Memories of a God

Shadow woke up with a face full of whipped cream and two laughing ponies. He looked at his hoof and smiled. "Good one." he said. He stood up and cleaned his face off with his hooves. "So how have you two lovely mares been?"

"Pretty good, how 'bout you?" asked Rainbow.

"Pretty dang good. Hey Rainbow, you mentioned a job with the weather team?"

"Yeah, there's an open spot right now. You can start tomorrow if you want."

"Good, I ran out of money a while back."

"When was that?" asked Pinkie.

"Two days ago. I neglected to eat as well."

"You haven't eaten?"

"The past three days."

"Wait, what?"

"I haven't eaten anything for the past three days."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah."

"You must be starving!"

"Yeah. So anyways, who wants to go see what the dragons are doing?"

"I do!" said Pinkie, "But I can't, I'm busy with something."

"What's with the dragons?" asked Rainbow.

"I was gonna use them to help me make something out of metal."

"They don't like ponies."

"They'll learn to like me. For their own sake."

"That's cool. Sure, I'll come with."

"Awesome. I need about half an hour. I need to get something from Applejack."

"What are you getting?"

"A cart. I will meet you at city hall in half an hour."

"Alright."

"See ya."

Shadow jumped off the roof and ran to Sweet Apple Acres. He got a good look at the farm and the surrounding lands. "I love apples so much." he said.

He saw a pony working in the field, so he walked over to him. "You must be Big Mac."

"Eeyup."

"Wow, the rumors were right, you are strong. I'd go so far as to call you the strongest in Ponyville. Well, maybe if I left, but that's besides the point." he said, walking around him, "Awesome. Can I borrow a cart?"

"What for?"

"I need to haul a lot of heavy rocks. Could do it without the cart, but it would take a considerable amount of time and I told my friend I'd only need thirty minutes."

"We don't have any carts to spare."

"Yes, you're using them all. Alright, thanks for your time, Big Mac. I got thirty minutes to kill. Hey, where's Applejack?" He pointed to the barn. "See ya later."

He walked over to the barn and Applejack was looking for something. "What'd you lose?"

"Ah was looking for a basket. Ah know it's in here somewhere."

Shadow reached on a shelf behind him with his tail and tossed the basket that was on it in front of her. "So now that you've gotten that out of the way, how've you been?"

"Pretty good, Ah guess."

"No irregularities?"

"Well yesterday this crazy stallion asked me to hit him in the face with a bat."

"That's strange. Did I know him?"

"You might have met him once or twice." she replied.

He laughed a little. "Your brother informs me that you're using all your carts."

"Yeah. Why? Did you need one?"

"A little, but it doesn't matter. Can I grab an apple or two?"

"Sure."

"Awesome. See ya later Applejack."

"See ya."

Shadow walked out of the barn and grabbed some apples with his tail from a tree. He headed to city hall to meet Rainbow.

"What happened to the cart?"

"They were all used. So anyways, dragons. Had a history with them?"

"Well, we were spying on Spike while he was visiting them. We did some stuff and had to leave in a hurry."

"Well lets go back then."

"I'm starting to question the safety of this mission."

"You said it yourself, dragons don't like ponies. If you want to stay here you can."

"Nah. I'm no chicken."

"Awesome. Lets go then. Have an apple." he said, tossing her one.

"Thanks."

"So the volcano's that way. Race?"

"Race."

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER

"How fast can you go, Shadow?" asked Rainbow.

"A lot faster than anything native to this planet, I can tell you that."

"You say planet as if there were others like this."

"There is."

"What, really?"

"Big universe. Anything could happen. Like on one planet, there is a race that communicates using telepathy."

"Wow."

"There's even parallel worlds. Like in one world there could be three of you and no work to be done ever."

"Cool!"

"Yeah, but the natives of Equestria won't mingle with others for maybe a thousand years or so. Enough about that. We're in dragon territory now. Be cool and follow my lead. I don't know how hostile these things are against me personally, so tell me if there's a dragon creeping up on us."

"We're good."

"Great." Shadow walked up the volcano and slid down the edge.

"Shadow, they're staring at us."

"Think about it, if an earth pony was walking around on Cloudsdale, you would stare as well."

"I guess, but not for long."

"Don't worry about it. It's normal to stare at new things. I don't need a dragon itself. Just a forge. Few days and I'll have myself some bars. Awesome."

"So what exactly are you making?"

"Don't know. Maybe a weapon, maybe art."

"Well look what we have here, boys." said a dragon, walking toward them with a group following him. "Some ponies wandered out of there little homes."

"You look familiar." said another dragon.

"Hey, you're right. She's one of the ponies that was with that pipsqueak. Who's this? Your boyfriend? You so scared you need someone else?"

"What did you just say?" yelled Rainbow, flying up to eye level with him.

"Easy, Rainbow. I'd prefer you don't have me finish what you started." said Shadow.

"But he's the one that..."

"We're not here to start a fight."

"You got lucky this time." said Rainbow, landing.

"Ooooo... I'm so scared."

"C'mon, Rainbow. They aren't worth our time. And besides, you know we're completely safe."

"If you say so."

"How can you be so sure you're safe?"

"So Rainbow, we are in a volcano. Not every day that happens. This ground isn't even soft. Just warm to the touch. This isn't nearly the setup I need." he said, starting to walk away.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" said the dragon, moving in front of him and blocking his path.

"Leave us alone."

"Why do you think you're so safe?" he asked. His friends surrounded the two of them.

"Alright, you want to know so bad, why don't you try and find out for yourself?"

"Are you telling us to fight you?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Unless you're scared."

"I'm not scared of you. Why would I be scared of a namby-pamby pony like you?"

Some of the older dragons moved closer to them. "Ask them." said Shadow.

"Ask them? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You seem familiar." said another dragon.

"And you look familiar as well, Hydron."

"So you know my name. Impressive for a pony. The only pony who knew my name was killed over a thousand years ago."

"Perhaps. Dragons live very long lives. In the royal alicorn range. Longer perhaps. Maybe they are like another dragon race I've seen. Live forever barring ill health or injury."

"You babble on like him as well. You even look like him. Your father wouldn't happen to be Shadow Streak, would it?"

"Um... Yeah, my dad is Shadow. Name's Starliner."

"Hey elder, who's Shadow Streak?" asked the teenage dragon.

"He's a god among dragons. The story is that he appeared out of nowhere, bested every dragon alive in every contest they could think of, and was given our sacred fire ruby. After that, he left without a trace."

"He even took a dip in the lava."

"Yes, he was laughing so much after that."

"It wasn't even that painful."

"So this guy is his son?"

"Yes. He also had two daughters. That we know of."

"Hold on, did you say two daughters?" asked Shadow, "As in, sisters?"

"Yes."

"And who was the mother?"

"The only mare I remember seeing him with was the queen. I know that the daughters are hers, but I never saw you. They were very close. Some say too close."

"That's an odd choice of words." said Shadow.

"Did you not know him?"

"No, he had to leave before I grew up. I never learned why."

"In the end, your father went insane and attacked Equestria. He..."

"Enough!" shouted Shadow, "Dash, we're leaving."

"But..."

"Leaving! Hydron, tell the elders that the ruby is broken."

"Thank you for confirming my suspicions, Starliner. May you find peaceful rest one day."

Shadow nodded, then left.

"I'm still pretty confused here." said the teenage dragon."

"What was that all about?" asked Dash, "You were all excited to go to the volcano, then the next minute you're arguing with them! The only thing I got is that you're the princess's dad."

"I don't think I am. I'm just a close friend to their mom. Their real dad died shortly after they were born. I was really more of an uncle. They called me Uncle Shadow. Dragon elders are always a little senile. He made the connection between Gaia, Celestia, Luna and I, but they're not my children."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

"And he said you went insane. What's that all about?"

"Sigma took me over. It's happened before."

"Really?"

"Bunches of times. Some were for only a few minutes. Others he had enough time to enslave entire planets. Now, we could either go back to Ponyville, or something else." His stomach growled. "You can go back to Ponyville. I'm getting lunch."

"What are you eating?"

"Very good question. On second thought, maybe I won't get lunch."

"When you said you hadn't eaten in three days, you were exaggerate, right?"

"Not at all. So anyways..."

"You really haven't eaten?"

"Not a bite. Does this really matter right now?"

"Of course it does! You need to eat something!"

"Yeah, yeah. You're not the first one to be concerned about my eating. When I get some bits, I'll eat. What is that, end of the week? I'll have to find a secondary source of income. I can eat a crazy amount of food. More than a stomach could handle. Anyways... yeah, Ponyville. Lets get going."

"But..."

"Shh... Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Starliner you..."

"I'm gonna throw you there if you don't go. And it'll be funny. And I'll laugh."

"Alright, I'm coming." They headed back to Ponyville.

"So Rainbow, while you were injured, did you notice something strange? Something in your head?" he asked, walking around her.

"No. What are you looking for?"

"Physical abnormalities."

"Like what?"

"You being much stronger than a normal mare of your age."

"I'm pretty sure nothing's wrong."

"Nothing at all? Something that wasn't right or just weird?"

"Well, there was one thing."

"What was it?"

"There was this really weird pony in my head controlling my body."

"That's the spirit!"

"Why'd you ask all of the sudden?"

"I needed to make sure that there were no negative lingering effects. It would be bad if there was. Tell me if something odd happens."

"Alright."

"Well see ya later, Rainbow."

"Yeah, see ya."

Shadow walked off towards Everfree Forest again. "What do you have for me today, Everfree? " he said.

He walked until he found a cave. He noticed a sign near the entrance. It was old and some words had been scratched out. "Warning! Keep out! Danger! This cave is the private property of... somepony. Trespassers will be violated." he read, "Did I read that right? Yeah, trespassers will be violated. That sounds like my kind of place."

"What are you doing near this cave? For this, you must be quite brave." said somepony behind him.

He turned around and said, "What's a zebra doing in the Everfree? Never mind, it's none of my business. What's so special about this cave, beautiful?"

"There are horrible rumors surrounding this place. I would avoid it, just in case."

"Horrible rumors? Like what?"

"Some say this belonged to an evil god. I believe that is quite odd. Others say that you can never leave once in. As for me, I have never been."

"So this place is big, evil, and scary. This is definitely my kind of place. Has anypony else gone in here before me?"

"Not to my knowledge. This sign is something to acknowledge."

"Yeah, I read it. Thanks for the information. What's your name?"

"Zecora."

"Alright. If somepony comes looking for me, I'm in here."

He headed in the cave. He traveled deep through the maze of the cave until he reached an area similar to a house. "Who's cave is this exactly? It's obvious that they live here."

He walked around the area. "This place isn't dirty. That means that somepony was here recently. No, I'm wrong. It wasn't recent. Few years maybe. 10, 30, 100 years. Then how is it so clean?"

He looked at the things in the area. "This all looks like stuff I would have. Maybe this is my place. That would really explain everything. Even the sign. Oh yeah, it's my place alright."

"Shadow? Are you in here?" called Twilight.

"Right over here." he replied.

"What is this place?"

"It's my house."

"Your house? It's a cave."

"Yeah. Didn't you read the sign?"

"Of course I did. I didn't like what it said."

"Maybe I should change it to trespassers will be tortured and murdered."

"That's awful!"

"I guess you're right. It's fine just the way it is. What did you need from me?"

"What?"

"This isn't a place you just happen upon. This takes some looking to get to. Did Zecora tell you?"

"Yeah. You went in the Everfree before I had a chance to talk to you."

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Celestia sent me a letter. Here, read." She gave him the letter. It was magically sealed like last time.

He opened it and read it. "New trainer is doing good, blah-blah-blah... Here's something, they say that they're worried. Worried about my Discord theory. It's just a theory. Discord must be dangerous. If he shows himself anywhere near me, I don't know what I'll do."

He gave the letter back to Twilight. "So about this place. I found my house. Maybe it has something that can jog my memory."

He looked around through the rooms. There were a large number of them. One caught his attention. "Well, I found my bedroom. For some weird reason, it's not dirty like it should be."

"Why is that weird?"

"Nopony has been here for about a hundred years. Something must've cleaned this place, but the last thing that was here left a very long time ago. Unless it was a robotic creature. I can't get those on a biological scan. There is something on the electric scan, but it's weak."

"What's a robot?"

"Hmm... I'll show you, follow me!"

He walked to a large metal door with a scratch in it. "There are five claw marks. But that means... A human was here. Not only that, a robotic human. This is dangerous."

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah. It was a spark. Is it glitched? Twilight, I'm gonna open this door. Stay behind me."

He grabbed the door and slowly slid it open. He looked inside and saw something horrible. There were bloodstains on the walls, floor, and the ceiling. There were destroyed machines and glass shards everywhere.

"Who, or whatever did this wasn't happy." said Shadow.

"Intruders a-alert. S-species: pony. Sub-species: earth p-pony and uni-uni-unicorn. Adaptation a-accepted. Prepare f-for immediate t-termination." said an electronic voice.

"Twilight it's still here!" shouted Shadow. A human lunged at Shadow. It was wearing a butler suit and had black hair. He pinned Shadow to the wall, but Shadow kicked him off.

"Recalculating. Sub-species: r-royal alicorn. A-adaptation accepted."

"Twilight, I'm going to distract him. I need you to push to that button over there. The small red one labeled glitch."

Shadow tackled him before he could move and held him down. It struggled to get free, then said, "Recalculating. Species: U-unknown. Adaptation accepted."

"What'll it do with unknown species?" he said. It started to break his hold, but Twilight pressed the button and it was stopped. "Thank you. That thing was strong. My level of strong. Where did it get that much power?"

"Was that a robot?"

"Yeah. That, or an android."

"Android?"

"Part biological, part robotic. This was a robot. Let me explain in a way you might understand. Robots are machines that are built and programmed to follow commands. That was actually pretty simple."

"I think I understand. This thing was made to keep intruders out. When you said it glitched, you meant it broke and wasn't following that command. And that's why it made that sparky sound when it talked."

"Exactly."

"What did it mean by adapt?"

"It made itself stronger. What exactly are it's limits?" Shadow rolled him over and opened up a panel in his back. He examined the insides, then said, "He was built out of a titanium alloy. Dense titanium. Same characteristics of a normal human, but just robot-y."

"I've heard about humans."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My friend Lyra talks about them. I thought they weren't real."

"They're real. Fascinating species, but I don't like them."

"Why?"

"I have my reasons."

"You were hurt by them, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but that's besides the point. I don't get angry if anything hurts me. Mentally or physically. It's their smell."

"Smell?"

"I just don't like them. I'll tell your friend all she wants to know though. Eventually I'll get to it. This thing however..." He smelled the robot. "Smells very old. I think I may have built it. It seems like my handiwork. Hold on..." He reached inside and fiddled with the wiring a bit.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to fix it. If I can fix it, I can access it's memory bank and maybe it could tell me about myself."

He messed around with the wires for a little, then closed it back up. "Twilight, can you hit that restore button over there? The blue one."

"Sure."

She pushed the button and the robot stood back up. "What are your orders, master?"

"Access internal memory protocol 1."

"Access denied."

"Why?"

"Internal memory is corrupted, and must be deleted."

"Figures. First things first, I designate this pony as a master of you." he said, pointing at Twilight.

"Master confirmed. What are your wishes?"

"Twilight, tell this thing to do whatever you want. He'll follow it without fail. Address him however you please."

"But what if I say the wrong thing? What if he gets angry again?"

"I fixed that glitch. Speaking of, robot, run a diagnostics check."

"Check completed. No problem discovered."

"Good. Robot, disable lethal force. Say something, Twilight."

"Um... I can't think of anything."

"Alright. Who's blood is this. How did it get on the ceiling?"

"The surveillance footage for the incident in question was corrupted and deleted." said the robot.

"Damn."

Shadow examined the bloodstains. "Looks pony."

"How can you tell?"

"I just can." He sniffed it, then licked it. "It's mine. Tastes like mine. Corse, it could be Sigma's.

"That was disgusting!"

"Doesn't taste that bad. Not like some other kinds of blood I've tasted."

"Why do you know what blood tastes like?!"

"Lets go. We can come back later."

"We're leaving? I don't want to leave. This place has so many things to learn about."

"Too bad, it's my house."

"Fine."

"Robot, you're coming with me. AI activate."

"AI?" asked Twilight.

"It stands for artificial intelligence." said the robot, "It means I'll act like I'm a real being."

"Right. Rex, I'm calling you Rex now, your name is Rex, I want you to follow any command given to you under level three classification."

"Sure thing."

"Twilight, it's time to go."

"Aw..."

"Rex, clean up my house and meet me in Ponyville. A fourth of a mile that way."

"See ya then."

Shadow left the cave and took Twilight back to Ponyville. Rex joined them a few seconds later.

"That was quick."

"I was built to clean. Every mess."

"You have a robot butler?" asked Twilight.

"Of course I do. I'm prone to making all sorts of messes. Needed something to clean it all up. He doesn't complain, he does exactly what he's told, he's loaded with all sorts of programs. And besides, robot butler."

"I guess."

"Good job. Lets go see Shining Armor. You coming?"

"Yes! I need to make sure he's safe."

"What would your preferred method of travel be?"

"What?"

"I mean, we could teleport, fly, Rex could take us. Well, you. I'm too heavy."

"You're not too heavy." said Rex.

"Yes I am."

"If you say so."

"Those, or we could use the boring normal methods of travel."

"By boring you mean..."

"Normal. Normal is boring. Not normal is exciting. Rex, go to Canterlot."

"Meet ya there." Rex disappeared immediately after saying that.

"Damn, he's fast." Shadow put his hoof on Twilight and teleported them to Canterlot.

"What took ya? I waited for you long enough to grow a beard." said Rex, showing them his beard. "Just kidding, it's fake."

"Rex, did you steal that?"

"No, I bought it."

"With what money?"

"The money you left in storage."

"Storage?"

"You have a ton of money from a lot of races in your house. I grabbed the bits before I left."

"How many did you grab?"

"Maybe about 20 million."

"20 million bits?!" said Twilight.

"Where are you keeping them?"

"In my pocket."

"Are they in normal form?"

"Yeah."

"How did you..."

"Don't question him, Twilight. Did I make those bits?"

"Yes you did. This money is illegal to own."

"Good to know."

"So you just walked in and bought it?"

"Yeah."

"Camo technology, am I correct? Of course I am, I'm always correct. Although I've been slipping recently." He smelled the air. "Rex, you getting that?"

"My sensor just went haywire."

"What is it?"

"Just something. Rex, follow Twilight to the hospital. I've got something to take care of."

"What do I tell Shining Armor?"

"Nothing. I'm not in Canterlot. He probably hates me. If he finds out I was hanging around his sister, he'd go ballistic."

"I don't think he would."

"He has an incredibly good reason. Sigma cut off his leg! It's not like he's gonna say, 'Oh, it's ok, it's just my leg.' No, he's pissed, and he'll be out for revenge. Getting your leg cut off hurts. A lot. I know, Mine have been removed many times. Many, many times."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, cut with a saw, a knife, burned off, animals have bit them off. Anyways, I need to go, now." He smiled, then disappeared.

"Lets go, Twilight. Don't want to keep your brother waiting." said Rex.

"Alright, but I got some questions for you."

"Ask away."

Shadow stopped running in a clearing in the Everfree. "So what's with all the lies and secrets, Sigma?" he asked.

"I thought you would ignore my return." he replied.

"Answer my question."

"I decided that it was time that I win a round for a change. Time and time again you defeat me and my friends and I've had enough of it."

"You don't have any friends. You have pawns to use in your futile little game."

"Yes, but now I have a king. Say hello to the chess master, Nightmare."

A unicorn that was completely colored black walked into the clearing. "Hello, Shadow Streak. It's a pleasure to finally meet you myself."

"So Sigma, what was the point of attacking the saiyans if you were just gonna have pony allies?" asked Shadow.

"Because I could. That's my only reason. I needed a good disintegration after my return. Kicked me into high gear, so to speak. And I didn't just recruit ponies. I recruited some other species as well. Of course, every one of them is just a soldier willing to throw their lives away."

"You disintegrated and didn't die? You jerk. You screwed with my memories!"

"Guilty as charged. Barely anything original remains in there."

"Enough talk. Lets see what you have to say when your organs are strewn across these trees."

"Nightmare, show him who's the boss here."

Shadow got ready to fight, but Nightmare disappeared before he could move. Shadow was slammed into the ground and Nightmare stomped on his back, breaking it.

He picked him up and threw him against a tree. Before Shadow could even regenerate, Nightmare impaled him with his horn. He flicked him off his horn and he landed on the ground. Nightmare stood on his wound. He pushed down and said, "Give up and I'll stop."

Shadow kicked him off and stood up. "Where'd you find this guy?"

"He was in the core of this earth. I guess you could call him the devil if you wanted."

"I stay there because it's the only place I can get true solitude." he said.

"Enough playing around, Nightmare. It's time."

"Right." Nightmare smiled at Shadow, flashing a very sharp tooth at him.

He fired a spell at him. Shadow tried to avoid it, but it hit him in the center of the chest. "What?" he said before blacking out.

*It was bound to happen sooner or later. Also robot butler because robot butler.