, all things you desire will be yours. There will be pain but we believe that you are strong enough to survive it. Serve us and we will in turn serve you.
The Earth pony stood in the black tree in utter silence for quite some time, unsure what to say or do when confronted with the words in his mind. If he acted ponys would be hurt, but if he didn't act more ponys would be hurt. After what seemed like an eternity he spoke. "I…I am willing to do what must be done." He bowed into the darkness. "I will rule and keep this balance."
I knew you would. The first voice said, pride and love overflowing with each word.
We knew you would. The second voice added with the admiration of a proud parent.
Now we shall bless you with our power. The third voice spoke quietly.
Our service to you, Guardian of Darkness.
Suddenly each book in the tree began to glow with a black aura, so dark that even the shadows seemed to flee away from it. These auras slowly became tendrils of energy that reached toward the young stallion and wrapped around him, consuming him with their touch. For a full minute the shadows wrapped around him like a cocoon around a caterpillar before its rebirth as a butterfly. The darkness slowly faded, and the stallion was transformed. Where once stood a plain Earth pony now stood a stallion whose fur was pitch black as midnight, and whose eyes glowed deep red. From his head a horn emerged, pure white in contrast to its dark form. A pair of wings also grew from his back, spreading proudly against the darkness. Where once stood an Earth pony now stood a pitch black Alicorn, filled with all the powers of darkness the voices had promised him.
Yes, a look most fitting you my lord. The first voice spoke approvingly.
A name will be needed for the new you. The second voice mused.
A name indeed and I think we have the perfect one. The third voice said in its wise manner.
Welcome to the world our lord, Shadowmars the Dark!
Shadowmars stepped out of the tree and found a great number of beasts awaiting him, looking toward him with wonder. "Bow." Shadowmars spoke his first command, and the monsters of the land, sky, and sea obeyed, bowing to him in unison, recognizing their master.
From this place Shadowmars returned to what was once his village and used his dark magic to change and shift it, his revenge for the life of cruelty they had shown him. The ponies of the village were transformed into beings of shadows and darkness, becoming Nightmares. They were tasked with entering into the minds of ponies and spreading evil and chaos. Once that was done Shadowmars created a massive castle of made of pure black energy, a place that seemed to push away any form of light. From this place Shadowmars ruled over the forest and its creatures, spreading the plague of his darkness around the world. He was the ruler of darkness, the one who kept the scales between utter light and total darkness at bay. If he was to be known only as a monster, than he would make sure that his very name would be the thing of legend.
One day however he was met with a challenger, the creature known as Discord, a being whose rule was chaos and madness. He appeared in the throne room of the dark castle, playing the jester and mocking Shadowmars at playing the part of ruler. The two did battle and Discord was driven away back to his own land, not having the power or will to battle both Shadowmars and the other creatures that sought an end to his reign.
For some time things were at a strange sort of peace. Discord would stay on his own land, and other creatures were too busy with him to try and attack the dark king and his castle. Through eventually others did come to him. Through they did now seek to end his rule, but rather to join him. Five beings who sought out darkness for their own reasons.
The Five Disciples of Shadowmars. The Elements of Disharmony.
The first was a Queen of Changlings, a being that fed off love and desires. She came seeking the one whose power held the entire forest to its will, the being who made even the most vicious monster tame. She came before Shadowmars and attempted to seduce him, but the dark ruler was unmoved. Instead he took her and her people under his domain and offered them protection and food, the ability to cause chaos where they wanted. The Queen accepted the offer in order to fulfil her desire for more driving her to follow this creature. She came to hold domain over Greed, the desire to never stop gaining more even when one had enough.
The second was a creature from a far off land, coming to find magic from which he could feed off of in order to grow more powerful. He came with a brother, but the brothers heart was not filled with the same darkness, and when they came to the castle he left. The creature entered into the castle and attempted to steal the power of Shadowmars, but instead found himself no match for the dark king. His rage at being too weak made Shadowmars stay his hoof and give the creature an offer. If he wished he could become a student of Shadowmars, obtain more power than he could imagine. The creature agreed, and spoke him name, Lord Tierk, the Element of Anger.
The third to visit him did once more to find power. A young unicorn whose desire for power had lead her to the dark kingdom. She wished to be the greatest in the land, but when compared to the unicorn known as Starswirl the Bearded she was never anything but second best. She had learned all she could of magic that her people could teach, and believed that true power could be found in that which others feared. She came before Shadowmars, and not even his power could suppress her pride. He took her on as his student, believing her a worthwhile ally to have. She became known as Trixas the Great and Terrible, the holder of the element of falsehood.
The fourth to seek out the dark kingdom was another unicorn from the Crystal Empire, a land untouched by Discord but also outside of the lands protected by the forces of light. He came seeking the strength to rule over his land, unwilling to accept his lot in life being to serve and protect others. With this one through, Shadowmars hesitated. The dark king did not know if he could trust this creature, one so willing to betray his own land with such ease. Unlike Trixas he did not come seeking power for its own sake, but power to rule over those that called him kin. Against his better judgement however this unicorn became his fourth student, Sombra the Shadow, holder of the element of treachery.
The fifth and final student to come under Shadowmarss teachings was different from the rest, as he did not come seeking darkness, but instead found it as the only place that any peace could be found. The fifth was a peagsus known as Somber Grey, a pony who only felt sorrow no matter what he did. Everything he touched lost its joy, and the world around him seemed less colorful and full of life. Each place he went he was cast out for this curse, until he found the only home for him was within the darkness. Shadowmars took pity on this creature and took him as a student, finding some relation from before he was ruler. And so the final element of disharmony was brought into the fold, the element of Sorrow.
For a time things were normal, Shadowmars taught his students and kept the balance of darkness against the light of the world. But everything changed when two Alicorns found the only weapons powerful enough to defeat Discord, bringing an end to his kingdom and freezing him in solid stone. This was the first time the balance was thrown into flux. Disord's defeat brought in a new era of light, one which pushed back all creatures of darkness.
It was during this time the first two of Shadowmars's disciples left the fold. Sombra was the first, believing he had gained enough power to rule over the Crystal Empire. He was correct, and subjugated each and every pony within to his will. However when his powers faced those of the two Alicorns he fell, weak and defeated, forced to become a shadow in order to survive.
The second was Trixas, whose goal was to defeat Starswirl, now an old stallion. She thought that by herself she could slay a powerful force for good and bring balance back herself. The two dueled and battled, but in the end Trixas was defeated, cast into nothiness. The battle took its toll on Starswirl through, and within a year the great wizard went into eternal sleep.
With the loss of two of his forces, and the Princesses continuing their strike against all evil Shadowmars was forced to work fast to keep the collapse of all that he had worked for from occurring. He sent Tierk into the land in order to spread chaos while he began to work on more plans. The distraction did not last long however, for his brother had given the secrets to his defeat to the two Alicorns, who banished Tierk into Tartarus for his attacks.
With only two of his students left Shadowmars came up with a final plan to protect the balance. He cast a spell into the minds of Somber Gray and the Queen of Changlings and sent them away. Once they were gone the dark king gathered together his
Nightmares and sent them into the mind of the Alicorn who controlled the moon, playing with her fears and jealousy until she was consumed by them. He hoped that by destroying the two of them he could buy time to rebuild, but the Alicorn who controlled the sun defeated her sister with the elements that had caused him so much trouble.
With all of his plans dashed Shadowmars simply waited in his castle, knowing what was to come next. On the day when the sun was closet to the planet, the day when the star would provide the greatest amount of heat into the world the Alicorn of the sun, Celestia as she was called, came to his castle to challenge him.
"So you are the foul creature responsible for so much darkness in this land?" Celestia glared down the dark king. "Hm, you reek of dark magic."
Shadowmars arose from his throne and let out a laugh. "So you are the breaker of balance, tell me Celestia, does your sister enjoy her new throne on the moon?"
The mention of her sister was enough to drive Celestia to attack, and thus the two did battle. Shadowmars summoned terrible beasts and twisted spells, reaching into the bottom of his dark heart to find the power. His mental assault on Luna had left him weak, and he was in no way ready to fight the Princess of Sun at full power. Despite his darkest attempts Shadowmars was finally forced to the ground in defeat. "You are defeated." Celestia said, landing next to him. "Do you yield?"
Shadowmars let out a haunting laugh. "Oh naïve Princess of Sun, you know not what you do" slowly the dark king stood and glared into the other Alicorns eyes. "I have cast a spell on myself, so long as one mare knows my name and fears it I shall arise again, no matter how I am defeated." With those final words spoke Shadowmars fell to his side and faded into darkness.
"If that is so, then let your name be known no more" Celestia rose high into the sky, above the land and drew energy directly from the star she controlled, casting a spell the likes of which no one had ever seen. A memory spell that erased every hint of Shadowmars, and in turn banishing his kingdom. Her spell reached the moon and her sister, and even the depths of Tartarus, and finally herself. Celestia knew she had defeated a great evil, but couldn't remember what it truly was.
With the knowledge of victory however she was unconcerned by it, and flew off back to her kingdom to ensure things were in proper order.
Thus ends the tale of Shadowmars. His creatures still wander, beings that serve his will by spreading chaos without knowing who their true master is. However no matter how deep this memory is buried he will one day return.
And on that day the land of Equstria will know what it means to face true darkness.
**
"Huh, what an odd story" the sheriff stallion turned to his deputy and shook his head. "Can't image it was worth all the fuss through"
The deputy bobbed his head in agreement. "Yeah, breaking into a pony's house just to put a story on their bed, just odd is what it is… through you got to admit it ain't half bad. Had me a bit spooked."
"You are spooked by your own shadow" the sheriff shook his head and sighed. "Well we can start looking for suspects in the morning, doesn't seem like anything was st ."
"Back to patrol than" the deputy stepped outside and blinked into the darkness, swearing he could see something, but just thinking it was his imagination.
**
A figured covered in a black robe watched the two police ponies from the sky, a small smile on its face. "I have done as you asked, my king" the figure took off into the sky, awaiting the return of its king.
"Angel….Angel come on this isn't funny…" Fluttershy nervously glanced around the forest as she moved through the trees, trying to find her rabbit friend before he got hurt in the dangerous forest.
It seemed that ever since that awful Tirek had stomped through the forest the various creatures within had been more active than normal, some having to relocate their entire groups to different parts of the forest, and that was causing quite a bit of tension. Fluttershy had done her best to mediate between animals or help relocate them, but there was a lot of work and the forest wasn't always kind enough to let her do her work.
After another few minutes of walking Fluttershy heard a voice calling out, though not in the usual way. Instead of hearing it with her ears the voice she heard called out in her mind.
"Back off, you won't hurt this creature!" the voice was strong and threatening, though an edge of fear could be heard to those who listened closely to it.
The sounds of a struggle directed the young mare toward the voices origin, and she couldn't believe what she saw. Standing in a clearing of trees was a stallion whose fur was the darkest shade of black she had ever seen on a pony before. On his back sat two powerful looking wings, and from his head sprouted a white horn that seemed to clash with the rest of his coloring. Surrounding the Alicorn were four Timberwolves, lines of drool slowly coming from their mouths as they stared at something under the stallions form.
Fluttershy had to put a hand over her mouth to suppress a gasp. Her little Angel was on the ground under the black Alicorn, obviously hurt, with her brush right next to him. It looked like the wolves had been batting him around, playing with their food as Timberwolves where known to do. It didn't seem like the monsters had managed to take a bite out of him, but he still didn't look good.
Before she could process the scene in front of her one of the Timberwolves jumped out to strike at the Alicorn, but he quickly turned and gave it a hard kick to the nose for its trouble, breaking it apart and sending it back. Sadly it didn't put the creature out of the fight, as it reformed in a matter of moments. Timberwolves were hard to beat, as only fire or utter exhaustion could actually kill one. And with the numbers on the wrong side it didn't seem like things were going to be going the Alicorns way.
The black Alicorn was outnumbered, and without using his magic the fight was not going his way. Despite landing solid hits on the beasts they weren't getting scared off. Instead they would just charge in, land a few glancing blows on him with their claws or teeth before backing off so another one of the pack could continue. He managed to get lucky with one, hitting it with his front legs and stomping on the twigs until there was nothing to reform from, but in doing that he almost let them get the small rabbit, and he wasn't going to let that happen.
The yellow furred Pegasus gasped and tried to break through her own cowardice in order to help out. She couldn't help him fight; even if she tried to join in she was just too weak to actually make a difference. In the end she would just become another target for him to defend. In her rush to get out here she had even left the special whistle Discord had given her in case she was ever in trouble, so she couldn't even call the chaos king to help.
The stallion drew in deep and heavy breaths as he stared down the Timberwolves, knowing that this fight was only going to end one way, and that was with him losing. He simply didn't have the strength to fight off this number of enemies by himself, so in desperation he did the last thing he could think of.
He stood over the rabbit's body and let out a mental shout. "If you are so hungry and then why not eat something your own size, though I promise I won't go down easy."
He figured that if the beasts were to busy eating him they might ignore the rabbit and just move on. It wasn't smart, but it was all he could do. The wolves continued their assault, hitting him and running, up until one of them leapt and dug its teeth into his back, causing the stallion to fall to all fours and let out a scream through the use of his magic. He gave a violent shake and threw the wolf off, but with that wound there wasn't a chance of him getting up and fighting.
The utter horror of what she was seeing finally launched an idea into Fluttershy's mind. The natural enemies of the Timberwolves were Phoenix's and Dragons, both creatures that would hunt them with flames in order to teach their young how to defend themselves. She couldn't pull off a dragons roar, but a few weeks ago the Cutie Mark Crusaders had tried to get their 'Animal Imitation Cutie Marks' and had asked her for help. It just so happened that one of the creatures that she was best at was the Phoenix. She drew in a deep breath and put a hoof against her mouth, letting out a loud imitation of the Phoenix's attack call.
The Timberwolves suddenly looked around uneasy at the sound of their natural predator. It took a few moments for them to fully decide, but after coming to the decision that the food before them wasn't worth their lives the pack leader scattered, and the rest followed suit.
With the creatures finally departed Fluttershy quickly made her way toward the fallen Alicorn and bunny. "Oh dear, oh no, are you okay?" she put a hoof on the fallen stallion and looked at him with worry plain to see in her eyes.
The stallion looked up at her and winced a bit from the pain. "Good, someponys here," he moved himself out of the way so Angel was in view. "This rabbit is hurt, and whatever scared off the wolves will be here soon. Take him and run, I will distrac…" he winced against the grey energy around his horn wavered. "I will distract it, hurry!" The stallion forced himself to his feet and turned his back to the two, obviously shaky and not looking like he would be held steady for long.
For a few seconds Fluttershy was left utterly speechless at what the pony had just…said. He had just suggested that she take Angel and run while he faced down a creature that scared off a pack of Timberwolves, all for a bunny and a mare he had never met before. "N..no you see I made the noise to scare off the wolves" she explained.
"Oh…okay than." The stallion fell to his side and took a few breaths. "If that's the case I will just take a quick nap then, though you should take the bunny into t..." the magic faded away and the black furred Alicorn let out small and shallow breaths, showing that he was still alive despite being hurt.
"Need to get help, but…wait I got it" Fluttershy quickly ran into the forest, knowing one of her animals friends lived close by. It only took a few minutes thankfully to find it, a small cabin out in the middle of the dangerous forest. She quickly knocked on the door. "Excuse me, are you home?" she asked, using the same voice she would if knocking on any of her friends doors.
After a few seconds the door was opened, revealing a rather large brown bear who looked down at the mare with a look of puzzlement. "Hur?"
"Hello Mr. Papa Bear," she smiled a bit and dipped her head in greeting. "I was wondering if you could help me carry some friends back to my house, they got into a fight with some Timberwolves and need to be taken care of"
The bear looked back inside the house. "Hur Hur Hur," he said before stepping out and closing the door.
"Oh I am so sorry to interrupt your dinner, I know its been tough to find fish after that mean Tierk went and caused so much chaos in the forest." She began to walk, knowing the bear would follow her.
"Hur hur," the bear waved its paw a bit, showing that it wasn't that big of an issue. "Hur hur hur, hur hur hur."
Flutterwhy tilted her head a bit. "You are saying a young filly came into your house and ate some of the soup I gave you, and she went and messed up your beds?"
"Hur." The bear nodded a bit.
"Well I will ask around town and make sure it doesn't happen again. A little pony shouldn't be out in the forest and going into others homes"
The bear nodded and went silent as they finally entered the clearing, finding the fallen Alicorn and bunny. For a moment the bear paused, before calmly moving over and picking up the stallion and bunny without a sound, almost like it was in a trance.
The two of them quickly made their way back to Fluttershy's house, luckily not running into more creatures that might cause them problems. They might have been seen by them, but the bear was still known as an animal that most creatures wouldn't tangle with unless they had too.
The yellow pony opened the door and the bear ducked its head to get in, walking in and looking around. "Hur?" the bear turned the Fluttershy.
"Let me get some blankets." Fluttershy said in return, moving quickly into her room and grabbing some soft blankets to lay the stallion down on. Once they were set up the bear gently placed the black Alicorn and small rabbit down on the pile, turning toward Fluttershy once more. "Don't worry, I am going to get a doctor and…"
"No…no doctors…please…no…" The Alicorn slowly opened one eye and looked at the other pony. "I…just need rest… no doctors…" he fell back asleep quickly enough.
The bear tapped the side of its head. "Hur?"
"It's just how he talks I guess." Fluttershy said with a shrug, looking at the wounded pony and biting her lip. "If he doesn't want to see a doctor… wait I know" she turned toward the bear and smiled a bit. "I will get Twilight, she can probably heal him with her magic!"
She turned toward the bear and gave his leg a small hug. "Thanks for your help Mr. Papa Bear, you should get back to your family now though"
The bear gave a final "Hur" and made his way back into the woods toward his family.
Fluttershy looked at the fallen Alicorn and grabbed a few bandages, doing her best to wrap up the wounds so they wouldn't get infected and he wouldn't bleed too much while she was gone. She quickly took off, flying despite not being a huge fan of it. She owed the pony resting in her house that much at least.
A few minutes passed and the black furred Alicorn finally stirred from his rest, looking around the unfamiliar home and feeling a small surge of panic run through him. He didn't have any idea where he was, and he felt a throbbing pain in his back. It took a few seconds for the memory of the fight to come through to his head, which explained the pain.
The last thing he remembered was a yellow Pegasus and a bear. That was really strange, not so much the bear part but a Pegasus going out of their way to help him.
"Wait…why is that strange?" A buzzing noise suddenly made a loud sound in his head, and the Alicorn was forced to close his eyes out of pure pain. Within a few moments it passed, but still left a ringing sound in his ears.
After a short struggle to stand up the Alicorn slowly took in his surroundings, trying to get an idea of where he was at the moment. It seemed to be a small cottage, well lived in and homey, and if the fur that clung to every bit of the house was any indication it seemed the pony who lived here must have really loved animals. Finally he turned back to the blankets he had been laying on, and to his horror he saw a number of red stains along them.
"Oh no, got to clean those." he moved toward the blankets and began to move them when a small rabbit jumped on them and began to glare him down. "Pardon me little one, got to clean these off."
The rabbit didn't move, instead point at the blankets and making a few small noises.
"I can't really rest right now, I made a mess of the blankets and need to clean them off." The Alicorn tried to explain to the bunny, but it didn't seem like his rationalization was going anywhere.
The bunny pointed down at him, than to the blankets before crossing his arms and showing that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"If you really insist, I guess I could use a bit of rest." The Alicorn sighed and laid down on the blankets, and within a few moments he began to doze off.
The small rabbit walked over and curled up next to his protector, not wanting to leave him alone.
*********************************************************************************
Twilight sighed and looked around the round table room of her castle, wondering just how many new things there were to explore in this new home of hers. Despite having lived in it for almost two weeks now she still hadn't been able to discover the various secrets within the upper floors, much less the underground library or other hidden things.
"Hey Twilight!" The purple Alicorn's dragon assistant called out to get her attention, walking over to a throne and sitting on it. "Check this out!" Spike bounced a bit in the throne and a trapdoor opened under it, sending the throne down and replacing it with a new one.
After a few moments Spike came up the stairs once more with a grin. "Oh man that is so cool, it takes you to that room we found a few weeks ago, you know the place with the super strong door!"
Probably for use in case of an attack. Twilight thought to herself, having heard of such features for her readings into castle construction. It made sense given the age of the box that had created her castle that it would design her castle like that, despite being in a place that didn't exactly warrant such defenses.
"That is pretty interesting, though we should probably make sure that Pinkie's is a bit harder to press with how much she bounces around." Twilight began to try and come up with a solution to that small problem and also idly began to wonder if maybe she should get something to eat. Before her musings could go on however Fluttershy appeared at one of the windows of the castle and began to frantically waving her hooves to get her attention.
"Huh?" Twilight tilted her head and teleported into the air to join her friend, beating her wings lightly in order to keep herself afloat. "Fluttershy, whats wrong?" She hadn't seen her friend in such a state for a while.
"Twilight its terrible there were these wolves and then somepony was fighting them, and Angel was hurt, and then he was hurt, and then I scared them and…"
Before she could continue Twilight put a hoof to her friends mouth. "Slow down Fluttershy, you aren't making any sense. Start from the beginning and try and stay calm."
Fluttershy nodded and took a deep breath. "My little bunny, Angel, ran into the woods with my favorite brush, so I went after him. When I found him he was going to be eaten by a bunch of Timberwolves, but a stallion came out of nowhere and fought them off, but he got hurt. I got some help and carried him back to my house, but he said he didn't want to see a doctor, and I thought maybe you might have some magic to help him out."
Twilight thought for a moment and bit her lip. "I know a few healing spells, but a doctor would be able to do more…" she shook her head. "I will see what I can do."
Fluttershy smiled and hugged her friend. "Thank you so much, um… would it be too much trouble for you to teleport us there?" She looked away a bit bashfully. "I may have flown a bit faster than usual to get here and my wings are really tired."
Twilight laughed a bit and nodded, expanding her usual teleportation spell to include Fluttershy and zapping them both toward the nervous mare's cottage. Ever since she and her friends had defeated Tirek, Twilight had seen an unusual boost in her magical strength overall. It was possible that having been the conduit for so much magical energy was increasing her normal abilities, or that it was just natural for Alicorns to grow more powerful as time went on.
The yellow pony moved forward and pushed the door opened, her eyes widening when she saw what was on the other side. It seemed a number of her animals friends had taken to gathering around the black Alicorn and were nuzzled against him, almost acting like a big blanket for him. They were careful to stay around from any parts of him that were wounded.
The purple Alicorn slowly moved forward and finally noticed that the person in front of them wasn't an average Stallion, and she turned toward Fluttershy with a look of confusion. "You said a couple of Timberwolves did this to him?" her friend nodded and Twilight's confusion only grew.
Alicorn's were some of the most powerful creatures on the planet, the idea that a few Timberwolves could take one out in combat was very strange to her. She walked over and the animals moved away from him so she could interact with him. "Excuse me..." she put a hoof on his leg and tapped it gently.
The stallions eyes shot open and quickly scanned around. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to get the blankets dirty its just I woke up and the bunny told me to lay down. I will clean them right away." the stallion quickly stood up, but almost fell right back down as pain ran through his entire body.
Angel stood up once more and gave him a harsh glare.
"It's really okay." Fluttershy said, coming over and giving a calming smile. "Those are old blankets, and I don't mind them getting a bit dirty. But now please, let my friend Twilight get a look at your wounds…please?" the nervous pony gave the stallion a look he couldn't say no too.
"If you insist," he said with a bit of a sigh, looking at Twilight with a hint of distrust. "You aren't a doctor are you?"
Twilight shook her head, still in awe of the sight of another Alicorn in the room, one that no one had even told her about.
"No, I just know some healing magic is all." She walked over and her horn began to glow with magic as she chanted the words to the healing spell under her breath. Unlike teleportation or some of her other tricks she didn't have this one fully practiced, and chanting the language of magic helped her concentrate.
She put her horn against the stallions and her magic slowly went along his body, fixing the various wounds he had gained during the battle.
"That should fix the worst of it, so stranger, whats your name?"
The stallion let out a sign of relief as the pain finally vanished from his body, giving him the chance to stand once more without having to worry about pain. "Oh, I never introduced myself did I?" he brought his hoof up to scratch the back of his mane. "Very rude of me, my name is…" he blinked and tapped his head. "Which is to say that…um…" the stallion looked down. "I..I don't know my name." he suddenly declared.
Both of the mares looked at each other for a moment with a look of worry on their faces. "Do you remember anything?" Fluttershy asked, sympathy plain in her voice.
The black furred Alicorn didn't speak for a full minute and finally he shook his head. "No, I don't," he sat down for a bit and lowered his head. "Just that I don't like doctors, I do like animals, and…for some reason you two scare me quite a bit." He spoke honestly but without any rudeness to his voice. He was just stating facts.
The two other ponies didn't speak for a few moments. Fluttershy was filled with worry for the Alicorn's lost memory, and Twilight was surprised that anyone could be scared of Fluttershy of all people.
Finally the purple Alicorn explained. "You must have amnesia."
"Amnesia?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "What is amnesia?"
"It basically means that you have forgotten or locked away a number of memories," Twilight said with a frown. "You might have taken a blow to the head during the fight, or some spells could cause it as well."
"Wait, can't you use the spell that fixed us back when Discord was still mean?" Fluttershy asked, remembering when Discord had turned their elements upside down and caused them to all act like jerks.
Twilight shook her head. "That situation and this one are different, I knew exactly what was effecting you guys and the spell I used was able to designed to counter magical manipulations. If I cast it on him and it turns out to be a more physical block it could cause more damage in the long run."
"Yes, I rather like the option that has less damage to me in it." The stallion said with a raised hoof.
Twilight sighed and turned toward the other Alicorn. "So real quick, why do you only talk with your magic?"
The stallion blinked in confusion. "Why do I only talk with what now?"
Fluttershy nodded. "That's right, you are talking to us in our heads with your magic right now. You were doing it in the woods before the fight as well." She turned toward Twilight, hoping she would have an answer.
"It's possible that you are mute, and your instinct from before you lost your memory if guiding you to use your magic. Like when a young unicorn uses their magic without meaning too."
"Hm, that makes sense I suppose. After all it doesn't feel like I am doing anything unnatural, and how would one even try to speak?" the stallion shook his head a bit. His current state of mind and being didn't really allow him to go on such musings. "I should probably get a look at myself," he looked at Fluttershy. "Would you happen to have a mirror?"
She nodded and quickly went to get one, holding it up so the black Alicorn could look at himself. "So, what should we call you?" she asked lightly. "It would be rather rude to just call you 'that stallion' or something like that."
The black Alicorn looked at himself in the mirror for a moment. "Well…until I can remember my real name I guess you can call me..." the stallion thought for a bit before something finally came to him. "Call me Shade, after all my fur is black like the shade of a tree, so that should work for now," the newly dubbed Shade moved his wings a bit, showing that he was overall awkward with them.
"And what are your names?" he asked, looking at the two mares it was obvious by his tone that he was still nervous, but with the kindness that they had shown him he was willing to at least do his best to not show his stress.
"Twilight Sparkle," Twilight introduced herself with a smile. "But please just call me Twilight"
"And I am Fluttershy, its nice to meet you Mr. Shade," she said with a smile. "So are you feeling better after Twilight's healing?"
The stallion nodded. "Very much so, I feel like…" before he could continue the stallion suddenly fell to the side. Before his body could impact with the ground Angel ran over and placed a pillow where his head would have hit, softening the impact. A small snore rose out of Shade, showing that he had fallen asleep mid-sentence.
Twilight chuckled a bit under her breath. "The spell I used healed up the physical wounds, but he is probably going to be tired for a bit."
"What should we do?" Fluttershy asked Twilight, happy that his wounds where healed at least.
The purple Alicorn sighed and thought for a moment. "Well sending a letter to Celestia and Luna is the first step, but they are out of the castle on royal business so they probably won't get it for a few days. I guess I could also send a letter to Cadance and Shining Armor, maybe they will have some idea of where he came from. And I guess I should get together our friends to make sure that they know about our visitor."
Before she could continue Twilight was interrupted by Angel, who pushed on her leg and pointed at Shade, than at the blankets.
"Oh, right." Twilight teleported Shade onto the blankets so he would have something soft to lay on. "Will you be all right with him here?" She asked Fluttershy.
Fluttershy nodded and smiled. "Oh yes, he seems rather nice, and my animals like him. And if there is trouble…" she went over toward a small silver whistle and showed it to Twilight. "Discord gave this to me after that awful business with Tirek. It's a magic whistle that will summon him to help me in case of an emergency."
Twilight softly smiled as she heard that. Ever since that incident Discord had been a lot kinder of a creature, still being the jokester they knew him as but also making lines that he wouldn't cross. For the last week or so he had been out of Ponyville, apparently off to 'fix up some old trouble' he had caused elsewhere.
"Okay, you stay here and watch him, I will go back to the castle and call everypony up." The purple Alicorn made her way out of the house and began to walk, not wanting to use up more energy.
Fluttershy turned toward Shade and looked down as the animals began to cuddle up against him. She was very lucky that somepony like him had been around to help Angel, and she would make sure that he would be kept safe until he remembered who he was.
