Penumbra's Tale

by Penxmbra

Rating: mature
Tags: Sad, Romance, Tragedy, Slice of Life, Dark
Length: 5241

Penumbra has a pretty terrible start in his life, complete with an asshole father, and moving around from city to city. But as he grows up, several factors prove that his morals are lost, and that he's destined for an even worse fate.

Penumbra has a pretty terrible start in his life, complete with an asshole father, and moving around from city to city. But as he grows up, several factors prove that his morals are lost, and that he's destined for an even worse fate than he could have ever imagined.

All he ever wanted was to be normal, to be accepted, have friends, and be loved. But thanks to his father's influence in his early life, and his curious heritage, as well as an issue with his mother before he was even born, Penumbra found that ponies are shaped by their surroundings as well.

He becomes everything he was once against.

UPDATED FIRST AT: My Tumblr story blog!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-10 15:50:01 UTC

Chapter One: Birth

3:46 am

Elegant Script was lying on a moving bed in the hospital. A continuous beep could be heard as the life support was rolled magically with her. She was being rushed to the birthing room. Since she was in Canterlot, and since she has such a good reputation from being famous, it only made sense that they gave her such high priority. She was breathing heavily, and trying hard to push as they took her down the hall to the room.

It was stressful to say the least. They recommended to her a c-section, but she wanted none of that. If she was going to have her little colt, then it was going to be under her own terms. She had pride after all. She was told by her own mother that she was a bitch to birth. Most unicorns were because of the horn. One wrong turn as they’re coming out, and the entire uterus would be destroyed and the mother would be dead from internal bleeding. Newborn horns were sharp in her family and had to be filed down.

She cried out in pain, using her weak magic to set her glasses down on the nearest surface she could find once they were in the room. Ellie couldn’t believe the pain she was in. It was so great, it siphoned her ability to use magic to dull the pain. She just hoped the nurses or doctors would go ahead and block the plain.

“Aaaaaah!” She cried, shrieking bloody murder.

“It’s alright ma’am, here…” The nearest nurse said as she injected sedatives into her leg. Apparently it wasn’t a unicorn nurse. But the sedative did help her to calm down. Then she felt something else enter her bloodstream, and shortly after, the sweet calmness of no pain.

“Push! You might not be able to feel it now, but push! He’s crowning… and luckily, the horn is out first.” The doctor sounded nice. His voice was suave. She could hardly tell what was going on anymore, but she did as instructed.

“A little more… Dammit, I wish Dr. Stitches was on duty. She really needs a unicorn doctor instead… Come on, Mrs. Script! He’s nearly there…”

She looked around, noticing that something was wrong. Where was her husband? Where was Penultimate Peril? She had forgotten in her drug induced state that he had openly declared that he didn’t want a foal. But she was stubborn, and wouldn’t allow him to abort her.

Penultimate was out bedding a whore at the time. He didn’t care to be there while his wife was in labor. He didn’t care to adhere to the marriage with Elegant either, cheating on her while she was giving birth.

In fact, he wasn’t even thinking about Elegant. The only thing on his mind was getting his dick wet, which he was actively doing, and the possibility of killing the mare once he was done with her, to get the money back.

"Push!”

She began to cry, wanting him to be here, here in her hour of need.

“Alright! What’s the time?”

“4:01 am.”

“Alright, write up a birth certificate. What do you want to name your colt?”

Elegant was crying, but she turned to the doctor. “P-P-Penumbra… Bard.”

“It’s all okay Mrs. Script. We’ll increase the sedatives and bring him back to you once his horn is dulled as you requested. While you’re unconscious, since you signed the consent form, we’ll take a look inside at your uterus for damage and perform surgery as needed. Sleep tight, Ms. Script.”

Moments later, she fell under the influence of the sedative.

Chapter Two: Adolescence

There was a torrential downpour outside, and the weather ponies couldn’t contain it. Canterlot was going to be drenched and cleanup was going to be hell. Being forced to stay inside with him wasn’t how she planned today. Elegant didn’t hate her husband, but she was growing to dislike him more and more with every passing day.

Penultimate, thankfully, was being docile for now, sitting on his ass and drinking as usual, watching the television. He would make snarky comments here and there, but was otherwise silent. He grit his teeth often, and his hair was a mess. He did not make good care of himself. But one thing that continued to stay the same, was that he would keep his cutie mark–if he even had on–covered with some sort of wrapping. Being as it was a strong identifier of a pony, he had to keep it hidden even from those considered “close.”

Little Penumbra had been confined to his room, instructed not to exit it unless it was dinnertime, and Elegant was was in the kitchen making exactly that, despite that it was only four in the afternoon. She had to keep herself busy, and out of his direct sight, if she wanted him to go easy on her.

Otherwise, she would be struck or raped. Despite being legally bind to him through the marriage contract, she did not like being touched by him anymore. He did not respect her, he did not care for her, and he did not treat her like another pony–treating her like she was dirt instead.

Hopefully sitting down at the dinner table, he wouldn’t go off on one of his tangents of , well, anything. Some days, when he was around, he stayed silent, and eventually left. Other days, he was drunk off his ass, and abused both of them.

She wanted out.

Out of this situation, and out of his life. But she was afraid to say anything, since he had threatened her and her son’s very life on several occasions.

What happened to him?

He used to be such a nice caring pony, and then suddenly he turned into this monster. She couldn’t even confide in her closest friend, the princess herself, Celestia, for fear that by the time she had issued help, that the worm Penultimate said he had in the castle would tell him and that he’d fulfill his threats and be gone before anypony had anything to do about it.

Living in constant fear and trying her best to protect her son was taking a lot out of her and she didn’t know how much more she could take. When was it all going to end?

Of course, to her, that meant, when will he finally kill us?

Suddenly, the grease of the pan began to pop violently and hit her face in small droplets, burning her. She screamed in pain, attracting her husband’s attention from his show.

“What’re you going on about now, bitch?”

She gulped, “N-nothing! I just had a little mishap, dearie.”

“Keep it quiet!”

“O-of course! Sorry!”

She sighed in relief, glad he didn’t deem it enough to actually go in there and mess with her. She was always afraid one day he might walk in there when she was cooking, grab a hot pan and slam it into her face. The small burns of the grease only made that fear even worse.

In his room, Penumbra was watching the rain fall from his window. He had no toys, his father wouldn’t allow it, and no electronics, he wouldn’t allow those either. It was an empty room except for his bed and some books. He had already read all the books a thousand times, and it was much more interesting to watch the rain and let his imagination go instead.

It was all he had for now. And because of the rain, school got canceled, since it was so heavy. Not even earth ponies could walk out in it without it feeling like gravity had been tripled.

The little unicron sighed, his gaze going downward to look at the cobbled streets, and how vibrant the colors seemed to pop against the oncoming storm of wetness. He supposed he could writie a story, but of what? There was no inspiration, especially when his dad was home. There was only fear and sadness.

Pen just wanted his father to leave again so that he could have fun. He hated him, and how he decided to beat up on his mother, and sometimes even slug him a few times. What gave him such a sense of entitlement? Why did he have to be so mean to the both of them? They had never done anything wrong. They didn’t diserve his meanness.

He swore that he would never be like him. And he swore that one day, he would avenge both of them, both himself, but mainly his mother.

Elegant finally finished the food, and went on to set the table nice and neat as she did every day, but this time putting down a third plate since her husband happened to be home this time. Then she set the food as well, and made everypony a drink, setting those as well.

“Dinner is ready!”

Both Pens heard it, but it was the little one that was first to listen and come out of his room, rushing to the table and getting into his seat.

There was a different set of rules to abide to when Penultimate was home. Before, he could come out within a few minutes of the call, but with his father home, it had to be immediately, and wait at the table until everyone was seated and had his okay to begin to eat.

Elegant sat down in her own chair, right across from her son, and gave him a small smile, hoping to cheer him up even in the slightest. He gave one back, hoping for the same thing, but they both knew how pained the other was, and only wished for the agony to end sooner, no matter how.

The pegasus cleared his throat from the other room and finally got up, walking deliberately slow towards the dining room and eventually sat at the edge of the table, as the “head of the house” should. He looked between the two of them, sneering at his son in particular, hating to look at him, and finally nodded at both of them, permitting them to eat.

The dinner proceeded in absolute silence, except for the normal sounds of eating. Nopony said a word unless Penultimate said something first. It was the general rule of thumb.

When the pegasus finished his food, he stared at Penumbra, who quickly swallowed what he was chewing and set his eating utensil down. He was still hungry, but when his father was done, he had to be as well. Elegant stopped eating as well. It wasn’t enforced on her, but she never took any chances with him.

Smirking, Pen Sr. scooted back in his chair, revealing that he had an erection, standing up from his groin. His attention turned to Elegant.

“Come here, and get your dessert.”

Oh Celestia no, not in front of Penumbra.

The little unicorn began to stand up and leave to his room, but the older stallion barked at him with a sharp “Did I fucking say you could get up?” to which he abruptly sat back down and looked away from his father.

Elegant gulped, and trot over to him, muttering lightly, but loud enough where he could hear her, but not her son.

“Please, let him go to his room…”

“No.”

She closed her eyes as a small tear escaped. Why must he do this? She gulped again, and used her magic to unhinge her jaw so that she could take him in. Being a smaller mare with a larger stallion had it’s issues.

Without wasting any more time, she took his entire shaft into her mouth, and only prayed that Pen wasn’t looking, as more tears streamed down her jaw. It hurt her mouth so much to do this.

After hearing that he was pleased so far, she began to bob her head up and down several times, and quickly, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. It was painful, and it was hard, but she had to endure it for now. If she didn’t, he would hurt her more intentionally.

And perhaps Pen too. She didn’t want that.

It never took him long with her. Since she was such a small mare, her everything seemed to hug his cock tighter than an average mare and he climaxed in her throat some, before pulling it out and letting the rest cover her face and some in her hair. All the while saying incredibly raunchy things just for the sole intent of having his son, that he never wanted, to hear them.

“You should dye your coat sometime so that I can actually see my cum on your face. You white mares are so boring…”

He stood up and left her there to sit in shame by the dining table, crying as she magically hinged her jaw back, as painful as that was.Well, as painful as the whole experience was actually.

Then there was an explanation of delight from the living room.

“Rain’s stopped! I’m out of here. Thanks for the blowjob, Elegant. Might be back later, might now. If not, see you in a few days. Or maybe a week, who knows.”

The pegasus left the house with a slam of the door, shattering one of the windows on the door.

“Pen… go to your room… don’t look at mommy… I’m gonna go shower soon…” she croaked through the pain, continuing to silently cry as she sat there, thankful that he decided to leave.

“Yes, mom…”

That was the last time either of them saw Penultimate for several years.

Chapter Three: Heritage Pt. 1

About an hour after he came home from school, and after he finished his homework, he finally noticed something strange… he wasn’t blue. In fact, he didn’t even feel his horn anymore. He was an odd shade of green that was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place what it was. But what was the strangest part, was that he could feel something protruding from his back.

He tried to move the muscles, to see what would happen, and to his surprise, wings a green as his hooves extended on each side of him. What was going on? The stallion stood up and walked to the bathroom, only to look wide-eyed in the mirror, unsure if he should scream or to do weird things to try and wake up from this possible nightmare.

He was in the body of his crush! He still hadn’t learned her name, but she was so cute, and he couldn’t help but to think about her a lot. Question was, if he was in her body, was she in his? Wait, it wouldn’t make sense that way… he’d be in her home if that was the case. Then it was definitely a dream. Not some weird magic. Better go to his dream-mom and see how she’d react before he tries to wake up.

“Moooom!” he cried, in the pegasus mare’s voice, before he gulped, thinking she might not recognize the voice. Well, gonna have to find her myself. He trot out of the bathroom and search around until he finally found her in the kitchen.

“Oh! Are you lost, little filly? Need me to call your parents?”

“Mom, it’s me. Penumbra. I… kinda just found myself like this after I finished my homework. I think I’m dozed at the table though and this is a dream.”

“… oh dear. This isn’t a dream.”

“It’s not?”

“Sit down on the couch. I’ll be out there in a few minutes.”

“I really wanna scream. Why am I like this?”

“Keep calm. I’ll be in there soon.”

He grumbled and followed her directions, staying quiet, and trotting to the living room and sitting on the couch. These wings were uncomfortable, but luckily it didn’t take her long. When Elegant sat across from him on the love seat, she sighed, shaking her head.

“I knew I should’ve told you about this sooner, but I really couldn’t with your father around. Adn he was still coming back fairly quickly when I wanted to.”

“Okay, but tell me what? Why am I like this?”

“Well, my father, your grandpa, was in something like a war. It didn’t last long–more of an invasion I think–but he loved to call it a war. Made him feel better about his condition. Sure, he got used to it, but that didn’t make it any less traumatizing, from what my mother had said…

“You see, he wasn’t a military stallion. He was a chaplain, actually, and he, like any other stallion at that time, if they lived in Canterlot, by law, had to sign up for the Emergency Guard. Nowadays, so many go in willingly, it’s no longer a requirement.

“But one day, he was forced into being a guard the morning Chrysalis attacked…”

Celesta’s castle was bombarded by thousands of drones at once, while at the same time, a voice could be heard resonating throughout the city.

“Go, my changelings! Today, you get breakfast in bed!“

He awoke with a start as a guard forced himself into his home.

“Wake up, soldier! We need more guards now, and the castle is being attacked!”

The grey stallion got out of bed quickly and trot quickly out of his room to meet the guard at his doorstep. Behind him he could see black bodies flying at varying heights towards the castle.

“No time for breakfast! We have an emergency stock camp of armor and weapons just south of here. Follow me, Axiom Quill! You will be given a code name later. I am to be known as Theta One, understood?”

The guard turned without waiting for an answer and began to direct the unicorn southward towards the emergency camp. It was small, and impromptu, but it was organized nonetheless. Established guards were enlisting other stallions at a breakneck pace and outfitting and arming them as quickly as they could.

“Another one for enlistment! How are the mares and children?”

“All have been secured in the bunker in this section of the city, except for those that were enlisted.”

“Alright. Axiom, get over there.”

The grey unicorn looked over the other guards with a gulp and followed the line quickly until it was his turn. He went through the processing and before long was in his own set of armor and was equipped with a spear.

“Do you know how to fight?”

“N-no…”

“It’s easy. Stick the pointy end inside their head or stomach, and twist it.”

Well, that was obvious.

“Now, head back towards the castle and start kicking ass! And make sure not to die! What was the code name you were given?”

“Um, Axel Two.”

“Alright, Axel Two, storm the castle! Take back what is ours!”

He gulped again, trotting forwards with about half as much speed as he saw the other recruits, not sure about this. He worked a peaceful job. Not this! He didn’t want to be doing this! Oh Celestia, what if he did die? This was a time of war! He wasn’t built for this!

When he finally reached the castle, he stayed behind a nearby building, staring at the menacing-looking changelings. What where they here for? What did they want? Why was it so important to go inside the castle? Did he really have to kill them? This day was awful!

Suddenly, he was ambushed by a few changelings, one that got charged by another recruit as quickly as it landed, but the other two were coming towards Ax from each side. He looked between them and brandished his spear with uncertainty. The drones seemed to know how untrained he was, since they smiled menacingly before they turned into copies of him, armor and all.

Shit! He thrust his spear towards the one that was the closest, as the copy of him jumped out of the way. The other one charged forward and Ax saw a dagger on the ground. He picked it up in his magic and sliced open the belly of the one charging as he backed up as quickly as he could, sidestepping at the last moment before the drone collapsed, losing his image and draining a green fluid.

He just killed one! Fuck, fuck, fuck! The last one narrowed his eyes as he bucked the spear, breaking it in half. The he charged forward as well, and Ax took a quick, deep breath, trotting forward. In a split second, he noticed a fault in the building’s integrity, which if he pulled the brick out with his magic, it would cause the building to collapse on the changeling in a matter of seconds.

He stopped his charge just as he did exactly that, watching the structure to give way, sending wall and brick on the copy, crushing it. Well, if he didn’t get into the fight, the fight was going to pull him into it, it seemed.

Time to toughen up. Alright. You just killed two of them Just… go get more… He sighed and looked down. Why did he have to be forced to enlist? Ax walked towards the castle, and noticed a larger, seemingly stronger changeling. It seemed to be giving orders to the drones. There was a hierarchy in the hive?

Maybe… maybe the rest will be scared off if he killed their commander. Axiom trot forward, gathering all of his strength, mentally and physically, as best he could in the very least, and called the larger one out.

“You and me! Right here, and right now!

                      I defeat you, and your drones leave! You got me?!”

Chapter Four: Heritage Pt. 2

The sun seemed to get brighter overhead—perhaps it did, since once Axiom looked up for a moment he saw the princess soar towards the direction of the swarm that was approaching the castle. Perhaps she was going to find the queen. Hopefully, then he wouldn’t have to fight any more if the queen was out of commission! Wishful thinking, yeah, but at least it was some form of hope.

His eyes glazed over as he heard a long guttural response from in front of him, his attention immediately snapping back to the larger changeling. Either it was incapable of speech, or was trying to appear intimidating. It was working. Axiom could feel himself shaking already, and it was difficult to remain vigilant as he was. Those two kills before were merely a fluke!

Fuck! Why did I just call him out? The grey unicorn cleared his throat and puffed out his chest, trying to peacock his strength that he didn’t really have. Counter intimidation, right? That works, he hoped, but the colossal changeling didn’t even look close to being frightened. Then, it picked up a large battle axe and charged.

Axiom huffed, and then suddenly panicked once he noticed that he didn’t have a weapon himself. His spear was broken and too many meters away, as well as that dagger he once had too. He should’ve kept it… His teeth were clenched as he glanced around him, finding a short sword within distance sheathed to a dead pegasus’s armor belt. Using his magic, he gulped and took it out with haste as he started charging forward, clashing the blade against the changeling’s battle axe in defense, before swinging it around at his neck.

The big thing didn’t even flinch as the metal connected against it, barely placing a dent in its exoskeleton. With a snarl, it used its magic on the axe it was wielding to knock the sword away and it landed with a clatter.

Another guttural cry as it swung the axe down towards Axiom—to which he barely escaped, feeling the weapon clip his heel of his left-right hoof. The separation of some of his hoof and skin was agonizing. He screamed and staggered backward just as the battle axe hovered upward from the ground beneath her.

“Fuuuuuck yooooou!” he screamed to the best of his ability, trying to mask the pain. This was terrible, but he was in a good position to flank it. He sidestepped, and turned a one-eighty, ducking his head underneath the behemoth, slipping underneath and then standing up with all his might. This caused the changeling to lose its footing, toppling over and landing on its side, losing its magical grip on its weapon and dropping it.

The grey stallion bared his teeth as he bit his bottom lip in determination, grabbing the axe in his own aura before mercilessly cleaving it downward at the changeling’s stomach. A sharp crack emerged from the exoskeleton as it cracked open like an egg, just a fragile on the underbelly. The steel sunk into the belly of the beast. The now-warrior Axiom gave his own war cry, using his magic to drive it downward even more before the changeling kicked him away with its massive strength.

His body was sent flying until it hit the castle walls, feeling his spine connect directly with the stone and fracturing a disc. Shit, was he going to be paralyzed? Hopefully not… he didn’t want to die here. He really didn’t want to die here. There was so much left in the world he wanted to do. Find a nice mare, settle down, have kids—the whole shebang!

The giant shapeshifter stood up with obvious pain, using its green magic to remove the axe from its middle, sauntering forward. It winced, seething its sharp teeth as its pace gradually increased. He hit a weak spot, but he didn’t finish the job. Dammit!

Axiom stood up, but at a significantly slower pace than the changeling, but at least he was able to. He knows his spine was definitely hurt bad, the pain was excruciating. He trots forward at a crawl, getting his way towards the changeling as it was doing the same towards him.

However, Axiom Quill didn’t anticipate that the sword he was using before was just not far beside him, close enough that the gigantic bug could take use of it in its magic and send it into his own stomach as revenge. The unicorn coughed in response, a spurt of blood dribbling down his chin from his mouth. This was too much, and he felt like he was getting close to passing out, and he knew if he did that, he was going to die…

Now they were face to face, and he used his own aura to expel the blade from his stomach as he used some of the last of his energy to pounce the changeling. It was a sloppy start, but he managed to topple him over as they both went crashing back down. His own blood and whatever was oozing from the changeling coated both of them, mixing and entering each other’s systems. Axiom gave a weak roar as he rolled with the changeling a short distance, until they finally stopped with him on top of it.

The unicorn was still smaller, but that didn’t stop his will to live against the bug. He reared back a hoof and punched it, pounding at it over, and over, before he used his magic to keep himself upright and wailed with both. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed a war hammer, and wrapped it in his aura, pulling it weakly over to them as he continued his assault.

Once the weapon finally made it, he raised it weakly in his magic before he grabbed with a combination of it, and his hooves, pulling it up high, and then slamming it downward so fast that when he heard the disgusting crunch of the exoskeleton of its head shatter.

He stood up a little easier, unaware that the changeling’s blood was mutating him fast, as every step make him feel better and made him able to walk straighter and with more purpose. He was going towards the smaller changelings that witnessed the scene, giving a snarl and another exasperation of intimidation, hardening from his very short war experience already.

They looked between each other before taking flight and leaving the castle alone. Apparently they didn’t want to deal with somepony stronger than their biggest in the vicinity. Axiom sat down, realizing that his energy was running low, but at least he managed to stop this particular part of the swarm. It might not be a big pat, but it was something. He wasn’t going to go out of his way and search for more to fight… he still had that stab in his stomach.

That stab in his stomach! He didn’t even feel the pain anymore! He looked down to find that the slit had regenerated, and the area around where it used to be was slightly hardened, as well as soaked in his blood and the changeling’s. If it was even blood… What was going on? Then he felt odd convulsions in his body, twisting his insides in ways he never knew possible, causing him more pain than he could imagine. What was going on now? Celestia, he really didn’t want this!

Suddenly, just as quickly as it came, the pain dissolved into nothing as he felt his consciousness wane, clearing his throat and beginning to shake. Perhaps this was it… the freakish healing meant nothing… he was going to die and this was that moment. He was going—and in a moment more, he collapsed in place.

“Once he finally woke up, he was in the city’s hospital, but he was also tied down.”

“Because he was showing changeling properties?”

“Exactly. After some tests, they were able to confirm that it really was my father, and that he was mutated by the mixing of blood with that giant changeling. Axiom Quill’s own theories on it was that Queen Chrysalis was genetically modifying her own brood to make them stronger, either while they were still forming in the egg sacs before she laid them, afterwards, or when they were older. Either that or she was breeding them that way, which meant there would be something wrong with their biology then too, somewhere. Then, adding that he was a unicorn, the inert magic in his own blood would cause a reaction… well the science really doesn’t matter now.”

Little Penumbra stared at his mother, as he had already reverted back to his original form. He wasn’t sure what to say to all of that information, mainly since it didn’t make any sense to him.

“In any case,” Elegant sighed, glancing away, before clenching her teeth. “I suppose I’ll have to excuse you from school for a few weeks to adjust to this and control it. If you suddenly start changing in class, you’ll have a really hard time then. In fact, they’ll probably try and kill you…”

“What?! That’s kinda brutal today, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but it is still the norm.”

“Jeeze…” Pen stared downward at the end of the couch, shrugging. “At least I don’t have to go to school.”

“Good! Think on the bright sides. Good to know you’re taking it a little better.”

“Well, sounds like grandpa was epic, though. How’d he die?”

“Old age, as he wanted.” She gave Pen a smile as she stood. Once she stood, she trot to him and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. “Now, get ready for dinner in thirty minutes. I’m gonna go finish making that food.”

“Alright…”