Arcane Shadow (Re-Written)

Bartholomew kept his rare smile as he began to elaborate on his plan, "While you guys are training the air forces, I'll train the ground forces… at least, those who consist of ponies just brought here. Because from what I've seen… those ponies don't know much about manipulating their innate magic, if at all, beyond what tradition told them was acceptable." He gestured to the leather armor he still wore, and then angled his body to lift one flap of it up to show his cutie mark.

Soarin frowned. "But… the ponies of Whitefall and the other towns aren't part of the military," he pointed out.

Bartholomew nodded. "However… they don't need to be military, but rather working with the military," he replied. "Because they're going to have to rebuild their towns anyway, so it would only make sense to collaborate on that little issue. But they can't quite do that until the bastards that razed the towns are dealt with, so…"

Spitfire nodded. "Well, we're gonna need all the help we can get—the bastards who made the assaults, or at least, the portion of their forces that stayed their hooves, have joined the ranks of undead," she said.

Bartholomew's eyes narrowed. "Willingly, or otherwise?" he tersely asked.

"The leaders, willingly; everypony else, not so much," Thunderlane replied.

Bartholomew nodded, and sighed sadly. "Figured as much. Wouldn't make sense for the lackeys to be willing, with everything else Fantasia's thrown at me," he said. He smiled ruefully. "You don't make it to fifty and still not be sharp after all."

Soarin blinked. "You're fifty?" he asked. "You don't look a day over twenty!"

Bartholomew kept smiling. "Well, I've been keeping sharp since I was a colt. Kinda had to, since I was orphaned," he said with a shrug. "Must be a side-effect of hanging around Eve and Andrew so much—their longevity must've rubbed off on me somehow, and they haven't used forbidden magics around me at all."

Bartholomew's shadow stretched, split in two, and from the split shade Eve and Andrew materialized, grinning up at him. "Aw come on, we all know that's your strong earth pony magic keeping you young~" Andrew chirped, elbowing his in-law in his left foreleg. "You're still in your prime, bucko."

Eve grinned salaciously. "If we wanted, we could give Matt a sibling," she added, causing Bartholomew to blush. "But not so soon; we still have some issues that need sorting out first."

"Anyway," Bartholomew began, shaking off his embarrassment, "I've noticed that not many ponies of Whitefall and Goldenbrick are… well-versed in their tribal magics. Unicorns barely cast if at all, and nothing so complex as needing a basic magic circle. Earth ponies… they barely grow anything—unless it's the few hardened mercenaries already running around. That's what I'd like to rectify."

Spitfire glanced at Eve. "And if we went this route, would you end up teaching the unicorns… corruptive magics?" she asked.

Eve shook her head. "I most certainly would not," she hissed, eyes narrowing and smile falling. "I refuse, absolutely refuse to make any more Umbrum in that underhoofed way. Besides, if shadows are dancing… the rest of the Umbrum are acting."

Spitfire frowned at Eve's sudden hostility towards the topic. "And l would generously assume that they're not benevolent, given your expression…" she said cautiously.

Eve grimly nodded. "No. Me and Andrew… we were the only ones who disagreed, and for our dissent, we were cast out of Umbrum society," she affirmed. Her shadows contorted, and she and her brother nodded as one. "We should probably reveal our true forms to you… so you can prepare for what the Umbrum really look like, in the complete absence of light, and what they are capable of when they spread their wings."

Her body stretched, bones popping and reconfiguring as her body twisted into living shadow, legs thinning alongside her chest and barrel to something emaciated. At the same time, flesh, fur, and bones melted into living darkness, and twisted mockeries of butterfly-like wings spread from her backside, before then reconfiguring into mockeries of pegasus wings. Her horn lengthened further, and her eyes glowed like hellish lights promising suffering. Fangs jutted from her mouth, not quite as long or prominent as a changeling's set, but still sharp just the same. Unusually, she kept her purple coloration for her true form, but now it was so dark a purple that it could have been easily mistaken for black.

Andrew underwent the same process, except he was the taller, almost-black maroon colored, and larger-winged of the pair. And in their wings, which they spread wide, images flashed within their feathers. Spitfire paled upon seeing every fear she ever had throughout her life playing within those limbs, from mortality taking its toll on her, to being rendered powerless and unable to do anything about it. Every fear that every equine had ever known in Equestria flashed in her eyes and in those wings, like a mirror dredging up every secret ever buried in the depths of her soul. A wave of primal fear overcame her, and instinctively, she backed away before bumping into Soarin, taking in a shuddering breath upon beholding the wave of crippling fear in full. She trembled considerably, and so did the rest of the Wonderbolts as they, too, stared into the spread wings that relayed their own fears back upon them.

Eve and Andrew closed their wings, and reverted back to their more equine disguises. "Once the rest of the Umbrum surface… they will try to use your fears against you. The Umbrum royal family is the strongest… and we should know—we're the now-illegitimate scions of the late King," Eve said, shaking her head. She turned to Bartholomew and smiled up at him. "Fortunately, we have… an expert here, in taking those projected fears head-on."

Spitfire turned to Bartholomew. "What… happened, exactly?" she hedged.

Bartholomew smiled. "After their banishment, they were causing trouble around the countryside, petty thievery and the like. I was one of the few who charged through, and beat them in direct combat—I made a rule where they couldn't use their magic through their horns or wings. They weren't… as versed with their earth magic as they should have been," he said, turning to Eve to flash her a smile. "Then we came to a truce, and I took them home to get them accustomed to regular pony life. We've been family since."

Andrew smiled. "Did us a lot of good, at least, before we found out how far-reaching the Umbrum's hold was throughout Fantasia," he said. "And… we hadn't trained much anyway during our long lives, because royalty was of the mind that they shouldn't have to prepare for anything until they ascend the throne. We got the barest grasp on our abilities through finding shit out on our own—no more, and no less."

Spitfire frowned. "So basically, their mentality is 'let the King run the show, and don't question his methods,'" she surmised.

Andrew nodded. "Yep. And just before we were booted out, the throne changed hooves anyway, because the old King… well, he died in his sleep, in peace, knowing that his plans would continue," he said. His smile fell. "I bet you, he's rolling in his grave right now, because he did not expect his grandkids to mingle with normal ponies."

Eve grinned. "Much less produce kids," she added.

"Quick… quick question," Soarin began, his voice trembling with hesitation, "does… does Matt have those wings? The ones showing everything we're afraid of…?"

Eve nodded. "He manifested them once, when he and Natalie were toddlers. Scared the living daylights out of her, and he hasn't manifested them since, as far as I know," she said. "Largely because I had to explain to him why the shadow-wings are a very bad thing." She sighed and wilted a bit. "Trust me, that was not a fun day… but at least we got them to hug at the end of that fiasco."

Eve's shadow stretched, contorted, and resolved into a frowning Matt. "I thought we agreed to never talk about that again," he grumbled indignantly. "I know you're talking logistics in the face of whatever the fuck is going to come at us after we sort out Redpine, but for the love of Godcat, don't drag me through the obsidian, Mom."

Eve sighed. She turned around and moved to give Matt a hug, which he reciprocated with one hoof. "Sorry, sorry… I just fear the rest of the Umbrum are showing their hooves now," she mumbled.

Matt's frown deepened. "Oh yeah, the rest of the family tree…" he grumbled. He looked at Spitfire. "I've heard quite a few things about those fucknuggets…"

"Nothing good, I assume?" Thunderlane asked.

Matt nodded. "Nothing good," he confirmed unhappily, as Eve broke the hug. "And another thing: don't ask me to manifest my shadow-wings; Umbrum are immune to them by default, unless you can dispel their shadows with a bright-enough light. And for that, we'd need to steal the sun from Celestia."

Spitfire nodded, and frowned as a thought hit her. "Do you think the Umbrum consider Redpine's ponies… allies?" she asked.

Eve shook her head, and turned back to the Wonderbolts with a frown. "No, they consider them less than pawns," she answered unhappily. "They consider everypony not of their clan less than equine."

"Which means that, when they do finally rear their heads, they will give no quarter whatsoever," Soarin said, brow furrowing at the thought. "And our lightning might not be enough to dispel their shadows, even if we somehow manage to conjure enough of it."

Andrew smiled, though. "I think I know something bright enough for the task…" He turned to Matt. "Where's Natz at?"

Matt sighed. "I'll go get her," he replied, and with that, he started to meld back into shadows when the sound of hooves on tile stopped him. He turned to the tables, and found Natalie trotting between some with her wings ruffling. "... or maybe the soldiers will beat me to it," he said.

Natalie frowned as she approached the Wonderbolts. "Alright, who started yakking about shadow-wings?" she asked.

"I did… because we might be having more on our plate soon," Eve answered. "You remember all those… relatives I told you about, the ones I didn't like?" At Natalie's nod, she elaborated, "Well, they might be preparing to strike, so I'm taking care to inform the appropriate parties about their skillsets so they can be prepared."

Natalie sighed, her wings drooping a bit. "And that makes me glad my wings aren't like that…" she grumbled under her breath. "Anyway, why was I called?"

"Well… we're gonna need a strong-enough light to dispel Umbrum shadows, and your magic fits the bill," Andrew said. "More specifically, your Hellfire spell."

Natalie frowned. "So, you want me to drop supernovas, is this what I'm hearing?" she asked. At Andrew's nod, she sighed. "Just when I got over the meteor-flinging accusations from Greenwood…" Her head shook, and her wings spread downwards to hit the floor. After a few seconds, she lifted her head back up. "Are we dealing with just a few relatives, or an entire damn army?"

Eve frowned. "Yes," she answered, shaking her head. "In the times before we got kicked out of the family, they've converted a fair number of unicorns into Umbrum servants, so… we're looking at least at an army of thousands. And their realm has the infuriating ability to change where it's door is located at a whim, so… they'll be hard to locate and counter through the tried and true storming-the-gates method."

Natalie pulled her wings back up, closing them at her sides. "So basically, the bastards could strike from anywhere they wanted," she said, brow furrowing at that information.

"As long as the area isn't populated, yes," Eve confirmed with a nod. "For all we know, the door could be currently at Greenwood's former location, and nobody barring me and Andrew would know what the damn thing looks like."

"And speaking of doors, what does it look like?" Rainbow asked, crossing her forelegs.

"Well… think of shadows, in the vague shape of doors, lined with black crystal acting as the frame and knob. It can only be opened from within, by members of the clan who haven't been kicked out, for they carry the keys that can open and close it at will—a purely magical door, leading to a realm of absolute shadow, which within lies a mighty castle of blackened crystal," Eve said, shaking her head. "It can only be forced from outside otherwise, and only then, by ponies able to grow the same black crystal making up the frame and knob, and able to make a replica key."

Rainbow frowned, and slowly turned to Natalie. "Does your mom know about your…" she trailed off, using a hoof to indicate her other hoof.

Natalie frowned. "No, she doesn't…" Then she got what Rainbow was trying to tell her, and sighed as she willed forth the crystals from her own flesh, lighting her horn to heal the wounds as they sprang forth.

Eve's frown deepened as she turned to regard the black crystals now adorning her adoptive daughter, watching as they failed to sparkle despite the lights overhead. "That… is exactly the type of crystal I am talking about," she muttered. "When did this start happening?"

"After I confronted Akron the first time, and got drained for the trouble," Natalie answered. "Though I didn't start controlling this until after Akron was slain."

Eve's frown eased a bit. "So… Akron may have cursed you," she surmised unhappily. At Natalie's nod, she sighed. "Well, that's bad news… but it also tells me he might have eaten an Umbrum to be able to have that power at all." She shook her head, and rubbed the back of it with one hoof. "Which tells me, either that Umbrum he ate got free, or they had been fully subsumed by Akron before he was slain, and went down with him—and I'm strongly leaning towards the former, since your crystals can only be dispelled by your will."

"Yeah, Umbrum… don't digest easily, I would think," Andrew said, shaking his head. "Because Godcat and Faust didn't create the tribes of Umbrum, I'm pretty sure They don't know what to do with the whole lot."

"Wait, so Akron had to eat ponies just to steal their powers?" Rainbow asked, frowning as she struggled to understand the concept. "That sounds… that sounds stupidly complex, not to mention difficult."

"It would… if he weren't a god of death created by Godcat," Natalie retorted. "And before he was sealed, nobody was really safe from him. Hell, me and the others had to fight and slay him at a fraction of our power, and killing him gave us the rest of our strength back."

Rainbow shuddered at the unspoken meaning. "So he almost… ate your souls," she surmised.

Natalie nodded. "Worst thing was finding out he could make homunculi afterwards—because said homunculi were running around, causing mayhem and blaming us for it, taking after the absolute worst aspects of us in terms of personality. And the homunculi were based on us at full strength, so… we wound up reshaping the territory we found the fuckers in," she affirmed. She turned to her adoptive mother. "And if that Umbrum had been subsumed, that means that bastard has a homunculus running around, stirring shit up for him." Her brow furrowed. "Now that I think about it, even though Katie escaped being subsumed, that might still mean she's got a homunculus of her own also stirring the shit pot…"

Eve frowned at the troubling news. "Do you think that figure that Tequila's crew saw… was the potential homunculus?" she asked.

Natalie nodded. "Would make sense for them to be wearing a cloak, too—better to hide that aspect from those it wouldn't want to reveal itself to. Would also explain where that equine-shaped crystal golem came from, if that homunculus has the power to make crystal homunculi of its own…" She turned to her adoptive mother. "Do Umbrum have that skill by default?"

Eve nodded. "But only skilled Umbrum mages can make the crystal homunculi do anything of note," she affirmed bitterly.

Rainbow frowned, and looked at Natalie. "So… those homunculi you've killed… what happened to them?" she asked.

Natalie sighed. "They sorta… became a permanent part of me and the others, and we can call them at will. Basically, we can restore their bodies, but they're bound to us and us alone. We… don't like using them, because their dark desires are magnified from ours a thousandfold," she answered. "That said, if you want me to summon Natalia, you'd be safe, because we keep them on tight leashes."

"Natalia?" Spitfire asked.

"What I've named my homunculus," Natalie replied with a shrug. "Then there's Lancelot, Lance's homunculus, and Matteus, Matt's homunculus. And if we do call them, they have the worst mouths you'd ever heard on ponies, artificial or otherwise." She sighed, and then rolled her eyes at something. "And speaking of, Natalia just piped up in my head to… 'advise' me to burn all of Redpine down. It seems she missed the 'they became lava wraiths' part of the equation."

"They commune telepathically when not summoned?" Spitfire put a hoof to her chin. "That's… particular." She looked at the crystals adorning Natalie's body. "Is that an aspect of your homunculus that you're borrowing?"

"No; that would be her scythe," Natalie answered bluntly, shaking her head. "And also, the homunculi are asleep most of the time, because they're often bored to tears when not sowing mayhem." Her shadow stretched, repositioned to stand at her side, and anchored a chain to her hoof. Natalie took notice of this and sighed. "And here we go, she's calling herself, apparently… if I know how this is gonna go, she's gonna lodge complaints…" The shadow lay there for a moment before moving up off the ground to reform into a vague equine shape that then gained definitive features as more of it materialized into existence.

The resulting creature, chained to Natalie's hoof, only vaguely looked like her, sporting a religiously-iconed hat and dress with fire motifs, and with leathery bat-like wings at her sides adorned with black feathers. Her horn was sharpened to a wicked point with two more horns framing it on either side of her head, her coat a sickly reddish-ashen and sporting black crystals glowing with the power of flame, and her mouth looked like it was half-melting, half-stitched shut. Her twisted face came complete with black abysses housing hellishly-colored orbs. Her face and neck were framed by blackened bangs and long, oily-black hair flowing in an invisible wind, glowing with a profaned, dim light only barely reminiscent of the voluptuous mane it sought to imitate. She turned to her counterpart and scowled.

"Oh come on, you didn't tell me those sinful ponies of Redpine became wraiths! Now what am I supposed to do to purge them of their sins?!" the creature yelled in a pouting voice that echoed, before Natalie's hoof lifted up to grip her by the head.

"I don't know, maybe use the ice magic you copied off of me to smash them into smithereens? Not everything has to burn, Natalia," Natalie said, shaking her head. "Besides, either way, the sinful go to Hell regardless of how we kill them—we both know this."

"But that's no fun!" Natalia hissed, petulantly stomping a hoof. Rainbow noticed that her hooves were cloven, and cracked, made of the same black crystal adorning her counterpart's body. "And nor is it just! It is not the right way to do things!"

Natalie flicked her gaze towards Rainbow, and then rolled her eyes as if to say, 'and this is why I don't summon my homunculus.' She then redirected her attention back to said homunculus and replied, "If I need you to burn ponies, I'll call you, okay? In the meantime, go back to the shadows of my soul, and wait until then."

Natalia glowered. "Fine…" she hissed, and with that, she dissolved into shadows and reverted Natalie's shadow back to its former position, taking the chain off of her counterpart's hoof as she went.

Rainbow wilted a bit. "That was weird… can you not do that again?" she asked.

Natalie nodded. "I can do that," she affirmed. She turned to Matt, to see if his shadow would contort, and found him glowering at it.

"No, you cannot come out and munch on the Wonderbolts' feathers," Matt said to his shadow, which flinched like a scalded puppy.

"B-but—" his shadow, or more accurately, the being taking up residence within it protested.

"No," Matt said firmly. "The Wonderbolts are not edible. And while we're on the subject, you can't eat the wraiths of Redpine either, because I'm pretty sure lava will hurt you coming out."

"You're no fun…" the being within Matt's shadow protested, crossing its hooves like a petulant child. After a moment, his shadow reverted back to normal.

Natalie sighed and turned back to Rainbow. "Just be glad you don't have to wake up some mornings, with your own homunculus looming over you and trying to stick their hooves where they don't need to go," she said curtly. "Or the homunculi of your companions, for that matter."

Rainbow frowned. "And lemme guess, we can't train the homunculi," she said.

"In weather, no. And besides, it's a 'to the victor, the loser becomes the slave' situation," Natalie replied with a shrug. "Trust me, it's a weird situation."

Spitfire crossed her forelegs. "Would Natalia have any intel on the Umbrum, who might have their own homunculus?" she asked.

Natalie considered the question, then motioned to her shadow with a hoof. In seconds, Natalia popped back into existence with a frown on her face. "When I was created, I did not see any Umbrum… well, besides Matteus, but I don't think he counts," she answered. "I did see an Umbrum homunculus, but he took off once Akron finished molding him. I also saw a changeling homunculus, but she didn't stick around, either."

Eve frowned. "What did they look like?" she asked.

Natalia's brow furrowed. "The Umbrum homunculus really liked cloaks… and had glowing green eyes. He had a penchant for teleporting, and weird, choreographed, sinful dancing," she said. "As for the changeling homunculus, child-like, black mane, black wings and carapace from snout to tail. She pretty much went with the Umbrum, by hitching a ride in his cloak. There was a fourth homunculus that Akron was making, based on loose observations of Greenwood he had made while in the Void, but he never got around to finishing that one before he was slain. The Tormentor is the last homunculus that I know of, though given his skillset and being able to teleport through ash, he only barely counts. He was the first homunculus Akron ever created, and later converted into an enforcer of Godcat."

Spitfire frowned. "So… the Tormentor would lead you guys, if you hadn't gotten into the situation you're in now?" she hedged.

Natalia laughed and shook her head. "He was never meant to be a leader, merely an enforcer!" she cackled, before reverting back to her petulant composure. "As for the Umbrum homunculus, I'm not sure what's running through his sinful head, and frankly, I do not wish to know either way." She turned to her counterpart and added, "And no, I cannot divine where he is at this time… that is, as of this moment. Most of my power was absorbed when I lost that fateful duel, so I am only at a fraction of what I was, unless allowed to unleash the full brunt of it." Her ears twitched, and her frown returned with a vengeance. "... I can, however, sense that unfinished homunculus… harassing her counterpart, as it were."

Natalie's brow furrowed. "Lemme guess: Godcat permitted this," she said bluntly.

Natalia nodded. "Though, She might have had to finish construction first," she affirmed. At that moment, Anna teleported over, with a homunculus double looking like she had crawled from the pits of Hell attached to one of her hind legs. Everyone turned to that double, grinning up at her new mistress rather… salaciously.

"Oh come on!" Anna's double said, her curling horns glowing with fell power. "Why won't you let me have a turn?!"

"I barely know you!" Anna pouted, trying to kick her double off to no avail. "Besides, you only came to me in my dreams last night, and told me all the foul shit you wanted to do to Lance! No!" Another fruitless kick transpired, but the double would not let go with her cloven hooves so easily. "Both you and Agonizing Ailment are complete perverts on top of murder-happy hornets!"

Natalia facehoofed. "It seems I am surrounded by sinners, and lunatics… very well. I shall retreat to my shade, for now," she grumbled, and moved to do just that before Anna's homunculus could notice her presence.

"Come on! You're stingy with your desires, and—" Another kick silenced Anna's double with a claw right to the chin, her sharpened teeth clacking together as she was struck. Once she had regained her senses, she rubbed her chin and grumbled. "Okay, fine… you win this time, prude…" With that, she had retreated into Anna's shadow before anyone could get a good look at her, but they did notice her fur was a deep, bloody marron with a soot black mane and a spade-tipped, leonine tail to match.

"That was weird…" Anna grumbled, before turning to the rest of the gathered group. "So, did I miss anything, while that horny bitch was trying to cop a feel?" Silence answered her, with the Wonderbolts in particular giving her a very strange look that betrayed their confusion.

"Uh, Anna… I might need to pull you aside for a moment…" Natalie said, cautiously spreading a wing to pull her fellow Lieutenant close. Once she had been reeled in, she leaned in to whisper an overdue explanation into her ear. Anna's eyes widened as she got the gist of it, and frowned once Natalie pulled away.

"So… um… wow…" Anna muttered, unable to dredge up the words needed to accurately convey her confusion without confusing herself even more than she was before. "So… that's why…" At Natalie's mute nod, she frowned. "... can I go to the watering hole tonight, just this once?" she asked.

Natalie nodded again. "I'll keep an eye on you while you're there, and take you to bed after," she affirmed. "Because trust me, when my homunculus merged with me, I had the same reaction."

Anna wilted a bit. "Will Lance be okay with it, though?" she asked.

Natalie nodded. "If he hadn't seen your homunculus from the booth, which I doubt he missed, he'll allow it," she affirmed. "And if he had missed that altercation, I'll give him the scoop and take the brunt of it." She turned to Spitfire. "So, before we were rudely interrupted by our homunculi, what were we talking about again?"